Heriot-Watt University - Drilling Engineering [PDF]

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simply provides the drilling rig and personnel to drill the well. The contractor is paid a fixed sum of money for every day that he spends drilling the well. All consumable items (e.g. drilling bits, cement), transport and support services are provided by the operator. In the case of the turnkey contract the drilling contractor designs the well, contracts the transport and support services and purchases all of the consumables, and charges the oil company a fixed sum of money for whole operation. The role of the operator in the case of a turnkey contract is to specify the drilling targets, the evaluation procedures and to establish the quality controls on the final well. In all cases the drilling contractor is responsible for maintaining the rig and the associated equipment. The operator will generally have a representative on the rig (sometimes called the “company man”) to ensure drilling operations go ahead as planned, make decisions affecting progress of the well, and organise supplies of equipment. He will be in daily contact with his drilling superintendent who will be based in the head office of the operator. There may also be an oil company drilling engineer and/or a geologist on the rig. The drilling contractor will employ a toolpusher to be in overall charge of the rig. He is responsible for all rig floor activities and liaises with the company man to ensure progress is satisfactory. The manual activities associated with drilling the well are conducted by the drilling crew. Since drilling continues 24 hours a day, there are usually 2 drilling crews. Each crew works under the direction of the driller. The crew will generally consist of a derrickman (who also tends the pumps while drilling), 3 roughnecks (working on rig floor), plus a mechanic, an electrician, a crane operator and roustabouts (general labourers). Service company personnel are transported to the rig as and when required. Sometimes they are on the rig for the entire well (e.g. mud engineer) or only for a few days during particular operations (e.g. directional drilling engineer). An overall view of the personnel involved in drilling is shown in Figure 2. DRILLING CONTRACTOR



ACCOUNTING



OPERATING COMPANY



RIG DESIGN AND MAINTENANCE



DRILLING SUPERINTENDANT



ACCOUNTING



RESERVOIR ENGINEERING



DRILLING ENGINEERING



OTHER RIGS



PRODUCTION ENGINEERING



DRILLING SUPERINTENDANT



GEOLOGY



COMPANY MAN



OTHER WELLS



TOOLPUSHER



DRILLER SERVICE COMPANIES RIG CREW



MUD ENGINEERING



DIRECTIONAL DRILLING



Figure 2 Personnel involved in drilling a well 6



SURVEYING / MWD