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Gold/Mining/Energy : KOB.TO - East Lost Hills & GSJB joint venture -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: griff who wrote (5587)	10/8/1999 11:46:00 PM
From: grayhairs	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15703

Hi griff, I don't know exactly what he means by "excess" but ALL natural gas "recovered" at surface will be flared. It will not simply be vented to the atmosphere as that could lead to a pretty good KABOOOM !! So, where does the gas come from ?? As the drill bit progresses downward it grinds and crushes the gas bearing rocks. The gas that was contained in the pore spaces of the rock is suddenly "free". That gas gets picked up (as do the rock cuttings) by the mud system and circulated up the wellbore to surface (BTW, it probably takes about an hour or so to make that 2.65 mile trip !!). At surface the gas is removed from the mud and transferred to a flare where it is burned. When the bottomhole pressure exerted by the weight of the mud column exceeds the formation pressure, no additional gas will flow to surface. The flared gas volumes in this situation are not even noticeable over and above the "pilot light" flame which burns continuously. If, however, the gas pressure in the reservoir should exceed the bottomhole pressure exerted by the mud column, gas will flow from the reservoir into the wellbore while the well is being drilled. This can lead to a "more meaningful volumes" of gas at surface and a much larger flare !!!! If the mud weight is too low (relative to the formation pressures encountered) gas flow from the formation can actually blow the mud out of the wellbore and result in an uncontrolled flow or blowout situation. This is why the penetration rate is deliberately slow. They are ensuring a proper mud weight to control the formation pressure and they are being very particular about removing all natural gas and water which contaminate the mud system during drilling. They are understandably very concerned about the safety of the crew. Have a pleasant evening and Thanksgiving weekend. Later, grayhairs