IADC Geothermal Committee working to create geothermal well standards

Drilling rig (source: Nabors Industries)

The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) Geothermal Committee is working to develop a much needed set of standardized industry guidelines for drilling geothermal wells that will help to advance the geothermal sector. One of the goals is to create a well classification system that accounts for factors like reservoir dependency, well purpose, design and operation, rig requirements, well control, and environmental impact.

Interest from the industry

The idea to create a Geothermal Committee stemmed from the 2022 IADC World Drilling Conference in Paris, where the idea of a forum for drilling contractors who are interested in geothermal was discussed. This led to the formation of an IADC geothermal workgroup that worked to worked to formally assess member interest and evaluate the objectives and deliverables of a Geothermal Committee as recounted by Lars Nydahl Jorgensen, Regional Director Europe at IADC.

“We sent out e-mails to drilling contractors and service companies that are engaged in geothermal, and very soon we had several companies saying we needed to do something,” Mr Jorgensen said.

“The value proposition for geothermal is definitely there,” said Scott Farmer, Well Engineering Manager at Helmerich & Payne (H&P) and Chairman of the Geothermal Committee. “While it’s not exactly like traditional oil and gas, we have a lot of people in this industry who are very passionate about geothermal. There are a lot of companies waiting in the wings, keeping an eye on what’s going on.”

A geothermal well classification system

One of the first gaps the workgroup identified was the lack of industry guidelines around the drilling of geothermal wells. The lack of an international standard governing geothermal drilling has slowed the industry’s development. “We need to have some kind of standardized, international guidelines that we can point to that show – both to the industry and policymakers – that this is how we should drill these types of wells. We need to cut that red tape when it comes to rig specifications and equipment,” commented Farmer.

Since the Geothermal Committee was established in November, members have been working on a well classification system that “reflects the practicalities of putting a hole in the ground,” as well as the risk and difficulty associated with the initial construction and long-term operation of a geothermal well. This classification is a precursor to a dedicated guideline on geothermal wells.

An initial draft hierarchy of seven classes has been outlined:

• Reservoir dependency
• Well purpose
• Design and operation
• Rig hookload
• Well control
• Drilling difficulty
• Environmental impact

The committee has mostly decided on “reservoir dependency” and “well purpose” as classes and subclasses, but Farmers says that there is still plenty of work to be done before the guideline can be finalized. In particular, the committee is deliberating whether differences in temperature and pressure should be considered during the well’s operation and construction.

The committee aims to deliver a final draft version of the classification by the end of Q3 this year for industry comments and to publish the classification in Q4. This will launch the wider body of work required for the guideline – which will be included in the IADC Drilling Manual.

The IADC Geothermal Conference

The IADC also aims to provide forums for great discussion on geothermal issues. As such, the first IADC Geothermal Conference is planned to be held in March 2025 in Vienna.

“Who knows where geothermal development will be in a year, but I think a lot of the companies we’ve been seeing at geothermal presentations at other conferences should be there,” said Farmer.

“With the international nature of geothermal development, all of these companies in different regions and all these different challenges that you see from place to place, having that sort of forum for that kind of discussion will be pretty critical. It will be great to have a conference from IADC that’s solely devoted to this topic.”

Source: Drilling Contractor