I have decided to create a thread for drilling engineers and drilling supervisors ( company man ), so that we can share experience and best practices.

I am currently working on a BOD for a deepwater field development - drilling and completion.


Guys, come in and let's discuss.

Nice one Dr Ferlie,

Though, i presently work for a consulting firm, but i graduated as a petroleum engr. and really love the drilling thing. Been on two functional land rigs and one drill ship undergoing repairs. Still hoping to land a drilling job soonest.

To make it interesting, share your experience on the greatest challenge you have faced on the job and what is the largest rig U've been on. kip the ball rolling.

DRILLERS HELP GET THE OIL OUTTA THE GROUND, HAIL THEM

Abbeydot,

I have been to land rig, semi-submersible rig and a drill ship during the course of my career.

My first challenge ever was casing design for an HTHP, sour gas and multilateral wells in the desert of saudi arabia. Getting the casing strings and liners that meet the expected burst, colapse and tensile load ( and still within AFE ) was tough.

I am currently engaged in well planning and design phase for for deepwater ( 3500 ft - 5500ft of water ) project offshore Nigeria.

i am presently working with Atlas copco in Nigeria if u need any mining or drilling equipment u can let me know.

alaura:

i am presently working with Atlas copco in Nigeria if u need any mining or drilling equipment u can let me know.

Alaura,

Can you supply a drilling rig ( drillship) that can drill in water up to 10,000ft in depth?

we are talking about oil and gas drilling here.

sorry we dont have that we only deal with shallow rig for oil and gas but u can also check our website to see what we have www.atlascopco.com

Hi all,presently i work as a petroleum engineer with a marginal field operator in Nigeria.Planning to pitch a full career in drilling engineering and right now involved in the planning of drilling 3 wells of an average of 13000 ft and a re-entry of one well.Quite a challenging exercise for a newbie in drilling

nice thread!! @ Dr ferlie and co, i have been longing to see this thread on NL ,was wondering if there is any hope for the profession in Nigeria,most of tghe drilling jobs are been taken by indians and filipinos,even as roughnecks which is very bad for th petroleum engineering graduate in niaja.

I have been involved in drilling and completions and i love the job,i was wondering if there is any hope of getting back in to the field as most coy have started asking for wellcap certificates!!, which is indeed difficult to get in Nigeria cos most coys send their staffs abroad to get certified, This forum is a nice way to share experience and challenges and give information to newbie drilling engineers and those that have interest in entering the field, the field is indeed very rewarding but its not a job for the faint hearted and lilly livered cos there are lots of risk involved,

Dr ferlie and abbeydot i greet once again kudos to y'all ,lets get the crude pumping
out their reservoirs!!

blackky187:

Hi all,presently i work as a petroleum engineer with a marginal field operator in Nigeria.Planning to pitch a full career in drilling engineering and right now involved in the planning of drilling 3 wells of an average of 13000 ft and a re-entry of one well.Quite a challenging exercise for a newbie in drilling

blackky187,

Good to meet you. You have taken the right step. drilling engineering is very challenging. You need to know a lot about every aspect of drillling. You will be more or less a generalist. Nowadays, there are drilling softwares to make life easier. Are the wells going to be oil producer or water/gas injector?

okeyz:

nice thread!! @ Dr ferlie and co, i have been longing to see this thread on NL ,was wondering if there is any hope for the profession in Nigeria,most of tghe drilling jobs are been taken by indians and filipinos,even as roughnecks which is very bad for th petroleum engineering graduate in niaja.

I have been involved in drilling and completions and i love the job,i was wondering if there is any hope of getting back in to the field as most coy have started asking for wellcap certificates!!, which is indeed difficult to get in Nigeria cos most coys send their staffs abroad to get certified, This forum is a nice way to share experience and challenges and give information to newbie drilling engineers and those that have interest in entering the field, the field is indeed very rewarding but its not a job for the faint hearted and lilly livered cos there are lots of risk involved,

Dr ferlie and abbeydot i greet once again kudos to y'all ,lets get the crude pumping
out their reservoirs!!

