Pad Drilling
Drilling several wells from one surface location, with the rig moving short distances between them, to cut cost and surface footprint.
Pad drilling is the practice of drilling multiple wells from a single surface site — the pad. The rig is built to "walk" or skid a few feet between wellheads, so several horizontal wells can be drilled in sequence without tearing down and moving the whole operation. The laterals fan out underground in different directions from that one pad.
This lowers cost per well, shrinks the surface disturbance, and lets an operator develop a whole unit or section efficiently. It is now standard in the Permian, the Bakken, and Appalachia.
For a mineral owner, pad drilling means several wells may be permitted and spudded close together in time, so income from a tract can step up as each well on the pad is completed. Watching pad activity helps a buyer time a purchase before the full pad produces.