Originally posted by desert
Hiding oil rigs has more to do with the rigs being an eyesore. LA built up a metropolis around unsightly rigs, so today it does not look like Taft,
CA, for example, a relatively unpopulated area.
The LaBrea Tarpits are downtown, and the hidden oil rig next to Beverly Hills High (as in "90210") was in the news in 2003 as a case in court about
cancer cases among BHHS grads.
Heard about this years ago.
It was a very good production well but they couldn't stand the idea that a nasty old oil rig would be visible in LA for six weeks or so and they did
this childish garbage. Everybody who could have seen the rig was driving cars or flying in planes powered by jet fuel but somehow the idea of drilling
is just too offensive in Los Angeles to show the public.
It's no less naive and hypocritical than meat eaters picking up clear wrapped cuts of meat in a store but being sensitive about killing animals for
food.
Originally posted by proteus33
i think the main reason for hiding the rigs is so they can drill under other peoples property and steal the oil with out having to pay them for
it.
No, nothing that sinister.
Oil is paid out in mineral rights and there are specific people, companies and groups that hold them.
I actually have mineral rights left to me by a Great Aunt on less than a 10th of an acre somewhere in central texas and they tracked me down and
contracted me for it with a few hundred down and a residual rate of about 75 dollars a year. I've never even seen it and somebody else owns the land.
Most mineral rights are owned by the government and private corporations. The rest are owned by individuals. Most land sold now doesn't include
mineral rights any more. The land and the mineral rights are two separate things.
As far as directional drilling goes, it is usually pretty well mapped out and there is more than one interest at stake. This keeps the proceedings
legal (usually) they can go from point a to point b laterally to get to the deposit but it still is for legally accessed production.
Normally the directional work comes in when using one drill string to tap a hard to reach formation and to go around other formations. It also
allows multiple bores from one location for a reduced surface impact.
High temp, Hpressure gas wells are sometimes drilled directionally for more control at the wellhead by running a long looping bore on a shallow
formation. This allows a greater degree of control over the pressure of the return.
There are other uses but you get the drift.
[edit on 19-11-2009 by badgerprints]