Drilling

Drilling for heavy oil involves many people, each with their area of expertise, using ever evolving technology to solve the many problems associated with producing heavy oil.

Drawing courtesy of Westwind Design,

Drilling

From the cable tool rigs of the pioneers, through the rotary rigs which dominated from the 1940's to the 1980's, to today's slant and directional drilling, the object is the same - get at that heavy oil, ~ 650 meters below. It's hard work (they don't call them "roughnecks" for nothing). It's an evolving, exacting science. It's an art - an experienced driller has a "feel" for what's happening hundreds of meters below. For some, it's a way of life. With the rig running 24 hours a day, through summer's heat or winter's minus 40, there's pride in making a good hole and bringing in a paying producer.

Cable Tool Rig

When the first commercial oil well in North America was drilled at Petrolia, Ontario, in 1858, a cable tool rig was used. Cable tool rigs had been in use for hundreds of years. They were used to drill for fresh water or for brines that were evaporated for salt.

The cable tool rig was also used in such early Alberta fields as Turner Valley, and they were used to drill (punch) all the early wells in the Lloydminster area.

Cable tool drilling first involved the construction, on site, of an 82 foot high wooden derrick, built on a foundation of huge timbers. The legs were made of 2" x 12" rough lumber laminated to form a right angle similar to angle iron. These were braced with horizontal girts and diagonal struts. On the derrick floor, there were three cable reels [see diagram to right] wound with steel cable which ran up and over the shives in the crown blocks. One cable was the drilling line, one for the bailer, and the other for lowering and pulling the casing. There were also three large wheels operated by power from a steam engine which sat just a few feet from the derrick platform. The platform ran out from the derrick floor and on it was mounted the sand reel which contained the sand line.

The bailer was used to bail out the cuttings and water from the bottom of the well. A few feet closer to the derrick was mounted the band wheel, operated directly from the engine. Also mounted on the platform, just off the derrick floor, was a well braced upright post, know as the sampson post, and on top of it, laying horizontally, and attached by a hinge, was a timber, tapering from the centre to either end, called the walking beam. One end of the walking beam extended into the derrick as far as the centre of the floor and to it was attached a threaded bar called the temper screw. At the lower end of the temper screw was a clamping device that gripped the drilling line to which tools were attached. A bit, which was no more than a steel weight with a point on it, was suspended by a cable down the well. The other end of the walking beam extended over the band wheel and was attached to it by a pitman and crank. As the wheel turned the crank, it raised and lowered the pitman and rocked the walking beam up and down on the sampson post, like a teeter-totter, raising and lowering the drilling tools. The bit, little more than a steel weight with a point on it, pounds the well into the ground. When the driller started his shift, he would feel for the bottom of the hole by gently lowering the bit until it rested on bottom. This he could tell by taking hold of the drilling cable with his hand. When the bit hit on bottom, he would feel a little slack in the line. The driller would then put a mark on the line so many feet above the derrick floor, allow a little slack in the line and put the rocking beam in motion, raising and dropping the bit as it pounded away at the bottom of the hole. By taking hold of the drilling line from time to time, he could tell what was going on down in the well. When there was no more slack in the line when the beam was in its lowest position, the driller would have to let out a little more slack. He had to be careful not to let out too much slack or the line could spring up and kink.

After some drilling, the bottom of the well became clogged with rock chips. The bit was then raised and a bailer lowered into the well to scoop out the rock chips. After the bailer was removed, the bit was then lowered into the well to pound it deeper. This sequence was repeated about every 3 feet. When it became necessary to lower casing into the well, the calf wheel (mounted just inside the derrick) and the casing line reel were turned to operate the travelling block. A little further in on the derrick floor was another upright post, called the headache post. This was just high enough so that when the walking beam was at its lowest position over the derrick floor, there was still some clearance between it and the headache post. This was a safety feature to keep the walking beam from dropping if anything came lose at the other end of the beam. Cable tool drilling was very slow. Cable tools do not effectively control subsurface pressures, and blowouts were common in cable tool operations. All the early wells in the Lloydminster area were drilled using cable tool rigs. One of the earliest wells found oil in September of 1929. The Oxville Oil, Gas and Development Company was a pioneer in what became known as the Dina Field near the junction of the Battle River and Ribstone Creek. Just outside of town, the famous Lloydminster Gas Company Number 1 brought in natural gas on Good Friday, March 30, 1934. The lead operator of the cable tool drilling rig that day was Charlie Mills. Charlie was born in

