Lucas is the largest drilling and services provider to Australia's coal and coal seam gas (CSG) sectors.
Our services range from the straightforward provision of a drilling rig and crew through to engineered drilling on large and technically demanding projects.
Our equipment is the best available. Our crews are experienced. They deliver safely, on time and on budget.
Coal seam gas production wells
Lucas has led the industry with innovation and adaption of existing oil and gas drilling techniques to make them technically and financially effective for different hole completion techniques:
- Open-hole completions – without casing of the hole
- Screens and gravel packs – casing of the hole at the top of the coal seam and inserting slotted casing
- Cased and perforated – drilling, casing and perforation of the casing at the target reservoir
- Hydraulic-fracture stimulation – “fraccing” – to increase the fracture density of the seam and stimulate increased gas flow
- Cavitation – injection of high pressure air into the seam
- Wide diameter hole with pre-slotted casing
- Wide diameter hole with under-reamed coal intervals.
Lucas rigs are capable of drilling vertical and deviated gas production wells to depths of up to 1,500 m and diameters 100 mm to 400 mm. Production wells are pre-designed by Lucas using various hole completion techniques depending on the coal seam gas resource characteristics such as access, depth, coal thickness, gas content, gas saturation and permeability.
Vertical exploration drilling – for minerals and coal seam gas
With over 35 years of vertical exploration drilling experience, Lucas is one of the most experienced operators in the country offering modern specialised drilling rigs for a range of applications such as:
- NQ, HQ and PQ wireline diamond coring to a depth of 1,500m
- HMLC, 100mm and 200mm conventional tungsten coring to a depth of 500m
- Rotary open hole drilling (PCD/hammer/blade) to a depth of 1,000m
- Mud drilling to a depth of 1,500m
- LOX drilling to a depth of 100m
- Mine service hole drilling to a depth of 600m
- Large diameter goaf drainage holes to a depth of over 400 metres and up to 450 mm diameter
- Reverse circulation drilling
- R.A.B. (rotary air blast) drilling.
Underground drilling – for mine exploration & coal mine methane drainage
Directional drilling is used in underground coal mines for two distinct purposes:
- To investigate geological and mining conditions in advance of mining operations (“exploration work”), and
- Drilling within the seam and surrounding rocks to provide paths for draining gas from blocks of coal to be mined (“gas drainage work”).
Surface to in-seam drilling
Lucas introduced horizontal directional drilling to Australia and has pioneered its application across a number of different sectors. In 1995 Andrew Lukas recognised the resource potential of coal seam gas (CSG) and, in conjunction with BHP, Lucas was the first to begin development of SIS and TRD, now recognised as an effective CSG extraction technique. We are:
- the most technically advanced SIS drilling provider in Australia
- world record holder for distance drilled inseam (2,872 metres)
- holder of the record for designing, engineering, drilling and completing the deepest SIS well
- driller of Australia’s highest gas flow production using SIS drilling
- the most experienced SIS team and drilling crews in Australia
- a provider of turnkey solutions to both coal and gas producers, from design to completion to maintenance.