James Van Blaricum
The exact placement of the drill site depends on a variety of factors, including the nature of the potential formation to be drilled, the characteristics of the subsurface geology, and the depth and size of the target deposit. After the geophysical team identifies the optimal location for a well, it is necessary for the drilling company to ensure that they complete all the necessary steps to ensure that they can legally drill in that area. This usually involves securing permits for the drilling operations, establishment of a legal arrangement to allow the natural gas company to extract and sell the resources under a given area of land, and a design for gathering lines that will connect the well to the pipeline. There are a variety of potential owners of the land and mineral rights of a given area. To learn more about permitting, leasing, and royalties associated with the extraction of natural gas, click here.
If the new well, once drilled, does in fact come in contact with natural gas deposits, it is developed to allow for the extraction of this natural gas, and is termed a 'development' or 'productive' well. At this point, with the well drilled and hydrocarbons present, the well may be completed to facilitate its production of natural gas. However, if the exploration team was incorrect in its estimation of the existence of marketable quantity of natural gas at a wellsite, the well is termed a 'dry well', and production does not proceed. To jump ahead and learn about the production of natural gas, click here.