workover rig tripping pipe made in china

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The automatic operation equipment for minor workover is mainly composed of a wellhead operation device, hydraulic elevator, pipe and rod transmission and arrangement device and electro-hydraulic control system.

The device adopts the structural form of dispersing the functional modules and integrated installation on the workover rig: with the hydraulic tong, manipulator and anti splash snap device set on the derrick of the workover rig, which can expand and rotate, and the safety slip is installed above the BOP.

The device only needs to install safety slips, which realizes rapid installation and migration and shortens the auxiliary working time. The device has the function of moving back and forth, left and right, which is convenient to align the wellhead. The height of the hydraulic tong is adjustable and can adapt to the wellhead with different heights. Hoisting equipment and special transport vehicles are not required for the installation and removal of the device.

In addition to its main function of suspending the pipe string, it also has the functions of automatic tubing mouth match, make-up and break-out, and is also equipped with a guide device bearing reverse torque, which can realize the functions of automatic well washing, sand flushing, drilling, grinding and milling.

Main function: connect to the wellhead flange and clamp the pipe string. Slip teeth are common with other manufacturers for easy replacement. The hydraulic cylinder is clamped and the pipe string is forced to be centered. The clamping is reliable and convenient for automatic operation. Open and close state detection, and realize safety interlock with other equipment.

The main electric control box can be installed on the operation vehicle or integrated into the modular wellhead operation device. The make-up torque of various oil pipes is set on the touch screen to realize automatic make-up and break-down. Equipped with video monitoring, process prompt, safety alarm, etc. The control system has a perfect action interlocking function to ensure the safety and reliability of the workover operation process. All of the electric cabinets, sensors, connectors meet the requirement of Explosion-proof on field.

The hydraulic system includes hydraulic source, wellhead automatic operation device control valve group, hydraulic elevator, hydraulic slip valve group, conveyor control valve group and pipeline, etc.

Wedge-shaped pieces of metal with teeth or other gripping elements that are used to prevent pipe from slipping down into the hole or to hold pipe in place. Rotary slips fit around the drill pipe and wedge against the master bushing to support the pipe. Power slips are pneumatically or hydraulically actuated devices that allow the crew to dispense with the manual handling of slips when making a connection. Packers and other down hole equipment are secured in position by slips that engage the pipe by action directed at the surface.†

The heavy square or hexagonal steel member suspended from the swivel through the rotary table. It is connected to the topmost joint of drill pipe to turn the drill stem as the rotary table turns.†

A hole in the rig floor 30 to 35 feet deep, lined with casing that projects above the floor. The kelly is placed in the rathole when hoisting operations are in progress.†

The top drive rotates the drill string end bit without the use of a kelly and rotary table. The top drive is operated from a control console on the rig floor.†

The derrickman"s working platform. Double board, tribble board, fourable board; a monkey board located at a height in the derrick or mast equal to two, three, or four lengths of pipe respectively.†

The large wrenches used for turning when making up or breaking out drill pipe, casing, tubing, or other pipe; variously called casing tongs, rotary tongs, and so forth according to the specific use. Power tongs are pneumatically or hydraulically operated tools that spin the pipe up and, in some instances, apply the final makeup torque.†

The heavy seamless tubing used to rotate the bit and circulate the drilling fluid. Joints of pipe 30 feet long are coupled together with tool joints.†

Snubbing department is founded in 2012, currently owning two Hydra Rig 225k standalone snubbing units, three Caterpillar powerpacks, two sets of well controlequipment with imported seals, and complete sets of auxiliary equipment. All downhole tools and core accessories are imported from America. All equipment and tools iscertified and inspected by third party. The maximum pressure our units can be applied is 105MPa, highest in China at present, which fills the absence of high pressure wellssnubbing operation in China. Supported workstring size ranges from 1-1/4” to 5-1/2”, and chrome tubing operation can be performed with special tools we owned.Since the day snubbing department was founded, wecommitted ourselves to high pressure oil and gas wells snubbing service. Cooperation with Cudd, Snubco, Topwell, Shengli was made, which contributes to thedevelopment of snubbing technology in China. Through hard effort, our service was recognized by many oil fields and gas fields. We have provided snubbing service forJianghan oil field, Puguang oil field, Tarim oil field, Huabei oilfield, covering operations such as tripping, completion, perforation, fracturing, milling, wash over, paraffinwashing etc. Our outstanding performance and efficiency was recognized and praised by customers for numerous times.(December, 2014)

Snubbing refers to a workover operation, by which specialized equipment are utilized to operate on live wells. During snubbing operation, wellbore pressure can be maintained, and thus eliminate the necessity of well killing (washing) and pressure release. For oil wells, the greatest advantage of snubbing operation is that, original formation pressure is preserved, which effectively protects formation pressure, avoiding pollution to oil reservoir, reducing the times of acidification, fracturing and other well stimulation, and finally providing favorable conditions for long-term development and stable production of oil and gas fields. For high-pressure oil and gas wells, the process of stopping injection and bleeding off are not required prior to operations, which shortens construction duration, saves the costs of kill fluid required for conventional operations and accessary equipment, abates pollution and finally protects the environment.For shale gas wells, well killing is avoided, which can reduce the pollution to shale gas formation, and effectively prevent gas reservoir from over-killing and formation damage.

1.Snubbing operation provides a new idea for exploration and development of oil and gas fields. Traditional well killing method is adopted for oil and gas wells, intending to balance formation pressure, and prevent blowout. The operation cannot be conducted in the wells with pressure, resulting in difficulty in realization of many geological requirements and influence on geological analysis. During application of the technology in oil and gas wells, string tripping, various evaluation testing, change of working system and other processes can be completed in those wells with pressure.

2.The technology maintains original condition of formation in oil - gas layer to the maximum to accurately evaluate the reservoir. When flowing into formation, kill fluid causes pollution and has a negative effect on subsequent data acquisition, well completion, well testing and ultimately, results of reservoir description, as well as recovery efficiency. The oil and gas wells reservoir physical properties get the best protection through snubbing operation which avoids damage to newly exploited reservoirs during conventional exploration, such as blockage of new perforation, mud cake which leads to wrong stratigraphic interpretation, expansion of water-sensitive minerals which weakens the reservoir physical properties, in order to obtain accurate data during oil reservoir evaluation.