Iowa and came to Canada as a youngster, working as a roughneck on cable tool drilling rigs in the Turner Valley. In 1929, he brought in the discovery well in the Viking-Kinsella Field. Charlie is credited with bringing the first Rotary Drilling Rig into the Lloydminster area, about 1940. It was powered by twin V-8 engines.

Tools from the Cable Tool Era

Left to right: 1. Swedging tool: dropped down through the tubing to remove any kinks, dents, or (sometimes) obstructions. 2. Drilling jars: connect the smashing bit, which rises and falls with the motion of the walking beam above, to the drilling bit so that each blow solidly hits the drilling bit. 3. Fishing tool: one of several devices to hook, grab or otherwise retrieve lost or broken tools down hole. 4. Drilling bit: the device that literally is punched through 100's of meters of overburden to reach the hoped for pay zone. 5. Fluid bailer: device that is repeatedly lowered and lifted out of the well bore to remove fresh water, salt water, or oil. Sometimes this is to clear the wellbore, other times it allows the visual observation of what is in the bottom of the well bore.

Rotary Rigs
Rotary rigs drill the vast majority of wells today, including all medium and deep wells. The rotary rig consists of four major systems. These include the engines, and the hoisting, rotating, and mud systems. The engines supply the power to the rig. Most local rigs use a single engine to power the drawworks and rotary table. Power is usually transmitted through a modified heavy truck type powershift transmission (automatic). These engines are diesel fueled and are rated between 425550 hp. The power is used primarily to turn the drill string and raise and lower equipment in the well. Engines also supply the electricity used on and around the rig. Electrical power is supplied, usually, through two generator sets. The rig can run with one of these units but it would run at close to maximum output at night. The second provides for back-up, and allows for other options. These engines are generally rated at 300-350 hp. They are housed on a skid and are enclosed; this unit is referred to as a "light plant". Rigs also employ 1 or 2 engines to power the mud pump. Total output varies from 300-500hp. When two engines are used they must be tuned to match and are hooked together through a gear box. One of these engines runs clockwise while the other runs counter-clockwise. Power for most these application is through a clutch with an over centre release mechanism - they can be locked in the released or engaged position. The hoisting system is used to raise and lower and to suspend equipment in the well. The drilling line (wire rope) is usually braided steel cable about 1 1/8 inches in diameter. It is wound around a reel in the draw works. The engines are connected to the draw works and let the drilling line in or out. The derrick or mast is the steel tower. If the tower comes on a tractor-trailer and is jacked up, it is a mast. If the tower is erected on the site, it is a derrick. The drilling line goes over a pulley, called the crown block, at the top of the derrick, and then down to another pulley called the traveling block. Below the traveling block is a hook to which equipment can be attached. As the drilling line is reeled in or out of the draw works, the traveling block rises and falls in the derrick. This raises and lowers the equipment in the well. The size of a rig is usually denoted by the number of joints that can be left together when they "trip". On a single trip, each joint must be disconnected, on a double two can be left together, and on a triple ... three. However, there are also variations within these groups as well. As the size increases, so does the amount of load it can handle. Some rigs, usually triples, are fitted with a topdrive unit which lowers the trip capacity by one joint. Most rigs in this area are "doubles". The rotating system is used to cut the hole. Suspended on the hook directly below the traveling block is the swivel. The swivel is required to allow the drill strings to rotate while connected to the traveling block and as a means to connect the mud hose to the drill string. Without the swivel, mud could not be pumped downhole. Below the swivel is a four- or six-sided pipe called the kelly. The kelly has sides so that it can be gripped and turned. Turning the kelly turns all the

