Drilling practices

From Wikimarcellus

At night, a lit-up well pad looks all the world like a NASA launch pad. The drill boom and platform are completely illuminated by flood lights and stand in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape which is only dimmly visible in reflected moonlight.

Drill pad workers work 12 hour shifts for two weeks straight and then get the next two off. Experienced drill hands come in from Texas and Colorado and live in mobile homes near the drilling site. When they get their two week break, the workers often head home to waiting families.

The drill bore runs approximately 8.5 foot in diameter. Ninty foot sections of pipe are used to line the well, and as the drilling gets deeper more sections of pipe are attached. The pipe is kept in a rack and hung from the drill boom for easy installation.

Drilling rigs are outfitted with hydraulic feet which sit on pallets. The feet are for walking the rig around the drill site by edging the feet horizontally along the ground. The ability to "walk" a rig helps keep costs down when multiple horizontal well bores are planned for a pad.

The entire process is heavily automated and computer controlled. The computer operator sits inside a pullpit and coordinates the drilling.

Drilling mud is held in a containment pit on the side of a pad, and it is trucked out to a waste water treatment facility for disposal.

Once drilling and fracing are complete a well head, measuring about four feet square, is installed as well as various holding tanks.