Introduction to the application: the operation shall be applied to trip out the pipe string and tool string in the well out of the wellbore under pressure, and trip in new designed pipe string into the wellbore, or replace the existing pipe string in the well. Currently, Yilong snubbing department has tripped in several completion pipe strings in Jianghan Oilfield and Puguang Oilfield. The tripping operation for tubing and BHAs is achieved through controlling pressure with annular blowout preventer or stripper BOPs, and keep pressure equalized all the time. The maximum BHA allowed to go through the unit is 180mm. The maximum lift force of jack is 120 T , maximum snubbing force is 60 T, and can be applied to wells with wellhead pressure less than 105 MPa. The technology is very mature currently.

Operation description: prepare snubbing equipment; dismount the wellhead and rig up blowout preventer and snubbing equipment; trip in completion work string under pressure; land the tubing hanger; test the pressure and rig down the equipment, and recover the oil pathway, hand over to production.

Introduction to the application: since the pipe strings for brine ejection in some gas storages contain high pressure gas after completion of brine ejection, and the operation cannot be realized through conventional workover, coiled tubing and other technologies, which means only snubbing operation shall be applied.

Operation description: prepare tubing plug and snubbing unit, and rig down the wellhead and install blowout preventer and snubbing unit; take out 4-1/2” pipe strings for brine ejection from 7” injection-production pipe strings; rig down snubbing equipment and BOP stacks, and put into production.

Introduction to the application: if the well is deep, has long horizontal section or has rough dog legs, during completion perforating, it is difficult to trip the coiled tubing reaches to the target section to conduct perforating operation. Both the lifting force and snub force of equipment for operation under pressure equal to several times of those for coiled tubing. It shall be capable of tripping the perforating gun into the target section. Then the bottom layer shall be perforated through pressure perforating, so as to prepare for the subsequent perforating by cable. The equipment for operation under pressure can also be combined with the abrasive perforating technology to perforate the layers with hard rock, and several perforations can be realized in one run.

Operation description: prepare downhole tool string and equipment for operation under pressure and ground procedure; install blowout preventer and equipment for operation under pressure on large gate valve for fracturing; trip the pipe string to reserved position; conduct perforation, and trip out pipe string under pressure; close the gate valve and wait for the next command.

For example, the horizontal section of the well is too long in a certain perforating operation. Previously, the perforated pipe string could not be tripped into the target section for 5 consecutive days because of the working capacity of coiled tubing, and construction progress was affected as a result. After the discussion, it was decided to use the snubbing unit to trip the tool string into target section. With long horizontal section and large fluctuations in horizontal well section, the tripping process was blocked several times. However, the perforating gun was finally tripped into the target layer with the excellent working capacity of stand-alone equipment after hard working for two days. Pressure perforating was conducted, pipe string was tripped out after completed perforating, and equipment for operation under pressure was rigged down for standby. Party A conducted fracturing of separate layers through pumping bridge plug and coiled tubing, and 2-7/8EUE tubing was tripped in the well through the equipment for operation under pressure after completion of fracturing, as the completion pipe string. It took 6 days for tubing conveyed perforating through equipment for operation under pressure, including equipment rig up and rig down, and 5 days for pipe string tripping. New solution for well-cased perforating was proposed by tubing conveyed perforating through snubbing unit. There shall be more sections to conduct perforating and fracturing after implementation, so as to increase the production of operating well and create greater economic benefits.

Fracturing by dragging: such technical problem can be solved properly with the cup-type packer introduced by Yilong. Firstly, conduct perforating for the casing, then trip in two cup-type packers through equipment for operation under pressure, and carry out fracturing for layers requiring fracturing through pressurizing to set the packer and over pulling to release it. Since there are various selections for tubing, and their steel grade, wall thickness and intensity are stronger than those of coiled tubing, fracturing method with large discharge capacity and high pressure can be achieved during fracturing to obtain better effect. The completion pipe string can be tripped into directly after fracturing, and a lot of expenses shall be saved with fracturing, well completion and wellhead installation completed at one time.

Equipment for operation under pressure will trip motor, nozzles and other tools into the well, pump the circulating liquid or chemicals into the pipe string. With the torque, yield strength, length of tubing and other advantages, if coiled tubing fails to meet the well condition requirements, it shall be solved by taking the advantages snubbing unit, especially for drilling, sand washover, paraffin removal and fishing for wells with high pressure, high production and deep wells. The torque of rotary table reaches up to 6,500 lb.ft, which can conduct drilling and milling for vertical well sections, and also can benefit slip release during blocking of pipe string. With wide coverage capacity and strong working capacity, snubbing unit is suitable for processing highly difficult wells, such as the complicated wells containing sand washover, drilling plug, milling, fishing and other procedures simultaneously.

For example, the wellhead pressure reaches up to 86 MPa. All the tubing for the well were blocked in 2012 because of serious paraffin precipitation in the tubing. Party A requested that the paraffin blockage problem must be solved in a month. Solution is shown as follows: trip 1-1/4 inches small tubing into the tubing through equipment for operation under pressure, and wash with paraffin remover under high pressure. Trip the small tubing on the top of paraffin blockage and establish circulation; pump the paraffin remover into the well, and trip in pipe string slowly; wash the paraffin, and circulate the washed paraffin outside the well at the same time.

For the anticorrosion, chromium-containing tubing and small tubing with small wall thickness tripped in the wells with strong corrosion, high sulphur content and high carbon dioxide content, if during tripping-in, the body is scratched by the slips or hydraulic tongs, the service life of tubing will be greatly influenced, which may increase a large number of costs for future maintenance, and even induce complex working conditions, cause engineering accidents. During tubing tripping-in under pressure, both the strong jacking force in the well and dead weight of string will apply on the slips to make bite marks on the tubing body, affecting the normal operation. Therefore, Yilong has introduced advanced tool accessories from abroad, including traceless slip tooth, traceless tong teeth, traceless tubing tong, buckle tools for small tubing, slip adapter, etc., which may realize zero damage to tubing during tripping-in process, greatly save the costs for future oil and gas well maintenance, and avoid working conditions such as tubing corrosion, damage and fracture, etc. After discussion with engineers and mechanician from Hydra Rig, Yilong has creatively invented the slip adapter, making the diameter scope of standalone snubbing unit extended to 1-1/4” – 4-1/2” (which covers most small tubing), and it also is equipped with special tongs and buckle tools for small tubing, which prevents the thread of small tubing from being damaged.