pipe in the hole and drills the hole. The rotary table is a circular table in the derrick floor. It is connected to the engines and is used to rotate the kelly. The kelly fits into a device called the kelly bushing, which attaches to the rotating table. The rotary table, kelly bushing, and kelly rotate as a unit in a clockwise direction. "Turning to the right" is a common term for drilling. Below the kelly is the drill pipe. Steel drill pipe comes in 30-foot sections that are threaded on both ends. Each section of drill pipe is called a joint. The kelly must always be located on top of the drill pipe. After drilling 30 feet, the kelly must be raised and another joint of pipe added below the kelly. This is called making a connection. Below the drill pipe are larger-diameter pipes called drill collars. Drill collars weigh more than drill pipe and are designed to lower the center of gravity of the drill pipe. This helps control drilling (e.g. making a straight hole) and prevents the pipe from kinking and breaking. Two to twenty drill collars are often used. The bit screws into the bottom of the drill collars. The most common bit is the tricone bit, which has three rotating cones.

Tri-cone Bit The three interlocking bits rotate. Cutters are commonly steel although special alloys, and even diamond, have been used to cut through hard rock. The cones have teeth that are designed to chip and flake away the rock as the bit is rotated. Some tricone bits have hard tungsten carbide buttons instead of teeth. Another type of bit is the diamond or button bit, which has diamonds embedded in the bottom and sides. Different bits are used for different hardness formations. The button bit is best for drilling limestones.

Bits wear out after 8 to 200 hours of rotation, with an average bit wearing out after about 24 hours. A worn bit can be detected by the noise on the derrick floor that the rotating drill pipe makes and by a decrease in rate of drill penetration. "Making a trip" is necessary for changing the bit. All the pipe is pulled out of the hole (tripping out) and stacked (usually 2 joints high) in the derrick. The bit is then changed and the pipe put back into the hole (tripping in). This takes rig time and costs money. The deeper the well, the longer the trip takes. The drill string is the rotating pipe and its attachments. This includes the swivel, kelly, drill pipe, drill collars, and bit. The mud system circulates drilling mud in the hole. Drilling mud is stored in steel mud pits beside the rig. Pumps, called mud hogs, force the drilling mud through a hollow rubber tube. The drilling mud then flows down through the hollow rotating drill string and jets out through holes in the drilling bit on the bottom of the well. The drilling mud picks rock chips (cuttings) from the bottom of the well. It flows up the well in the space between the rotating drill string and well walls (annulus). At the top of the well, the mud flows though the blowout preventers and on to a series of screens called the shale shaker. The shale shaker is designed to separate the cuttings from the drilling mud. Other devices are also used to clean the drilling mud before it flows back into the mud pits.

Mud Circulation There's more to drilling than simply rotating the

bit. Fluid is circulated while the drilling proceeds. Powerful pumps move the fluid down the pipe, through the bit and back to the surface, carrying the cuttings and other debris with it. Thus, on a rotary rig (unlike the cable tool), drilling can be continuous as stopping to bail the cuttings is no longer required. The drilling mud also stabilizes the walls of the hole.

