Patriot Energy Rig Site Drilling Process - YouTube

This is a Patriot Energy drilling rig site in the Permian Basin in West Texas. This well

will be drilled to a total depth of about 8,100 feet, then it will be logged and eventually

fracked.

Here, you’ll see what the drilling and logging looks like, then in a separate video, we’ll

go through the entire fracking process at another well.

This well had been drilling for a couple weeks when our camera showed up to capture the well

hitting total depth. Here’s how it works…

There are 3 crew shifts, working around the clock until drilling is complete. They drill

rain or shine, and in fact the rig itself is triple grounded, so even lightning is not

a threat.

The main position on the platform is the driller. He runs the controls, maintains the written

logs and basically directs the show. He’s the guy in charge as far as the drilling is

concerned. But really, rig crews work so cohesively, that there is very little discussion, often

just occasional sign language to guide a pipe or a chain into place.

There are many moving parts on the rig, once it’s set up. Here, for example, they’re

mixing drilling mud. You could have all the latest technology in the world, but without

drilling mud, the whole operation would come to a halt. Mud serves several purposes besides

lubrication. Mud engineers constantly monitor the drilling mud as it circulates out of the

well and they can tell what’s going on down the hole from what comes up out of the hole.

This tank is where the water is circulated and flows out of the well, and is where it

is filtered and is pumped back into the hole.

Large generators power the rig’s electrical needs and a massive diesel engine drives the

motor that powers the bit.

This is where all the action happens, the drilling platform. If you visited a rig site

anywhere in the world, most of the time it would look about like this: Pipe spinning

at about 45 – 50 RPM and not much else going on.

That weight above the pipe keeps enough pressure on the bit and keeps the drilling process

moving methodically.

Each section of drilling pipe is about 35 feet long, and takes anywhere from about – say

– 20 minutes…up to an hour and a half to drill the length of one pipe. The difference

is obviously what they’re drilling through at any given time. Sandstone goes fast. Shale

grinds down to a trickle.

Once a section of pipe is getting close to the end, the driller suspends the weight and

the bit stops its progress. That’s when the action begins.

The driller and roughnecks man the rig floor and go to work.

First, the Kelly Drive is moved over and lifted up to where it connected to the last pipe.

Large tongs are used to break the seal, then the driller uses back pressure to unscrew

the pipe.

Then the Kelly drive is moved over and connected to the next section of pipe – which is sitting

off to the side in a mouse hole, which is just a shallow queue-up hole that gets poked

into the ground when the rig is set up.

Then that section of pipe is raised up into the rig tower and lowered to match the previous

section that is just sticking up out of the rotary drive area.

The Tongs are once again used to seal this tightly, then the string is in position for

the next section of pipe. The master bushing is lowered into position, traveling block

and swivel are engaged, the RPMs are dialed in to proper speed. Now, the next section

of pipe begins making its way down the hole.

If you figure 8,100 feet depth for this hole, at 35-feet per pipe, this process will take

place around 230 times – day and night – before finally the graph that shows exactly where

the drill bit is beneath the surface – reaches its destination.

At that point, things really begin to shift. First, the hole is flushed out with circulating

water for a period of several hours.

At that point, all the pipe is pulled….or tripped….out of the hole.

Then, a logging crew arrives and they begin a multi-hour process of connecting probes

and wires that will begin the computerized logging analysis of the well.

Once all the parts are connected and the computer is programmed and ready, a logging probe is

lowered into the well and released all the way to the bottom. At 8,100 feet, this obviously

takes a while. Then, engineers raise and lower the probe through the various oil-producing

zones which start to show up on their screens, and on a print-out. The data from this logging

process will eventually be analyzed overnight by a geologist, but information gleaned here

will be used to determine if the well should go on to completion. Fortunately, this well

had good logging shows and will move on to completion.

At this point, all that drill pipe is tripped out of the hole and the production casing.

A new set of pipe is installed. This is a repetitious process where the crew moves one

section of pipe after another.

It takes a long time to pull 230 sections of pipe and replace it. It’s tough, dirty

work….but these guys and their families are thankful for every day they have on the

rig.

After 8,100 feet of pipe is pulled out, and 8,100 feet of new pipe is put in place, the

cement trucks roll in. As you can see, this process runs day and night, and everything

is coordinated down to almost the minute to keep things flowing as efficiently as possible.

The cement team takes many hours to connect their hoses and pipes and once things are

ready, this is about the biggest pumping operation you’ve ever seen. The diesel engines roar,

and a mix of cement and water is pumped down the hole, encasing that production pipe securely

in place.

From here, the rig moves off and the well is prepared for the fracking process, which

we’ll show in the next video.

For more information on investing in upcoming oil and gas wells with Patriot Energy, visit

us online at www.patriotenergy.com or call 469-269-5414 and ask to speak to one of our

consultants.

This is American Oil from American Soil – Patriot Energy.