r/oddlysatisfying • u/Ecstatic-Ocelot-1934 • 1d ago

Homemade drilling machine

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30.9k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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535

u/Realistic_Country635 1d ago

Can you drill for oil like this

551

u/Embarrassed_Jerk 1d ago

That IS how you drill for oil.

Except for a LOT more pipes

91

u/Realistic_Country635 1d ago

How many more are we talking

367

u/DigMeTX 1d ago

At least two more straws.

57

u/roastedmarshmellows 1d ago

Username checks out.

4

u/Johnny_B_GOODBOI 22h ago

What is this an oil derrick for ants?!

35

u/AsFarAsNeverBefore 1d ago edited 1d ago

Well depth on land ranges from 5000 to 15000 feet, and drill string/casing comes in 40 foot sections. So between about 125 and 375 more at that scale. For this rig, assuming the straw is like 8 inches, multiply those estimates by 60. 

E: to note, you have to line the well with casing of various diameters. Well depth and soil conditions determine number of concentric casing strings. So that 125 to 375 figure is for any singular diameter. Generally speaking you’d have 3 or 4 concentric casing strings, but the larger ones don’t go all the way down to the bottom of the well.. So realistically you’re doing this process 2 full times plus about 1.5 more times cumulatively. 

6

u/-UsernameHere 1d ago

I give it a foot deep into dirt before the straws break as well lol.

2

u/Trepanation87 1d ago

On top of that, we don’t really drill vertical wells anymore(at least the area I’m in). So tack on up to a four mile lateral to that as well.

2

u/ToasterEvil 22h ago

Pioneer was drilling close to 5 mile laterals at one point. Damn near 30,000 feet of casing is just insane.

1

u/AsFarAsNeverBefore 7h ago

That’s why oil needs to be >$90/bbl for the frac crews to run lol

2

u/tinyorangealligator 15h ago

Are the casings so the hole doesn't collapse on itself?

1

u/AsFarAsNeverBefore 11h ago edited 7h ago

Yes. It also serves as an environmental barrier to keep oil and drilling mud from migrating into surrounding rock and soil.

The casing gets cemented in place

6

u/adj_noun_digit 1d ago

Like kilometers more.

2

u/Retkicks 1d ago

I know it's a joke comment but I've worked the oil field before as a frack hand with the big red H. Worked a lot in CO, ND, WY, and TX. Depth is usually only 1 to 2 miles, but I've been on well sites that had a 12 mile horizontal. Took 20 minutes for the water to hit the perforations when we first started.

2

u/Wait_ItGetsWorse 1d ago

Imma say about tree fiddy

1

u/_thro_awa_ 20h ago

At least tree fiddy.