Horizontal Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing Explained скачать в хорошем качестве

Horizontal Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing Explained

Hydraulic fracturing is a completion technique, meaning it is performed after the oil or natural gas well has been drilled. Like horizontal drilling, this technique has been practiced for many years. Hydraulic fracturing involves forcing a liquid under high pressure from a wellbore against a rock formation until it fractures. The injected fluid contains a proppant—small, solid particles, usually sand or a man-made granular solid of similar size—that wedges open the expanding fractures. The proppant keeps the fracture open, allowing hydrocarbons such as crude oil and natural gas to flow more easily from the additional surface area to the rock formation provided by the fractures back to the wellbore (the drilled hole) and then to the surface.