Lasing into the Future: Potentials of Laser Drilling in the Petroleum Industry

Abstract

The need for a new method of drilling oil and gas wells is immense. Current drilling techniques used were developed at the beginning of the last century. Many problems persist with this method including downtime due to dull bits, the lack of precise vertical or horizontal wells and formation fluid leakage during drilling due to the lack of a seal around the hole. Laser drilling is a new technology that has been proposed as a method to eliminate the current problems while drilling. Although experiments for laser drilling were conducted in the 1960s and 1970s, it is only recently that this research area has been redirected to the oil and gas industry.

This article reviews the benefits of laser drilling, current laser types, and the experimental work that has been conducted. The experimental work conducted thus far is performed with several different lasers such as the US Army's MIRACL and the US Navy's COIL. The data that was generated by these studies was executed on several types of cores including sandstone, limestone, and shale. The effect that lasing has on porosity and permeability as well as the effect of saturation and pressure on lasing was determined. The work conducted shows that a great future potential awaits the oil and gas industry with laser drilling.

Keywords:

• Petroleum well drilling
• Ultrafast drilling
• Extended reach drilling