New drilling opportunities to bring new requirements, expectations

Already, the world is starting to see the first effects of supply worries, most visibly in the price of crude oil. In May 2008, oil hit above $125/bbl – and it was only 10 years ago in December 1998 when a barrel of oil cost less than $10. Consequences since the price increases have been seen in mergers between large companies, downsizings, budget cuts, etc.

Uncertainty about the future of the oil price are expected to continue keep prices high. This will not only increase activities for oil and gas, it will also boost industry efforts on other sources such as geothermal. This means new drilling opportunities will be opened up for the industry in areas like harsh environments, ultra-deepwater, geothermal drilling, coiled tubing drilling, CO2 sequestration, and residual and bypassed oil.

These drilling opportunities, however, will come with different requirements and customer expectations. For example, they will require drilling in harsh environments such as HPHT, drilling for small deposits and in mature fields, and drilling in hard, hot rock for geothermal wells. These types of drilling will doubtlessly require different approaches by drilling contractors in order to fulfill customer expectations, such as lower cost, lower environmental impact, and safe and flawless operations.

In closing, Dr Reinicke discussed the Clausthal University’s ongoing work with Geothermal Energy and Drilling Technology (GEBO), a collaborative project with the industry. Goals include:

• • Extending the range of applicability of modern drilling technology to HPHT.
• • Improving economics of geothermal projects.
• • Reducing well construction costs by 50%.

Looking at the distribution of well construction costs of German post-2000 gas wells, rig-related costs accounted for less than 40% of the total, with large increases seen for casing and well head costs. Successful cost reduction will require an integrated effort, he said.

No doubt the goals of the project are ambitious, he noted, but “we have a vision, and we’ll try to realize that vision as much as possible.”