What is an oil well?
What is an oil well? It has been defined in many ways, some clever and some simplistic. "An oil well is a well that produces oil" Some definitions are further refined to state that an oil well is one which produces at least one barrel of oil for every 100,000 gallons of natural gas.
What is an oil well? In its simplest terms, an oil well is the penetration of the surface of the earth in order to find both hydrocarbons and natural gas.
In earliest times wells were opened by percussion methods, simply pounding a metal bar into the earth. This method was soon replaced by the use of a rotary bit, to which lengths of pipe are added. Wells could thus be much deeper and could be dug at a much faster rate. Another improvement in modern wells with rotary bits is the ability to drill horizontally, or almost horizontally, this directional drilling allows for drilling under land that is sensitive environmentally or perhaps under populated land.
In determining what is an oil well, five stages of development must be considered.
- Planning for the site, planning the form of the construction, choosing the site, preparing the materials, setting up the platform and bringing in the tools and equipment.
- Drilling
- Completion—attaching the Christmas tree, testing flow and pumping stations.
- Production—this is the meat-and-potatoes for the site. The oil is actually flowing and expected to continue.
- Abandonment—A non-producing well, may be phased back or eventually phased out.
Another way to look at what an oil well is categorizes by type of oil well. Production wells are drilled primarily for the production of oil or gas. Appraisal wells are intended to check the flow rate of a hydrocarbon accumulation. Exploration wells are drilled solely to look at possibilities in a new area. A wildcat well is drilled in a place that's solely speculative. The wildcatter is playing a hunch. Interestingly enough in the early days of drilling in Texas, a wildcat well was as likely to hit as one based on sound scientific and geological principles.
What an oil well is identifies the basic parts of the well. Above the ground is the platform which surrounds the derrick and holds the spare pipe, the engine which runs the drill and the electric generator. Below the ground is the drill bit itself, the drill pipe and the casing surrounding the drill string. In addition to the obvious parts described above, many people do not realize the efforts which the driller goes through in order to prevent devastate damage to the environment. Even plastic sheets are placed in situ so that the land is not damaged by the efforts of the mud, parts, disruption of the earth's surface and walking the area.
What an oil well is has not changed much for many years, but efforts to have a happier and more balanced working crew is definitely impacting chose who are still unpacking from the final move.
What is an oil well? In its simplest terms, an oil well is the penetration of the surface of the earth in order to find both hydrocarbons and natural gas.
In earliest times wells were opened by percussion methods, simply pounding a metal bar into the earth. This method was soon replaced by the use of a rotary bit, to which lengths of pipe are added. Wells could thus be much deeper and could be dug at a much faster rate. Another improvement in modern wells with rotary bits is the ability to drill horizontally, or almost horizontally, this directional drilling allows for drilling under land that is sensitive environmentally or perhaps under populated land.
In determining what is an oil well, five stages of development must be considered.
- Planning for the site, planning the form of the construction, choosing the site, preparing the materials, setting up the platform and bringing in the tools and equipment.
- Drilling
- Completion—attaching the Christmas tree, testing flow and pumping stations.
- Production—this is the meat-and-potatoes for the site. The oil is actually flowing and expected to continue.
- Abandonment—A non-producing well, may be phased back or eventually phased out.
Another way to look at what an oil well is categorizes by type of oil well. Production wells are drilled primarily for the production of oil or gas. Appraisal wells are intended to check the flow rate of a hydrocarbon accumulation. Exploration wells are drilled solely to look at possibilities in a new area. A wildcat well is drilled in a place that's solely speculative. The wildcatter is playing a hunch. Interestingly enough in the early days of drilling in Texas, a wildcat well was as likely to hit as one based on sound scientific and geological principles.
What an oil well is identifies the basic parts of the well. Above the ground is the platform which surrounds the derrick and holds the spare pipe, the engine which runs the drill and the electric generator. Below the ground is the drill bit itself, the drill pipe and the casing surrounding the drill string. In addition to the obvious parts described above, many people do not realize the efforts which the driller goes through in order to prevent devastate damage to the environment. Even plastic sheets are placed in situ so that the land is not damaged by the efforts of the mud, parts, disruption of the earth's surface and walking the area.
What an oil well is has not changed much for many years, but efforts to have a happier and more balanced working crew is definitely impacting chose who are still unpacking from the final move.
