Development

Once oil or gas is discovered and deemed commercial, development commences.

Once oil and/or gas is discovered and deemed commercial, a plan of development is prepared. To deflect cost and mitigate risk, many oil companies may form joint ventures. One company in the partnership holds operatorship and manages operations at the field. The target location of the well is then identified and the site prepared according to safety, environmental and legal regulations.

Drilling rigs are installed to drill the development well and facilitate the process of bringing the oil and/or gas to the surface.

After drilling and casing the well, it must be 'completed'. Completion is the process in which the well is enabled to produce oil or gas. However, extracting oil and natural gas from deposits deep underground is not as simple as just drilling and completing a well. Any number of factors in the underground environment, from the porosity of the rock to the viscosity of the deposit can impede the free flow of product into the well.

1. Origin              2. Exploration              3. Development               4. Production