Drilling and Operations Phrases

 

Location Preparation Activities

 

Clear and level the land.

 

Build access roads if necessary.

 

Hook up to water source. Generally includes drilling a water well.

 

Dig and line mud pit.

 

Drill several holes to prepare the site to accommodate the larger drilling rig that will be brought in to drill the oil or gas well. These include:

 

  • Cellar: Location for blow out preventer. Captures drilling fluids and drainage water. 5′ to 10′ deep and wide.
  • Conductor: Hole drilled from cellar to as deep as 90′. This is the starter hole for the larger drilling rig and is where surface casing is set.
  • Mouse hole: Holds next stem of drill pipe.
  • Rat Hole: Stores the “kelly” when the drill pipe is being hoisted out of the hole.

Set Surface Casing

 

Rig Up

 

Build drilling rig. Each rig and related equipment is transported to the site on between 35 and 45 semi-trailers.

 

 

Drilling

 

Drill a hole 5 to 30 inches in diameter. Wells can be vertical, directionally drilled or even lateral.

 

Drill collars, above the drill bit, aid the process by weighting down the bit as it breaks up the earth.

 

Drilling mud is pumped down the inside of the drill pipe. It helps break up the rock, keeps pressure on top of the bit and cools and lubricates the drill bit.

 

Setting Casing - Steel pipe (casing) slightly smaller than the original hole is secured in the hole with cement. Casing provides structural integrity to the wellbore. Depending on the depth and down-hole pressure in the well, there can be more than one (as many as five) string of pipe utilized. The majority of wells drilled by Gulf Coast Midwest utilize only one string of pipe.

 

After drilling the well to its required total depth it is logged or tested for hydrocarbons. If the well tests productive, it is completed. If not, it is plugged and abandoned.

 

 

Completion

 

Cased Hole Completion - Small holes called perforations are made in the portion of the casing which passed through the zone or zones that logged or tested productive.

 

Open Hole Completion - Gravel pack or sand screens may be installed in the last drilled, uncased reservoir section. They provide structural integrity and prevent formation sand / debris from migrating into production tubing and equipment.

 

The operator can complete one or more zones at the same time depending on geological circumstances.

 

Acids or fracturing fluids are pumped into the well. These fluids may include proppants that help keep the formation open. There are many different completion techniques. They vary depending on the formations characteristics.

 

Set a packer in the area above the reservoir section of the well

 

Set production tubing.

 

Install additional equipment, if necessary that aids production flow if the down-hole pressure is not enough to push the oil and gas to the surface. These may include down-hole pumps, lifts, or surface pump jacks and other equipment.

 

 

Production

 

Hydrocarbons flow from the Christmas Tree and are connected to a distribution network of pipelines (natural gas) and tanks (oil & water).

 

In some states, a disposal well can be used to dispose of water.

 

 

Plugging and Abandonment

 

Remove production tubing from the well. If the well was never produced, this would not be required.

 

Fill sections of the well bore with cement to isolate the flow path between gas and water zones from each other.