Improved Drilling and Production Methods in North and Central Texas

Abstract

As my subject covers improved drilling and production methods in the Northand Central Texas area alone, some well known improvements applicable to othersections will not be treated in this discussion. There are also certainpractices in use in this area, such as the rejuvenation of sands with gas andair which might be discussed but will not receive attention because they arefully presented in other papers. Probably 50 per cent of the new ideas in equipment originate in the field, but the field man, in most cases, through lack of scientific training and hislimited knowledge of metal and alloys, is unable to carry the idea through to asatisfactory conclusion. He must, therefore, call upon the engineer ormetallurgist; together they work out their problems and the ideamaterializes. To obtain oil or gas it is necessary to drill a well, and each year seesthis operation become more and more of a problem because of increasing depths.Wells in North Texas are producing at depths below 4000 ft. and in California, there is a well now drilling below 8000 ft. The deepest well drilled by cabletools, that we have a record of, was drilled to a depth of 7756 ft. In thefuture wells 10,000 ft. deep will not be uncommon. The drilling of wells totwice the depth in half the time required in the early days is made possibleonly by the use of better equipment combined with better knowledge and methodsof operating. The greatest improvements have been made in rotary equipment, whereas cabletools are today practically the same as when Captain Drake drilled his firstwell in Pennsylvania. Possibly no better comparison of the progress made can behad than that of the equipment used in drilling the first field at Corsicanaand that used in drilling the present deep field. The first wells were drilledto a depth of 1500 to 1600 ft. using 12-in. rotaries, 3-in. shafts and smalldraw works with single speed 35-hp. boilers and 9 by 10 single engines. At thattime they had no grief stems, tool joints, drive bushings, or any of theessentials that today make up the equipment of any up-to-date contractor.Instead they had grip rings, casing for drill pipe, small pumps, and in short, an outfit so unsuitable that a producer of today would hesitate to use it indrilling a shallow water well.