F O

Questioning the Way We Drill

cross the industry, ways are being sought to

Who Performs Which Functions, and How?

find and extract oil and gas more cost-effec-

The cast normally required to drill and complete a well

tively, while improving safety and environmen-

involves a host of different companies. Each subcontractor

tal performance. Drilling is not immune to this scrutiny, yet

comes to the rig site with dedicated equipment and person-

for the past fifty years or so the layout of a rig has remained

nel, requiring mobilization, demobilization and accommo-

more or less constant. Although some of the hardware has

dation for all those involved.1 Therefore, the key to stream-

changed and other itemslike topdrive have been intro-

lining a rig is to reorganize operations, change traditional

duced, there has been little fundamental questioning

practices and job descriptions, and reallocate responsibili-

of how the drilling process is organized and what equipment

ties. After this, packages and tasks may be restructured and

is really needed. Today, the increasing need for more cost-

amalgamated.

effective operations is bringing such questions to the fore.

Since June 1993, a team of engineers from drilling con-

In the past, oil companies tended to control the hiring

and managing of contractors and subcontractors. However,

tractor Sedco Forex has been reviewing a range of issues,

recent reappraisals of their core activities by a number of oil

from the organization of drilling activities to optimum rig

companies have led to a change in the way some wells are

design. By looking at the whole picture, the team aims

drilled. For example, in what are called integrated con-

to develop an efficient drilling rig with a minimal environ-

tracts, the role of organizing the subcontractors may be

mental impact that may be operated by fewer, and more

devolved by the oil company to one of the contractors.

skilled people.
Today, development of the SIMPLER rigas it is

Integrated contracts cut down on the need for the operator

to supervise subcontracts, and improve synergy between the

calledis at the detailed design stage (next page). The rig

participating companies. However, in their reappraisal of

may spud its first well by early 1995. This article describes

the drilling process, the Sedco Forex drilling engineers have

questions asked by the Sedco Forex team during the design

taken a more radical approach. For example, all mud func-

process and details some of their conclusions.

tions may be integrated so that mud mixing and cleaning,

and cuttings disposal become the responsibilities of a sin-

1. Some offshore drilling packages are more integrated. However, the equipment of the individual service companies is still
in discrete packages.

gle organizationas opposed to todays arrangement of

splitting the work between the mud engineer, the rig crew
and several specialists (to provide extra cuttings-cleaning
equipment, for example).
But with the aim of creating a fully integrated rig team,
the Sedco Forex proposals cut even more deeply through the
divisions created by traditional service company demarca-

Oilfield Review

Control cabins
Power
control room
Shale shakers
Mud pumps

Centrifuge tank
Cuttings skip
Four 20-m3 tanks

Generator skids
Mud-mixing container

Diesel oil tank

Cement-mixing container

A smaller footprint. The SIMPLER rig will fit in an area smaller than two tennis courts, 25% to
35% of the area needed for a standard land rig.

tions. The team has assembled a set of reorganization pro-

more sophisticated wireline logs would probably involve

posals that may be adapted to specific client programs.

a specialist logging engineer. The driller and the drilling

Merging cement and mud activitiesBy handing over

crew may assist in running the wireline tools using a log-

responsibility for mud and cement to a single fluids engineer, personnel and equipment may be shared.
Improving the synergy between mud engineering and mud

ging unit that is an integral part of the rig.

Combining the driller and directional drillers jobs
Giving the driller responsibility for directional drilling

loggingHaving the mud logging engineeror geolog-

means that there is constant directional monitoring

gershare an office/laboratory with the fluids engineer

throughout drilling.

encourages cooperation and ensures consistency in fluids

and formation information.
Integrating the measurement-while-drilling (MWD) and
wireline logging functionsThe same personnel may run
all directional, density, resistivity and porosity logs

Implementing a single maintenance teamHaving all the

equipment maintained by a dedicated maintenance crew
results in improved consistency and better planning.
Cross training of all rig personnelIncreasing the skills
of all members of the work force will improve synergy

whether logging while drilling or on wireline. However,

July 1994

How Can We Take Advantage of Team-Style

Rigs and Realize the Full Potential of Slimhole Wells While Retaining Rig Versatility?

