“Drilling, Completion and Stimulation Program” Area of Interest 1: Deep Trek Contract Number: DE-PS26-05NT42395-1 “Development of a High-Pressure/HighTemperature Downhole Turbine Generator” Technology Status Assessment Tim Price 1/6/06 An increasing percentage of production, particularly natural gas production, will come from deeper and hotter wells than have been exploited to date. Estimates are that the producible gas in deep, hot formations is greater than 150 tcf. A fair percentage of the wells required to produce that deep, hot gas will encounter borehole temperatures in the 437°F to 482°F (225°C to 250°C) range. Producers and contractors have recognized this, and have for some time been making preparations to accommodate drilling and producing these reservoirs. Technologies that can be developed, or adapted, and applied to "intelligent" bottom hole assemblies (BHA's), such as logging-while-drilling (LWD) or measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tools, to allow operation of these systems in the extreme temperature environments expected, are being sought out, studied and applied.
