The Drilling Rig

Expect the Unexpected When Drilling in Strange and

Hostile Environments

Gas Hydrate Outcrop at 1,500 ft in Gulf of Mexico (with Worms)

Petroleum (Oil & Gas)

Where is it and how do we find it?

Formation Structures
Subsurface Structures Determined by
Seismic Surveys
Seismic Surveys
•2D seismic provides
formation tops on single plane
•3D seismic provides 3
dimensional picture of
formation tops
•Formations “tops” are
correlated to existing wells
•Seismic surveys identifies
zones of interest, but only
drilling will tell if commercial
hydrocarbons are present.
 Drilling

Gaining access to the oil and gas.

 Spring Pole Drilling
Earliest drilling rig. Used to drill brine and potable water wells.
Driller “stepped” in stirrup to drop bit on bottom of well.
Chinese drilled as deep as 3,000’, but it took generations.
Cable Tool Rig
Simply a powered version of the
“spring pole” rig. Drilled by raising
and dropping a heavy “bit” in the
hole to break the rock beneath
the bit. After ten to twenty
gallons of water were poured in
the hole and mixed with the
crushed rock, the bit would be
removed from the hole and a
bailer would be run into the hole
to remove the rock. Although the
drilling rate was slow, only a few
feet a day, wells as deep as 2,000
ft could be drilled. One man could
operate the rig.
Replica of Drake Well Drilled in Pennsylvania,
U.S.A. in 1850’s
•Common drilling rig
components
•Tower - derrick for
suspending heavy tools
and pipe
•Power supply - engine
in shed
•No mud pits or pumps,
cable tool rig drilled by
raising and dropping drill
bit with cable. Cuttings
dipped from well.
Pennsylvania “Standard” Cable Tool Drilling Rig
 Rotary Drilling

Rotary drilling became widely used in the oil

industry starting in the early 1900’s. A bit (there
are various designs) is run into the hole on drillpipe
and rotated to crush or “scrape” the rock away
from beneath the bit. Mud pumped through the
drillpipe carries the crushed rock to the surface
and keeps the well from blowing out. It is much
faster, but more labor intensive than cable tool
drilling.
 Drilling a Well
•A drill bit designed for the expected type of formation
to be drilled, is lowered into the well on the drill string.
•The drill string and bit are rotated by the rotary drive
on the rig floor, a top drive in the derrick, or a mud
motor directly above the bit which is powered by the
force of the mud flowing through it.
•The bit crushes or grinds the rock beneath it into
pieces called cuttings
•Drilling Mud is circulated down the drill pipe and
through openings called “jets” in the bit.
•The mud washes the formation cuttings from beneath
the bit and carries them to the surface.
•When the bit fails or wears out, all of the drill string
must be pulled from the hole to replace it. This is called
a trip.
 Roller Cone Rock Bits

Milled tooth

Tungsten
carbide insert
PDC, Natural Diamond and Bicentered Bits
Land Rig
•Basic rig:
•Derrick and draw works
•Rotary
•Power plant
•Mud circulating system
•Blow Out Preventers
•All other rigs adopt these
basic components to their
working environment
Arctic Land Rig

This is a basic land rig

closed in to protect the
crew and prevent freezing
of the mud and water
systems.
Jackup Rig
•Basic drilling rig mounted on a
barge with legs.
•Barge is floated to the well site.
•Legs are extended to the sea bed
and the rig (barge) is jacked up high
enough to provide sufficient
clearance for wave action.
•Jackup rigs are generally limited to
working in less than 300 ft of water,
because of the length of their legs
•Shallow water depths allow the
casing to extend to the surface and
surface BOP’s are used.
•Contain crew quarters, heliport,
cranes
Jackup Schematic

