Oil and natural gas wells have traditionally been drilled vertically, at depths ranging from a few thousand feet to as deep as five miles. Today, advances in drilling technology allow oil and natural gas companies to reach more reserves while reducing environmental impact by:

• reducing the surface “footprint” of drilling operations
• drilling smaller holes and generating less waste
• creating less noise,
• avoiding sensitive ecosystems
• completing operations more quickly.

Here are some technologies used:

Horizontal Drilling - Horizontal drilling starts with a vertical well that turns horizontal within the reservoir rock in order to expose more open hole to the oil. These horizontal “legs” can be over a mile long; the longer the exposure length, the more oil and natural gas is drained and the faster it can flow. More oil and natural gas can be produced with fewer wells and less surface disturbance. However, the technology only can be employed in certain locations.

Multilateral Drilling - Sometimes oil and natural gas reserves are located in separate layers underground. Multilateral drilling allows producers to branch out from the main well to tap reserves at different depths. This dramatically increases production from a single well and reduces the number of wells drilled on the surface

Extended Reach Drilling - Extended Reach Drilling - Extended reach drills allow producers to reach deposits that are great distances away from the drilling rig. This can help producers tap oil and natural gas deposits under surface areas where a vertical well cannot be drilled, such as under developed or environmentally sensitive areas. Wells can now reach out over 5 miles from the surface location. Offshore, the use of extended reach drilling allows producers to reach accumulations far from offshore platforms, minimizing the number of platforms needed to produce all the oil and gas. Onshore, dozens of wells can be drilled from a single location, reducing surface impacts.

Complex Path Drilling - Complex well paths can have multiple twists and turns to try to hit multiple accumulations from a single well location. Using this technology can be more cost effective and produce less waste and surface impacts than drilling multiple wells.

Rock and fluid properties will determine how much oil and natural gas can be recovered from a reservoir. After an exploratory well has been drilled, it is evaluated to determine if there is enough oil and natural gas in the reservoir to make it economically feasible to initiate recovery operations.

Drill Cuttings and Core Samples - As the drilling mud is brought to the surface, it is run through a sieve to removed the drill cuttings (pulverized rock) before the mud is recycled down into the well. Small pieces of rock are selected for microscopic analysis to determine the type of rock being drilled, how porous it is, and whether oil is present. The drilling mud also is analyzed with sensors to see if trace amounts of oil or natural gas are present — an indication of a possible accumulation at depth. In the past, rock cuttings were the principal source of well information.

Well Logging - A special bit can be used to cut a cylindrical piece of rock that can be brought to the surface for analysis. The core is sent to a laboratory where the exact porosity and permeability can be determined. This gives a good indication of how well oil or natural gas would flow through the rock. Fluid samples can be taken and analyzed to determine the amount and type of hydrocarbon present in the rock.

Wells are completed for production if the value of the recoverable oil and/or natural gas is greater than the cost of drilling and producing them and delivering them to market. If not, the well is plugged In accordance with industry standards and federal or state requirements (depending on the location) and the site is restored.

Laversab’s latest Atex computers - the Zone-1 and Zone-2 rig-floor computers are designed to overcome challenges presented by drill rig environments.