Exploration & Production Technologies
Advanced Drilling
DOE's R&D program has shown a significant return on the taxpayer's investment in a number of technology areas. This is
especially true in the area of advanced drilling technologies. For example, DOE supported pioneering efforts on measurement-while-drilling (MWD) in the 1970's. This technology has revolutionized drilling operations. The first system to transmit drill bit location information by sending pressure pulses through drilling mud was developed by DOE and Teleco, Inc. Today we are seeing the next revolution in telemetry as Intellipipe is being commercialized by Grant Prideco via another DOE funded project with Novatek. Together, the companies have formed a service company called Intelliserve that will be able to transform the drill pipe into a high speed (2 million bits per second) Local Area Network (LAN) that can support high speed communications from essentially a limitless number of downhole measuring devices. This capability will be essential for resource development such as that focused on in DOE's DeepTrek program, where information such as temperature and pressure are critical to the success of deep gas drilling.
DOE has also received favorable reactions from industry to the polycrystalline diamond drill bit developed in the 1980's. Advances in that cutting structure have advanced dramatically since that time to the point that it has become in enabling technology for many fields that require aggressive cutting structures to enhance rate of penetration and offset total well cost. The potential of the PDC bit is best displayed in DOE's latest initiative in Microhole Technologes where hybrid coiled tubing drilling rigs have been shown capable of drilling and completing wells to a depth of 2,800' in only 19 hours total time. This capability has already made approximately 1TCF of shallow gas in Western Kansas/Eastern Colorado economic and is expected to revolutionize the development of shallow oil and gas development in the U.S. in the coming years. As metallurgy for coiled tubing continues to improve, the economics for coiled tubing drilling could improve to the point that much deeper utilization of coiled tubing drilling might become possible.
DOE continues to stay on the cutting edge of new technologies for advanced drilling through programs such as Deep Trek and Microhole Drilling. These programs will open new horizons for resource recovery and with additional projects in drilling modeling and in the development of advanced drilling tools and methods will help to bolster the nation's energy security.
TODCO posted barge drilling rig in southern Louisiana
Photo courtesy TODCO
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