Date/Time: 14 April, 10AM EDT

Drilling for Geothermal Resources: EGS

• Speaker: John Macpherson, Chief Consulting Scientist, Baker Hughes
• Moderator: Cindy Taff, COO of Sage Geosystems, a newly-launched geothermal venture

Registration (FREE to SPE Members):

SPE Online Education: Drilling for Geothermal Resources: EGS

Webinar Abstract

In the transition towards alternate energy sources, geothermal offers a green baseload source, tapping “The Sun Beneath Our Feet”. Yet investment in the development of Enhanced or Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) has been slow. There are several reasons for this: perception, technology readiness and investment. EGS has had some hiccups, and one of these is the level of seismicity associated with reservoir stimulation. A swarm of tremors up to magnitude 3.4 in the GeoPower Basel well (2007) was widely publicized and created a significant barrier to the development of EGS close to the urban centers. EGS and other geothermal wells are often drilled using old technology – hence costly drilling operations and a perception that drilling risk is high. Drilling can be more than 50% of the development ticket. This high cost and its associated risk often acts as a barrier to investment.

This webinar will review Enhanced or Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS), and what is required to drill these systems at depth. It will highlight techniques that can be moved from oil & gas to geothermal (such as horizontal well drilling capability), and highlight areas in which R&D has occurred or is needed, particularly high temperature drill bits, fluids, drilling systems and MWD tools. With active investment in R&D for Enhanced Geothermal Systems, significant progress can be made in transferring oil and gas technology to an alternate energy source

Speaker Background

John Macpherson is a Chief Consulting Scientist for Baker Hughes. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology from the University of Glasgow. During his more than 40 years in the oil industry he has participated in exploratory drilling operations – primarily in remote areas of South Amercia – and in various positions in drilling technology R&D. These include drilling dynamics, drilling automation, and high temperature geothermal drilling systems. He has published about 50 papers, holds more than 30 granted patents, was the 2014 to 2016 Chairman of the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section, a past member of the JPT editorial committee, and a 2016 SPE Distinguished Lecturer.

Moderator Background

Cindy Taff is currently the COO of Sage Geosystems, a newly-launched geothermal venture. Prior to joining Sage, she worked more than 36 years for Shell, most recently as the VP over Shell's global Unconventional Wells & Logistics operations. In this role, she led her team to systematically reduce costs by > 50% while scope (lateral lengths and frac intensity) significantly increased. In addition, a disciplined approach to safety allowed the team to improve HSE performance while the number of tasks performed in a day went up exponentially due to faster drilling and completions.