workover rig tripping pipe in stock

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.

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The complete operation of removing the drillstring from the wellbore and running it back in the hole. This operation is typically undertaken when the bit becomes dull or broken, and no longer drills the rock efficiently. After some preliminary preparations for the trip, the rig crew removes the drillstring 90 ft [27 m] at a time, by unscrewing every third drillpipe or drill collar connection. When the three joints are unscrewed from the rest of the drillstring, they are carefully stored upright in the derrick by the fingerboards at the top and careful placement on wooden planks on the rig floor. After the drillstring has been removed from the wellbore, the dull bit is unscrewed with the use of a bit breaker and quickly examined to determine why the bit dulled or failed. Depending on the failure mechanism, the crew might choose a different type of bit for the next section. If the bearings on the prior bit failed, but the cutting structures are still sharp and intact, the crew may opt for a faster drilling (less durable) cutting structure. Conversely, if the bit teeth are worn out but the bearings are still sealed and functioning, the crew should choose a bit with more durable (and less aggressive) cutting structures. Once the bit is chosen, it is screwed onto the bottom of the drill collars with the help of the bit breaker, the drill collars are run into the hole (RIH), and the drillpipe is run in the hole. Once on bottom, drilling commences again. The duration of this operation depends on the total depth of the well and the skill of the rig crew. A general estimate for a competent crew is that the round trip requires one hour per thousand feet of hole, plus an hour or two for handling collars and bits. At that rate, a round trip in a ten thousand-foot well might take twelve hours. A round trip for a 30,000-ft [9230 m] well might take 32 or more hours, especially if intermediate hole-cleaning operations must be undertaken.

Offshore drilling services provider Ensco has rolled out a new proprietary solution engineered to provide greater pipe tripping safety and efficiency.

When used in concert with other key equipment, sensors and process controls, Ensco’s patented Continuous Tripping Technology (CTT) can fully automate the movement of the drill string into or out of the well at a constant controlled speed.

According to Trowell, “Tripping pipe is on the critical path for all drilling and workover activities and, as a result, meaningful time is spent performing this process over the life cycle of every offshore well.

“Continuous Tripping Technology significantly reduces the amount of time spent tripping pipe, and the faster tripping time that this technology offers is expected to lead to cost savings for customers regardless of water depth or well type,” he said.

Ensco claims CTT enables pipe-accelerated tripping speeds of up to 9,000 feet per hour when deployed during offshore activities. The constant tripping speed minimizes surge and swab pressure on the wellbore by eliminating intermittent stopping and starting as well as excessive peak speeds.

“Continuous Tripping Technology is another example of our ongoing investments in innovation that are focused on developing systems, processes and technologies to make the drilling process more efficient and lower offshore project costs for customers,” Trowell said.

“We continue to see better utilization for rigs that deliver the greatest efficiencies for customers’ offshore well programs and, given the proprietary nature of Continuous Tripping Technology, we expect that it will help to further differentiate Ensco’s assets from the competition and position us well for future contracting opportunities.”

Ensco said the CTT system was recently installed and is being commissioned on the 2016-built jack-up ENSCO 123. The rig is expected for delivery in March 2019 following system commissioning and rig acceptance trials.

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.

All across the oilfield, many items are called weird names and “monkey boards” are no exception. In this video, I sat out to show you what monkey boards are as I drove by a local rig. My timing was impeccable and we even get to see more in the video than I imagined. Be sure to watch it, but just in case you can’t, below is a short description.

In short, monkey boards hold vertical stands of drill pipe. The monkey boards are the flat part that sticks out to the side of the rig’s derrick (or mast) close to the top. As drill pipe is “tripped in” or “tripped out” of the well, the monkey boards allow for the excess pipe to be racked back for a close reach to make future connections. Utilizing the monkey boards allow drilling to go faster, as entire “stands” of drill pipe can be racked back in the monkey boards.

To explain what a “stand” of drill pipe is, let’s examine a typical “triple” rig. A “triple” means that the derrick has the room for three entire joints of drill pipe to be above the rig floor. Thus, three joints of drill pipe make up a “stand.” The benefit to a triple rig is that the rig doesn’t have to make connections while drilling, “tripping in,” or “tripping out” except for every three joints (one stand). Thus, rig time is lowered compared to a “double” rig.

Since this sounds confusing, be sure to watch the video to see them in action! We even get to see the “derrickman” which is the person who stands up on the monkey boards to help rack back the stands of drill pipe.

