David A. Wood has more than forty years of international gas, oil, and broader energy experience since gaining his Ph.D. in geosciences from Imperial College London in the 1970s. His expertise covers multiple fields including subsurface geoscience and engineering relating to oil and gas exploration and production, energy supply chain technologies, and efficiencies. For the past two decades, David has worked as an independent international consultant, researcher, training provider, and expert witness. He has published an extensive body of work on geoscience, engineering, energy, and machine learning topics. He currently consults and conducts research on a variety of technical and commercial aspects of energy and environmental issues through his consultancy, DWA Energy Limited. He has extensive editorial experience as a founding editor of Elsevier’s Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering in 2008/9 then serving as Editor-in-Chief from 2013 to 2016. He is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Geo-Energy Research. Jianchao Cai received his B.Sc in Physics from Henan Normal University and MSc and Ph.D in Condensed Matter Physics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He is currently a professor at the Institute of Geophysics and Geomatics at the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). Meanwhile, he serves as Associate Editor or Editorial member for several journals including Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering, International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, Fractals. He has published more than 130 journal articles, two books, and numerous book chapters.

• PrefaceSection One: Drilling Techniques Tailored to Meet the Challenges1. Natural gas drilling: overview of sustainability challenges2. Deep and horizontal drilling technologies for natural gas3. Water management challenges for tight reservoir fracture stimulationSection Two: Wellbore Planning and Control4. Well control and kick tolerance in extended reach drilling5. Wellbore Stability and the Establishment of a Safe Mud Weight Window6. Real-time monitoring and optimization of drilling performance using artificial intelligence techniques: A review7. Multiphase flow and pressure control in wellbores during underbalanced drilling operations8. Directional wellbore trajectory optimization incorporating cubic Bezier curves and collision-avoidance constraints9. Hole cleaning technology for unconventional gas horizontal wellsSection Three: Drilling Fluids and Environmental Impacts10. Applications of chemical and isotopic tracers to optimize well placement and monitor for contamination by reservoir-derived fluids11. Gas-aphron drilling fluids enhanced with silica nanoparticles and biosurfactant12. Characteristics and Applications of Solids-free Drilling Fluids for Coalbed Methane ExploitationSection Four: Drilling for Unconventional Gas Resources13. Minimizing coalbed methane formation damage by biodegradable chelating agent flooding14. Drilling of gas hydrate reservoirs: recent technological developments and solutions to drilling problems15. Horizontal well drilling technology for shale-gas formations16. Multi-well pad drilling technology for shale gas reservoirs: progress and perspectivesSection Five: Drilling Innovations17. Innovations in drilling and well construction technologies in gas reservoir drilling18. Progress on drilling innovations for natural gas hydrate19. Well Integrity for Underground Gas Storage Relating to Natural Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen

David A. Wood has more than forty years of international gas, oil, and broader energy experience since gaining his Ph.D. in geosciences from Imperial College London in the 1970s. His expertise covers multiple fields including subsurface geoscience and engineering relating to oil and gas exploration and production, energy supply chain technologies, and efficiencies. For the past two decades, David has worked as an independent international consultant, researcher, training provider, and expert witness. He has published an extensive body of work on geoscience, engineering, energy, and machine learning topics. He currently consults and conducts research on a variety of technical and commercial aspects of energy and environmental issues through his consultancy, DWA Energy Limited. He has extensive editorial experience as a founding editor of Elsevier’s Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering in 2008/9 then serving as Editor-in-Chief from 2013 to 2016. He is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Geo-Energy Research. Jianchao Cai received his B.Sc in Physics from Henan Normal University and MSc and Ph.D in Condensed Matter Physics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He is currently a professor at the Institute of Geophysics and Geomatics at the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). Meanwhile, he serves as Associate Editor or Editorial member for several journals including Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering, International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, Fractals. He has published more than 130 journal articles, two books, and numerous book chapters.

• PrefaceSection One: Drilling Techniques Tailored to Meet the Challenges1. Natural gas drilling: overview of sustainability challenges2. Deep and horizontal drilling technologies for natural gas3. Water management challenges for tight reservoir fracture stimulationSection Two: Wellbore Planning and Control4. Well control and kick tolerance in extended reach drilling5. Wellbore Stability and the Establishment of a Safe Mud Weight Window6. Real-time monitoring and optimization of drilling performance using artificial intelligence techniques: A review7. Multiphase flow and pressure control in wellbores during underbalanced drilling operations8. Directional wellbore trajectory optimization incorporating cubic Bezier curves and collision-avoidance constraints9. Hole cleaning technology for unconventional gas horizontal wellsSection Three: Drilling Fluids and Environmental Impacts10. Applications of chemical and isotopic tracers to optimize well placement and monitor for contamination by reservoir-derived fluids11. Gas-aphron drilling fluids enhanced with silica nanoparticles and biosurfactant12. Characteristics and Applications of Solids-free Drilling Fluids for Coalbed Methane ExploitationSection Four: Drilling for Unconventional Gas Resources13. Minimizing coalbed methane formation damage by biodegradable chelating agent flooding14. Drilling of gas hydrate reservoirs: recent technological developments and solutions to drilling problems15. Horizontal well drilling technology for shale-gas formations16. Multi-well pad drilling technology for shale gas reservoirs: progress and perspectivesSection Five: Drilling Innovations17. Innovations in drilling and well construction technologies in gas reservoir drilling18. Progress on drilling innovations for natural gas hydrate19. Well Integrity for Underground Gas Storage Relating to Natural Gas, Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen