A specially designed hybrid “microhole” coiled tubing rig recently concluded the drilling of 25 test wells to penetrate a particularly intractable natural gas formation called the Niobrara in western Kansas and eastern Colorado. The effort delivered cost savings of 25 to 35 percent per well drilled compared with conventional drilling equipment. As a result, about 1 trillion cubic feet of shallow gas that had been bypassed by conventional drilling has now been made economic. That volume equates to about 5 percent of America’s annual natural gas consumption.
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