When exploratory drilling takes place on titled land, the ERCB asks companies to provide nearby landowners with adequate and timely information about why a specific well location was chosen.

Companies should offer details about the drilling operations and any associated development, including pipelines, production facilities, and access roads. The landowners should also be made aware of the kind of equipment to be used and what types of operations to expect. This is detailed in the ERCB's EnerFAQs No. 8.

For more detailed information regarding the ERCB's role in energy development, click on ERCB Process.

The ERCB's standard well spacing regulations allow one gas well per section per pool (640 acres) or one oil well per quarter section per pool, except for the southeast quadrant of the province (see map) where companies may produce two wells per gas pool per section in the Mannville Group or four wells per gas pool per section in formations above the Mannville. Two wells per oil pool per quarter section in the Mannville Group may also be produced in this region.

Approval to increase well density beyond the above-mentioned well spacing regulations must be obtained from the ERCB.

Once a company has determined where it will explore, it prepares the lease (the piece of land where the well will be drilled) and brings in the drilling rig and associated tanks and equipment.

Drilling rigs come in all shapes and sizes; some are equipped for exploring deep pools in the foothills, others use coiled tubing for drilling shallow gas wells in eastern Alberta, while others are specially designed to drill horizontal wells.

The basic drilling process is simple: a rotating steel bit fixed to the bottom of a string of pipe bores its way into the Earth's crust. Drilling time depends on the depth and difficulty of reaching the pool. Shallow wells of a few hundred metres in depth can be drilled in as little as a day, while others thousands of metres deep may take several weeks to reach depth.

Dozens of workers known as rig hands are directly employed in the drilling of a well at any given time. The current labour shortage in Alberta has made finding rig hands a challenge for most drilling companies. A number of drillers are seeking workers in largely untapped employee markets, such as the aboriginal community. For more information on drilling rigs and workers, visit the Web site of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

During drilling operations, drilling fluid, also known as drilling mud, is pumped down the wellbore both to lubricate the drill bit and to prevent blowouts by controlling formation pressure. The ERCB has strict guidelines in place to ensure that these fluids and other waste materials, such as chemicals and rock cuttings, are properly disposed of. For more, see the ERCB's Directive 050: Drilling Waste Management.

For more information on possible complications during drilling operations, visit our section on kicks and blowouts or see ERCB Directive 036: Drilling Blowout Prevention Requirements and Procedures.