By Stephen Whitfield, Senior Editor
As drilling contractors continue to learn about and help to scale geothermal drilling, IADC is looking to facilitate that process. The IADC Geothermal Committee was established in November 2023, with an aim to provide resources that can help members advance the geothermal sector.
"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."
The committee was spawned out of an energy transition panel at the 2022 IADC World Drilling Conference in Paris. That led to the idea that a forum should be created for drilling contractors who are interested in geothermal, which then led to the formation of an IADC geothermal workgroup in late 2022. The group worked to formally assess member interest and evaluate what would be the purpose and deliverables of a Geothermal Committee, said 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.
One of the first gaps the workgroup identified was the lack of industry guidelines around the drilling of geothermal wells. "One of the biggest things we heard from all the different people we talked to is that each country has different rules governing geothermal, which slows development," Mr Farmer said. "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."
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.
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