Drilling

[j.sabourn]

I had 3 options what to name this post , offshore commodities, Drilling, or UFOs ( Unidentified floating objects ) it would appear to a lot of people who if dropped into an Oil field offshore that the appearance of some of the vessels would not appear to be in their past recollections of ships to be anywhere near familiar.
I am trying at this late date to find out a few basic questions and not technical answers which I am sure a lot could answer now that we have more professional technical people on site. I may be showing my ignorance but basically working on transport to supply offshore installations and being lazy like me. It was just cargo and that was it.
My first query is about the 4 most carried products in bulk form... Cement, Barytes, Bentonite, and oil based mud and give what I think they were used for.
Cement to cap a well head and to fill holes as necessary,
Barytes ... for the making of mud.
Bentonite .... Don’t know unless is all for making mud.
Oil based Mud....Very expensive was informed , and believe it was used as a lubricant down the drill
Hole if that’s what it is called.Also to keep any pockets of oil down from surfacing. I maybe totally wrong but would like to be corrected. I assume the mud would lie between the casing and the drill pipe for lubrication purposes.
As regards drill pipe and casing was a never ending job supplying a rig with , and being from deep sea had to do another apprenticeship on deck at 41 years of age , a lot of this time was spent slinging bundles of this from the deck of a rolling vessel without being killed in the process, so one got to know all the good crane drivers and those who didn’t have a grudge against you. Only once was I caught in a sling when my coat got caught in one of the hooks , and I was about 8 ft.in the air before managing to free myself and dropping back onto the pile of drill pipe stacked about 8ft.high.
Suffering no broken bones but badly bruised ribs for which there is no cure , only walking around like a zombi for 3 months.
To anyone reading this not knowing the offshore world , on some of the big production platforms you will find most trades and professions , I think the only two I never heard about was a gardener and a Window cleaner.
However as said we have drillers on site and would appreciate an update on what little knowledge I think I have on the products mentioned. Cheers JS...

[Doc Vernon]

Interesting JS however out of my depth ! ??
Hope you get some good and sensible replies!
Cheers

[j.sabourn]

Expecting one from Tom in the vein of “ here’s mud in your eye” , although he does have spasms when he sees the light. JS

[john walker]

John you guessed/surmised correctly in the use of the chemicals you mentioned they are either water, oil or synthetic based compounds used in the process of drilling in oil/gas exploration. I am no expert on the subject for that you would need a reply from either a rig geologist (A mud/bug man) Or a drilling superintendent or tool pusher. The nomenclature on a rig is baffling to an outsider, which is probably no different to the terms used to identify the occupations of those who work on ships or the tools of their trades. As Doc mentioned the subject of sensible replies I thought that adding the idiomatic names to two of the jobs when working on or around a rig which have all sorts of hidden meanings to most laymen or comedians of the Frankie Howard variety. The first as already mentioned is the 'tool pusher' He is the guy responsible for a team of workers who actually do the drilling or making hole as they prefer to call it. The name derives from the tool used at the end of a drill pipe which can be normally either a boring tool or a retrieving tool. The second is 'Camp boss' which was my occupation when I worked on rigs in 83 which is the name given to the catering and facilities manager.

[j.sabourn]

Thanks for that John , I have been on quiete a few rigs out here but not particularly when they are in the drilling mode , usually been there as tow master and only there when under way. The time I could of found out was when myself and another Mariner were doing 12 hours on and off on a rig in the Bass Strait on continuous radar watch and warning other shipping away out of the exclusion zone , this was for about a week. However at that time did not have the inclination or the energy to find out such things. It’s only now when getting old you certainly think of all the things you don’t know , not that knowing is going to be of any use , it just a bit of self satisfaction of knowing that you have a better idea of the workings . Shifting semis and jack ups have done that out here but never in the uk. So have a good idea of that end of the business , but drilling not much of a clue. I know all about oims , camp bosses , barge masters , and the hierachy on rigs and platforms , but obviously not other peoples jobs to the extant that maybe I should of. Thanks for your input . I used to know a bloke out here whose sole job was fishing and retrieving drill heads lost down the hole , even that was a skill highly sought after , should of kept in touch with him for the likes of my query. Cheers JS

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn #3
good afternoon, not wanting to muddy anybodies waters and not being by any form or manner knowledgeable in the use of the process you have outlined for the following.Barytes, Bentonite, and Oil based mud, used in the offshore drilling process, So i have checked them out on line and as you know they are all used to plug any leaks in the drilling process and are generally known as binders,
but where is that light you write about is coming from the east or will i find it else where,
tom

[j.sabourn]

#6 As long as you have your Wellies on you’ll be ok. I know after discharging these chemicals to a rig from pressurised tanks and through a hose , after emptying and on way back in to port , it was normal to clean them out and this was by brushing them down and all the residue into the centre , re-pressurising the tank and blowing the residue to the sea. How that sits today with the clean seas act don’t know ,but in effect it is no difference than what the rig is doing in any case. As regards the light in the east think of it as the star of Bethlehem but if you want it to stay in the east you will have to stop the world from spinning as stars don’t have an orbit. So best to stick it on top of the Xmas tree. Cheers JS

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn #7
i did borrow cappys wellies one time, but they where full of bits of sheep wool, and i could not get my feet in to them he must suffer from cold feet,
as you stated the binders themselves are being released into the sea when the drilling is happening, so why would it present a problem by blowing the residue from the re-pressured tanks,
as for the light emanating from bethlehem its now at its zenith over bolton where capt kong lives and its followed up three times a day in calls to prayer,
tom

[Bill Morrison]

#1JS. Like you John only thought of what we delivered to an installation. From my point of view it was fuel, brine, F.W. and the dreaded Cement. In the early days the cement tanks were horizontal and the slides were like a pumice material for the compressed air to pass through and pressurise the tank. First problem damp cement, lucky if you managed to pump half the contents up to the installation, second problem if the cement was kept in the tanks to long and a spell of rough weather compacted the cement. This is where the lads on deck come into play they had to dig the stuff out not a nice job and the slides were cleaned. The later vertical tanks were a great improvement, an arrangement of retractable nozzles a "Spider" caused a cyclone effect in the tank but damp cement could block the discharge pipes, the engine room staff had the job feeing the blockages.
I never fancied working on the rigs or platforms, happy on the Anchor/supply ships but as things started to change I went back shoreside. Bill

[J Gowers]

Cement mainly used to set the casing, when a hole is drilled a casing (pipe) is inserted into the hole, cement is then pumped down the hole and it percolates up the outside of the casing to cement it in place. This seals the casing in place. At the top you have fairly big casing sorry cant remember the sizes about 3 feet in dia, once this is set and tested you drill a smaller diameter hole and this is also cased as well, and you carry on doing this until you get to the depth required which could be over 30,000 feet.


Barytes, Bentonite used to make mud which acts as a coolant, and a method of removing cuttings, and it stops the oil or gas coming out of the hole, the density of the mud varies with the depth of the hole and the bottom hole pressure, higher pressure down hole then more dense mud.

Oil based mud is virtually done away with these days and it is synthetic oil based mud that is used , in the old days you just mixed diesel with the mud.

I had about 14 years on ships and 28 years on rigs of all sorts.