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Transcripción del abstract original del autor: Michigan Consolidated Gas Company (MichCon) has been storing natural gas in the state of Michigan since the mid-1940s. MichCon’s Six Lakes field was converted in 1953 from a natural gas producing reservoir to a storage facility. Deliverability decline is the most common problem in the storage industry, and from 1968 to 1993, the deliverability of Six Lakes declined at an annual rate of 5.6%. Since 1970, various efforts had been made to restore this declining deliverability. The most cost-effective method has proven to be the drilling of single and multi-lateral horizontal wells. Although the reservoir is at a shallow depth of 380 meters (1,250 feet), single-lateral horizontal wells have been drilled with an openhole length of 915 meters (3,000 feet). Multi-lateral horizontal wells have openhole lengths exceeding 1,520 meters (5,000 feet). Results to date have exceeded initial forecasts as they indicated that one horizontal well would replace six vertical wells. The current rate of success shows that the ratio is one horizontal well to eight vertical wells. Total field performance has also improved as the horizontal wells are completed in the upper portion of the reservoir reducing water production. Another advantage is that horizontal wells, with significantly higher flow capacities, readily lift any produced liquid thereby improving year-end withdrawal capability. Horizontal wells have allowed the grouping of wellheads within small surface areas called pads, reducing land use requirements and eliminating most vertical wells. Furthermore, well pads allow the company to replace an aging gathering system and reduce its overall length by over 65%. Horizontal wells have proven not only effective in improving field deliverability and daily operations; they have also significantly reduced operation and maintenance expenses.