The Steps for Oil and Gas Development Projects

There are several steps that oil and gas developments undergo in the process to become successful, producing mines. Traditional oil and gas extraction techniques are classified into four different categories, as noted below.

• Exploration – This process includes searching for valuable rock formations that contain or are highly likely to contain natural oil or gas deposits. This process can include exploratory drilling methods or even geophysical prospecting techniques.
• Well Development – This second part of the development process includes locating recoverable fields that are economical. This phase includes one or more wells being constructed, also known as spudding, or abandoning drilled wells if hydrocarbons are not present.
• Production – This involves extracting hydrocarbons from the earth, separating them with mixtures of liquid gas, hydrocarbons, solids and water, which then removes any non-saleable impurities. This natural gas process can be conducted at a processing plant or in the field. Oil is generally shipped to a refinery for processing.
• Site Abandonment – When a site is determined to be economically unviable, it is legally abandoned. This process includes plugging all wells and restoring sites to their natural states.

There are several different drilling technologies and methods that are commonly used in today’s oil and gas fields.

• Horizontal Drilling – This method starts with a traditional vertical well and then expands into a horizontal well to help expose more surface area within the reservoir. Horizontal tunnels or legs can be upwards of a mile long. The longer these tunnels run, the faster natural gas and oil drains from the wells. These types of wells are perfect for drilling areas that were once thought untappable, producing nearly 15 to 20 times more than traditional vertical wells.
• Multilateral Drilling – This technique is used when natural gas or oil reserves are in separate underground layers. This allows drilling to branch into different depths, significantly increasing production levels.
• Extended Reach Drilling – This method of drilling is ideal for reaching extended distances from set drilling rigs, making this perfect for environmentally sensitive areas, such as wetlands or bogs. Using this method allows drillers to reach more than five miles from the well’s surface location.
• Complex Path Drilling – This is used for drilling complicated wells that require several turns and twists. This drilling method may be more cost effective than drilling several wells.

There are several benefits to using advanced drilling technologies, including increasing production and reserves, boosting production from under-performing reservoirs and allowing drillers to force more production from reservoirs.

Mineloans.com uses several criteria when determining the value of well funding. Their expert staff is dedicated to solely working with mine funding, including oil well funding and natural gas loans.