How to Drill for Oil on Your Property
Our culture as a whole is fairly dependent upon oil to get us through each day. As the oil supplies we heavily rely on continue to deplete, many U.S. citizens wonder whether we should drill for oil in more locations in our own nation. While the debate continues about drilling in national parks and conservation areas of Alaska and other parts of the country, some citizens are making a hefty living from drilling for oil on their own properties. Oil may be abundant on your property, especially if you live in the western region. The following steps will guide you through the process of drilling for oil on your own land.
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Instructions
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Drilling for Oil
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Determine if there is oil on your property. You can hire geologists to use commercial equipment such as magnetometers and sonar to look for oil. Another way is to dig exploration or test holes. Both of these options can be very expensive, so you need to have money set aside to start the process.
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Use alternative ways to see if your property has oil. Check to see if there are other oil drills in your area. Los Angeles alone has approximately 3,000 active oil pumps, many of which are located in metropolitan and residential areas. Another clue for oil activity under your neighborhood is a lot of construction nearby that seems to go unfinished.
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Search online databases like the one offered by The State of California Department of Conservation (see the Resource link below) to find inactive or plugged oil wells. With latitudinal and longitudinal information, you may discover that one of these wells is under your land.
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Obtain a drill. This can be a full-scale drilling rig that costs around $300,000 or you can hire a drilling company. Professionals can get things done the right way in about half the cost as purchasing a drill.
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Dig to approximately 2,000 feet for a shallow well (many can go up to 15,000 feet). Use a bit, a boring device that cuts through dirt and rock, and start drilling your hole. As the bit goes deeper, feed more pipe in through the top of the drill. To keep the pipe and bit clean of rocks and debris, use mud, a substance you pour into the hole to flush it out.
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Install a pump system if you find oil. Pumps run around $15,000 to $20,000. You also need somewhere to store your barrels of oil until you can transport them for sale. Consider your costs for pump maintenance as well.
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Retire, or at least take some time off. If you find oil in your backyard, you can make a profit of up to $10,000 a month or more, after subtracting ongoing costs and payments on startup costs.
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Tips & Warnings
Starting this process is very expensive, so it's best to be certain oil is on your property. Startup costs range anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 (if you don't buy a drill) and the ongoing costs run about $5,000 a month.
References
Resources
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