Oil and Gas Well Drilling

Drilling for Oil and Gas

Drilling is to create a hole extending down from the
surface to certain depth to penetrate rock layers that
expected to contain oil and or gas.
Modern drilling technology is capable to drill a hole up
to several kilometres or tens thousands feet.
Rotary drilling is the common method used by rotating
drill string and the bit in making the hole or wellbore.
Drill string consists of 30-foot drill pipe sections and
drill collars. The drill collar has much thicker wall and
heavier than drill pipe. The drill collars are to ad
weight on top the bit and to keep the hole straight.
A schematic rotary drilling system
Picture showing a driller, kelly bushing, drill pipes, and the
derrick floor.
 Drilling for Oil and Gas (cont’d)
Basically, in making a hole, the major components of
rotary drilling system are :
1. drilling rig or mast
2. drill string and bit
3. rotary table and kelly
4. hoisting system
5. drilling mud and the circulating system
6. power plant
7. blowout prevention system.
Schematic of drilling rig
Various types of drilling units
A type of bit for drilling soft formations
A diamond bit for drilling very hard formations
Other types of drilling bit
Schematic of hoisting system
Hoisting System
 Drilling Mud
Drilling mud is fluid consisted of water or salt water,
various special chemicals, frequently weighting
materials (barite or calcite), and some time lost
circulation materials when needed.
Circulating the drilling mud has important purposes :
1. to carry rock chips, usually called cuttings,
resulted from crushing or cutting action of the bit
on the rock, up the hole. The cuttings, in turn, are
important source information for the geologists.
2. to overcome or counterbalance any high pressure
encountered in rock layers or formation
containing oil and gas can not be
counterbalanced, flow of oil and gas would be
uncontrolled to the surface (called as blow out,
causing a potential disaster at the surface).
 Drilling Mud (cont’d)
3. to contribute to wellbore stability.
4. to lubricate and cool the bit and thus helps
prolong the life of the bit.
5. The mud may serve as the medium in transmitting
and receiving signals generated by logging tools
and formations.
Mud circulation system
Mud Circulation System
Schematic of blow out preventer