Innovative drilling technology

The first wells used to search for oil were drilled more than 150 years ago. Since that time on, various innovations have been adopted to drill deeper and deeper wells thanks to which we are now able to reach oil and gas reserves located also at 12 kilometres into the earth. We have met several challenges over the years, but, because drill bits and rigs are constantly evolving by seeking new ways of getting the bit down to the depth required in a safe manner, our industry has allowed billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas to be produced for industrial growth and development. Indeed, the history of drilling is rich with innovations that have fundamentally changed the world. The aim of this thesis is to show the most important innovations in drilling and completion techniques and technologies in comparison with the traditional ones. This research briefly outlines the oil and gas drilling techniques from the beginning of the petroleum history and follows the trend to today's methods describing the relative components of which they are composed. A portion of the work will be used to point out also completion techniques and part of the innovations in that field, knowing that their variety is immense and in continuos developing. The work displays general caracteristics of innovative drilling methods as Directional drilling, Multilateral drilling, Extended Reach Drilling, Automatic drilling and Laser drilling; furthermore, Intelligent Well Completion, Through tubing drilling and completion, Well matrix stimulation without HCl and Unconventional stimulation according to the innovative completion technology.