Thread: Underground boreing

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

Might as well get involved in this thread..have just arrived home from a job in Bass Strait where we drilled a well out to 60 degrees from vertical and steered same to the final target.

In the oil business we carry out our directional drilling by turning the drill bit with a mud powered downhole motor (rather than turning the whole drill string and bit as one). The motor has an adjustable bend in it (1-2 deg usually) and by orientating the motor we can steer the drill bit in the desired direction. Directional control is provided by an MWD (measurement while drilling) tool located behind the motor. The MWD has a magnetometer and gravimeter on board and the readings from same are sent back to surface in real time by way of a pulser on the tool. The pulser sets up a pulse in the drilling mud in the drill string and a pressure sensor at surface converts the mud pulse back into an eletcrical pulse....easy.

Times have changed!
My uncle was a driller at Rough Range - Australia's 1st oil strike - and remember him telling me how they measured the angle of directional drilling, by etching a line on a container at the bottom of the hole using hydrofluoric acid. Pretty dangerous stuff, and I'm sure, not as accurate or quick as today's methods.

I still reckon they have a garden gnome sitting on the drill bit

Richard

Originally Posted by AlexS

Times have changed!
My uncle was a driller at Rough Range - Australia's 1st oil strike - and remember him telling me how they measured the angle of directional drilling, by etching a line on a container at the bottom of the hole using hydrofluoric acid. Pretty dangerous stuff, and I'm sure, not as accurate or quick as today's methods.

Rough Range?? Man thats going way back... very famous well that one. Fascinating seeing how the technology has changed over the years in the oil patch. Even during the relatively short time Ive been working in the patch ive seen amazing changes in the way things are done.

I heard they were actually drilling for Pancakes!

Originally Posted by Fat Pat

I heard they were actually drilling for Pancakes!

Dont need to drill for pancakes...have got hundreds of them sitting in the galley every morning!! If theres just one American on board you can guarantee therell be pancakes in the galley.