Circulating drilling mud serves several purposes. The mud removes cuttings from the bottom of the well. As the mud flows across the bit, it cleans cuttings from the teeth. The drilling mud cools the bit from heat generated by the friction of drilling. In very soft sediments, such as in a coastal plain, the jetting action of the drilling mud Crudeying out of the bit on the bottom of the well helps cut the well. The drilling mud also controls pressures in the well and prevents blowouts. At the bottom of the well, there are two fluid pressures. Pressure on fluids in the rock tries to cause the fluids to flow into the well. Pressure exerted by the weight of the drilling mud tries to force the drilling mud into the surrounding rocks. If the pressure on the fluid in the subsurface rock is greater than the pressure of the drilling mud, the water, gas, or oil will flow out of the rock into the well. This often causes the sides of the well to cave or stuff in, trapping the equipment. In extreme cases, it causes a blowout. In order to control subsurface fluid pressure, the weight of the drilling mud is adjusted to exert a greater pressure on the bottom of the well. This is called overbalance, and the drilling mud is then forced into the surrounding rocks. The rocks act as a filter, and the solid mud particles cake to the sides of the well as the fluids enter the rock. This filter or mud cake is very hard. Once the filter cake has formed, the sides of the well are stabilized and subsurface fluids cannot enter the well. Drilling mud is usually a clay and water mixture. A common drilling mud is made of bentonite clay and is called gel. A heavier drilling mud can be made by adding barite (BaSO,). Various chemicals are also used in different situations. The drilling mud liquid is usually water (freshwater based or salt-water-based) but is sometimes oil-based. Drilling muds are described by their weight. Water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon. Average bentonite drilling mud weighs from 9 to 10 pounds per gallon. Heavy drilling mud weighs from 15 to 20 pounds per gallon. The heavier the drilling mud, the greater the pressure it exerts on the bottom of the well. Blowout preventers (BOPS) are designed to close off the well. They are attached to the top of the well below the derrick floor. Two types are often used on the same well. One type is designed to close around the drill pipe to shut off the annulus. The other type closes the well by shearing off the drill pipe with rams. Air or pneumatic drilling is used in many shallow wells or in cases in which the drilling mud would damage a subsurface reservoir rock. Air is forced down the drill string similar to circulating drilling mud. The air mixes with water, which is always present on the bottom of the well, and forms foam. The foam picks cuttings off the bottom of the well and returns through the annulus to the surface. The foam and cuttings blow out the side of the rig in a blooey line. Air drilling is faster and less expensive than mud drilling but has the disadvantages that it cannot control subsurface pressures and sometimes air mixes with subsurface gas, causing an explosive mixture. Directional Drilling

Because of dipping beds of hard and soft rocks, drillers used to have a hard time keeping a well going straight down. If the bit hit a subsurface hard rock layer with a dip greater than 45 degrees, the bit would tend to be deflected down dip. If the hard rock layer dipped less than 45, the bit would tend to be deflected up dip. The number of degrees a well deviates from vertical is called the deviation and the well is called a crooked hole. Drilling deviations caused by dip deflection can be prevented when drilling in areas where the geologic structure is known. By reducing the bit pressure and allowing the bit to do the work, deviation can be eliminated. In instances where this cannot be done air drilling can be employed. (see above) Today, drilling contracts often have a clause stipulating that the well deviate no more than a few degrees from vertical. Modern rotary rigs can be controlled so that the well is drilled at a predetermined angle (directional or deviation drilling) and ends up in a predetermined location. The first device used for directional drilling was a whipstock, a wedge designed to bend the drill string. Steel drill pipe bends 3 to 5'. More modern equipment includes swivel or knuckle joints that gives the drill string flexibility and down-hole motors that drive the drill bit from the bottom of the drill string. Directional surveys or drift logs are often run on wells to determine how much they deviate and where they end up (bottom out). This is usually done by lowering a compass into the well. In the past, some wells were "accidentally" drilled to drain oil out from under adjacent leases. There are also many legitimate reasons for drilling a crooked hole. If a well is on fire and cannot be approached, a relief well can be drilled at a safe distance from the wild well. The relief well does not have to intersect the wild well in the subsurface, just come close. Heavy drilling mud is then pumped from the relief well through the subsurface rocks and into the wild well to control it. If something breaks off or falls down the well and cannot be removed, the well can be sidetracked around the obstacle. It is more economical to drill a crooked hole to test several potential petroleum reservoirs than to drill several wells to each reservoir. Deviation drilling is also used to overcome a poor drilling location. More recently, directional drilling and slant drilling have become common in our area. Slant drilling allows more than one (usually 4, 6, or 8) wells to be drilled off the same lease site (pad). Aside from the slant direction, these wells are usually drilled and completed much like vertical wells. Directional drilling (where the direction of the well changes from time to time) is usually associated with some enhanced recovery technique (EOR), such as horizontal wells being drilled for SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage).

