Talk:Directional drilling

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Eastman[edit]

2012-01-30 Eastman Whipstock is portrayed as the pioneer in directional drilling. It is implied (though not directly stated) that Eastman and his partner were the first in this field. However, it goes on to say that Eastman Whipstock "became" the world's largest directional driller in 1973. To me that seems to imply that they were not the first directional drilling company (unless regaining a position formerly held). So, who are the other early players, what was their role, and what credits are deserved here that have been neglected? Someone who has this info please add it to the article. Thank you. Nathanchronister (talk) 22:57, 30 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Removal[edit]

2005-10-27 Removed the following:

At the time of it's popularity neither of these was readily available in pocket format, certianly not for a few bucks. This is nearly useless. At the time (1930? 1960? 3:00 in the afternoon?) of it's (Wrong pronoun, and what does 'it' refer to?) popularity neither of these (Neither of what?) was readily available in pocket format (Is drilling equiment expected to be available in pocket format?) , certainly not for a few bucks (Is drilling equipment expected to be available for a few bucks?)

Slide Rules don't do trig to the best of my knowledge. This is patently untrue, as even a casual perusal of the article on slide rules will demonstrate. Phrasing is also decidedly unencylopedic —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.51.227.28 (talkcontribs)

Simpsons[edit]

There is a simpsons episode in which this occurs. It could do with mention. ―BenFrantzDale 15:37, 1 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Added. The episode is part one of Who Shot Mr. Burns?. --Georgeryp (talk) 01:58, 12 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Frankly, I see no need to reference a cartoon that has absolutely no bearing on the Directional Drilling industry other than making a reference to stealing oil. ~~User:CurtisDumo 19:15, 22, November 2009 —Preceding undated comment added 02:18, 23 November 2009 (UTC).[reply]

Slant drilling[edit]

I dissagree with: "Directional drilling (sometimes known as slant drilling outside the oil industry)"
Slant drilling is rather drilling with a rig that has a derrick that is oblique, that is not vertical. Slant drilling is used in the oil industry as well, and is differnt from directional drilling because of the technique used to achieve deviated holes: slant starts with an oblique angle of incidence, directional drilling uses a drilling motor with a bent.Qyd 03:53, 15 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, the art of directional drilling involves much more than the simply use of a motor with a bent. In fact, it takes in account the knowledge of the formation you´re drilling into, specially in a highly developed field. In some cases, you may en up "sliding" the string in a zone where the formation dip can do the entire job, or even worse, that formation dip would take the bit anywhere... Talking about the "Slant" term, is some times used to describe "J" type wells, that´s buliding some inclination and then hold a tangencial section. Nickmr, June 2006


I am currently logging a horizontal well. 7500ft. down at 90 degrees 9900 TD , Drilling in the Barnett Shale in North Central Texas. nothing slanted about it ! R.Rhyne. Johnson Co. Texas 9/12/06

Herbm 20:10, 30 December 2006 (UTC) Agree AND Disagree with the criticism of "slant hole": As a former Directional Driller, the term "slant hole drilling" is seldom, if ever, used by professionals to describe such techniques and wells, but it is a popular term among the general public even if incorrect, and even though it is certainly not the proper technical term.[reply]

Kuwait[edit]

Apparently, slant drilling from Kuwait into Iraqi territory was a major cause of the 1990 Iraqi invasion. Can anybody elaborate on that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.40.140.72 (talkcontribs)

Herbm 20:16, 30 December 2006 (UTC) It is widely reported that this was a COMPLAINT given by Saddom Hussein and the Iraqi government (along with the claim that Kuwait was really just a province of Iraq) -- but anyone familiar with directional drilling techniques, especially of the time, would know that such claims could hard justify a war, especially a full scale invasion of Kuwait: Any such well would have needed to be very close to the Iraqi border and could hardly have ever penetrated more than a mile or bit more into Iraqi territory. Any wells using the most advanced technology would have been readily apparent due to the special equipment and special personal required, the more so as the deviation angle and vertical distance of the well increased.[reply]

At the time, technology existed that could be deployed from the ocean and reach 5 miles inland. Maybe it could be deployed inland as well? Abdaly, Kuwait seems like an excellent candidate if the goal was to drill directly into the Iraqi oil export reserves.Zaphraud (talk) 07:43, 2 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As the addition by Herbm appears to be OR and disputed, I've added an appropriate tag. Nil Einne (talk) 13:22, 12 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Article[edit]

