Economics of deep well drilling. Pt. 4. Outlook for deep drilling

Journal Article · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1969 · World Oil; (United States)

OSTI ID:5650683

Houssiere, Jr, C R; Jessen, F W

The drilling of wells below 15,000 ft will continue at an average of 350 to 400 wells per yr. This is considerably below the rate needed to prove up adequate reserves for U.S. requirements in the next decade. The findings in this comprehensive study of 1,024 deep wells indicate that drilling will remain at relatively low levels because of the following: (1) increasing costs; (2) inadequate price, tax, and allowable incentives; and (3) the high percentage of costly deep wells completed as producers at intervals above 15,000 ft. Some of the considerations for drilling wells deeper than 15,000 ft include the following: (1) investigation of known deep structures previously unexplored; (2) the deepening or extension of already existing fields or the deepening of present wells; (3) the search for geological information in an area barren of production; (4) exploratory drilling on trends such as has led to the expansion of deep drilling W. Texas; (5) investigation of new geological ideas as to new entrapment possibilities; (6) investigation of basins known to have thick sediment possibilities; (7) relatively short payout, and (8) assurance of high productive capacity to maintain allowable rates.

• Research Organization: Southwestern Louisiana Univ; Texas Univ, Austin
• OSTI ID: 5650683
• Journal Information: World Oil; (United States), Journal Name: World Oil; (United States) Vol. 168:4; ISSN WOOIA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
020700 -- Petroleum-- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects
03 NATURAL GAS
030300 -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
030600 -- Natural Gas-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
COST
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
DRILLING
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS WELLS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL WELLS
PETROLEUM
PRODUCTION
RESERVES
RESOURCES
SOUTHWEST REGION
TEXAS
USA
WELL DRILLING
WELLS