Hydraulic Radial Drilling Using a Rotary Hydraulic Nozzle Aimed at Increasing the Exploitation of Deposits

Abstract

The exploration and development of new hydrocarbon deposits face increasing challenges, primarily driven by the shift away from hydrocarbons towards renewable energy sources like shallow geothermal deposits, wind farms, and photovoltaics. This shift necessitates finding solutions that minimize environmental impact and enable increased energy extraction from existing or decommissioned fields and wells. This paper explores the possibility of excavating from potentially depleted fields, where a significant portion (up to 85%) of the reservoir’s resources remain unrecoverable due to low reservoir energy. To address this, secondary and tertiary exploitation methods are proposed involving the supply of external energy to increase the pressure in the reservoir layer, thereby enhancing resource exploitation. One of the suggested tertiary methods involves reaming the deposit with multiple small-diameter radial holes using a hydraulic drilling nozzle. The entire process comprises several key components, including the coiled tubing unit (CTU), high-pressure flexible hose, window drilling kit for casing pipe, kit for positioning the exit of the hydraulic drilling head from the casing pipe, anchor, and hydraulic drilling head attached to the end of the high-pressure flexible hose. This method aims to increase the contact between the reservoir layer and the wellbore, potentially leading to an increase in or initiation of exploitation in certain deposit scenarios. The described method presents an environmentally friendly approach, eliminating the need for drilling new boreholes and offering cost-effective access to resources in decommissioned deposits with insufficient reservoir energy for self-exploitation. The applicability of this method to extract methane from coalbed seams is also mentioned in this article. In a separate article, the authors detail the design of a hydraulic drilling nozzle specifically for reaming the reservoir layer.