Currently, the Company owns two sets of HRS-225 snubbing rig manufactured by National Oilwell Hydra Rig Company in USA. The HRS-225K snubbing unit is a standalone work over rig that is easy to rig up and transport and capable for various snubbing operations. The basic parameters of HRS-225K snubbing unit are as follows:

The tripping of pipe string may be conducted through the 4 configured hydraulic cylinders, 2 leg mode or 4 leg mode may be chosen according to the well conditions during operation. The telescoping tubing guide is located in the through-hole of jack for providing the centralizing and guiding so as to prevent pipe buckling.

The traveling slips are located on the rotary table and runs synchronously with jack; currently, the applicable tubing size of slips ranges from 1 1/4” to 5 1/2”.The stationary slips are mounted on the lower part of jack, which are used to hold the pipe string when the traveling slips open.

Since 2012, our crew has successfully conducted about 110 wells in major oil fields; the service areas include the EOG Recourses, Fuling shale gas field, Puguang gasfield, etc.Type of service:Replacement work string under pressure, well completion under pressure (operation of chrome tubing), cooperation with coiled tubing operation,layered fracturing operation, perforation under pressure, well workover under pressure (including sand washing, well washing, fishing, milling, etc.).(December, 2014)

Tripping refers to the process of removing and/or replacing pipes from the well when it is necessary to change the bit or other piece of the drill string, or when preparing to run certain tests in the well bore.

The rig assist unit was installed on top of the rig’s Bops. A landing joint was lowered into the stack and screwed into the tubing hanger. The snubbing Bops were tested using the rig pump to 35mpa

The stack was equalized using the snubbing unit equalize line to well bore pressure. The hanger hold-down screws were backed out and the tubing hanger staged out using the snubbing units annular and stripping rams

Every tubing connection was staged out of the hole using the stripping rams and annular. The pressure at 21mpa made pulling the connections through the annular with pressure under it unwise. Before the connection was pulled through the annular, the lower stripping rams were closed and the pressure between the rams and annular vented to flare. Once the connection was through the annular element, the chamber between the Bops was re-equalized and the stripping ram opened. This process was repeated for every connection

Once the lift force from the well overcame the weight of the string, the snubbing unit took over pipe movement. The tubing connections were still staged out and the pipe continued to be racked in the derrick

Once the BHA was at surface, the last joint of 73mm tubing with the Fill/Flow sub below it was stopped in the stack. This placed the 3m pup joint below the fill/flow sub across the lower stripping rams

The lower stripping rams were closed and the stack bled off above the rams The pressure inside the joint also vented during this procedure. The firing head of the perforating gun was sealed and now controlled the ID side of the string

The joint was gently snubbed up until the fill/flow sub was above the snubbing unit annular element. The operator continued to raise the tubing until the lower connection of the 3m pup joint engaged the bottom side of the stripping rams. The rams were locked and the chamber between the stripping rams and annular was re-equalized

1, the position that guard system got automatically by oil pipe is put: being placed in well head side by automatically getting guard system, should getting out of the way certain space to well head, do not interfere after mechanical arm of lying on the back (6) is lain down with the oil pumper of well head side; Meet after mechanical arm of lying on the back (6) is holded up under the support of mechanical arm action tank (7) of lying on the back again, through overregulating parallel-crank mechanism, making automatically to grab guard system (1) and vertical oil pipe can be caught.

2, the position of oil pipe Automatic Lay-out System is put: the position of oil pipe Automatic Lay-out System will meet two conditions: one, when mechanical arm of lying on the back (6) is caught after oil pipe lies down under the effect of mechanical arm action tank (7) of lying on the back, automatically guard system 1 half-twist under the effect of automatically grabbing guard system rotating mechanism (4) is grabbed, shift fork (17) will be lain on the back while motion not interfering mechanical arm of lying on the back (6), can by oil pipe from automatically grabbing guard system (1) dial-out; Its two, when ensure to drop on oil pipe bogey (14) after oil pipe is transferred to, do not occur partially to sink in tubing length direction.Oil pipe bogey (14) also will to have a down dip certain angle in the effect of oil pipe bogey tilt adjustment oil cylinder (15).

Rise in the process of oil pipe at workover rig, this invention completes following action: mechanical arm of lying on the back (6) is holded up under the effect of mechanical arm action tank (7) of lying on the back, parallel-crank mechanism action tank (10) is regulated to make parallel-crank mechanism do action of protracting, automatically guard system (1) promptly oil pipe is grabbed, oil pipe automatic elevator unclamps oil pipe and up certain distance, regulates parallel-crank mechanism action tank (10) to make parallel-crank mechanism do retract action (as accompanying drawing 1).Mechanical arm (6) of lying on the back lies under the effect of mechanical arm action tank (7) of lying on the back lies on the back on mechanical arm bracing frame (16), tubing string moves up and down compensating cylinder (5) and regulates claw (12) to make it along vertical rigid guideway (13) horizontal movement, after driving oil pipe to arrive suitable position, automatically grab guard system (1) half-twist (as accompanying drawing 2) under the effect of automatically grabbing guard system rotating mechanism (4).Automatically grab guard system (1) and unclamp oil pipe, oil pipe is transferred to from automatically grabbing guard system (1) by shift fork (17) under the action of shift fork action tank (18), now oil pipe bogey (14) backward tilts at an angle under the effect of oil pipe bogey tilt adjustment oil cylinder (15), oil pipe rolls downwards along the oil pipe bogey (14) of inclination certain angle, in the upper order discharge of oil pipe bogey (14).Repeat above-mentioned action until oil pipe is all removed.

