Drilling and Testing for Oil

Once the oil rig system is set up and in place, the crew starts the drilling operation. Above where the geologists have predicted the oil trap is located, a starter hole is drilled to the surface hole and down to a pre-set depth. There are five basic steps to drilling the surface hole. First the drill bit is placed in the collar and drill pipe in the hole. The kelly is attached to the turntable and drilling begins. As drilling progresses, mud is circulated through the pipe and out of the bit to float the rock cuttings out of the hole. New sections (joints) are added to the drill pipes as the hole gets deeper. Lastly, the drill pipe, collar and bit are removed (tripped out) when the pre-set depth is reached which is generally between a few hundred and a couple-thousand feet.

When the pre-set depth is reached, the crew must run and cement the casing which involves placing the casing-pipe sections into the hole to prevent it from collapsing in on itself. To keep it centered in the hole, casing pipe has spacers around the outside. The casing crew puts the casing pipe in the hole. Using a bottom plug, a cement slurry, a top plug and drill mud, the cement crew pumps cement down the casing pipe. The pressure from the drill mud causes the cement slurry to move through the casing and fill the space between the outside of the casing and the hole. Finally, the cement is allowed to harden and then tested for hardness, alignment and a proper seal. This describes the method of drilling that has been used for years. The oil industry and the U.S. Department of Energy are working to drill oil with new drilling technologies, including horizontal drilling techniques, to reach oil under ecologically-sensitive areas, and using lasers to drill. Triple Diamond Energy Corporation stays current with the new drilling techniques to make sure that it is done appropriately and accurately.

After the crew drill, then run and cement new casings, they then drill again to ensure they have reached the appropriate depth. The final depth is reached when the rock cuttings from the mud reveal the oil sand from the reservoir rock. At this point, the drilling apparatus is removed from the hole. Then further tests are performed to confirm that they have drilled in the correct spot to reach the oil.

Well logging is done by lowering electrical and gas sensors into the hole to take measurements of the rock formations in the spot drilled. In order to do drill-stem testing a device is lowered into the hole to measure the pressures, revealing whether reservoir rock has been reached. Core rock samples are taken to look for characteristics of reservoir rock.

Once the final depth is reached, the crew completes the well to allow oil to flow into the casing in a controlled manner. After the well is completed, the flow of oil into the well starts. To help the flow, acid is pumped down the well and out the perforations for limestone reservoir rock. For sandstone reservoir rock, a specially blended fluid containing sand, walnut shells, aluminum pellets (proppants) is pumped down the well and out the perforations. The oil rig is removed from the site after the oil is flowing. Next, the production equipment is set up to extract the oil from the well.

Chris Jent is the Chief Marketing Officer of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.