Stock images of drillers, motorman, roughnecks, tower hands, worms, and stock photography of oil field workers climbing the tower, making connections on drilling rig floors, and tripping pipe on drilling rigs.

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As the hydraracker continued to move, tension caused the pipe to bow and the pipe was released from the lower tailing arm with significant force toward the setback area striking and fatally injuring the employee.

While this incident is still under investigation, drilling rig operators using fingerboards with latches are recommended to:Review and assess applicability of NOV Product Information Bulletin 85766409 and NOV Safety Alert Product Bulletin 95249112

Equipment is as critical as human behavior when it comes to accidents on drilling rigs. So, tong jaws and elevator should be well lubricated, and tong pins should be in place with nuts and bolts while tong dies are sharp and intact.

Canadian drilling rigs meet some of the highest regulatory and safety standards in the world. It"s a dynamic and exciting community to build a career in.

Canada’s drilling fleet is always changing to incorporate new technology and meet market demand. Most noticeably, the Canadian drilling fleet is growing in numbers. The fleet has 40% more rigs than it did 15 years ago. Today, the rig fleet offers just over 600 rigs.

For the most part, a rig is a rig is a rig. For example, all rigs have a derrick (the mast-like structure that holds the pipe to be lowered into the well bore) a catwalk that holds the drill pipe, a rig floor where floorhands handle the drill pipe, a drawworks which is the machinery that hoists and lowers pipe and a blowout preventor that enables a driller to control well pressure.

But different size rigs are used depending on the drilling target formation. Oil formations tend to be deeper than gas formations. When investors are most interested in producing oil, large rigs are in high demand. When the market prefers gas production, small rigs are in demand. Western Canada has plenty of both gas and oil, and activity cycles back and forth between preferences of one over the other.

Drilling rigs come in three sizes: singles, doubles and triples. These categories refer to how many lengths of pipe can stand in the rig’s derrick. On a single, the derrick holds one length of pipe. A double holds two, and a triple holds three.

A tall derrick isn’t necessary to drill deeper. If more pipe is needed to drill deeper, a single section of pipe is hoisted to the rig floor and added to the drill string. But sometimes the entire drill string needs to be pulled out of the hole (to change the drill bit, for instance). A derrick that holds multiple lengths of pipe comes in handy and helps the crew to complete this evolution quickly.

A crew working on a triple is able to pull three lengths of pipe out of the hole before unscrewing the pipe. The Derrickman, working from the monkeyboard, sets the ‘stand’ of pipe in the derrick. Then the crew pulls up the next three joints of pipe. This evolution is called ‘tripping’.

The larger derrick is efficient to drill deep wells but isn’t necessary for shallow wells. Single rigs drill wells that are around 1 to 2 kilometres deep. These wells usually access gas basins. Single rigs and their crews change drilling locations often, sometimes every day or every other day.

Doubles and triples are larger rigs with bigger substructures and taller derricks. These rigs drill between 3 and 6 kilometres into the earth and might be at the same location for several months to complete deep drilling operations.

Singles, doubles and triples refer to conventional rig categories. Additional new categories of rigs have introduced different ways of handling pipe. For instance, some companies run coil-tubing rigs that stream tubing from a large reel instead of using drill pipe, or automated drilling rigs that are outfitted with a pipe-handling arm that raises the pipe into the derrick, eliminating the need for a derrickhand to work from the monkeyboard.

Through the 1990s, rig activity focused evenly on the two commodities. Then in 1998, there was a shift: gas wells began to make up the bulk of drilling activity. Through the early 2000s, rig activity increased year over year, but gas wells—which are shallower and can be drilled faster—far outstripped the increase in oil wells. Between 2001 and 2006, oil wells made up about 25% of rig activity, and gas wells 75%.

The drilling industry reacted to this demand by expanding the fleet. In 2007, the rig fleet grew faster than it ever it had before: 49 rigs were added. Most of these new rigs were the smaller ones best suited for gas drilling. Then in 2008, natural gas was on the market in abundance, and the stock market price of natural gas started to fall. Investors pulled back on gas drilling. In 2010, industry was back to an even split between gas wells and oil wells.

