|
Our transcription: Horizontal drilling techniques allow engineers to penetrate shallow deposits that would have been too expensive to tap using vertical methods. This lone horizontal drill rig has produced approximately 900 barrels per day for the last seven months. To achieve the same production rate with conventional drilling techniques would require four times as many wells at a 40 percent increase in cost. Horizontal drilling is going to be used more and more in the future to try to get the last bit out of a lot of oil fields. In fact, some people estimate that within ten years about a third of the wells that are drilled are going to be horizontal. As the technology improves, the cost of the horizontal drilling is going to become more competitive with the conventional vertical wells also. And ultimately, I think, it's going to make a big contribution to the recovery of oil throughout the world. While the potential of horizontal drilling remains promising, scientists have adopted ever more exotic techniques in the quest for geologic resources.
|
