WorldWide Drilling Resource

Drilling Programs in the River Basins of Wyoming Information Provided by Samson Resources II, LLC Samson Resources II, LLC has commenced a promising drilling program, which will involve drilling five wells on the company’s Fort Union property located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The drilling program at the Fort Union property will entail using two rigs to drill the wells in the Fort Union Formation, which is a liquid-rich gas formation. The compa- ny will employ a modern completion design to stimulate the reservoir and maximize the deliverability from each well. In addition to this drilling program, the company has embarked on an aggressive state and federal permitting program across its assets in the Powder River Basin in anticipation of an active drilling program in the second half of 2018, when the next regulatory drilling window is open. Joseph Mills, president and CEO said, “We are very excited to announce the commencement of this drilling pro- gram as Samson gets back to what we do best, finding oil and gas production and reserves at attractive rates of return. We believe this program will position us for an active drilling plan in the Greater Green River and Powder River Basin of Wyoming in 2018.” 4< /*2'3* "& > > > > ,'< ? /2+ '6* /3+6 /3+6 ')1/3- " " !8=2+ /7843 4* 4* ')1/3- !+8 5)7 !8'3*'6* $'2:+ 9((+6 6':+2 $'2:+ 9((+6 !+'87 9((+6 $'2:+ 37+687 #6+8.'3+ $'2:+ 37+687 $'2:+ !56/3- ! ! $'2:+ 4:+6 '71+8 ? !;/:+2 ')1/3- ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 6/)+7 !9(0+)8 "4 .'3-+ %/8.498 48/)+ !@ @ < < < < < 42 JANUARY 2018 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® The World’s Highest Glacier Successfully Drilled Adapted from Information by Aberystwyth University A team of scientists undertook a six-week mission to a glacier located at the foothills of Mount Everest in Nepal. The team successfully completed the first ever drilling of the Khumbu glacier, which has the highest altitude for any glacier. Professor Hubbard from Aberystwyth University led the drilling as part of the EverDrill project led by the University of Leeds in the U.K. Before starting to drill, the team made their way up to the glacier over a period of eight days to acclimatize to the lower levels of oxygen at the drill sites. Working at an altitude of roughly 16,400 feet, a specially adapted car wash unit was used to drill into the ten-mile-long glacier at three different points. The unit used by the team for drilling pro- duces a jet of hot water at a high enough pressure to penetrate road tarmac. Sensors for recording the glacier’s internal tem- perature and how it flows were installed to collect data. At the highest point near Everest base camp, the team spent three days drilling nearly 500 feet down into the glacier before recording its internal structure using a 360-degree camera. At the lower end of Khumbu, the team successfully drilled about 150 feet down to the bed of the glacier. While drilling at the mid-point, the team encountered rocks and mud sediment. Professor Hubbard said, “Working in the field is challenging at best, but on this occasion our equipment worked as well as can be expected at such high altitude, where the air is so thin. At the outset, we were expecting to encounter a lot of debris in the form of rocks and stones in the glacier. These would have made drilling more challenging. As things turned out, drilling at the highest and lowest points was relatively trouble free, which in itself tells us quite a bit about the internal structure of the glacier.” Situated in a region notorious for its seismic activity and prone to large earthquakes, the Khumbu and surrounding area are the source of water for around 40% of the world’s population. The expedition is seeking to develop a better understanding of how the glacier flows, so they can better predict when the dams which form on these glaciers are likely to be breached, releasing life-threatening volumes of water to the valleys below. Data collected during the expedition will be combined with satellite images to understand how the glacier moves and changes over time, and how it might respond to anticipated changes in climate. A few months after drilling, members of the team returned to the drill sites to retrieve temperature sensors and investigate how it moves during the wet season. Current satellite data suggests the glacier moves more during the monsoon season. The team is hoping to corroborate this data with the data collected from the glacier itself. A second drilling mission to the Khumbu glacier is planned for spring 2018. A team member and Professor Hubbard, flying the Aberystwyth University flag at drill site 3, courtesy of Aberystwyth University.