Thanks Okeyz

There is a great and bright future for Nigerians in drilling engineering. The local content thingy in the oil and gas sector will help us a lot. There is a place in PH where you can get your well control certifications ( fundamental and supervisory level) . I will find out and get back to you; though I got mine in Houston.

thanks sir for prompt comment, actually i really love drilling but due to lack of proper info on how to get started again i decided to delve into other areas, but with mentors like u around i am thinking of going back,
anyway there is this website www.wellcontrol.com that does well control online and they still issue wellcap certificates but i don t know how effective the training would be, please i will be more than grateful if i can have the address for the well cp training , also will the certificate give one the egde to get a drilling job both withinm and outside nigeria?
thanks for ur response,

okeyz:

thanks sir for prompt comment, actually i really love drilling but due to lack of proper info on how to get started again i decided to delve into other areas, but with mentors like u around i am thinking of going back,
anyway there is this website www.wellcontrol.com that does well control online and they still issue wellcap certificates but i don t know how effective the training would be, please i will be more than grateful if i can have the address for the well cp training , also will the certificate give one the egde to get a drilling job both withinm and outside nigeria?
thanks for ur response,

The well control certificate with hands-on experience on the field and office ( well planning and design stage) will definitely give you an edge anywhere. What are you presently into?

is a nice idea

rite now i am worKing with an inspection company,that does inspection of barges,cargoe ships, NDT stuff and the like,

but i really want to get into the upstream main stream activity like drilling and completions, i am a completions man when i was with my former company,b4 the owner went into politics, and since then i find it difficult to get back in even with my experience(not much though) about 4-5 years,

they keep asking for wellcap and iadc certificates and no company is willing to train you for such certificate ,and the training is quite on the high side financially ,and one gets to renew it every 2 years,, so if one does the training and does not get a job b4 the thing expires where does that leave me,
well i still need to do the training and get the cert since thats the in thing for drillers these days,

sir any leads that can helpm me in that direction ??, i will really appreciate it

Dr Ferlie,
The wells are going to be oil producers

hello to everyone here. my name is Ellis Femi, a third year student studying Petroleum Engineering in the University Of Port Harcourt. drilling courses are nice and sometimes when i carry my text book on drilling engineering, i tend to get attracted to it. but it is really wide with all thise formulas. sometimes i wonder if one is meant to get all those stuff in one brain. what i want to know is which of these options seem interesting. when some of our lecturers teach, they will tell you that reservoir engineering is the bomb, production and drilling. but i think i am attracted to drilling engineering. i want everyone here to put me through. coz am just done with reading drilling fluids, hydraulics, and drilling cost estimation. is there hope for the nigeria student reading petroleum engineering in nigeria. plz i need an answer. thanks for now ,

okeyz:

rite now i am worKing with an inspection company,that does inspection of barges,cargoe ships, NDT stuff and the like,

but i really want to get into the upstream main stream activity like drilling and completions, i am a completions man when i was with my former company,b4 the owner went into politics, and since then i find it difficult to get back in even with my experience(not much though) about 4-5 years,

they keep asking for wellcap and iadc certificates and no company is willing to train you for such certificate ,and the training is quite on the high side financially ,and one gets to renew it every 2 years,, so if one does the training and does not get a job b4 the thing expires where does that leave me,
well i still need to do the training and get the cert since thats the in thing for drillers these days,

sir any leads that can helpm me in that direction ??, i will really appreciate it

Okeyz,

It will be easier for you to come in as a Completion Engineer based on your previous experience in well completions and workover.

