How to Drill For an Oil Well
Operating oil drilling equipment requires basic knowledge, according to Lone Star Securities, but the process also requires sophisticated engineering knowledge and experience to find oil. The "News Tribe" reported in June 2011 that the U.S. had a total of 1,003 rigs exploring for oil supplies. 1981 saw the largest number of rigs drilling for both natural gas and oil, while 1999 recorded the lowest number with 488 at work in that year. Drilling for oil on land involves time, training and extensive funding.
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Things You'll Need
- Real estate agent or oil lease broker
- Oil testing equipment
- Drilling permits
- Safety permits
- Environmental permits
- Drilling crew
- Oil drilling rig
- Completion drilling rig
- Production rig
- Testing crew
Instructions
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Work with an oil lease broker to find land and lease or purchase the potential oil-producing parcel, if you don't already own the land. While many states have oil reserves, not all land offers suitable supplies to make drilling economically feasible. The "News Tribe" reported that the states of California, Alaska, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado added new oil wells in 2011, so searches in these states means greater chance for success. This step requires years of research and property evaluation.
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Hire an exploratory crew, experienced oil geologists and trained technicians to examine and map your land and determine a location for the oil well. Instruct your scientists to use compressed-air guns, thumper trucks and explosives to test for possible oil reserves on your land.
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Take out the necessary drilling and safety permits and hire your work crews to clear, level and prepare the land for the drilling.
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Lease or buy your equipment, review environmental and safety standards and pass inspections before drilling begins. The basic equipment for all types of wells includes a drilling rig, pumps, hoses, casings, cement mix and complex equipment for testing the core and pressure, but offshore drilling also requires additional equipment, including a floating platform and the use of tankers to remove the oil produced from the well. Meet any state safety and environmental requirements in construction of the well, pumps and structures, and pass any inspections required to begin drilling.
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Use a rotary oil rig placed into a long horizontal casing dug into the ground. Attach the pumps to move mud, combined with chemicals, through the drill pipe to remove the soil and rock displaced by the drill. Capture the rock and soil in the reserve pit and also route the recycled mud into a cleaning shaker to remove any of the displaced rock. Return the clean mud to the drilling system for reuse in this process. As the drilling continues, have experts examine samples from the well to evaluate if the supply of oil justifies completing the well. If the tests determine the well fails to meet economic standards, pump in additional cement and plug the well. If the samples prove rich with oil, instruct your crew to add casing to extend the hole, use the competition drilling rig to finish the well, and then add a motorized pump to bring the oil to the surface.
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References
- Lone Star Securities, Inc.: Chapter 4-Drilling and Completion
- "The News Tribe"; Number of U.S. Rigs Rise to 1,882; June 2011
- CBS News; Ask CBS News - How Many Offshore Rigs Are There?; June 2010
- Offshore Drilling: Matthew Donatoni
- Energy Capital Group: How Oil Drilling Works: Craig C. Freudenrich
- Environmental Working Group: Who Owns the West? Oil and Gas Leases
Resources
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
