A Review Of The Developments In Oil Well Drilling Techniques In The Agreement Area, 1962-1967

The Iranian Oil Exploration and Producing Company is now making considerably more footage at less cost in the Agreement Area than it was making five years ago. The estimated exploration Cost per foot for 1967 is only 47% of the actual cost in 1962 and the estimated development cost per foot 72% of that of 1962.It is the aim of this paper to indicate the factors responsible for such dramatic progress over the past five years. Discussion The reduction in drilling cost per foot of 53% in the exploration field and 28% in the development wells over the 5-year period 1962 - 1967 in the Agreement Area is dually significant in that we not only drill at a relatively lower cost per foot now than in 1962, but because of the generally high cost of drilling in the Agreement Area, this relatively lower cost implies a significant saving in the total operating costs of the Company. The overall progress achieved in Drilling in South Iran is attributable to improvements brought about in individual phases of operations, each of which is discussed a briefly in the following: 1. Drilling Hydraulics A major contributor to the improved rate of penetration in the south Iranian Fields was the introduction of jet bitdrilling about 1960. The early jet bit, however, did not achieve the degree of merit it deserved as we did not have pumps with the required pressure ratings for ultimate efficiency in jet bit drilling.