Drilling Services

Conductor Drilling

Since 1992, the Company has been providing conductor drilling & conductor pipe setting, rat & mouse hole drilling, cellar drilling and other related drilling services to the energy industry. Pinnergy has a fleet of truck-mounted and track-mounted drilling rigs, and is the leading provider of these services in all of our geographic territories.

Once the well site is leveled and access roads are installed, Pinnergy is called in to drill these holes to prepare the site to accommodate the large drilling rig that will be brought in to drill the oil or gas well.

About These Services

Cellar Drilling
The initial hole is called the cellar and is five to ten feet wide and five to ten feet deep. This hole is lined with steel corrugated pipe. The cellar is used to capture drilling fluids and drainage water during the drilling process and to accommodate the blow-out preventer and ultimately the wellhead equipment if the well is successful.

Conductor Drilling
A second hole approximately 28 inches in diameter is then drilled from the center of the cellar to a depth of 60 to 90 feet to accommodate the conductor. The conductor is the guide or starter hole used by the large rig to do its drilling. To secure this hole from cave-in and to facilitate well control, steel casing (16 to 20 inches in diameter and walls approximately one quarter inch thick) is lowered into the hole and cemented in place.

Rat & Mouse Hole Drilling
To further prepare the site, another two holes, called the mouse hole and rate hole, are typically drilled to accommodate the larger rig's operation. The mouse hole is used to hold the next stem of drill pipe during the drilling process, while the rat hole is used to store the "kelly" when the drill pipe is being hoisted out of the hole. We also have experience in drilling a "rotating mouse hole", which accommodates three strings of 30-foot drill pipe threaded together, for a total depth of 90 feet from the rig floor. A rotating mouse hole is cased with steel pipe, similar to the conductor hole.

All of these holes are normally drilled and completed in one day.