Under workover rig oil pipe process in, the action of this device has been the inverse motion of Tubing During Running action, oil pipe bogey (14) turns forward certain angle under the effect of oil pipe bogey tilt adjustment oil cylinder (15), oil pipe pushes from oil pipe bogey (14) and automatically grabs in guard system (1) by shift fork (17) under the action of shift fork action tank (18), automatically grabs guard system (1) and is firmly grasped by oil pipe.Automatically grab guard system (1) half-twist under the effect of automatically grabbing guard system rotating mechanism (4), make automatically to grab guard system (1) opening and become vertically from level.Mechanical arm (6) of lying on the back is become vertically from level under the effect of mechanical arm action tank (7) of lying on the back.Tubing string moves up and down compensating cylinder (5) and regulates claw (12) to make it move straight up along vertical rigid guideway (13), regulate parallel-crank mechanism action tank (10) to make parallel-crank mechanism drive automatically grab guard system (1) and do action of protracting, until the oil pipe captured in automatically grabbing guard system (1) and well head centering.Tubing string moves up and down compensating cylinder (5) and regulates claw (12) to make it move straight down along vertical rigid guideway (13), contact with the oil pipe in lower going-into-well until automatically grab the oil pipe that guard system (1) captures, next carry out pulling work on two oil pipes.Repeat above-mentioned action until oil pipe is all lowered to oil well.

Usefulness of the present utility model is: the full-automation achieving the oil pipe migration discharge process in well workover process, considerably reduces labor strength, decrease the quantity of labor needed for well workover scene, improve the safety of well workover process; The brief well-repairing work time, improve efficiency.

Tripping pipe (or "Making a round trip" or simply "Making a trip") is the physical act of pulling the drill string out of the wellbore and then running it back in. This is done by physically breaking out or disconnecting (when pulling out of the hole) every other 2 or 3 joints of drill pipe at a time (called a stand) and racking them vertically in the derrick. When feasible the driller will start each successive trip on a different "break" so that after several trips fresh pipe dope will have been applied (when running back in the hole) to every segment of the drill string.

The most typical reason for tripping pipe is to replace a worn-out drill bit. Though there are many problems that occur to warrant the tripping of pipe. Downhole tools such as MWD (measurement while drilling), LWD (logging while drilling) or mud motors break down quite often. Another common reason for tripping is to replace damaged drill pipe. It is important to get the pipe out of the wellbore quickly and safely before it can snap.

A fishing trip is when a crew is forced to trip pipe to retrieve loose items in the wellbore. This can result from something being dropped in the hole, i.e. a tool, that would cause damage to the bit if the crew attempted to drill with it on bottom.

Another major cause is known as a "twist off". Twisting off is when the drill string parts by failing catastrophically under the torsional stress. This may happen if the drill string below is pinched in the wellbore, or as the result of a structural weakening of the pipe caused by a washout or a crack in a threaded connection member.

When pipe snaps or a part of the bit breaks off, the crew has to recover all of the separated items from the wellbore. Recovering snapped pipe usually involves placing a specialized tool (an "overshot") with grips set inside of it over the broken pipe in an attempt to capture it. The grip works in a manner similar to Chinese fingercuffs. Sometimes the jagged top of the fish must be milled back to a round outside shape before the overshot can slip over it. The overshot contains a packoff device to make a pressure seal so circulation can be reestablished through the bit to facilitate recovery of the fish. For a broken bit, a magnet is commonly used to remove all of the broken parts.

A cracked pipe can lead to a broken string. Extra care is taken when tripping for one so that too much pull does not cause the cracked pipe to snap. Cracked pipes (i.e., washouts) are usually noticed by a sudden drop in pressure. The crew will usually pump "fastline" (small lengths of manila rope taken from unraveled catline) down the drill string to make a temporary plug and time the pressure to see when it rises back to normal. This enables the crew to know how far down to expect the cracked pipe to be within a few stands; also strands of these rope segments may be seen at the point of washout. Most trips for a cracked pipe are not complete trips like a fishing trip or a bit trip. These can be as simple as only going a few stands down, to pulling the drill collars.

These trips are routinely expected by the crew. Setting surface occurs after the wellbore is drilled to the predetermined surface depth (e.g., after drilling below fresh water strata). The crew will remove the entire drill string to allow surface casing to be emplaced. The procedure is similar for setting intermediate, only that it typically involves a much longer drill string to be removed. Setting longstring is usually a one time operation combining both surface and intermediate casing. This saves the time of only having to undertake one pipe trip as opposed to two pipe trips.

At 6am the crew truck shows up at camp, and we pile in and head off for our 6.30am safety meeting. Once that’s done we head out onto the rig to find our cross-shifts, get a brief run down on whatever they’re working on and pick up where they left off.

Daily duties depend entirely on what the rig is doing. If we’re drilling, the days tend to be a bit more relaxed – keep an eye on the motors, the gens, the pumps, and head up to the drill floor whenever another pipe has to be connected to the drill string.

If there’s problems down hole, it means we might have to trip – pull all the pipe out of the hole and fix the problem. A drill bit might need to be changed, or we may need to adjust the setting on the tool that steers the drill bit. Tripping can take a lot out of you. It’s a routine of extreme physical exertion followed by brief periods of rest, doing the same thing over and over until all the pipe is out of the hole and the problem can be fixed. When it is, it’s the same thing again in reverse order until the bit is back on bottom and we can drill again.

Yikes – this is a question I don’t like thinking about. We work out of town on a two-and-one rotation – that is, 14 days on followed by seven days off. That means if I were to work a full year, I’d spend eight months away at work, and four at home. It’s tough. Because this line of work requires a lot of traveling, I often go months on end without seeing certain friends or family members, it makes it hard to have a normal social life. It’s strange, a rig hand spends all his time at work wanting his hitch to end so he can get home, but when he does it seems like your week off goes by twice as fast. I"ve managed to alienate a lot of friends and girlfriends working where I work.

So no, oil rigs don’t provide what you’d call a healthy balance of work and life. I had a cousin tell me once that you sell your soul to make money in the oil field, and sometimes it seems like he was right.What"s the craziest/most unexpected thing that"s ever happened to you while working?

