Horizontal drilling technologies have been heralded by many as the greatest advances since the conception of the rotary drilling bit. Horizontal drilling now accounts for a significant percent of active onshore wells in the U.S., especially for exploiting shale gas resource and seems to be increasing every year. Horizontal drilling allows for an increase in the recoverable petroleum in a given formation, and even increases the production in fields previously thought of as marginal or mature. Horizontal drilling also allows for more economical drilling, and less impact on environmentally sensitive areas. However, there are many technical challenges is successfully drilling and completing a long horizontal well.  The presentation will outline some of the main differences between drilling a vertical and horizontal well and prescribe remedies to overcome these challenges to successfully exploit unconventional/shale gas resources to meet future global energy needs.