I will let you know of any opportunity as soon as possible. what part of completion were you involved before?

blackky187:

Dr Ferlie,
The wells are going to be oil producers

It will be a good experience for you. keep us posted

ellisville:

hello to everyone here. my name is Ellis Femi, a third year student studying Petroleum Engineering in the University Of Port Harcourt. drilling courses are nice and sometimes when i carry my text book on drilling engineering, i tend to get attracted to it. but it is really wide with all thise formulas. sometimes i wonder if one is meant to get all those stuff in one brain. what i want to know is which of these options seem interesting. when some of our lecturers teach, they will tell you that reservoir engineering is the bomb, production and drilling. but i think i am attracted to drilling engineering. i want everyone here to put me through. coz am just done with reading drilling fluids, hydraulics, and drilling cost estimation. is there hope for the nigeria student reading petroleum engineering in nigeria. plz i need an answer. thanks for now ,

Femi, welcome on board. At your (student) level, you need to get familiar with the crazy and complex drilling formulars. On the field, there are softwares to do the calculations for you. My favorite right from B.Sc and M.Sc levels has been drilling and completion engineering . I just love it. Your choice depends on which aspect of petroleum engineering you find interesting. By the time you go through your degree programme, you will be able to determine that. All the fields are good and challenging.
There is hope for you in Nigeria and else where. Just be very good and deligent at what you DO.

Dr.

Its very likely that I will be offered a position as a roustabout in an oilrig right now I have no experience as a n Oil and Gas person though I read Civil/Structural Engr in school. MY question is how do oyu see the position of a roustabout for an engineer is it the startin point for anybody on the rig.

Ehido,

For drilling contractors ( transocean, seadril et al ), roustabout ( deck crew) position is the starting point . I will encourage you to take the position and prove yourself by rising through the ranks. To be candid with you, the roustabout job is dirty and hard but look beyond that. I have seen a graduate engineer that was employed as a roustabout( lowest level junior position) rising thru the ranks to become an Assitant Driller ( senior position)within 3/4 years. It all depends on you. Give it your best and learn as fast as possible. The sky is your beginning.

Hi Dr. Frelie,

Thanks for your answer, but right now I have an admission to go and study offshore Engineering in the UK, but I figured out that without experience in the offshore feild getting a good job immediately after might be somewhat difficult, will this position be a good tender as per experience is concerned (though I know the job of a roustabout and an ofshore engineer are a bit different).

And I am contemplating leaving my current job as a banker to take this offer on the basis that the experience might be worth it since I want to switch to the oil and gas sector (but the pay of a roustabout is far below what I earn now). I just want to know if the sacrifice will be worth it in the long run.

As an experienced colleague I will need you to give me all the answers possible so that I can better weigh my options well.

Thanks and I really appreciate ur response.

Ehido:

As an experienced colleague I will need you to give me all the answers possible so that I can better weigh my options well.

Congrats on your admission. I will advise you to take the job of roustabout for the sole reason of getting familiar with rig/offshore facilities and activities. Once you come in, open your eyes and mind very well, relate with the engineers on the rig, get as much information and exposure as possible. Practice delayed gratification for now. Forget about the money, get the experience and exposure. This will help you a lot in your M.Sc study and career afterward. Once again, TAKE THE ROUSTABOUT JOB.

Thanks a lot Dr. Ferlie,

I AM TAKING THAT ROUSTABOUT JOB.

I hope you will be on hand when I get in and need some explanations while on the job.

Thanks again.

Ehido:

Thanks a lot Dr. Ferlie,

I AM TAKING THAT ROUSTABOUT JOB.

I hope you will be on hand when I get in and need some explanations while on the job.

Thanks again.

Good decision!!! I am willing and ready to assist any time.

Good Afternoon Dr Ferlie,

I'm a graduate of petroleum Engineer from FUTO (last two yrs),i believe you are career mentor sent to me from God,i'm so excited to see this tread.

Out of frustation of not getting oil and gas job,i took a banking job for so time now but have to quit the job cous is not the type of my desire job .

I'm now fully into FOREX TRADING and is paying my bills but i need to get back to oil and gas job which i have spend five good years acquiring the skills, although i dont have any experience in upstream sector but i have work with warri refinery and petrochemical company Ekpan as a trainy process engineer in naphtha hydrotreating and catalytic reforming unit of the plant.

Please how do i get any type of job in our field (from the least up) once is a field work,the monetry aspect is none of my concern i made money trading forex,i just need to build my career in oil and gas with working experience and then proceed to further my courses and become a professional.

