The National Iranian Drilling Company has the ability to raise the bar when it comes to performing air drilling operations in compliance with international standards, head of air drilling at National Iranian Drilling Company said.
"The technique, known as pneumatic percussion, has been used in drilling procedures in several oilfields in Fars Province namely Tabnak, Aghar, Dalan, Shanoul, Homa. Plans are underway to expand the procedure," Ali Najmi Moqadam was quoted as saying by the National Iranian Oil Company news portal on Wednesday.
NIDC, a subsidiary of NIOC, is committed to providing environmentally safe services and employees have been trained to be conscious of the environment at the work place, Najmi Moqadam said.
Better known for being more efficient and less costly than conventional drilling, air drilling has a 60-year history of use in the industry, he said. “The type of air drilling depends on the drill site conditions, including presence of water and oil-based mud, a drilling fluid used in drilling engineering.
Najmi Moqadam said air drilling methods include dust drilling, mist drilling, foam drilling, aerated drilling, and nitrogen membrane, all of which are used by NIDC technicians. In the cutting-edge technique, compressed air or nitrogen is used to cool the drill bit and lift the cuttings of a wellbore in place of conventionally used liquids.
Air drilling has plus points, some of which are the low cost, increased rate of penetration as well as extended bit life.
Land Burner
NIDC experts have designed and manufactured the first indigenized well test burner dubbed "Land Burner" to address the environmentally-unfriendly fallout conditions that occur from crude oil disposal during traditional well testing operations.
"Two types of the equipment have been produced, with six successful tests in two major oilfields, namely South Azadegan and Sarvestan," Jahangir Shojaei, NIDC technical services director said.
Well testing during exploration and appraisal includes the production of hydrocarbons with a temporary production facility to obtain fluid samples. Burners are used to prevent the pollution of land or marine surface through the release of explored liquids during testing.
According to Shojaei, the oil industry is committed to environmentally-friendly exploration and appraisal, and with the improved burner technology the fallout of unburned hydrocarbons and dense smoke clouds can be significantly reduced or eliminated during well testing operations.
"The Land Burner is aimed at removing residue resulting from inefficient flaring that has an adverse impact on the environment," he said.
NIDC, involved in 70% of Iran's onshore drilling, has 73 drilling rigs 68 of which are used in joint oilfields, namely Azar in Ilam Province as well as South Pars, the world's largest gas field shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
