Structural Problems When Drilling

Finally, structures in the earth can give the PG many challenges. Look
at this diagram. Imagine you first drilled the hole on the left into the
green layer which represents a nice oil and gas bearing rock. YES! You
have a great well, producing lots of oil and gas!
Then you drilled your second hole to the east (right) of the first one.
What happened to that hole?
Answer: The oil reservoir has been split in two by the fault, which is
nothing but a place in the earth where rock layers break in two. The
arrows on the diagram show that the rocks moved DOWN on the LEFT
side of the fault and UP on the RIGHT side of the fault. This created a
GAP in the oil field……right where you drilled your second hole!
Incredibly bad luck! Or, bad seismic! Your second hole is a DRY
HOLE.