NETL drilling deep without touching the earth
The Ultra-deep Drilling Simulator mimics the conditions of deep reservoirs
BY ERIC LIDJI FOR GREENING OF OIL
The most extreme drilling in the world isn’t even penetrating the surface of the earth.
Right now, crews at the Extreme Drilling Laboratory in Morgantown, W. Va., part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, are testing a system that simulates some of the deepest oil and natural gas reservoirs on the planet.
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The Ultra-deep Drilling Simulator allows researchers to test drilling operations at pressures of 30,000 pounds per square inch and temperatures above 480 degrees, conditions similar to those in ultra-deep reservoirs located 20,000 feet underground.
The information gleaned from those tests goes far beyond what government researchers currently know about deep wells. Testing conducted through the Deep Trek Program, also funded by the Department of Energy, topped out at 15,000 psi and 250 degrees.
Goal to increase domestic production
The goal is to increase domestic production while lowering the cost of drilling.
In the coming months, after “shakedown” testing, a pre-operational phase where crews check the integrity of the machinery, the simulator will be used to study how rock cutters interact with rocks under extreme heat and temperature situations.
Pressure resistant glass will allow crews to record the process with high-speed video and X-ray imagery.
The economic stakes are high for improving deep drilling technology, because deeper reservoirs tend to out-perform their shallower counterparts. According to 2007 figures, less than 1 percent of the wells drilled in this country are deeper than 15,000 feet, but those wells account for roughly 7 percent of domestic oil and natural gas production.
The cost to drill a deep well, though, is about six times the cost of a normal well, and the final 10 percent of a well can account for as much as half of the total drilling costs. Some of the deepest gas reservoirs simply aren’t economic to drill using existing technology.
Goal of lower drilling costs produces environmental benefit
Although early tests are geared toward creating efficiencies that lower the cost of deep drilling, crews say improved technology could have an added environmental benefit.
Deeper reservoirs out-produce shallower ones because the extreme pressure naturally pushes oil or natural gas into well bores. Higher production reduces the number of wells needed to meet domestic energy demand, meaning less surface area would be impacted. Plus, technology that speeds up the drilling process means less time at drill sites, reducing the odds of an environmental problem.
However, the team also noted that the footprint of ultra-deep wells is not smaller than normal wells because of the weight and length of pipes needed to drill far underground.
The potential environmental benefits of the simulator, though, don’t appear to meet the policy goals of the Obama administration, which wants to get rid of the federal Ultra-Deepwater exploration program in the fiscal year 2011 budget.
The Extreme Drilling Laboratory, though, said that and other budget proposals wouldn’t immediately impact the research and development funding expected for the Ultra-deep Drilling Simulator.
Links of interest
NETL: Extreme Drilling Laboratory Is Ready to “Rock and Roll”
FY 2011 Budget priorities for energy
Contact Eric Lidji at ericlidji@mac.com