The weather, the work and the people. You spend just about all of your time working closely with your crewmates, so if you’re lucky, it gets to be like a family after a while. If the temperature is just cool enough so you don’t sweat, tripping pipe out of the hole all day with your brothers is just about as good as working on an oil rig can get. If everyone knows what they’re doing and gets into a groove, the whole thing clicks and the crew operates like a well-oiled machine. After a good trip you can leave the rig with a sense of accomplishment, puff your chest out a bit when the other crew comes and sees how fast you were. On days like that, it’s always nice to head down to a river after work, get a bon fire going and have a beer or two with the guys. But depending on which oil company you’re working for, alcohol of any type might be contraband, so beer is out of the question. Which can kind of put a damper on things when you’ve worked all day in the heat.What"s your annual salary? Do you get benefits?

Most rig hands are paid hourly, only the brass gets salary. We’re paid quite well though, and working 84 hours a week makes for some nice overtime. A derrick hand gets a base wage of $37/hour. We also get a living allowance, $50 a day if we’re living in camp, $140 a day if we have to find our own accommodations.

Depending on how much of the year a rig spends working (or how much a rig hand wants to work, if the industry is busy), a guy can make anywhere from $70,000 a year up to a couple hundred thousand. I’m still relatively low on the food chain in the grand scheme of things, but I’m fortunate enough to work steady. A derrick hand working year round typically makes over six figures.

The benefits vary from company to company, but they tend to be quite good. It’s a rough line of work, and companies need to treat their guys pretty well or the guys will jump ship to another company. I’m lucky – the company I work for treats us right.What"s the biggest mistake you"ve ever made on the job?

1 Do not, ever, under any circumstances, drop an object down the hole. Hammers, wrenches, chains, and pretty much anything made of hardened metal can destroy a drill bit, and drill bits can be quite pricy. The wells we drill cost millions of dollars, and pulling the pipe and going fishing for a tool down hole can cost into the hundreds of thousands, and take days to do.

3 Don’t get hurt. This is a touchy one, but unfortunately it’s still true. Getting hurt doesn’t just ruin your week/year/life, it costs a lot of people a lot of money. Settlements might have to be paid, bonuses are lost, investigations have to happen, and someone must be held accountable.. Sometimes entire rig crews will get drug tested after an accident. They test us to ensure drugs or alcohol didn’t contribute to the cause of the accident, but it comes across like a punishment: “If you get hurt, you might cost someone else their job.” Unfortunately, it causes a lot of guys to sweep injuries under the rug. It doesn’t happen so much at my company, but it’s depressingly common in the industry.

Doing any one of the three things above is liable to give a guy a reputation, and a reputation can follow a guy from rig to rig, company to company. It’s a relatively tight knit industry and word travels fast. It’s not uncommon to find yourself working beside someone you heard about years ago on a different rig, if he’s got that reputation following him … I’ve managed to stay rep-free to date, and hopefully I can keep it that way.Here are some highlights from Tyson"s Q&A session in the comments below:Would you consider flying into space to blow up an asteroid if you had Liv Tyler to sweeten the deal?This is a no-brainer: Yes, definitely.

To be honest, most riggers don"t join the profession as much as they do, just... end up there. It"s hard work, but it"s fast money, and a lot of guys that only intended to do it temporarily end up sticking around once they get used to the pay cheques. That"s what happened to me anyways...

I stick to coffee. Night shift tonight, and I"m posting comments on the Guardian when I should be sleeping...Nightshift in the winter. Do you get to see the sun?What is the town of Ft. McMurray like?Fort Mcmurray is a town I"ve managed to steer clear of for several years now. And Mike is right: the majority of the bitumen around Fort Mac is mined rather than drilled.

The project I"m on right now is about an hour and a half south of there, near Conklin AB. We"re accessing the same bitumen, but using a less invasive technique. Rather than mine the bitumen, pairs of wells are drilled into the formation -- one to inject steam and make the oil easier to pump, and one to suck up the now much-less-viscous oil.

If it answers your question at all, the camp where we"re currently living holds about 2000 people, has 2 enormous cafeterias, 5 gyms, pool tables, 1 theatre, and apparently there"s a racquetball court here somewhere too. In terms of work camps, this one"s the creme de la creme.Have you ever worked on a drilling rig where it was necessary to throw the blowout preventors (BOPs)?I have. Actually, just last month we were working in Saskatchewan and had to shut the well in when we drilled into a pressurized water formation. An "Artesian Well," is what they"re called if I"m not mistaken. Luckily there was no sour gas in the area, so there was no chance of burning the rig down if it blew out.

Mike: The old timers still talk about that blowout in Drayton Valley, 80 meters from surface with no BOP"s? I remember hearing about a derrick hand getting killed during that blowout, the escape pods we have hanging from the monkey board now all have D.V Safety stamped across the side as a reminder...How many guys on a team? Do you get lunch?Anywhere from 5 to 9 people on a crew, and usually 3 crews per rig. The pecking order on my rig is as follows:

Depending on what province you"re in and what paper you"re reading, you could see two diametrically opposed viewpoints on the same issue. Case and point: I read the news in both Vancouver (where I live), and Edmonton (where I spend a lot of time for work). The Northern Gateway pipeline is pretty big news right now, but judging by how it"s painted by the news in BC and Alberta, it sounds like two different pipelines on two completely different planets.One of my female friends used to be a engineer of some description (it involved gas, but I cannot remember the details). Are there many females involved in the profession today?I apologize, I"m kind of picking them off in no particular order. Women are becoming more and more prevalent in the industry, though it"s still far from what you"d call a "normal" work place. It"s rare to see one working on the rig itself, but not unheard of.

What is the biggest misconception about people in your line of work? What"s the actual truth?Again, the answer to this one varies depending on where I am at the time. A lot of people look down their noses at oil workers, the whole white-collar vs. blue collar thing. Where I"m from, a lot of people see The Rigs as a copout, a place where drop outs and ex-cons can go to afford payments on a jacked up truck. "Rig Pig" is a fairly common term... Of course some of the guys out here are pretty rough around the edges, but those are the only ones people notice in the city. I work with plenty of people that are completely normal, functioning human beings. Wife and kids, mini-van... Not the type you would see in the street and label a Rig Pig.

Occasionally you"ll meet a militant environmentalist who will waste no time in insulting you for your work. Which is fine -- everyone is passionate about something. But until those people are prepared to give up living with petroleum products, they should think twice about ridiculing someone for trying to make a living. Oil rigs exist because people drive cars, not the other way around. If people stopped driving, the rigs would cease to exist. But they"re a very hate-able face to the problem of oil dependancy.