Types of Drilling
Conventional Drilling

Conventional wells are drilled vertically from the surface straight down to the pay zone. This is the traditional and still common type of drilling.

Horizontal Drilling

Using technologies such as bottom driven bits, drillers are able to execute a sharp turn and drill horizontally along a thin pay zone. In a related procedure, developed in this area, two horizontal well bores are drilled one above the other, about 3 meters apart. One application for this is SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) where steam is injected into the higher of these horizontal holes and the heat precipitates oil down into the lower hole, increasing production of heavy oil. Drilling these holes requires an experienced crew, precision techniques and advanced technology.
Slant Drilling

Drilling at an angle from perpendicular (commonly 30 to 45). This approach minimizes surface environmental disturbance. For example, oil reserves under a lake can be tapped by a slant hole drilled from on shore. More commonly in this area; four, six, even eight slant wells are drilled from one "pad" (i.e. well lease site). This allows the oil reserves under a large land area to be tapped by only one well site. Thus, production of valuable oil reserves is effectively harmonized with conserving the environment.
Directional Drilling

Drilling has advanced from slant and horizontal drilling to drilling that can change direction and depth several times in one well bore. A schematic of these drill bores (often several from the same drill pad, resembles the roots of a plant. This type of drilling is uniquely suited to pay zones in the Lloydminster area which are often distributed like prairie sloughs across the underground landscape. Directional drilling is also being applied in other parts of the world now such as Venezuela and where there is a special need to limit environmental impact on the surface.

Illustration of Drilling Types (below)

(left to right) Conventional, Slant, Horizontal

Jobs on a Drilling Rig Drilling Contractor:

Business person who specializes in drilling. Companies who wish wells drilled call for bids to drill well(s) to certain depths and other specifics. A good record as a responsible, competent contractor will help win bids.
Toolpush:

Hired by the drilling contractor to supervise a drilling rig and its crews. Since the rig operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this usually means supervising three crews, supervising the drilling operation, and working with the contractor. While the rig is operating, the "toolpush" is always on call.
Driller:

The driller is directly responsible for the drilling of the hole: supervising the rig crew, controlling what happens on the rig floor, and running the controls which drill the well.
Derrickhand:

When the pipe must be taken out (tripping out) to change bits or for other reasons, the derrickhand handles the top end of the pipe rack. Working on the "monkey board" high overhead, the derrickhand helps stack the pipe and then when the pipe is tripped in, guides the top end of each pipe as it is rejoined to the drill string. In between trips, the derrickhand usually

operates the mud system, making sure it is meeting the specifications for drilling a particular part of the hole.
Roughnecks:

Usually two per drilling crew, the roughnecks handle the lower end of the pipe when it is tripping out or in. They also attach each length of new drill pipe as it is needed as the well gets deeper. This is heavy, exacting work and requires precise timing and teamwork. Roughnecks also maintain and repair the rig, and other equipment, and keep the rig floor a safe operating area.

