Gazprom Neft said on Jan. 9 that its affiliate, Gazpromneft-Yamal, completed the construction of Russia’s first ever multilateral well with four horizontal cased-hole sidetracks, at its Novoportovskoye Field.

A total 22,165 ft (6,756 m) was drilled, including 14,471 ft (4,411 m) drilled in the target strata. The well was constructed in 39 days at a rate of 5.78 days per 3,280 ft (1,000 m).

According to Gazprom, drilling horizontally branched wells facilitates a manifold increase in drainage from disjointed low-permeability strata, significantly increasing the oil recovery factor at productive strata and bringing marginal reserves into development without the need to drill additional wells.

Russian-produced equipment was used in the well construction, retooled in line with the specific geological conditions of the Novoportovskoye Field.