With first well drilled, what are the next steps for the Utah FORGE project?
Drilling rig on site at Utah FORGE project (source: Eric Larson, Utah FORGE)
Alexander Richter
30 Jan 2021
The first well successfully drilled, the groundbreaking Utah FORGE projects is pushing forward as we learn in this short check in with the principal investigator of the project Dr. Joseph Moore.
Checking in with the team at Utah FORGE, the groundbreaking EGS research project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, we connected with principal investigator, Dr. Joseph Moore.
Could you maybe briefly share an overview on the Utah FORGE project and it targets?
The Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy, or Utah FORGE, is an underground research laboratory funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. We are managed by the Energy & Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, but the project site is located in southwest Utah near the town of Milford.
The purpose of the project is to provide a facility where the tools and technologies required for creating, sustaining, and managing Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) can be tested under reservoir conditions.
The laboratory will consist of:
- A pair of highly deviated wells in hot, strong granite – one for injection and one for production from the stimulated fractured reservoir.
- A state-of-the-art seismic monitoring network, including several deep (>7500 ft) wells.
- Wells for testing tools and technologies required to establish and sustain continuous fluid flow and energy transfer from an EGS reservoir.
Emphasis will be placed in improved drilling techniques and bit designs, isolation tools, stimulating fractures from cased wells, fracture imaging technologies, managing induced seismicity, and reservoir characterization.
Our hope is that this laboratory will serve as a prototype for similar projects around the world.
You’ve just completed your first of the two highly deviated wells; how did it go?
Yes, that’s correct. This is a major milestone in the development of the Utah FORGE laboratory because it demonstrates, for the first time, long-reach, highly deviated wells required for creation and management of EGS reservoirs can be drilled under very challenging conditions. The well was deviated at a 65° angle from vertical after reaching a depth of 6000 ft. This angle was maintained for the remainder of the well’s trajectory.
The well ultimately reached a true vertical depth of 8,559 feet, and a total measured depth of 10,987 feet. Preliminary measurements indicate temperatures at the toe will exceed 228°C (442°F). Despite the challenging drilling conditions the well was completed as planned 60 days ahead of schedule.
Now that your first well is drilled, what is the next step?
During the next several months we will analyze the results of the geophysical and image logs and simulate growth of the fractured reservoir using the data from the recent drilling program. We will also begin planning for a stimulation test at the toe of the deviated well in the latter half of 2021.
Prior to the stimulation, two additional vertical wells will be drilled. The first will be drilled to 9,000 feet for seismic monitoring. It will contain a 7,500 foot long Distributed Acoustic Seismic (DAS) cable. The second deep well will be used for technology testing and seismic monitoring. These wells will allow improved detection and resolution of the seismic activity resulting from the stimulation. The second deviated well will be drilled in early 2022. Once the production-injection pair is drilled, circulation tests will be initiated.
To learn more about the project and its current status visit the Utah FORGE website > here <.