Drilling Problems and Drilling Operations

If a tool is lost or the drill string breaks, the obstruction in the well is called junk or fish. It cannot be drilled through. Special grabbing tools are used to retrieve the junk in a process called fishing. In extreme cases, explosives can be used to blow up the junk and then the pieces can be retrieved with a magnet. Some reservoir rocks can be damaged by forcing drilling mud into them. This can be caused by using too heavy an overbalance while drilling. The drilling mud clogs the pores or causes chemical or physical changes in the rock. This decreases the rock's permeability near the well bore. Formation damage prevents or reduces production from the reservoir rock when the well is completed. Lost circulation occurs when a very porous and permeable formation is encountered in the subsurface. The drilling mud flows into the formation without building up a filter cake. During lost circulation, more mud is being pumped down the well than is flowing back up. In the past, drillers solved lost-circulation problems by buying all the leather they could locally. They shredded the leather into fine pieces and pumped it down the well. The shredded leather got into the pore spaces of the lost-circulation formation and swelled up, closing off the formation and solving the problem. Today, service companies sell inexpensive fine-grained, fibrous materials such as mica flakes, ground pecan hulls, sugar cane hulls, shredded cellophane, and even shredded paper money to solve lost-circulation problems. An unexpected pressure in the subsurface can cause a blowout. The overbalance is lost and the fluids flow out of the subsurface rocks into the well in what is called a kick. As the water, gas, or oil flows into the well, it mixes with the drilling mud, causing it to become even lighter and exert less pressure on the bottom of the well. The diluted drilling mud is called gas cut, salt-water cut, or oil cut. The blowout preventers are immediately thrown to close the hole. The kick can be dangerous if it is caused by flammable natural gas or poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas. Sometimes the blowout occurs so fast that the drillers do not have time to throw the blowout preventers, and the results are disastrous. Slides and cables are located on the rig to evacuate the crew in such an emergency. If the blowout preventers are thrown in time, heavier drilling mud is pumped into the well through a choke manifold to circulate the kick out.

A kick and possible blowout is detected by several different methods during drilling. As subsurface fluids enter the well during a kick, more fluids will be flowing out of the well than are circulating into the well. The sudden increase of fluid flow out of the well or rise of fluid level in the mud pit is detected by instruments. The drilling mud can also be continuously monitored for sudden changes in weight, temperature, or electrical resistivity that would indicate the mud is being cut by subsurface fluids. A blowout can also be caused by raising the drill string out of the well. The drill string displaces a volume of drilling mud in the well. As the drill string is raised, the level of drilling mud falls in the well and the pressure is decreased on the bottom of the well. If the level of the drilling mud is not maintained in the well, overbalance could be lost and a blowout could occur. Sometimes, the problem is simply getting to and from the drill/well site, as the picture below illustrates. Note the technological innovation as the tractor, holds the winch truck, which winches the perforating truck out of the (surface) mud, and the cat which holds the front of the perforating truck on the road.

Drilling Operation Operating a drilling rig is very expensive. Because of this, the rig is run 24 hours a day. Three 8hour shifts or two 12-hour shifts of workers operate the rig. The drilling contractor is the company that supplies the rig. The operator is the company that organizes and finances the drilling and selects the drill site. The operator has a company representative at the drill site to protect their interests. Service and supply companies are the various companies that supply specialized tools and services needed during the drilling operations.

The "tool pusher" is the drilling company's top representative at the drill site. The tool pusher supervises the drilling operations and usually lives at the drill site 24 hours a day. Each morning the tool pusher compiles the results of the past 24 hours of drilling into a daily drilling or morning report. The report is phoned back to the drilling superintendent at the contractor's office. The report includes the depths, footage drilled, supplies used, and other drilling and geological data. A driller is in charge of each shift. Drillers operate the drilling machinery from a drilling console on the derrick floor. The derrick operator is second in command of each tour. The derrick operator climbs to the monkeyboard, a platform near the top of the derrick, to handle the pipe during tripping in and out, and is also in charge of the drilling mud and pumps. On the derrick floor will be two to four roughnecks (rotary or floor helpers), depending on the size of the rig. They handle and maintain the drilling equipment. One person is hired to maintain the engines. These are just some of the people, and some of the problems they have, in recovering me, Crudey, the heavy oil drop. Once they find me, there is lots of work to be done yet. Ill tell you more about these problems in Completions and Workovers.