Drilling

Reservoir fluids are accessed by drilling a well and then preparing the well for the production or injection of fluids. This chapter discusses drilling rights and related issues, and describes rotary drilling rigs and the basics of the drilling process, and different types of wells. Extraction of oil and gas from a subsurface formation requires access to the resource. Financing project costs often involve a joint operating agreement (JOA) with multiple participants. The nature of agreements that moderate the balance of control between owner and operator continues to evolve. Rotary drilling was introduced in the late nineteenth century and became the primary drilling method by the early twentieth century. A variety of power systems are used on rigs, including mechanical systems, dieselelectric silicon‐controlled rectifiers (SCR), and AC systems. The chapter considers five stages of the drilling process: planning, site preparation, drilling, open‐hole logging, and setting production casing.