Three Uses For Directional Drilling
Drilling a well is not a straightforward proposition. Sometimes you will have a formation above your reservoir that cannot be drilled. Without the right equipment, the formation would make it impossible for you to reach the reservoir. However, advances in drilling technology have now made it possible to reach formations that were previously inaccessible. Getting at a formation that is inaccessible from above is only one of the examples of how directional drilling equipment can be used.
How Can Directional Drilling Be Used?
There are a number of ways that directional drilling can be helpful, including the following:
1, As stated in the introduction, sometimes there are formations under the surface and above a reservoir of oil or water that make accessing the reservoir from above unfeasible. In other situations, you might have a town, a lake, or some other obstruction on the surface that makes it impossible to access a reservoir. In either case, it is possible to start the well from a point to the side of the obstruction and angle the well to access the reservoir.
2. In situations where you want to limit surface disturbances, or you have a limited ability to drill new wells, you may want to drill more than one well. This is especially important when you have a reservoir so large that it can't be serviced by only one well. Directional drilling allows you to drill multiple wells from the same location in order to get as much water or oil from the reservoir as possible.
3. A third use for directional drilling is to make wells more productive than they otherwise would be. If you drill from the top to the bottom of a reservoir, you will be able to access a lot of oil, but in some situations, it is helpful to drill across the bottom of a reservoir so that you can have a more productive well.
4. Directional drilling can also help to relieve pressure on a well that is producing out of control. In this case, drilling from the side will help to access a reservoir that has already been tapped by another well. Once the reservoir has been accessed, oil engineers can take a number of steps to improve the production of the first well.
As you can see, directional drilling can be helpful in a number of different situations. Whether you are looking for water or oil, there are situations where it is not possible to get what you need with a vertical well. This does not mean that you are out of luck. Talk to a drilling crew about how directional drilling can be of use to you, or click here to investigate.
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