Faculty of Engineering

Petroleum Engineering Department

Drilling Engineering I
Third Stage

Lecture # 3
Drilling Rigs

Pshtiwan Jaf 1
pshtiwan.jaf@koyauniversity.org
 Abandonment
Abandonment
• A well is said to reach an "economic limit" when its most efficient production rate
does not cover the operating expenses, including taxes.

• Production wells that can no longer be used must be plugged to prevent the oil
and gas reservoir fluids from migrating up hole over time and possibly
contaminating other formations and/or fresh water aquifers.

• A well is plugged by setting mechanical or cement plugs in the wellbore at

specific intervals to prevent fluid flow.

• The plugging process usually requires a workover rig and cement pumped into
the wellbore.
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 Abandonment
Abandonment, cont.
• In this process, tubing is removed from the well and sections of
well bore are filled with concrete to isolate the flow path
between gas and water zones from each other, as well as the
surface.

• Completely filling the well bore with concrete is costly and

unnecessary.

• The surface around the wellhead is then excavated, and the

wellhead and casing are cut off, a cap is welded in place and then
buried.

• The plugging process can take two days to a week, depending on

the number of plugs to be set in the well. 3
 Drilling Cost
Drilling Cost
• When drilling in a completely new area with no previous drilling data available the well
cost can only be a rough approximation.
• In most cases however, some previous well data is available and a reasonable
approximation can be made.
• However, Well costs for a single well depend on:
1) Geographical location: land or offshore, country
2) Type of well: exploration or development, HPHT or sour gas well
3) Drillability
4) Hole depth
5) Well target(s)
6) Profile (vertical/ horizontal /multilateral)
7) Subsurface problems
8) Rig costs: land rig, jack-up, semi-submersible or drillship and rating of rig
9) Completion type
10) Knowledge of the area: wildcat, exploration or development 4
 Drilling Cost
Drilling Cost, cont.
• A typical cost distribution for a North sea Well is
shown in below table.

• Some costs are related to time and are therefore

called time-related costs (e.g. drilling contract,
transport, accommodation).

• Many of the consumable items (e.g. casing,

cement) are related to depth and are therefore
often called depth-related costs.

• Some of the consumable items such as the

wellhead will be a fixed cost.
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 Drilling Cost
Drilling Cost Equation
𝐶𝑏 + 𝐶𝑟 (𝑡𝑏 + 𝑡𝑐 + 𝑡𝑡 )
𝐶𝑓 =
𝐷

Where:
• Cf = Drilling Cost, $/ft.
• Cb = Cost of bit, $
• Cr = Fixed operating cost of rig, $/hr
• tb = Total rotating time, hrs
• tc = total non-rotating time, hrs
• tt = trip time, hrs
• D = length drilled, ft
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 Drilling Cost
Drilling Cost Equation
Example:
A recommended bit program is being prepared for a new well using bit
performance records from nearby wells. Drilling performance records for three bits
are shown for a thick limestone formation at 9,000 ft. Determine which bit gives
the lowest drilling cost if the operating cost (Cr) of the rig is $400/hr, the trip time
(tt ) is 7 hours.

Which bit you would select? 7

 Drilling Cost
Drilling Cost Equation
Solution:
𝐶𝑏 + 𝐶𝑟 (𝑡𝑏 + 𝑡𝑐 + 𝑡𝑡 )
𝐶𝑓 =
𝐷
For Bit A:
800 + 400 (14.8 + 0.1 + 7)
𝐶𝑓 = = $46.81/𝑓𝑡
13.8 × 14.8
For Bit B:
4900 + 400 (57.7 + 0.4 + 7)
𝐶𝑓 = = $42.56/𝑓𝑡
12.6 × 57.7
For Bit C:
4500 + 400 (95.8 + 0.5 + 7)
𝐶𝑓 = = $46.89/𝑓𝑡
10.2 × 95.8
8
 Classification of Well Types
Classification of Well Types
A) Classification according to the location of the well.
1. Onshore wells: wells that are placed in the land.
2. Offshore wells: wells that are placed in sea.

9
 Classification of Well Types
Classification of Well Types, cont.
B) Classification according to the straightness of the well.
1. Vertical wells: wells that does not have an
intentional departure or course deviation
from the vertical.

2. Directional wells: wells that hit a particular

subsurface target, typically located away
from the surface location of the well.

3. Horizontal wells: are high-angle wells (with

an inclination of generally greater than 85°)
drilled to enhance reservoir performance
by placing a long wellbore section within
the reservoir. 10
 Classification of Well Types
Classification of Well Types, cont.
C) Classification according to the produced fluids:
1. Oil wells: holes drilled in the earth from which
crude oil is produced.
2. Gas wells: holes drilled in the earth from which
gas is produced.
3. Water wells: holes drilled in the earth from
which water is produced.

