The dominant fracture is typically reached vertically. With directional drilling, multiple fractures of the reservoir are set as targets with a single wellbore. Horizontal drilling can also be very useful when dealing with a fractured reservoir. In simpler words, horizontal drilling can increase the productivity of the well by increasing the pay zone accessible by the wellbore. However, with horizontal drilling, it can potentially increase the pay zone of that well. Sometimes, the possible length of the vertical well is short. Horizontal drilling increases the pay zone in a rock unit. The gas field covers 1100 acres of the campus with just one drill pad. The best example of this would be the 22 wells dug on University of Texas Arlington grounds. In other words, it allows oil and gas companies to group wells, making less disturbance on the surface with fewer oil rigs. Horizontal drilling can allow oil and gas companies to drill multiple wells for a single drill pad. Similarly, if there’s an obstacle underground over the reservoir, directional drilling can make it possible to access it regardless. In such a scenario, horizontal drilling can give access to the reservoir without disturbing the properties and life directly over it. The most common reason for drilling horizontally is it because it’s impossible or difficult to drill vertically to the reservoir of fluid mineral.įor instance, if the well is located underneath a town with people, it would be unlawful and unethical to drill vertically as that would mean destroying infrastructure overground. Now that you understand horizontal directional drilling or HDD meaning, it’s also important to understand its many benefits: Reach Areas Vertical Drilling Cannot You can consider it as an alternative drilling technique for vertical drilling. Horizontal drilling is often useful in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing to explore gas reservoirs that were previously untappable. Thanks to new technologies, companies can now dig at angles, resulting in better yield from existing wells as well as recruiting new sites that were previously unreachable. In 2010, the horizontal drilling in Austin Chalk Play in Louisiana led to the popularity of this directional drilling. That’s obviously a much easier and simpler approach, but it doesn’t work everywhere. Prior to the 1980s, this kind of drilling technique wasn’t really common as most companies dug wells vertically right above the main reservoir. This type of drilling is becoming very popular but isn’t really new, as its inception goes all the way back to the 1920s. Horizontal drilling is directional drilling in which the digging angle is at least 80 degrees from the perpendicular wellbore. There can be other reasons as well, such as a new reservoir right next to an existing one that could be easily reached with horizontal directional drilling. The difficulty in drilling vertically isn’t the only factor that calls for directional drilling. In such cases, a different direction may allow diggers to accurately steer the well and stimulate the reservoir to produce minerals. In certain scenarios, drilling vertically cannot stimulate reservoirs. While most wells are vertical, as they are drilled perpendicular to the surface of the Earth, some are drilled at angles other than standard 90 degrees. What is Directional Drilling?ĭrilling in an angle or direction other than vertical is called directional drilling. Learning about these techniques isn’t just important for those in the oil and gas industry but for anyone linked with it directly or indirectly, such as parties who receive mineral royalties. This allows explorers to dig in places that are with less complication. It has become a valuable method of drilling over the last few decades. In this post, we’ll talk about directional drilling, in general, and horizontal drilling, in particular. However, there’s also another type of drilling called horizontal drilling. Normally, wells of any kind, be it fossil fuel or water, are vertical. Drilling is an important part of oil and gas extraction from the ground, but it’s not as straightforward as you’d think.
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