The difference between drilling engineering and drilling

1、 Differences between Definition and Objectives

1. Drilling engineering: refers to a comprehensive project that involves drilling holes underground through mechanical or manual means to achieve oil and gas extraction, geothermal development, groundwater extraction, or underground space construction (such as tunnel anchoring). The core goal is to build a long-term stable underground passage, which requires consideration of subsequent processes such as well completion, cementing, and production increase. For example, the drilling depth of shale gas wells usually reaches 3000-5000 meters (according to the International Petroleum Engineering Handbook), and a production cycle of more than 20 years needs to be guaranteed.

2. Drilling: It is a drilling operation aimed at geological investigation, mineral exploration, or scientific research, with a focus on obtaining rock cores, soil samples, or fluid samples. Drilling into the Antarctic ice sheet only requires a few hundred meters of depth to obtain climate data for tens of thousands of years (according to the US NSF report), without considering long-term maintenance of the wellbore.

2、 Comparison of Technical Processes and Equipment

1. The drilling project adopts standardized operations throughout the entire process:

-Pre drilling design: requires a combination of geological modeling and economic benefit analysis;

-Drilling rig selection: For deep wells, electric drilling rigs with a capacity of over 3000HP (such as National Oilwell Varco's FlexRigs) are commonly used;

-Completion stage: It is necessary to insert casing and inject cement for well cementing, with a cost accounting for up to 35% of the total budget (SPE data).

2. Drilling is more flexible:

-Sampling priority: Use a lightweight core drilling rig (such as Atlas Copco CS14) with a diameter typically less than 150mm;

-Real time analysis: The field laboratory can detect the composition of samples on site without the need for complex well completion processes.

3、 Industry standards and risk control

1. Drilling engineering is subject to strict safety supervision, such as the mandatory requirements for casing steel grade in API Spec 5CT (J55/K55, etc.), and the blowout accident rate must be less than 0.1 ‰ (OSHA standard);

2. Drilling focuses on data accuracy, and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) requires a core recovery rate of ≥ 90%, but has lower environmental requirements, allowing the use of biodegradable drilling fluids.

4、 The impact of emerging technologies

With the development of automation, the boundary between the two is gradually blurred:

-Introduction of measurement while drilling (LWD) technology in drilling engineering to achieve geological guidance;

-Intelligent drill rods have emerged in the drilling field, which can transmit real-time formation pressure data (Schlumberger Techlog system).

In summary, drilling engineering is the "production line" for resource development, while drilling is the "microscope" for geological research. There are essential differences between the two in terms of goal orientation and technical details, but technological innovation is driving collaborative development.