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 Classification of Well Types
Classification of Well Types, cont.
D) Classification according to the purpose of the well.
1. Exploration wells: wells drilled in an unproven
area where no oil and gas production exists.

2. Appraisal wells: wells drilled in order to evaluate

the characteristics of a field.

3. Development wells: wells drilled for the

production of oil or gas from a field already
proven by appraisal drilling.

4. Injection wells: wells that are used to inject water

or gas back into the formation in order to
maintain pressure, or to bring a field back under
pressure. 12
 Classification of Well Types
Classification of Well Types, cont.
D) Classification according to the purpose of the well, cont.

5. Disposal wells: wells drilled into a formation

that is safe to receive and store waste fluid
produced from other wells.

6. Relief wells: directionally drilled wells to

intersect a well which is blowing out, thus
enabling the blow out to be controlled.

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 Drilling Rig
Drilling Rig
• Drilling rig is a device used to drill a hole, lower and cement casing in the well,
and provide a means to perform various auxiliary functions such as logging,
stimulation and well testing.

• Before the rig can be selected, the requirements of the subject must be
determined. Total depth is the first thing that comes to mind, but anticipated
hole sizes, hydraulic horsepower requirements, drillpipe and casing program, and
potential hole problems should be considered.

• The proper procedure for rig selection is to size or design the various loads that
will be placed on the equipment and to select the most cost-effective rig that will
satisfy these requirements.
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 Types of Rigs
Types of Rigs
1. Land Rigs:
A. Conventional rigs:
• Small land rigs
• Medium land rigs
• Large land rigs
B. Mobile rigs:
• Portable mast
• Jacknife derrick
2. Offshore Rigs:
A. Bottom supported rigs:
• Barge
• Jackup
• Submersible
• Platform
B. Floating rigs:
• Drillship
• Semi-submersible 15
 Drilling Rig
Rotary Rigs

Onshore Rigs Offshore Rigs

Conventional Bottom
Mobile Rigs Floating Rigs
Rigs Supported Rigs

Small Land Portable

Barge Rigs Drillships
Rigs Mast Rigs

Medium Jacknife Jackup Rigs Semisubmersible

Land Rigs Derrick Rigs
Submersible
Rigs
Large Land
Rigs
Platform Rigs
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 Types of Rigs
Land Rigs
1. Conventional Rigs
• A conventional rig is considered usually as a component rig in which the key
components are so large that they cannot be transported on a single truck bed.

• These rigs vary in depth rating from 6000 to 35000 ft.

• Conventional rigs are the largest land rigs available for drilling and are sub-
classified (based on their height) into:
▪ Small Rigs
▪ Medium Rigs
▪ Large Rigs
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 Types of Rigs
Land Rigs, cont.
1. Conventional Rigs, cont.
Maximum capabilities of the rigs are in the
following ranges:

Derrick capacity = 2,000,000 Ib

Pump horsepower = 3,000 hp
Pit volume = 300 – 1,500 bbl
Drillpipe size = 3 ½ - 5 ½ in.

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 Types of Rigs
Land Rigs, cont.
2. Mobile Rigs
• Rigs that are usually considered to be a truck-
mounted unit for movement purpose.

• The most mobile rig used is cantilevered mast, or

jackknife derrick type.

• This type of rig allows the derrick to be

assembled on the ground, and then raised to the
vertical position using power from the
drawworks, or hoisting system.

• A principle advantage of the portable rig is the

low rig-up and rig-down time as well as lower
truck hire requirements. 19
 Types of Rigs
Land Rigs, cont.
2. Mobile Rigs, cont.
General capabilities for some portable rigs
are as follows:

Maximum derrick capacity = 350,000 Ib

Maximum pump flow rate = 6 – 8 bbl/min.
Pit volume = 150 bbl
Drillpipe size = 3 ½ - 4 in.

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 Types of Rigs
Offshore Rigs
• Drilling for oil and gas offshore, in some instances hundreds of miles away from
the nearest landmass, poses a number of different challenges over drilling
onshore.

• The actual drilling mechanism used to drill into the sea floor is much the same as
can be found on an onshore rig.

• However, with drilling at sea, the sea floor can sometimes be thousands of feet
below sea level.

• Therefore, while with onshore drilling the ground provides a platform from which
to drill, at sea an artificial drilling platform must be constructed.
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 Types of Rigs
Offshore Rigs, cont.
• In addition to the design criteria that are used in selecting an onshore rig, the
following criteria should be considered during selecting an offshore rig:

➢ Distance from land.

➢ Water depth.
➢ Stability in rough weather.
➢ Duration of drilling program.

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