Drilling advances

	Vol. 226 No. 2
LES SKINNER, PE CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

The new “boom.” Here we are in a new year with renewed enthusiasm, restored ambitions and hopes that this year will be the one in which the recovery is made, individually and corporately. Drilling activity of all types – exploratory, development and replacement-well – is continuing to increase worldwide. In the US alone, the rig count in December was 8% higher than it was this time a year ago. Investment capital is available in increasing amounts, and the exaggerations of the “get rich quick” deal peddlers is exceeded only by those of the “get rich quicker” guys. So what can we do to avoid fouling this one up?

Improved candidate selection. Exploration geologists and geophysicists have a wide array of tools available that simply didn’t exist during the last boom. Chief among these is 3D seismic with improved processing capability. Vastly improved prospect definition is now possible with associated minimization of drilling dry holes. During the last boom, investors were obliged to rely on old single-fold data and subsurface mapping by the geologists (still an important tool), and increasing frequency of dry holes quickly dampened investor enthusiasm. As oil prices declined in 1982 and 1986, so did the availability of investment capital. This time, the earth scientists have a much better opportunity to generate quality prospects with significantly improved odds the wells will pay out and generate a reasonable return at today’s product prices.

Better downhole tool technology. The advent of PDC and improved performance cone bits has resulted in vastly improved penetration rates. Wells that formerly required 90 to 120 days to drill are routinely TD’d in only 20 to 25 days from spud. Wells that would require 40 or 50 cone bits now require only one or two improved-technology PDC bits. Instead of seeing bits lined up in front of the company man’s quarters, there is one bit in the hole and a backup bit sitting in the office.

High-performance motors (both PDMs and turbines) are available, and bits are turning at ever faster rates with little cutter damage. Improved mud systems, fluid separation systems and mud cleaners result in better rheology. New PVT systems and alarms provide an ever increasing improvement in monitoring capability. Fewer trips to replace MWD/LWD/PWD tool strings and worn bits have reduced drilling times to ridiculous levels compared to those in the last boom.

Redesigned drilling rigs. The relatively recent advent of all electric, self-contained, self-erecting onshore and offshore rigs provides greater capacity for making hole quickly. Automation has improved both drilling efficiency and rig crew safety. Better well control equipment, alarm systems and monitoring have reduced number/ severity of kicks to the point that the worldwide incident of blowouts has dropped dramatically in the last 25 years.

Newer generation rigs permit ever finer control of the drilling process. Where subtleties in the process were masked by drilling rig coarseness in the past, the higher sensitivity of monitoring devices and control systems allows drilling optimization to a high level today. In all, these improvements, born of necessity during lean times, can now be applied during the good times. The result will likely be a better showing by the industry.

Potential roadblocks. Alas, there will doubtlessly be some of the same past boom-era problems experienced this time. Already, spot shortages of steel in some areas have resulted in long lead times for some tubular goods, especially those with premium threads. Bits, motors, MWD/LWD/PWD systems, rental items such as top drive systems, replacement parts for all rigs, pumps, steel pits, mud chemicals and fishing tools may all be in short supply soon.

In many areas, there is an insufficient supply of active rigs to drill current prospects quickly. Many rigs are contracted for several months and even years in advance. If the operator’s name is not already on the list with a firm contract signed and earnest money in the escrow account, the next well in the queue will be delayed 6 to 8 months. The one after that probably won’t be drilled this year at all.

The worst problem now and in the future is likely to be the lack of a large qualified work force. It is estimated that the industry has lost over 600,000 jobs in the past 25 years, many of those in the drilling business. Worse, the 40-year-old “fossils” that were managing drilling programs when we were 23-year-old cub engineers are retiring in droves. Old toolpushers, drillers and derrickmen are rapidly taking the greeter’s job at the big discount stores. Many of them decided years ago that a career putting cars together in Tennessee beats chasing rigs around the Gulf of Mexico, the Rockies or South America.

We are now seeing a new breed of drilling hand on the scene. These young men and women, no matter how enthusiastic, are largely inexperienced. Most lack mentors to teach them how to drill. They may have all the tools, cerebral and physical, to do a good job. Unfortunately there are few remaining “masters” to show these apprentices how to use those tools effectively.

There is always hope. Recently, there has been a migration of former drillers and toolpushers back into the drilling arena. People that had been in the insurance or construction business now see renewed prospects with greater economic potential in drilling. Several that have been absent for 12 to 15 years are returning, and the experience base is being lured back by greater salaries and improved job security. Rusty they are, but they are catching up quickly. 

Drilling seems to be less frantic now than during the last boom. This is a very encouraging indicator that we may have learned to take a more determined approach during good times. Perhaps the investors will provide more patient money for drilling during the new boom. Many overextended during the last boom with disastrous economic consequences. Good judgment comes from experience, and most experience comes from the exercise of bad judgment. Hopefully, we will all be a little smarter this time.

Have a prosperous New Year. We have finally been blessed with one more chance, if not a full-blown boom; let’s not mess it up 

Les Skinner, VP and Division Manager for Energy Personnel International, Houston, and a chemical engineering graduate from Texas Tech University, has 32 years’ experience in drilling and well control with major/ independent operators and well-control companies.