Heriot-Watt University - Drilling Engineering

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, ceme cement), nt), 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 company a fixed sum of money for whole operation. The role of the operator in the case of a turnkey contract is to t o specify the drilling targets, the evaluation procedures procedures and to establish the quality 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 ahead as planned, make make decisions affecting progress progress of the well, well, and organise supplies supplies of equipment. 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 responsible for all rig floor activities and liaises with the company company man to ensure progress is satisfactory satisfactory.. The manual activities activities associated with with drilling the well are conducted conducted by the drilling crew crew.. Since drilling continues 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

F igure 2 Personnel involved in drilling a well 6

SURVEYING / MWD