Jackup can be set

beside fixed
production
platform and
cantilevered rig
positioned over
platform for
drilling multiple
production wells.
Jackup Leaving Port in Tow
Jackup “Jacked Up” in Port
Semi-submersible Drilling Rigs
•Self propelled, floating drilling vessel
•Pontoons are submerged when drilling
•Pontoons may be used for storage
•Maintains position by:
•Anchors
•Satellite positioning and
electrically powered thrusters
•Riser used to return mud from subsea
wellhead to surface when drilling
•Subsea BOP’s
•Operate in water too deep for jackups
•Operational water depth limited only
by riser length
Semi-submersible Drilling Rig
 Drillship
Operations are similar to a Semi-submersible
Jetting Deep Water Conductor
•In many areas the formation at the
mud line is very soft
•Instead of driving the conductor, it
is run on the drill string with the
jetting tool at the bottom of the
conductor
•Flow is through the conductor and
back to the seabed
•After the conductor is jetted to
depth, the formation will settle
around it and provide a seal and
support without cement
 Drilling Riser Flotation & Insulation

(Drilling Risers are used by drillships and semi-submersibles)

Anchor Chain
Chain provides weight to hold
anchor in place when operating
deep water and open seas.
Anchor Winches
Special boats position the
anchors of drillships and semi-
submersibles. Winches on board
these vessels are used to maintain
tension and hold them in
position.
Top Drive

•Top drive (red) suspended

from traveling block
(yellow) rotates drill string
and drill bit
•Drilling mud circulated
through the kelly hose and
down through the drill
string
Heave Compensator
Drilling Fluid Circulating System
 Solids Control Equipment
Large Volume of Drill Solids Removed from Drilling Fluid
by Solids Control Equipment
Shale Shaker
•First piece of solids control
system mud passes through
when it reaches surface
•Separates drill solids from
mud by screening
•Vibration of screen increases
the processing capacity
•Several shakers are often
used at once to process high
flow rates
 Centrifuge
Centrifuges Separate Solids from High Density Drilling Fluid
by Centrifugal Force
Hydrocyclones - Desanders & Desilters

Used to separate drill solids from low density muds

Driller
Driller at console
on Hibernia
platform offshore
Canada
Running New Bit
A new bit has been
“made up” on the
drill string and the
rough necks are
preparing to run it in
the hole.
 Draw Works
Winch used to pull drill line through crown sheaves and traveling
block, raising and lowering the drill string in the hole.
Running Casing
•Casing is large diameter pipe that is run
and permanently cemented in place from
the surface or mud line of a well, to
stabilize the hole and seal off pressured or
fractured zones.
•Several casing strings are run on each
well. The diameter of each casing string
becomes progressively smaller as it must
fit through the last casing string that was
run.
•The BOP stack or Christmas tree is
bolted to a flange on the last casing string
that was run.
•Production casing is set through the pay
zone and perforated to produce a well.
 Wellbore Geometry
After the casing or liner is run cement is pumped behind it to


seal off the zones behind the casing.
Surface or Mud Line Annular Geometry

Surface Casin g
D. P.& Ca sin g

Intermediate Casin g

Liner  D. P.& Liner


 D. P.& Open Hole

Open Hole DrillCollars& O. Hole

Drill Bit
Sub Sea BOP Stack
•The blow out preventer (BOP) stack is a series of
valves fastened to the casing or wellhead, that can
be closed around the drillpipe to keep the well
from blowing out. Typically the BOP’s contain:
•Pipe rams which will close and seal around the
drill pipe.
•Blind rams to seal the well off when the pipe is
out of the hole.
•Shear rams which will shear any pipe in the drill
string including drill collars, in two and seal the
well off in an emergency.
•The BOP’s have connections for the riser and
booster, choke, and kill lines.
•In storms, the pipe rams may be closed on the
drill string which is then disconnected at the
surface leaving it suspended on the rams, to
prevent hole damage caused by pipe movement.
Deepwater Structures
Deepwater Structures
Hibernia Platform, Canada
•Concrete platform
on Grand Banks
•Concrete “skirt”
at water line is
designed to
minimize force of
impact from
icebergs
•“Skirt” diameter
is approximately
346 feet
Sakhalin Island, U.S.S.R
Sitting on sea bed,
ballasted with sand
Troll A Platform, Norway