Operators working in shallow resource plays, such as shallow oil, unconventional shale gas and coalbed methane (CBM), just can’t get enough of a good thing. At their request, rig manufacturers are expanding the operating and mobility features of the industry’s rigs to a new level of sophistication – the highly or ultra-mobile rig. Highly mobile drilling rigs bring increased agility, automation, safety focus and cost savings, and are being used in deeper oil plays to perform top-hole work. Additionally, highly mobile rigs are carving niches for themselves in workover operations from offshore platforms, as well as geothermal applications.

Mobile and highly mobile rigs are different from their predecessor, the heliportable rig, which is used to access locations where no infrastructure exists, such as Siberia and the Amazon region. Heliportable rigs, which first appeared about 30 years ago, are capable of being broken down into a minimum number of loads, with each load weighing three tons, depending on the type of rig.

“Ironically, the helirig concept has not evolved very much, I suppose due to low-volume demand for these units. However, modular highly portable rigs have taken off, and the demand is very high for the foreseeable future,” Ray Pereira, vice president of North America sales for Drillmec, said.

For the purpose of this article, highly or ultra-mobile rigs are defined as small or medium-size self-driving rigs with wheels, mounted on either a substructure or trailer, and quite often their substructure and mast are self-erecting. How is this different from mobile rigs? According to rig manufacturers, features such as a heightened ability to be broken down and reassembled and still retain full functionality, increased use of automation for added safety and operational ability, and a reduction in crew size all set highly mobile rigs apart from mobile rigs.

“A fully engineered drilling system is even more important in highly mobile rigs given the trend toward more factory-styled well construction and automated drilling,” Eric Quinlan, LOC product manager for Huisman, commented. “The complete integration of third-party equipment into the rig design will further reduce the number of loads required, the rig-up and rig-down times, as well as improve on automation.”

“High mobility allows more wells to be drilled in a year,” he continued. Particularly for pad drilling in the shale plays, rigs must not only be able to skid or walk but also move quickly and safely to the next pad.

“There is a stronger focus on self-erecting components in highly mobile designs, for instance slingshot-type substructure and self-elevating or self-erecting masts,” Thomas Janowski, sales manager for Herrenknecht Vertical, said. The advent of portable top drives, iron roughnecks, as well as casing-running tools, have added to efficiencies of highly mobile rigs, he noted.

The design and construction of these highly mobile rigs have become very sophisticated, as with the case of the Drillmec HH Series rig, where the main rig components, such as the mast and part of the drill floor, are fused to the specially designed trailer. This allows the top drive and iron roughneck to be transported without being removed from the mast. The trailer concept has improved the mobility of mud pumps, mud tanks, variable frequency drive houses and pipe bins for the automatic racking system.

“A key limitation to current rigs is the available resources (people, trucks, etc) that enable the rig move. Location of the wells also plays a role and adds constraints, both geographic and regulatory,” Mr Quinlan said.

Therefore, there is a major push to reduce load weights and dimensions of all modules that are required to erect a highly mobile rig on location while at the same time reducing the number of loads required to fully assemble the rig on site, according to Mr Pereira.

Equipment advances have brought challenges to highly mobile rig designs as well. “We are seeing a lot more wires and sensors being installed along with measurement equipment and video cameras,” Mr Quinlan remarked.

According to Atlas Copco, mobile rigs got their start in the energy industry when operators started using water-well rigs to drill for oil and gas. “The industry sort of evolved into using mobile rigs for oil and gas drilling rather than actually beginning at a definitive time. The Atlas Copco RD20 rig was borne out of the need for a mobile rig designed specifically for oil and gas drilling,” Alex Grant, well drilling product line manager for Atlas Copco, recalled. The rig was conceived from the T4 water-well rig and has received several technology upgrades since it was introduced in 1986.

The 120,000-lb hookload RD20 rig now has a sister rig, the highly mobile 200,000-lb hookload Predator, which took five years to develop and is just now finishing field trials. The first production unit is expected to begin work in September this year in a Texas shale play.

“We saw a definite need to get into the bigger fields with the bigger players. That’s where Predator came in. We took a clean sheet of paper and asked the question, ‘What does the oil and gas market need?’ ” Mr Grant said. “Because we desired to have an API 4F rating, we probably spent about two years getting our suppliers lined up…. Structures are designed to three times the loading capacity; that’s something you can’t just evolve from a rig that you already have. In 2010, we built two prototypes and put them in the field in an extensive testing program.”

Recognizing that more operators are performing directional drilling, Atlas Copco also added more pullback capacity to the Predator design. The RD20 rig had a pullback capacity of about 5,500 ft; the Predator has about 8,000 ft to 10,000 ft of pullback capacity.

For Drillmec, the Drillmec HH Series rig saw its evolution from a simple hydraulic rig for water wells upgraded to oil well standards in 1990. The first built-for-purpose HH rig was delivered to Eni in 1994. Since then, each generation of the rig has been improved to include enhanced automatic controls for the pipe handler using programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and advances to the hoisting and hydraulic systems. The latest generations include joystick controls and cyber control touchscreen features. The company offers up to 375-ton HH Series rigs for land applications and up to 600-ton rigs for offshore platforms.

Also on the HH Series rig, the vertical pipe-racking system is assembled in a semi-circular array around the rig floor to contribute to quick rig-up and rig-down. Further, containers can be transported and handled full of drill pipe to save time and to reduce risks associated with pipe handling.

“For us, the challenge in the beginning was to develop a rig that provided very safe working conditions for the crew, a small environmental footprint and a high level of operating efficiency,” Mr Pereira said. “Our extensive knowledge of hydraulics enabled us to effectively use a purpose-made cylinder for the hoisting aspect of the rig, thereby eliminating the need for mechanical drawworks and the operational and transport complexities that it brings. The rigs do not have a conventional mast structure nor drawworks and long wires or traveling equipment as the hydraulic cylinder replaces those items and is the main hoisting element of the rig.”

Safety has become a paramount driver alongside economics for highly mobile rigs. “Try to remove personnel from unsafe areas is what we’ve done,” Atlas Copco’s Mr Grant said.

