Intangible Drilling Costs (IDC)

costs to develop an oil or gas well for the elements that are not a part of the final operating well. Intangible drilling costs (IDCs) include all expenses made by an operator incidental to and necessary in the drilling and preparation of wells for the production of oil and gas, such as survey work, ground clearing, drainage, wages, fuel, repairs, supplies and so on. Broadly speaking, expenditures are classified as IDCs if they have no salvage value. Since IDCs include all real and actual expenses except for the drilling equipment, the word “intangible” is something of a misnomer. (Investopedia, 2017)