Laser Drilling in the Oil and Gas Industry

Laser drilling, the latest hybrid laser-mechanical technology can dramatically reduce energy requirements for drilling purposes. With the application of laser drilling, energy and power companies can successfully reduce the cost, time and power consumed in carrying out oil and gas exploration activities. Let’s learn how in this blog as we study Laser Drilling in comparison to the erstwhile conventional drilling methods.

In the Past

For over a century now, across the globe, mechanical drilling has been the norm in the production of oil and gas. This is not an economical process if the fields are capped by hard rocks made of basalt and granite, as a high tonnage of weight is required for the drill to penetrate, and therefore, the bit gets worn out very quickly. In 2009, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) announced a grant worth USD 9.14 million, for the development of a low-contact drilling technology. A firm based in Houston, Texas, Foro Energy, has successfully demonstrated with its innovation, that a 20 kW laser power, when delivered through a special optical fiber, can drill even through hard rock. The process that has been successfully developed so far, involves the heating of the rock surface using a high-power laser beam. By integrating the laser with a mechanical drilling bit, the thermal shock can soften the rock, after which, the drill removes the softened layer.

Improved Efficiency with Laser Drilling

The entire process of laser drilling is of acute importance for the oil and gas industry, as this latest hybrid laser-mechanical technology can dramatically reduce energy requirements for drilling purposes. While the conventional drills require the power of about 2000 HP (1.5 MW), the hybrid technology can do the same task in 10 HP (7.5 kW) which is a petite value in comparison to the conventional drills. Therefore, with the application of laser drilling, energy and power companies can successfully reduce the time and power consumed in carrying out oil and gas exploration activities, along with cutting down on the associated costs.

This principle takes the advantage of basic rock destruction mechanisms, such as thermal spalling, vaporization, fusion, chemical reactions, and mechanical stresses. It has been observed that by increasing the intensity of the laser beam, various changes, such as phase changes, dehydration of clays, release of gases and thermal stresses, etc., can be observed in the rock.

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Ramona Graves, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, has demonstrated the considerable potential of laser drilling, by employing an advanced chemical laser using a high-power diode laser, to drill through rock. The commercial development of this process is underway, and if successful, has the potential to transform the oil and gas industry for the better. A portable setup for oil drilling includes a 20 KW fiber laser and a low-loss fiber optic cable. When a high power light of 1070 nm is driven down the well, it fractures the rock and allows even a low-power mechanical drill to remove the rocky layers. It has been estimated that this technology can cut down the power required for drilling, by up to 90%.

In 1999, over 20,000 oil, gas, and dry wells were drilled onshore in the United States alone. The average depth of these wells was around 23,000 miles, a whopping three times the diameter of the Earth! A GTI (Gas Technology Institute) study conducted in 1995 indicated that in the expenditure incurred on well construction, around half of the time involved drilling – half of which involved the inward and outward movement of the drill bit, while the other half was accounted for, by cementing and casing. Therefore, it was evident that significant cost reductions could be incurred, if drilling could be made less time consuming and more efficient. And laser technology comes as a rescue in this regard, for if we realise that everything, be it the capital expenditure, man-power, man-hours involved in carrying out can be phenomenally reduced with the help of innovative technologies.

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