“From a mechanical standpoint to achieve safety, we’re getting into more computer-controlled systems, such as a wireless pipe-handling system where the operator can stand away from the whole operation, observe from a distance and still control the unit. We’re bringing computers more into it. It’s the same with the driller; with the use of electronics, we’re able to stand away from the drill table, stand back in the doghouse even and operate the rig from back there, out of the area where injuries typically occur,” Mr Grant said.

“Drillmec uses single 45-ft joints of range 3 drill pipe that is transported in pipe bins and ready to be used,” Mr Pereira said. “There are no delays waiting to make up stands and set them in fingerboards. Stand-building operations can take days. With the HH Series rig, there is no need to touch the pipe, thereby increasing safety parameters.”

The LOC 250, Huisman’s first highly mobile rig, is a containerized rig, meaning that all elements of the rig fit into standard ISO containers, and has casing-while-drilling capabilities. Since introducing the LOC 250 in 2005, the company has upgraded its design to include AC drive, a higher hookload and an expanded mud system, and the LOC 400 was introduced in 2009. The next generation of the LOC 400, to be introduced in late 2012 or early 2013, will feature a higher level of automation, even quicker rig moves and enhanced skidding capabilities.

“We’re conducting a study on rig moves, finding the weak links and engineering the process to improve it, and preparing recommendations for field personnel to accomplish rig moves quicker,” Mr Quinlan said.

Increased rig safety features desired by operators have brought about another benefit – a reduction in the number of crews needed to run the rig. “The more features you have, such as self-erecting masts, self-erecting substructures and highly mobile components, the less the risk of accidents related to these activities. In Herrenknecht Vertical’s case, a high level of automation, together with the concept of mobility, eliminates almost all of the dangerous jobs on the rig,” Mr Janowski explained. “The number of people involved in tripping pipe in and out is limited to two persons.”

The Drillmec HH Series rig advanced automation concept requires few crew members as well. The concept “allows it to perform most of the routine drilling operations, including tripping in and out the drill string, with an almost unmanned drill floor where worker presence is basically limited to thread doping and handling the bottomhole assembly,” Mr Pereira said. “No one is exposed to direct contact with rotating tubulars, tongs and wrenches or to falling objects.”

“With the latest Atlas Copco rig, the Predator, we’ve got it down to the minimum amount where we can have three people operating a rig as opposed to the six or seven people that would be on a conventional rig,” Mr Grant said.

With Herrenknecht Vertical’s Terra Invader rig, only two people are involved in tripping pipe in and out. The rig came onto the work scene in a geothermal application in Germany in 2006, just one year after the company was established. This rig, which has a box-on-box substructure, is tailored to the Western European market, where cranes are readily available.

“The design criteria are different in that the situation regarding cranes and heavy trucks in Europe is slightly different from the rest of the world,” Mr Janowski noted. “It’s cheaper to install a crane because it’s available and you can rig-up in two days with a crane.”

An economic boost has been a huge plus for operators choosing highly mobile rigs. In addition to the shale plays in North America, key markets are North Africa and the Middle East. “In the Middle East, you have only to drill 700 to 900 meters (2,297 to 2,953 ft) to access resources. Drilling takes only five or six days,” Mr Janowski commented. “There must be a relation between the drilling time and the moving time. When you drill five days, no one would accept a rig move time of five days.”

“It is not just the rig design that enables high portability,” Mr Quinlan remarked. “The contractor must also have the right procedures and systems in place and have a dedicated rig-moving team that knows the rig and how to move it. It’s no use having a rig that can move in two days and be waiting for trucks for three days before it can move.”

“With the Huisman LOC rigs, we wanted a rig that could be moved anywhere on the planet with the same ease as moving a few miles on the road. In this regard, we have been very successful. To move the LOC rigs overseas is very cost effective and can be cheaper than rig moves over land.”

Also regarding improved economics, Mr Grant pointed out that “in addition to the rig’s ability to be broken down into manageable pieces that can be rolled down the road to the next site, the pieces are smaller and the capital outlay is a lot less to achieve the same result as that achieved by drilling with a conventional rig. We run less crew; staff overhead is a lot less. Ultimately, if you’re going for the shallower stuff, the overall cost of ownership is a lot less … roughly two-thirds of the cost of a big conventional rig.”

Rig manufacturers believe there is savings to be realized from use of a highly mobile rig to drill the top-hole section when an operator is targeting deeper reserves. The conventional rig doesn’t need to stay on-site as long. There’s also savings to be realized from reducing nonproductive time.

“It’s about decreasing nonproductive time and increasing safety,” Mr Pereira remarked. “The correct application of a fast-moving or portable rig can save the operator days in mobilization and demobilization between wells. Depending on the distance to the next well location, the Drillmec HH Series rig can be ready for drilling within 72 hours. A well-trained crew can do it in less than 48 hours.”

According to Drillmec, one of its expanded rig capabilities as a result of the design was for the rig to become an integral part of the substructure. “We figured, wouldn’t it be great if you could run the hydraulics of the substructure from the rig itself and offer connections on the substructure to quickly connect an air or mud pump system and reduce the downtime for setup,” Mr Grant said. “The other part was to have the pipe-handling on the back of that.” The Drillmec rigs have the main rig components fused to the specially designed trailer.

With Atlas Copco, Mr Grant said they’re expanding the operational ability of their highly mobile rigs by taking manual labor out of the scenario where possible. For example, “with the Predator rig, the driller has the more accurate ability to dial-in to a computer what he is trying to accomplish; for instance, establish weight on bit by dialing it in,” Mr Grant said. “Before, the driller had to watch the pressure gauge and dial-in weight-on-bit information as the formation changed.”

Highly mobile rigs are meeting diverse global drilling requirements as well. Drillmec’s HH Series rigs are currently operating in shale plays in North America, in the deserts of Egypt and the Middle East, in remote locations in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Australia, as well as in geothermal projects in Iceland and Chile. Further, the company recently announced the sale of 25 hydraulic rigs, with an option for an additional 125 rigs, to Chinese drilling company Greka Drilling. The units will work in CBM and shale-gas applications in China’s Shanxi Province.

