Well drilling is the process of drilling a hole in the ground for the extraction of a natural resource such as ground water, brine, natural gas, or petroleum, for the injection of a fluid from surface to a subsurface reservoir or for subsurface formations evaluation or monitoring. Drilling for the exploration of the nature of the material underground (for instance in search of metallic ore) is best described as borehole drilling.
The earliest wells were water wells, shallow pits dug by hand in regions where the water table approached the surface, usually with masonry or wooden walls lining the interior to prevent collapse. Modern drilling techniques utilize long drill shafts, producing holes much narrower and deeper than could be produced by digging.
Well drilling can be done either manually or mechanically and the nature of required equipment varies from extremely simple and cheap to very sophisticated.
Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) is defined by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) as “an adaptive drilling process used to more precisely control the annular pressure profile throughout the wellbore." The objectives of MPD are “to ascertain the downhole pressure environment limits and to manage the annular hydraulic pressure profile accordingly."
Welldrilling is the process of drilling a hole in the ground for the extraction of a natural resource such as ground water, brine, natural gas, or petroleum...
wellbore. Some oil wells are drilled with air or foam as the drilling fluid. The generated rock "cuttings" are swept up by the drilling fluid as it circulates...
drilling fluid, also known as drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and...
collect the water. Deeper wells can be excavated by hand drilling methods or machine drilling, using a bit in a borehole. Drilledwells are usually cased with...
A drilling rig is an integrated system that drillswells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's...
Deepwater drilling, or deep welldrilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep...
recovery techniques. Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling exploratory, production and injection wells. Drilling fluid engineers A...
deep hole drilling which can often cause the drill to break. A special coolant is usually used to aid in this type of drilling. Gun drilling was originally...
Directional drilling (or slant drilling) is the practice of drilling non-vertical bores. It can be broken down into four main groups: oilfield directional...
Baptist welldrilling is a very simple, manual method to drill water wells. The Baptist drilling rig can be built in any ordinary arc welding workshop...
drill as deep as possible into the Earth's crust. Drilling began on 24 May 1970 using the Uralmash-4E, and later the Uralmash-15000 series drilling rig...
extract natural resources such as gas or oil. During such drilling, data is acquired from the drilling rig sensors for a range of purposes such as: decision-support...
with some drilling fluids. The shale is relatively fragile, and may fracture under pressure, causing a problem in circulating the drilling fluid back...
Drilling engineering is a subset of petroleum engineering. Drilling engineers design and implement procedures to drillwells as safely and economically...
Underbalanced drilling, or UBD, is a procedure used to drill oil and gas wells where the pressure in the wellbore is kept lower than the static pressure...
A wildcatter is an individual who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration oil wellsdrilled in areas not known to be oil fields. Notable wildcatters...
Directional drilling – Practice of drilling non-vertical bores Driller (oil) – Leader in charge during welldrillingDrilling fluid – Aid for drilling boreholes...
welldrilled into such an aquifer is called an artesian well. If water reaches the ground surface under the natural pressure of the aquifer, the well...
the term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, though the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and...
onshore drilling rig. Offshore drilling rigs have similar elements, but are configured with a number of different drilling systems to suit drilling in the...
multiple wells. Offshore drilling presents environmental challenges, both from the produced hydrocarbons and the materials used during the drilling operation...
used to remove the burr left from a drilling or tapping operation. Used almost exclusively for deep hole drilling of medium to large diameter holes (approximately...
Deep well may refer to: A water well, an excavation or structure created to access groundwater in underground aquifers Deep welldrilling, the process...
Reach Drilling (ERD) is directional drilling of very long horizontal wells. The aims of ERD are: a) to reach a larger area from one surface drilling location...
Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field...
logging operations can either be performed during the drilling process (see Logging While Drilling), to provide real-time information about the formations...
crankshaft Gimlet, a small tool for drilling holes Bradawl, similar to a screwdriver but with a drilling point Cranial drill, an instrument used throughout...
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