Titel
The Drilling Process in Oil & Gas - overview and challenges´
Abstract
In order to access and extract an underground commodity (drinking water, hydrocarbons, geothermal fluids, etc.) or obtain cores to study the subsurface, or to store CO2 etc., we need to drill a hole in the ground. Drilling essentially provides the necessary infrastructure for reaching and extracting the subsurface resources, which are the fundaments of our society.
The drilling process is essentially the same, no matter the objective (water, gas & oil, geothermal etc. well). I’ll address mainly drilling of offshore Oil & Gas wells, first because these are the majority of the wells drilled in Denmark and, second, because they are the most challenging ones.
After identifying a promising area for hydrocarbon accumulation and before starting do fancy stuff for the Oil & Gas Industry, such as reservoir modelling & management, IOR, EOR etc. we must access the potential reservoir in a safe and cost-effective way, confirm the presence of hydrocarbons, and in case of commercial discovery, provide an efficient pathway from reservoir to surface.
My presentation will provide an overview of the drilling process and the modelling challenges the G&G scientists have in assisting the drilling engineers reaching the reservoir in a safe and economical way.