The Gas Technology Institute's study, with academia, government and oil industry partners, of laser-drilling viability has won a continuance, after a two-year initial review and cursory determination that not as much energy is needed, as once thought, for the laser technique to work. Also, improvements in optical-fiber characteristics and coiled tubing, and in the availability of lasers with enough power to cut rock, are giving the study project an extended life. Under review now are the exact energy needs, empirically and theoretically; the benefits of the variable-pulse laser technique; and the problem of laser drilling in the presence of fluids. In regards to drilling in the presence of fluids, "the technical challenge is to determine whether too much laser energy will be required to vaporize and clear away fluid. Initially, research will be conducted to determine the change in energy required to remove material from water-saturated rock specimens as compared with corresponding dry rock samples," the GTI reports. The initial study was of feasibility, cost, benefits and environmental impact. Project partners are the Colorado School of Mines, the Department of Energy, oil company PDVSA and Halliburton Energy Services . "The oil and gas industry introduced a radical change at the turn of the last century, displacing cable tool drilling with rotary drilling. Since then, great strides have been made in refining the rotary technique, but no fundamental revolutionary changes have been introduced," says Richard Parker, project director, GTI E&P Services. Brian Gahan, project principal investigator, GTI E&P Services, says, "There are two pressures acting on the drilling industry today: more wells drilled per year to meet an increased demand for product, and the recent rapid reduction in the available rig count. Now is the time to introduce a fundamental improvement in drilling systems." Should the study continue beyond 2001, the examiners hope to consider the viability of laser use in downhole well completion and stimulation.
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