I have also gotten admission to study oil and gas tech. in Denmark but has to defile the admission for now, i have been making application for advertised jobs but has not getting any reply.

Please help me senior,i will appreciate any course here in Nigeria that can easily get me in,i just need to get in and start from there.

Thanks.

Dr Ferlie,

Keep up the good work. U've been a real source of inspiration to up and coming ones here. Though i have noticed more experienced drillers are not responding. Like i said in my first post, sharing experience is what matters most. THough, i am more into mgt now, but i'm looking towards the possibility of getting a licence to run IWCF courses and certifications in Nigeria someday, cos the love of rigs is still there. And ur experience would be most valuable in such times.

Regards,
Abbey.

Roland Pet:

Good Afternoon Dr Ferlie,
I'm a graduate of petroleum Engineer from FUTO (last two yrs),i believe you are career mentor sent to me from God,i'm so excited to see this tread.
Out of frustation of not getting oil and gas job,i took a banking job for so time now but have to quit the job cous is not the type of my desire job .
I'm now fully into FOREX TRADING and is paying my bills but i need to get back to oil and gas job which i have spend five good years acquiring the skills, although i dont have any experience in upstream sector but i have work with warri refinery and petrochemical company Ekpan as a trainy process engineer in naphtha hydrotreating and catalytic reforming unit of the plant.
Please how do i get any type of job in our field (from the least up) once is a field work,the monetry aspect is none of my concern i made money trading forex,i just need to build my career in oil and gas with working experience and then proceed to further my courses and become a professional.
I have also gotten admission to study oil and gas tech. in Denmark but has to defile the admission for now, i have been making application for advertised jobs but has not getting any reply.
Please help me senior,i will appreciate any course here in Nigeria that can easily get me in,i just need to get in and start from there.
Thanks.

There are so many ways of getting into the field. I will explain one of the ways to you. You can come into the industry as a drilling fluids engineer ( Mud Engineer ). There is a drilling fluids school in PortHarcourt/Enugu. You will attend the school for a month thereabout after which you will be given a certificate to work as a Mud Engineer. Indigenous drilling fluids company occasionally employ graduates from the school. Otherwise, after acquiring the skill, you can apply to any drilling fluids company in Nigeria ( MISWACO, Baroid, Cledop, Atlantic fluids, baker, star AP etc ). The acquired drilling fluids skill together with your petroleum engineering training will you in a vantage position. I will find out the contact address of the school and get back to you.

abbeydot:


Dr Ferlie,
Keep up the good work. U've been a real source of inspiration to up and coming ones here. Though i have noticed more experienced drillers are not responding. Like i said in my first post, sharing experience is what matters most. THough, i am more into mgt now, but i'm looking towards the possibility of getting a licence to run IWCF courses and certifications in Nigeria someday, cos the love of rigs is still there. And your experience would be most valuable in such times.
Regards,
Abbey.

Thanks Mr Abbey. I know with time more drillers with field experience will join us on the thread. Your dream is very good. I will be willing to assist when the time comes.

Thanks very much Doc.

i google this institute in Port harcourt,

"Drilling/completion fluids Engineering at SLD Consulting Mud School PortHarcourt".

Please i need an institute that is well respected and recognised by oil firms.

Waiting for your contact first.

Roland Pet:

Thanks very much Doc.

i google this institute in Port harcourt,

"Drilling/completion fluids Engineering at SLD Consulting Mud School PortHarcourt".

Please i need an institute that is well respected and recognised by oil firms.

Waiting for your contact first.

That is the mud school. It is reputable and respected in the country.

contact the owner: cpepple@sldtek.com

Greetings Dr ferlie,
i ma still waiting for the address for that training school that gives IWDC/WELLCAP certificates, or do u know any one where i can get it online ?
how is the drilling/completions job doing?, cheers

What about Graduates of Petroleum Engineering?

Will cert in Pipeline design and Pdms aid employment and increase ones chances of success in the long run