Post #10k -- A day on an oil rig

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Post #10k -- A day on an oil rig

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:21:13 PM EDT

In celebration of post #10k, I bring you pics of the fruits of my labor.

About 2 years ago, we came up with a drilling prospect. A few weak-kneed investors later, we finally got somebody with the balls to follow through with the drilling.

This well is in SW Texas. Where exactly, I can't say. What we are drilling for, I cannot say.

We did, however, complete the hole on monday. A logging truck came that day and we just got the results back last night. It looks like the pay zone is 368ft thick!

One log expert thinks it's oil, the other thinks gas. Our own research and seismic work says it's oil. The rest of this week we'll be setting pipe, moving this rig off and bringing a production rig on. Sometime next week (assuming everything moves like it should - and it never does), we should know how production will go.

Anyway, on to the pics!

At the gate on the road in

Sensing a trend here?

The Rig

Drilling in progress

Typical bit. We used this kind until about 5,000ft and then switched to a PDC bit. I don't have pics of that kind.

Basic well operations info screen. Shows depth, RPM, weight on bit (x1k lbs), rate of penetration and torque (in amps)

Kelly bushing is out of the way and another 30ft of drilling pipe is being added

The mud pit. Used drilling mud is dumped here. The mud serves several purposes: keeping the hole from collapsing, preventing blowouts, lubrication and carrying cuttings back to the surface. This particular mud weighs about 14lb/gal

And finally, the rig at night. Sorry for the blur, but it's difficult to handhold a camera for 2secs without some shakes.

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:26:55 PM EDT

[#1]

Cool.

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:35:37 PM EDT

[#2]

those are good pics.

and congratulations

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:35:51 PM EDT

[#3]

Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:35:56 PM EDT

[#4]

So ... gonna "move to Bever-leeeeee"?

If so, can I meet your cousin Ellie May?

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:36:03 PM EDT

[#5]

congrats!

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:36:05 PM EDT

[#6]

That brings back good memories. I spent 10 years working on rigs, started out roughnecking and ended up pushing. Loved it... fullclip

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:40:36 PM EDT

[#7]

You're drilling for tannerite!

Nice pics Brou.

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:41:33 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

We didn't see any H2S. But it's always a danger in the area, thus the warnings.

It's still possible that we might get a little in a gas well.

For those that don't know, H2S is EXTREMELY poisonous. If you hit a pocket of gas that contains H2S and have a blowout, everybody on the rig could die. If you're ever on a rig and smell rotting eggs, RUN. If the smell suddenly goes away, that means it has overwhelmed your senses and you're fucked.

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:45:31 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

We didn't see any H2S. But it's always a danger in the area, thus the warnings.

It's still possible that we might get a little in a gas well.

For those that don't know, H2S is EXTREMELY poisonous. If you hit a pocket of gas that contains H2S and have a blowout, everybody on the rig could die. If you're ever on a rig and smell rotting eggs, RUN. If the smell suddenly goes away, that means it has overwhelmed your senses and you're fucked.

Really? Even in open air it's that dangerous?

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:51:18 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

We didn't see any H2S. But it's always a danger in the area, thus the warnings.

It's still possible that we might get a little in a gas well.

For those that don't know, H2S is EXTREMELY poisonous. If you hit a pocket of gas that contains H2S and have a blowout, everybody on the rig could die. If you're ever on a rig and smell rotting eggs, RUN. If the smell suddenly goes away, that means it has overwhelmed your senses and you're fucked.

Really? Even in open air it's that dangerous?

Yeah. Google "Sour gas" to get an idea.

From www.yaleinsider.org/view_supportinfo.jsp?infoId=10

Hydrogen sulfide, the component of natural gas that makes it "sour", is a potent toxin. Exposure to gases containing hydrogen sulfide "cause death quickly by respiratory paralysis at exposure above 500 ppm of H2S. Levels between 100 and 500 ppm irritate the eyes and respiratory tract, and unconsciousness and death have been reported from prolonged breathing of 50 ppm," wrote Kaye H. Kilburn, MD in his book Chemical Brain Injury. "Computer tomography has demonstrated abnormal low density of the basal ganglia and surrounding white matter in chronic H2S poisoning.*"

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:55:24 PM EDT

[#11]

How big is the drill bit? Dont suppose you could set a pop can on it for comparison? How much do they cost? What are they made of? How fast can a drill dig? Is the mud reusable? How do you measure where the drill bit is? How do you keep it drilling straight? How can you drill a hole, then drill at an angle or drill sideways to open it out? How tall is the drill rig?

