Vital Energy’s Stacked Permian U-Turn Pad Nears 120k Lateral Feet
Vital Energy’s President and CEO Jason Pigott said the E&P’s 12-well, multi-zone U-turn well pad in the Midland Basin may be “the first time any company in our industry has drilled a stacked horseshoe development like this one.”
Vital Energy is set to reach total depth at its full 12-well, multi-zone U-turn well pad in the Midland Basin in the coming days, giving 120,000 ft of stacked laterals out of a single square mile.
Six of the wells were drilled before July 1, Jason Pigott, the Permian Basin pure-play’s president and CEO, said in an investor call Aug. 7.
Five more reached total depth since then and the last well was nearing total depth during the call.
Pigott said it may be “the first time any company in our industry has drilled a stacked horseshoe development like this one.”
The 12-well, U-turn pad is in north-central Midland County with one two-mile lateral landed in the Middle Spraberry; three in Joe Mill; two, Lower Sprayberry; three, Wolfcamp A; and three, Wolfcamp B.
In effect, the 1 sq-mile section has produced 12 two-mile wells rather than 24 one-mile wells.
The straight, one-mile development would have cost $55/boe in its first year of production, while the U-turn pad’s cost is $43/boe, Vital reported.
Most of the savings are due to needing to drill 12 vertical portions of wells rather than 24, and also due to needing to complete 12 wells rather than 24.
J-hook pad online
Meanwhile, Vital has completed a J-hook pad in Reeves County, Texas, on the Delaware side of the Permian.
The irregular section allows laterals shorter than two miles.
The J-hook design resulted in two wells instead of three, thus eliminating drilling costs for one vertical portion and the completion costs for one lateral.
The wells are currently online, Pigott said.
It estimates it has 130 future well locations that can accommodate two-mile straight sticks but could be made with 90 three-mile, J-hook laterals instead.
“This optimization lowers WTI breakevens by about $5/bbl across the 1.3 million completable lateral feet,” Pigott said.
As for inventory with U-turn well potential, Vital estimates it has 125 of these.
U-turn and other non-straight laterals spud by Lower 48 operators this year total 67 to date, according to a live count by Udriller.com.
The number of E&Ps using the lateral-lengthening method so far this year total 24.
The interest is up from 68 wells total in all of 2024 among 23 operators; 27 wells in 2023 among 10 operators; and eight or fewer among four or fewer operators between 2019 and 2022, according to John Huycke, principal engineer at Turning Point E&P Consultants, which runs the Udriller site.
The J-hook design resulted in two wells instead of three, thus eliminating drilling costs for one vertical portion and the completion costs for one lateral. (Source: Vital Energy)
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