between activities. Not only is the driller trained to carry

out directional drilling duties, but also the assistant
driller and floor crew should be able to assist in logging,

The answers to this formed the basis of the SIMPLER design

cementing and mud logging operations.
for a highly mobile rig with slimhole capabilities that is also
If all these changes are enacted, the crew needed to drill a
capable of drilling medium-depth, conventional-diameter
well may be cut by approximately 30%. Support facilities
wells and of performing heavy workover. This adaptability is
such as accommodation and catering may also be downa key factor in enhancing future utilization. The rig comsized accordingly.
bines health, safety and environmental benefitssuch as
reduced footprint, advanced mechanization, zero discharge
What Kind of Wells are Needed?

and slimhole kick detectionwith the ability to drill 4 3/4-in.

Traditionally, wells have generally been completed using a

hole to 3600 m [11,810 ft], and the ability to drill and run
casing/liner with a diameter of 6 in. [15 cm] or greater.

7 5/8-in. casing to 2100 m [6890 ft] and 5 1/2-in. casing to

However, an increasing number of slimhole wells is being

3400 m [11,150 ft].
drilled.2 Although there is no real standard for defining

The design is based on existingor slightly modified

slimhole wells, they are typically completed with 3 1/2-in.

state-of-the-art technologies rather than wholly new sys-

casing in 4 3/4-in. diameter open hole.

tems. Besides working closely with well-known oilfield sup-

The benefits of slimhole, compared to conventional well

pliers, the Sedco Forex team spent substantial amounts of

designs, are numerous: lower quantities of consum-

time investigating solutions in other industries. For

ablesmud, cement, casingare needed; logistics are

instance, the food and chemical industries have equipment

simplified; the amount of cuttings requiring disposal is

to handle sacks, so cost-effective solutions to rig handling

reduced; and a smaller rig can be deployed to reduce the

extent of the drilling locationits environmental footprint.
Overall, a 2440-m [8000-ft ] well completed with 3 1/2-in.
casing is 10 to 40% cheaper than an equivalent well with
7-in. casing.
Another developing trend is well reentry and sidetracking
of existing 7- to 4 1/2-in. casing/tubing with new openhole
that has a diameter between 5 7/ 8 and 3 7/ 8 in. This
increases production without drilling new wells, a technique
that is particularly advantageous on offshore platforms
where well slots are limited.
Slimhole and reentry wells can of course be drilled using
normal-sized rigs. However, this eliminates some of the
most important benefits of slimhole drillinglike reducing
the environmental impact. The results of this rethink
inevitably lead to the next question.

2. In 1992 some 4% of wells drilled were 4 3/4-in. diameter or slimmer; 12% were 4 3/4 to 6 1/8 in.

problems were adapted from these proven systems.

An improved system
for handling pipe.
Pipe-handling will be
carried out using an
evolution of the
Varco BJ Star Racking system. It picks
up single joints of
drillpipe or casing
from the pipe racks
on the catwalk,
delivering them to
the drill floor. It also
racks stands of pipe
in the derrick.

In addition to the key aim of cutting drilling costs, the

SIMPLER design includes a number of significant advances.
Improved Environmental Performance
The rig location fits comfortably onto an area that is
smaller than two tennis courts. It can be split up to fit into
about 40 standard 6-m [20-ft] shipping containers, with a
load limit of 10 tons to ensure cost-effective rig moves
using conventional trucks on normal roads.
Drilled cuttings are held in tanksrather than traditional
waste pitsavoiding leakage into the environment. Similarly, all discharges from the rig floor, and of oil and

Mixing Skid

lubricants are controlled. Waste water is separated,

treated and reused.
Mud tanks are circular with spherical bottoms to reduce
dead volume (and therefore waste). Modular tanks
allow the rig layout to be adapted to suit existing locations, facilitating workover in space-restricted areas,
for instance.
Noise limitations are imposed on the engines, air motors
and drilling operations.
Streamlined Drilling and Pressure-Control Equipment
An automated system precisely controls weight on bit

Automatic mud mixing system. The

mud-mixing system
opens sacks and
handles big bags
using equipment
adapted from other
industries.

