Harvesting resource from variable pay intervals

Abstract

A method is provided for drilling a well in a reservoir. The method includes planning a well trajectory for a serpentine well pair. The production well is drilled using lateral displacements and vertical displacements to follow a base of a pay interval in the reservoir. The production well is completed with perforations in regions comprising a hydrocarbon. At least a portion of the production well includes a liner with no perforations.

1 . A method for improving recovery from a subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir, the method comprising:
 mapping a base of a reservoir to determine a region that comprises hydrocarbons; and   accessing the region by a serpentine well pair, wherein the serpentine well pair comprises a production well at a first elevation and an injection well at a higher elevation, and wherein the production well is drilled with a variable trajectory to follow at least a portion of the base of the reservoir and wherein at least a portion of the production well comprises a liner with no perforations.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein accessing the region comprises designing the serpentine well pair with a vertical placement, lateral placement, or both, that changes to allow the production well to intercept the region near a base within the reservoir. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising drilling the production well through intervals of non-pay to couple two or more pay intervals of pay. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising completing portions of the production well in pay intervals with slotted pipe, wirewrap screen assemblies, or mesh rite screen assemblies. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 drilling a portion of the injection well beyond the production well, and   installing an injector liner extension in the portion of the injection well that extends beyond the production well.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , comprising completing the injector liner extension with slotted pipe, wirewrap screen assemblies, or mesh rite screen assemblies. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , comprising drilling at least a portion of the injection well that extends beyond the production well at an angle to horizontal. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 drilling a portion of the production well beyond the injection well; and   installing a production liner extension in the portion of the production well that extends beyond the injection well.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , comprising drilling at least a portion of the production well that extends beyond the injection well at an angle to horizontal. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , comprising completing the production liner extension with slotted pipe, wirewrap screen assemblies, or mesh rite screen assemblies. 
     
     
         11 . A system for harvesting resources from a reservoir, comprising:
 a reservoir comprising hydrocarbons; and   a serpentine well pair, wherein the serpentine well pair comprises a production well at a first elevation and an injection well at a higher elevation, wherein the production well has a variable trajectory to follow at least a portion of the base of the reservoir, and wherein at least a portion of the production well is completed using a liner that has no perforations.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the production well extends through intervals of non-pay to couple two or more pay intervals in the reservoir. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein portions of the production well are completed with slotted pipe, wirewrap screen assemblies, or mesh rite screen assemblies. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein portions of the production well comprises blank pipe. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein a portion of the injection well extends beyond the production well to form an injector liner extension. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein at least a portion of the injector liner extension is completed with slotted pipe, wirewrap screen assemblies, or mesh rite screen assemblies. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein at a portion of the injector liner comprises blank pipe. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein a portion of the production well extends beyond the injection well to form a production liner extension. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein any portion of the production liner that extends above a target depth for a liquid sump is completed with blank pipe. 
     
     
         20 . A method for drilling a well in a reservoir, comprising:
 planning a well trajectory for a serpentine well pair;   drilling the production well using lateral displacements and vertical displacements to follow a base of a pay interval in the reservoir; and   completing the production well with a liner comprising perforations in regions comprising a hydrocarbon, wherein at least a portion of the production well has no perforations.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , comprising identifying well trajectories of the production well that need to be blocked to lower a production of an injected mobilizing fluid.