All About Directional Drilling

The term “directional drilling” refers to any kind of drilling in which the boring does not go straight down vertically. It’s a practice generally used to avoid particular pieces of infrastructure or geological formations, or to create less surface disruption in the work area.

Compare this to conventional drilling, in which the entire drilling process and all equipment go down in a straight line. This is how drilling has traditionally been done for oil and gas, though these days it’s much more likely that there will at least be a few planned-out directional changes even in primarily vertical drilling jobs. Thanks to the technological advancements of the last century, directional drilling is no longer prohibitively difficult or expensive, and is in fact quite common in a variety of project types.

Our drilling contractors in Roseville, CA are pleased to offer this service if needed for your job.

Why is directional drilling so beneficial?

There are a number of factors that make directional drilling techniques so valuable in a variety of types of jobs.

For one, multiple down holes can be drilled using the same rig in a directional drilling job, which helps to significantly cut down on the amount of disruption to the ground’s surface, and thus the environmental impact of the job. Not only that, but these multiple bore holes can go as deep as a mile down below the earth, and when using shallower angles, can extend more than five miles.

In oilfields that have significantly spread-out deposits, this allows for you to hit a broader area, which maximizes the efficiency of the rig. This means a single rig will be able to work five to 10 square miles, which is extremely cost effective when compared to having 10 to 20 vertical rigs in an area that may or may not be accessing the same amount of deposits. So not only is this a more environmentally friendly option, but it saves a significant amount of money when you consider just how expensive it is to run even a single oil rig.

How exactly does directional drilling in Roseville, CA help broaden the radius for accessing deposits? By drilling at an angle, workers in the area are able to explore more of the reservoir, because those reservoirs generally form horizontally rather than vertically. In addition, in some circumstances the deposit might not even resemble a reservoir—it could take the form of another material, such as shale or sand that has been saturated by oil. With shale, directional drilling makes it easier to follow seams that are rich with oil deposits.

In some cases, an oil reservoir might also be inaccessible from above, eliminating conventional vertical drilling as an option. Perhaps the deposit is in the middle of a town, beneath a mountain or in a protected wilderness area. Directional drilling allows for access from other areas to avoid disturbing the surface in areas that cannot be drilled.

Finally, the way in which the reservoir forms can also make directional drilling highly beneficial. If it forms diagonally, directional drilling makes it easier to access the “deep end.” If it is in an irregular pattern, directional drilling makes reaching those deposits much more efficient.

For more information about directional drilling, contact Es7 Comm-2 U, Inc. to speak with our drilling contractors in Roseville, CA.

Categorised in: Directional Drilling, Directional Drilling Contractors

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