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:57:55 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

We didn't see any H2S. But it's always a danger in the area, thus the warnings.

It's still possible that we might get a little in a gas well.

For those that don't know, H2S is EXTREMELY poisonous. If you hit a pocket of gas that contains H2S and have a blowout, everybody on the rig could die. If you're ever on a rig and smell rotting eggs, RUN. If the smell suddenly goes away, that means it has overwhelmed your senses and you're fucked.

What precautions do you take?

Cool pics.

Posted: 8/4/2005 5:59:40 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
How big is the drill bit? Dont suppose you could set a pop can on it for comparison? How much do they cost? What are they made of? How fast can a drill dig? Is the mud reusable? How do you measure where the drill bit is? How do you keep it drilling straight? How can you drill a hole, then drill at an angle or drill sideways to open it out? How tall is the drill rig?

Well aren't you Mr. 20 Questions.

Cool pics brou.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:01:49 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Quoted:
How big is the drill bit? Dont suppose you could set a pop can on it for comparison? How much do they cost? What are they made of? How fast can a drill dig? Is the mud reusable? How do you measure where the drill bit is? How do you keep it drilling straight? How can you drill a hole, then drill at an angle or drill sideways to open it out? How tall is the drill rig?

Well aren't you Mr. 20 Questions.

Cool pics brou.

Call me curious. Ever since touring a refinery I've been hooked.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:03:35 PM EDT

[#15]

High Kelly, dull bit. Same ol driller, same ol shit! Damn oil field trash, anyway! Dopers paradise - a drilling rig....you work on a rig, they have joints 30 feet long, five gallon buckets of dope.....and a pusher on every rig!

Congrats! 368 feet, that's a pretty good pay. Gonna frack it? Water flood?

If that puppy actually makes some oil...you gonna be able to what you WANNA do.

None of my working interests ever made much money....but it's fun trying!

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:03:54 PM EDT

[#16]

OIL RIG

Oxidation Is Loss [of electrons]

Reduction Is Gain [of electrons]

sorry. MCAT in 16 days. gotta be in the right mindset

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:06:02 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
How big is the drill bit? Dont suppose you could set a pop can on it for comparison? How much do they cost? What are they made of? How fast can a drill dig? Is the mud reusable? How do you measure where the drill bit is? How do you keep it drilling straight? How can you drill a hole, then drill at an angle or drill sideways to open it out? How tall is the drill rig?

I'm not out there anymore, and I'm not a roughneck, so there's a lot about operations I don't know.

However, the box that bit is in is about 10" across. That bit probably cost about $5k. The PDC bit costs close to $8k. And that's just to USE them. We don't own them. They get refurbished as they wear out. Some are carbide tipped, some use man-made diamonds.

Mud is reusable. It just needs to be filtered.

Measuring location, I don't know. You know how deep the hole is be knowing the number of pipes and their length.

A directional hole is drilled using a bit that can turn. It can't turn on a dime, of course. I've never paid attention to pipe on a directional, but I assume they are jointed differently.

THAT rig is about 150ft tall, I think. It's a medium sized rig.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:06:55 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:

Really? Even in open air it's that dangerous?

Not only is it bad, it's extra bad.

Seriously, too many people have died from it. It's a god damn shame.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:08:33 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

We didn't see any H2S. But it's always a danger in the area, thus the warnings.

It's still possible that we might get a little in a gas well.

For those that don't know, H2S is EXTREMELY poisonous. If you hit a pocket of gas that contains H2S and have a blowout, everybody on the rig could die. If you're ever on a rig and smell rotting eggs, RUN. If the smell suddenly goes away, that means it has overwhelmed your senses and you're fucked.

What precautions do you take?

Cool pics.

I don't know all those operations. I know you keep mud weight up to prevent a blowout. I'm sure there are protective masks up on the platform. I'm sure there's also a mechanical means to prevent the gas (blowout preventer).

I'm just a lowly geologist

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:10:54 PM EDT

[#20]

I got to visit an oil rig like that one on field trip in school.

Way cool.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:13:38 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Congrats! 368 feet, that's a pretty good pay. Gonna frack it? Water flood?

We're just gonna perforate it. I think we'll dual-complete it (perf 2 zones and produce from them at once).

You guys would LOVE the perforating GUN.

Imagine a tube filled with shaped charges or bullets that detonate, punching holes through the casing, cement and finally into the production zone.

