Chapter 4 Flashcards
Define drilling
The operation to drill a hole in the earth in order to produce
oil, gas, water or to dispose liquid wastes or greenhouse gases
safely and economically is called drilling.
What are the 11 steps to follow before drilling a well?
- Gather seismic, log, and geological data,
- Conduct reserve estimation,
- Determine and highlight the well location on the map,
- Start the drilling if reserve estimates show payout,
- Obtain permits from conservation/ national authorities and
environmental regulatory bodies, - Prepare drilling and completion program,
- Based on the drilling program, ask for bids on footage, day
work, or combination from selected drilling contractors. If
required, modify program to fit the selected contractor equipment - Prepare the required infrastructure such as constructing road,
platforms and other marine equipment necessary for access
to site. - Gather all personnel for meeting prior to starting drilling.
- Final decisions on drilling plan and if necessary, further
modify program. - Drill the well.
What are the 6 types of wells
Wildcat wells, Exploration wells, appraisal wells, production wells, abandoned wells, injection wells
What are wildcat wells
drilled outside of and not in the
vicinity of known oil or gas fields.
What are exploration wells
drilled purely for exploratory
(information gathering) purposes in a new area
What are appraisal wells
used to assess characteristics (such as
flow rate) of a proven hydrocarbon accumulation
What are production wells
drilled primarily for producing oil or
gas, once the producing structure and characteristics are
determined
what are abandoned wells
wells permanently plugged in the
drilling phase for technical reasons.
What are injection wells
wells used to inject water or gas to
maintain the pressure or to dispose the produced water for
the case of water injectors and dispose greenhouse gases for
the case of gas injectors
Where and when was the earliest well drilled
China in 347AD. Th40 meters
Where and when was the first commercial land well drilled and shore well drilled in north America
oil springs Ontario in 1858
Summerland oil field on the California coast in 1896
What are the two types of conventional rotary drilling rigs
rotary table and top drive
Define rotary table
The source of the rotation is provided by a
square or hexagonal pipe, named Kelly, at the floor level.
The rotation from Kelly will provide clockwise rotation
for the rotary table and the drill string.
Define top drive
The source of rotation is provided with a
powerful motor at the top of the drill string that moves in a
track along the drill string. Top drives are capable of
tripping drill stands, which will result in faster drilling
operation. However, these rigs are more expensive
compared to rotary tables.
Two types of mobile rigs for land
Portable mast and Jack knife
4 types of floating drilling rigs (marine)
Drill ships, semisubmersible, jack up, fixed platform
4 types of drilling rigs based on the depth if drilling
Light duty rigs - 3000-5000 feet
medium duty rigs - 4000-10000 feet
heavy duty rigs - 12000-16000 feet
ultra hevy duty rigs - 18000-25000 feet
How many people are directly or indirectly involved in a drilling operation
75
Who are the main 8 people involved in the drilling crew
Company man, tool pusher, roughneck, roustabout, driller, motorman, derrickman
What does the company man do
Is the representative of the operating company and he/she is sometimes called
drill site supervisor or well site manager.
What does the tool pusher do
For the drilling rigs on land, tool pusher is responsible for all the drilling
operations, but on offshore drilling rigs tool pushers are department heads for
different departments
What does the roughneck do
Their main duty on the drill floor is to connecting drill pipes. They might be
involved other work around the rig.