Huisman’s LOC rigs have drilled oil, gas and geothermal wells in the US and Europe. Although the LOC rigs were designed for onshore drilling, the company has developed a concept and performed basic engineering on a LOC rig for offshore application.

“We have worked on a very interesting concept for using our LOC rig as a modular platform rig with a unique installation procedure onto the platform. This solution would see platform installation in a few days as compared with the several weeks required for similar modular rigs,” Mr Quinlan said.

In addition to shallow-resource development, Atlas Copco has found success using its highly mobile units to do top-hole drilling and set the casing so that conventional double or triple rigs can go in later to drill the deeper sections.

“We can use a top head drive to push the head down onto the drill bit to create weight on bit,” Mr Grant said. “The conventional rigs are not top head drive; they’re relying on collars and sticks of steel to give them weight on bit, making it harder there at the top of the hole.”

As operators expand their search for resources across the globe, rig manufacturers are keeping pace, delivering innovations in operation and transportability.

With more advances already on the drawing board, rig manufacturers are confident that the next generation of highly mobile rigs will continue to meet operator expectations.

The drilling tool is connected drill rod for transferring power. The drill string is usually part are: drill, drill collars, drilling pipe, stabilizers, special connectors and Kelly. The basic role of the drill string are: (1)control the drill bit; (2) imposed WOB; (3) transmission of power; (4) transporting drilling fluid; (5) special operations: extrusion of cement, handling underground accidents.

Drilling pipe is trailing with screw thread for connecting the drilling rig located at the bottom of surface drilling equipment and mill equipment or bottom outlet device. The purpose is to drill the drilling mud delivered to the drill bit, and drill with the increase, decrease or rotating bottom outlet means. Drill pipes must be able to withstand great external pressure, twisting, bending and vibration. In the mining and oil and gas refining process, the drill pipe can be used multiple times.

In API 5DP specifciations, the common use OD are 2 3/8”, 2 7/8” and 3 1/2” drill pipes, these usually required in large amount of quantities in drilling activities.

Heavy weight drill pipe is a medium-weight drilling pipe, (referred standards in API SPEC 7-1). It has bigger wall thickness than common drilling pipe and smaller than drill collar. The tube is connected with special length-added drill pipe joint (integral heavy weight drill pipe is made up of tube and tool joint). Among assemblies, it is generally added between drill pipe and drill collar to prevent sudden changes in cross-section of drill string, and reduce its fatigue.

a. Heavy weight drill pipe could replace part of drill collar can reduce torque, improve load, and increase drilling capacity during deep well drilling.

Multiple drill stems are frequently attached together to reach the lowest point of the drilling project, which can measure several miles in depth. This practice makes various manufacturing details vital for the drill pipes to be useful and long-lasting. First, the metal must be strong enough to withstand both internal and external pressure differences, transfer the drill’s torque without affecting the pipe’s structure, and suspend the necessary components attached to its end. Ideally, the drill pipes are reused, especially the more expensive types. For exceptionally deep wells, tempered steel is the material of choice.

After use at one drilling job, the pipe drill is transported to another site and given a full inspection. The main goal is to determine if the apparatus is still strong enough to use at future jobs before it is offered as a drill pipe for sale. Experts use various tools such as modified spherometers and ultrasonic metal testing gear to check for any weaknesses in the metal. The results of these tests give the drilling pipe its classification. New, unused ones get the N designation, P is used for premium grade, and C1, C2, and C3 based on various stages of wear. After a pipe gets lower than a C3 score, a red band signifies it as scrap metal.

As the drill pipe is only part of the complete apparatus needed for these types of drilling jobs, the bottom hole assembly also needs to be inspected. This BHA is a tube-shaped piece near the drill bit that is crafted of heavier and stronger metal.

Pipe drills for sale do not start out as solid metal sheets rolled into tubes. Instead, three pieces are welded together to form the entire apparatus. These include the tube itself, the box tool joint, and the pin tool joint. The manufacturing company starts with base tubes of steel or aluminum. The tube ends undergo processes to rough up the metal in order to make tighter bonds. This process is called upsetting and can be done internally, externally, or at cross sections. Different manufacturers use different types and sizes of steel pipe upset. Finally, the pipes are heat treated to achieve proper strength.

All necessary pipe drill connectors and joint pieces undergo similar treatments at the manufacturing plant. Connectors are transformed into female or male box or pin threaded ends. In the finished pipe assembly, the connectors at joints represent the most likely point of damage or failure. This is due to the lower temperature tempering, and the additional stiffness or brittleness of the metal. The stronger the steel, the more brittle it is, so manufacturing plants use precise measurements to avoid failure during the drilling process.

When you need drill pipe for your company’s drilling needs, understanding the different steps of the manufacturing process can bring you the best possible outcome on site. A trusted source follows the best practices for choosing and tempering metals, upsetting connective ends, and building joints and connectors that stand strong under pressure.

In the past, there has been some hesitation to close in a flowing well because of the possibility of sticking the pipe. It can be proven that, for common types of pipe sticking (e.g., differential pressure, heaving, or sloughing shale), it is better to close in the well quickly, reduce the kick influx, and, thereby, reduce the chances of pipe sticking. The primary concern at this point is to kill the kick safely; when feasible, the secondary concern is to avoid pipe sticking.

Hard shut-in procedures for well control depend on the type of rig and the drilling operation occurring when the kick is taken, such as the following:

Raising the kelly is an important procedure. With the kelly out of the hole, the valve at the bottom of the kelly can be closed if necessary. Also, the annular-preventer members can attain a more secure seal on the pipe than a kelly.

A high percentage of well-control problems occur when a trip is being made. The kick problems may be compounded when the rig crew is preoccupied with the trip mechanics and fails to observe the initial warning signs of the kick.

Installing a fully opened, full-opening safety valve in preference to an inside blowout preventer (BOP), or float, valve is a prime consideration because of the advantages offered by the full-opening valve. If flow is encountered up the drillpipe as a result of a trip kick, the fully opened, full-opening valve is physically easier to stab. Also, a float-type inside-BOP valve would automatically close when the upward-moving fluid contacts the valve.

If wireline work, such as drillpipe perforating or logging, becomes necessary, the full-opening valve will accept logging tools approximately equal to its inside diamet