Horizontal drilling
From Wikimarcellus
Revision as of 00:57, 2 November 2008 Tcopley (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Revision as of 00:59, 2 November 2008 Tcopley (Talk | contribs) Next diff → |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
- | In order to tap natural gas with '''horizontal drilling''' typically a drill is sent down vertically a mile or so underground and then turned at a ninety degree angle horizontally into the shale. By using horizontal drilling the drill bit can penetrates a much greater number of pockets of natural gas than it ever would do so with vertical drilling. On the average horizontal wells produce three to five times the amount of natural gas produced by vertical ones. | + | In order to tap natural gas with '''horizontal drilling''' typically a drill is sent down vertically a mile or so underground and then turned at a ninety degree angle horizontally into the shale. By using horizontal drilling the drill bit can penetrates a much greater number of pockets of natural gas than it ever could with vertical drilling. On the average horizontal wells produce three to five times the amount of natural gas from vertical ones. |
The shale tends to be located between approximately five and eight thousand feet below ground. | The shale tends to be located between approximately five and eight thousand feet below ground. |
Revision as of 00:59, 2 November 2008
In order to tap natural gas with horizontal drilling typically a drill is sent down vertically a mile or so underground and then turned at a ninety degree angle horizontally into the shale. By using horizontal drilling the drill bit can penetrates a much greater number of pockets of natural gas than it ever could with vertical drilling. On the average horizontal wells produce three to five times the amount of natural gas from vertical ones.
The shale tends to be located between approximately five and eight thousand feet below ground.
Horizontal wells are much more expensive to drill than vertical ones. Costs may run between $4 million and $7 million U.S. for a horizontal shale well. Vertical wells can be drilled for only $1-2 million U.S.
Reusable drilling rigs that cost up to $16 million apiece are generally used for horizontally drilling Marcellus shale wells.