Horizontal Well

When you close your eyes and start daydreaming about oil derricks (as we know you often do...something about which Freud would have a lot to say), you probably imagine a pump at the top and a tube going straight into the earth. The goal of the process is to get at a pool of oil directly below the drilling apparatus. So the tube goes vertically, straight down, with the derrick moving up and down on top trying to draw out that precious fluid (calling Dr. Freud again).

However, this situation doesn't describe every drilling scenario. Some drilling takes place at an angle (check the Kama Sutra if you don't believe us). Not straight down, but at least a little sideways as well.

Think: instead of using a regular, boring straw, you decide to spice things up by drinking from a long bendy one ("I drink your milkshake!" for you cinephiles out there).

This process doesn't have to be directly horizontal to qualify as horizontal drilling. The general term for the extraction strategy is "directional drilling," but any angle of at least 80 degrees is considered horizontal.