ABSTRACT
Hydraulic fracturing has been the main method of increasing well productivity in the past 15 years in Western Ural oil fields which have been developed since 1960s. Currently re-fracture treatments are used to sustain the level of oil production. Re-fracturing is not as effective as the initial fracturing which can be seen analyzing the performed treatments. The technology of oriented re-fracturing is being developed to increase the effectiveness of re-fracturing treatment. Creation of the hydraulic fracture which is pre-oriented has a number of advantages: a possibility of accessing poorly drained parts of the formation, decreasing the risk of water breakthrough etc. The main idea is to create a system of lateral horizontal boreholes situated in a vertical plane and oriented in the desired direction. The number of lateral boreholes and the space between them is determined based on geomechanical calculations. One industrial experiment was performed on the well to this date. The results are found to be optimistic.