tongs. Instead, tripping will be carried out using

hydraulic spinners and automatic equipment, requiring a
minimum of personnel.
A single pipe-handling system racks stands of two or
three joints of drillpipe without a derrickman and picks
up single joints of drillpipe and casing from the catwalk,
avoiding many potentially hazardous lifting operations
(previous page). Two hydraulic armssimilar to those
found on trucksare used for most of the remaining handling operations, replacing forklifts and cranes.
The normal flange-type connection between the blowout

(WOB) during drilling by using the DC motors of the draw-

preventer (BOP) and the wellhead is replaced with a

works as a dynamic brakewhich also eliminates the tra-

hydraulic connector that fits standard API flanges.

ditional screech of brakes that accompanies drilling on

When this is combined with an integral casing-head

conventional rigs, cutting noise pollution. Various sen-

housingin which the successive casing strings are

sors determine the weight of the string and WOB, allow-

landedit virtually eliminates the need to manually

ing the system to continuously control the torque of the

bolt together flanges.

drawworks motor by varying current.

Rig-floor operationssuch as making connections and
trippingare one of the main sources of accidents on a

Improved Mud and Cement Mixing

A single unit transported inside one container combines
an automatic sack-opening machinebased on a system

rig. On a SIMPLER rig there will be no manually operated

July 1994

used in the food industrywith a big-bag handling system.3 The same unit can also handle reusable plastic
containers that would be filled with mud products at the
supply base. A dedicated hydraulic arm manipulates the
big bags and plastic containers. A dosing screw below the
sack opener delivers the required quantities of chemicals
into the mud-mixing system (previous page). This system
eliminates employee exposure to dust and makes mud
mixing more efficient and controllable.

Cement may be pumped downhole using the mud pumps

rather than the dedicated pumps used today.
Innovative Data Management
The data management system, which is central to the
whole integration effort, is based on three components
(right):
Rig Area Network (RAN)Accessed by the whole
drilling team, the RAN provides a common display of
MWD, geologging, mud, cement and drilling data. It is
also used to pass and log messages between drilling
team members.
Total SystemThis data system is accessed by the
driller and geologger and displays rig sensor data and
drilling information such as mud pressure, mud tank

Facilitating task integration with the SIMPLER rigs PCbased data management system.

levels, pump pressure, ROP and rpm. It also displays

smart alarms, pointing up possible kicks and washouts,
for example.
3. Big bags are commonly used for bulk transport and contain
about 1 ton of dry material.

Oilfield Review

Process Control Monitor (PCM)Accessed by the driller,

the fluids engineer and the maintenance supervisor, this
system controls, monitors and displays smart alarms for
equipment, such as generators, mud pumps and valves,
the choke manifold and the BOPs.
Simplified Cleaning and Maintenance
Easy access to equipment and simplified design have been
employed throughout the rig to ease cleaning and speed
equipment replacement during routine maintenance.
Learning the SIMPLER Lessons
The packaging of all of these changes into the SIMPLER rig
opens the way to a revolutionary change in drilling, first on

Acknowledgements and Further Reading

For help in preparation of this focus, thanks to Marc

Dottax, Patrick Guicheney and Sachin Mehra, Sedco
Forex, Montrouge, France.
In this focus, SIMPLER is a mark of Schlumberger;
Total System is a mark of Martin-Decker/ TOTCO;
Star Racking System is a mark of Varco International.
For the latest thinking on integrated contracts:
Pressed into Service, Journal of Petroleum Technology 46, no. 3 (March 1994): 198-200, 223.
For more on slimhole drilling:
Randolph S, Bosio J and Boyington B: Slimhole
Drilling: The Story So Far... Oilfield Review 3, no. 3
(July 1991): 46-54.
Murray P: Barriers to Slimhole Drilling, World Oil
215, no. 3 (March 1994): 58-61.

land and then offshore. However, almost all the elements

discussed above may be applied individually on existing
rigs, with each one yielding an incremental benefit. By
examining drilling operations in such detail, the Sedco
Forex design team hopes that a major contribution to industry cost-effectiveness can be made on all types of rigs.CF

July 1994