Just a Case of Drilling Rig Envy?

    Of the three horizontal well pads I've seen being drilled, two of them - the Pulaski Whiting in Lawrence county Pa & the Carbon Limestone in Mahoning county Oh - had huge multi-story drilling rigs. The third - the Mahoning Buckner in Lawrence county Pa, not far from my place, is using a much smaller drilling rig, but has also been permitted for horizontal wells. All three pads are owned by Hilcorp. Does the size of the rig say anything about the depth or strata being sought? Does the number of anticipated wells on a pad determine the rig size?

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Permalink Reply by Bill Barnaby on December 14, 2013 at 10:35am

I think they use 2 or 3 rigs, you most likely seen two horizontals and a vertical. That small rig should be replaced.

Permalink Reply by Armstrong Land on December 14, 2013 at 11:10am

The smaller one is an air rig which drills te top hole (2K-3K ft) and the big one is a fluid rig to drill the lateral section.

Permalink Reply by Bob Moran on December 14, 2013 at 11:37am

Thanks Bill & Armstrong. I was hoping some technical folks would clear this up.

Permalink Reply by Bill Barnaby on December 14, 2013 at 11:44am

Thanks for clearing that up a bit.

Permalink Reply by James Foster on December 14, 2013 at 11:47am

Near us in Ohio they do not use two rigs for vertical and lateral. They do use smaller air rigs to set conductor casing. Then big rig either double or triple drills well. They are on site for several weeks. Then smaller workover rigs are seen when it is time to frack .... called plugbuster. Also big cranes used during before or during fracking and no rig. Not sure why sometimes there is a small rig and sometimes just the crane. Have seen many Chesapeake, three Rex, one Hilcorp, one Consul. There is an Atlas well nearby but it is being drilled by Nomac who drills most Chesapeake wells.

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