Horizontal drilling has rapidly come into its own as a viable alternative to conventional exploration and production techniques.

The method has proved its value both for the unprecedented increases in production it has enabled operators to realize, and for its availability to allow those same operators to increase reserves by developing resources that might not otherwise be tapped. Innovative operators are applying horizontal technology to produce oil at current prices, rather than waiting for the market to improve before initiating development. Throughout the world, horizontal drilling is burgeoning, and with it, tremendous opportunities – and challenges – for operators and service companies alike.

For many operators today, the question is not so much whether to drill horizontally, but how.

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