Integrated approach for the optimal selection of environmentally friendly drilling systems

There is a pressing need in the energy industry to develop technologies capable of reducing the environmental impact during oil and gas drilling operations. However, these technologies have not been fully integrated into a decision-making system that can reflect a quantitative effort toward this goal. This paper introduces two quantitative decision methods for the selection of environmentally friendly drilling systems. One is based on a multi-attribute utility approach and the other one is based on the analysis of interventions or causal approach. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed methods and to contract their benefits and limitations, a case study is presented using data collected from Green Lake at McFaddin, TX, USA.