Sadly, I can't find a good pic of one.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:17:06 PM EDT

[#22]

howard hughes' fortune was based on a rotary drill bit i think his father patented. remember reading something about them getting 30k to rent them. they never sold them i think.

this is all vague memory from something i read somehwere.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:19:19 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
howard hughes' fortune was based on a rotary drill bit i think his father patented. remember reading something about them getting 30k to rent them. they never sold them i think.

this is all vague memory from something i read somehwere.

www.bakerhughes.com/

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:30:46 PM EDT

[#24]

I demand that you abandon that well immediately and move the rig to my land.

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:31:44 PM EDT

[#25]

This is your friend when working anywhere that H2S might be

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:35:02 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Very cool.

You guys are getting hydrogen sulfide out of the hole? Nasty stuff, stay safe.

We didn't see any H2S. But it's always a danger in the area, thus the warnings.

It's still possible that we might get a little in a gas well.

For those that don't know, H2S is EXTREMELY poisonous. If you hit a pocket of gas that contains H2S and have a blowout, everybody on the rig could die. If you're ever on a rig and smell rotting eggs, RUN. If the smell suddenly goes away, that means it has overwhelmed your senses and you're fucked.

What precautions do you take?

Cool pics.

They probably have a "Mud Logger" on site. Basically what it does is check for gas in the mud being circulated out of the hole. It will pick up traces of gas in the mud and break them down to see what kind of gas it is. They will have alarms on the rig to sound if the H-2-S shows up. Give you a head start. Cliff version.. fullclip

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:43:58 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
How big is the drill bit? Dont suppose you could set a pop can on it for comparison? How much do they cost? What are they made of? How fast can a drill dig? Is the mud reusable? How do you measure where the drill bit is? How do you keep it drilling straight? How can you drill a hole, then drill at an angle or drill sideways to open it out? How tall is the drill rig?

drill collar

1. n. [Drilling] ID: 1358

A component of a drillstring that provides weight on bit for drilling. Drill collars are thick-walled tubular pieces machined from solid bars of steel, usually plain carbon steel but sometimes of nonmagnetic nickel-copper alloy or other nonmagnetic premium alloys. The bars of steel are drilled from end to end to provide a passage to pumping drilling fluids through the collars. The outside diameter of the steel bars may be machined slightly to ensure roundness, and in some cases may be machined with helical grooves ("spiral collars"). Last, threaded connections, male on one end and female on the other, are cut so multiple collars can be screwed together along with other downhole tools to make a bottomhole assembly (BHA). Gravity acts on the large mass of the collars to provide the downward force needed for the bits to efficiently break rock. To accurately control the amount of force applied to the bit, the driller carefully monitors the surface weight measured while the bit is just off the bottom of the wellbore. Next, the drillstring (and the drill bit), is slowly and carefully lowered until it touches bottom. After that point, as the driller continues to lower the top of the drillstring, more and more weight is applied to the bit, and correspondingly less weight is measured as hanging at the surface. If the surface measurement shows 20,000 pounds [9080 kg] less weight than with the bit off bottom, then there should be 20,000 pounds force on the bit (in a vertical hole). Downhole MWD sensors measure weight-on-bit more accurately and transmit the data to the surface.

See: bit, bottomhole assembly, circulation system, collar, keyseat, measurements-while-drilling, outside diameter, saver sub, sub, weight indicator

www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=drill%20collar

follow the link for hyperlinks that will give a world of info on drilling... Fullclip

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:44:53 PM EDT

[#28]

Cool thread!

Posted: 8/4/2005 6:49:24 PM EDT

[#29]

tag

Posted: 8/4/2005 9:54:17 PM EDT

[#30]

That brings back memories. Cool pics!
I had a buddy I worked on a rig with that his dad's company lost everyone on a rig but the engineer, sad.

Posted: 8/5/2005 3:16:00 AM EDT

[#31]

Congrats on the 10k and those are real nice pictures.

Posted: 8/5/2005 3:23:08 AM EDT

[#32]

AHH the sweet smell of H2S, the smell of money. I love it when I get nice fat Royalty checks every month from Exxon. My Dad did the same thing, prospected a site and through his and my Uncles contacts got it done. Both were Mud Engineers for many years. Congrats

Posted: 8/5/2005 3:35:31 AM EDT

[#33]

People went apeshit in the Valley north of Anchorage when various coal bed gas drillers started exploring around residential areas there (it's what most people would consider rural, not suburban or built-up in the lower 48). They were afraid it contaminates the water.

Did Schlumberger log your well?