Abstract

Horizontal drilling has revolutionized the development and production of oil and gas reserves in the United States. The impact has been so great that the U.S. is now number one in the world in oil reserves, surpassing Saudia Arabia and Russia. With this kind of success, public water providers in central Oklahoma, as well as other stakeholders are interested in adopting the use of horizontal drilling technology to optimize groundwater production from their well fields.

Application of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology to successful exploitation and development of groundwater resources presents technical challenges that are tied to geology of the aquifer. In central Oklahoma’s Garber-Wellington bedrock aquifer, depositional environment, spatial distribution of sedimentary facies, grain size and depth of targeted groundwater zones will influence decisions about where to site a horizontal water supply well and development of an appropriate well design.