Reply #22: Name a single relief well that has ever been used for production?

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You won't find one. They aren't designed for that. To increase drilling speed a relief well uses a much smaller bore. This makes it a poor substitute for production well. Smaller bore means less flow rate & shorter lifespan.


Of course once the leak is capped there is no need to use relief well for production. They didn't in Ixtoc I. The new production well is still there today. They drilled it about 30 miles away.

While it COULD be used for production there is no guarantee it will be and certainly no evidence/history to support that is why relief wells are used.

Relief wells are used because essentially they work just like a main well. We know that with miles of drilling mud in place the pressure of mud will be greater than pressure of oil and it will slow downward towards the oil pocket.