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Innovations in Unconventional Reservoirs and Their Integration into Natural Hydrogen Reservoirs Exploration: Advanced Drilling System Controls

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A5: Hydrogen Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 37

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79414, USA
Interests: natural hydrogen; vibrations; drilling system control; AI in geosience; unconventional reservoir evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drilling performance in unconventional reservoirs is a critical key factor for the production’s economic profitability. Unconventional reservoir formations present many challenges due to their diverse geomechanical properties. These properties can lead to excessive coupled drilling vibrations (Axial, Lateral, Torsional), which cause significant non-productive time (NPT), bad borehole quality, and reduced rate of penetration (ROP). While vibration control approaches are being implemented for conventional reservoir drilling, innovative approaches are highly needed for unconventional reservoirs. On the other hand, recent research has demonstrated a promising accumulation of natural hydrogen worldwide, necessitating advanced exploration activities, including geophysical surveys and exploration drilling. Since ultramafic rock drilling can induce severe vibrations and increase NPT, it is necessary to explore how to mitigate such unwanted dynamics toward ensuring economically profitable hydrogen production.

This Special Issue aims to publish the most recent advances in drilling vibration control designed for unconventional reservoirs, geothermal wells, and perspectives for hydrogen exploration.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to the following:

  • All aspects of drilling challenge modeling related to Axial, Lateral, and Torsional vibrations in unconventional reservoirs, geothermal wells, and natural hydrogen exploration.
  • Geomechanical properties studies linked to drilling.
  • Drilling efficiency improvement techniques.
  • Case studies of vibration control approaches integrations in unconventional reservoirs.
  • Comparative studies and review papers between drilling in conventional, unconventional, geothermal, and hydrogen reservoirs.
  • Simulation studies of new concepts in real-time vibration monitoring and control.
  • Experimental studies and prototyping.
  • Field studies with case studies of new technologies test for vibration mitigation.
  • Geothermal wells drilling: challenges and innovations.
  • Perspectives of exploration wells drilling for hydrogen reservoirs.
  • AI and data-driven approaches for drilling performance improvement.

Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine Doghmane
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drilling vibrations
  • unconventional reservoirs
  • geothermal wells
  • natural hydrogen exploration
  • vibration control
  • geomechanical properties

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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