The article is almost entirely history of the process. How about the actual mechanics of it, why it is done, how it compares to traditional (vertical) drilling etc? 70.113.93.13 01:09, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Outdated survey procedures named here. The single and multishot 'photo' is rarely used anywhere in directional drilling anymore. For cases where MWD tools cannot be used due to suffering from magnetic interference, or the cost of these in inhibitive then gyroscopic survey tools will be used. Gyroscope tools are also commonly run to provide surveys more accurate than MWD after the section has been drilled, as well as a QC measure, backing up what the MWD has initially produced. 138.32.168.34 (talk) 03:15, 15 June 2009 (UTC) NorthSeaPotatoes[reply]

Would it hurt to add a "Working Principle" section?[edit]

The article burns up a lot of wordage explaining how things evolved and how the technology was used, but it could do a better job of explaining how it actually works. Landroo 19:07, 25 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is a typical piece of shit wiki article since it does not answer the fundamental question, "How is directional drilling accomplished?" and this complaint about the article has sat here for years unanswered.

Is there a way to get wiki removed from my search results without impacting any other legitimate results? So do not simply say use "-wikipedia" in the search string, think about what I asked.

There Will Be Blood Reference[edit]

Judging by this interview with the director/producer/screenwriter of There Will Be Blood which refers to "drainage", not slant drilling - in other words, if straws in surounding plots all tap into the same large milkshake that spans all the plots, drilling in just one of them will eventually deplete the oil under all of them. --Georgeryp (talk) 01:36, 12 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The subjects addressed in "There will be Blood" were very real at the time (drilling deviated wells to steal oil under somebody else's acreage), but rarely apply today any more. I presume that they might have provided the basis for the statement that "horizontal drilling speeds up depletion", which I removed from the article? What is right about this statement is that a horizontal well has the potential to drain and deplete a larger area of the reservoir, i.e. you need to drill less wells to deplete the entire field. However, this is today rather seen as an advantage than a disadvantage, whilst "overdrilling" of a field (depleting a field too fast) is not an issue related to a certain well type, but related to proper reservoir management and licensing rules.--Helgex (talk) 14:35, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Horizontal Directional Drilling forum[edit]

HDDforums.com is a great website to discuss all things related to horizontal directional drilling. Also discussed are rigs made by Vermeer, Case, Ditch Witch, Astec, American Auger and more. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.56.141.134 (talk) 18:50, 8 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

http://hddforums.com is the link for the above referenced forum — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.56.141.134 (talk) 18:52, 8 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Seperate articles?[edit]

The picture at the right has a boring machine. Boring is used for running shallow pipelines from one area to another. It is not used for drilling wells. I suppose you could argue that you are drilling with mud, and a steerable bit. It's pretty unrelated. 'Directional Drilling' typically refers to drilling a well that changes inclination and/or bearing purposefully after it has started. 'Slant' drilling refers to drilling wellbore on an incline, but this incline does not change. Slant wells are typically not considered 'directional' as they try to maintain the same direction.

I'm not good at editing or changing this stuff. I study petroleum, it would make more sense to have three articles.

Boring - Boring pipelines is the alternative to trenching, its used to where trenching is inconvenient due to hills/lakes/roads or other obstacles. It is directional in the sense that it can be steered.

Directional Drilling - The drilling of a wellbore (oil or gas) that is purposefully deviated throughout its drilling to hit a target area. They typically end going straightly horizontal through a horizontal bed of rock, to maximize the area of inflow into the wellbore.

Slant Drilling - Drilling a conventional straight wellbore on an incline. The direction is not intentionally varied, though deviations occur in all drilling. This is done to avoid surface obstacles (farm house, lake, towns), or to minimize lease spacing (ie having many wells drilled from the same 'pad' or location on different slants to have different downhole locations. 24.65.121.48 (talk) 04:58, 21 July 2011 (UTC) R-chops[reply]

Reasonable suggestions. However Wikipedia is written by volunteers, It looks like it may be a long wait before someone with a clue about the topic feels inclined to explain a bit more. One would think there are enough people in the industry that one or two would feel the need to have a better article here, but that is life. · · · Peter Southwood (talk): 13:37, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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