And then the turn-around happened: oil drilling overtook gas drilling in western Canada. In 2011, 61% of the wells drilled were seeking an oil formation, versus the 39% seeking gas. Today’s market continues to favour large rigs that can reach deep oil formations. There also is increased interest in accessing these formations at an angle: rig crews drill a well bore that curves toward a drilling target. Drilling rig contractors have been adding equipment in 2013. Unlike 2007"s fleet expansion, these rigs will be the larger, heavier rigs, primed for oil drilling.

v: to release pipe that is stuck in the hole by running washover pipe. The washover pipe must have an outside diameter small enough to fit into the borehole but an inside diameter large enough to fit over the outside diameter of the stuck pipe. A rotary shoe, which cuts away the formation, mud, or whatever is sticking the pipe, is made up on the bottom joint of the washover pipe, and the assembly is lowered into the hole. Rotation of the assembly frees the stuck pipe. Several washovers may have to be made if the stuck portion is very long.

n: an accessory used in fishing operations to go over the outside of tubing or drill pipe stuck in the hole because of cuttings, mud, and so forth, that have collected in the annulus. The washover pipe cleans the annular space and permits recovery of the pipe. It is sometimes called washpipe.

n: the assembly of tools run into the hole during fishing to perform a washover. A typical washover string consists of a washover back-off connector, several joints of washover pipe, and a rotary shoe.

n: an instrument near the driller’s position on a drilling rig that shows both the weight of the drill stem that is hanging from the hook (hook load) and the weight that is placed on the bottom of the hole (weight on bit).

n: the methods used to control a kick and prevent a well from blowing out. Such techniques include, but are not limited to, keeping the borehole completely filled with drilling mud of the proper weight or density during operations, exercising reasonable care when tripping pipe out of the hole to prevent swabbing, and keeping careful track of the amount of mud put into the hole to replace the volume of pipe removed from the hole during a trip.

n: a portable rig, truck-mounted, trailer-mounted, or a carrier rig, consisting of a hoist and engine with a self-erecting mast. See carrier rig. Compare workover rig.

n: the performance of one or more of a variety of remedial operations on a producing well to try to increase production. Examples of workover jobs are deepening, plugging back, pulling and resetting liners, and squeeze cementing. See recompletion.

n: a special drilling mud used to keep a well under control while it is being worked over. A workover fluid is compounded carefully so that it will not cause formation damage.

n: 1. in drilling, the string of drill pipe or tubing suspended in a well to which is attached a special tool or device that is used to carry out a certain task, such as squeeze cementing or fishing. 2. in pipeline construction, the string of washpipe that replaces the pilot string in a directionally drilled river crossing. The work string remains in place under the river until the actual pipeline is made up and is ready to be pulled back across the river.

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Ensco has announced its Continuous Tripping Technology, a new proprietary solution that provides more efficient and safer pipe tripping and helps to lower customers’ offshore project costs. The patented technology, in concert with other key equipment, sensors and process controls, fully automates the movement of the drillstring into or out of the well at a constant controlled speed. When deployed during offshore activities, it enables pipe-tripping speeds of up to 9,000 ft/hr – up to three times faster than tripping times achieved by current conventional stand-by-stand methods.

The technologycan be retrofitted to both floaters and jackups. It is well-suited for ultra-deepwater drillships and larger modern jackups. Ensco recently completed the installation of the technology on ENSCO 123, and commissioning of this system is underway. Upon completion of the system’s commissioning and the rig’s acceptance testing, ENSCO 123 is expected to be delivered in March 2019.

“Continuous Tripping Technology is a step-change efficiency improvement that uses automation and innovative technology to address a repetitive, time-consuming process that is ubiquitous in offshore projects today,” Carl Trowell, President and CEO, said. “Tripping pipe is on the critical path for all drilling and workover activities and, as a result, meaningful time is spent performing this process over the life cycle of every offshore well. Continuous Tripping Technology significantly reduces the amount of time spent tripping pipe, and the faster tripping time that this technology offers is expected to lead to cost savings for customers regardless of water depth or well type.”

In addition to increased efficiencies, the technology makes the pipe-tripping process safer by using automation to eliminate human error and personnel exposure associated with the conventional stand-by-stand method. Further, the technology delivers a constant speed that minimizes surge and swab pressure on the wellbore by eliminating intermittent stopping and starting, as well as excessive peak speeds that typically occur when using current industry practices.

“Continuous Tripping Technology is another example of our ongoing investments in innovation that are focused on developing systems, processes and technologies to make the drilling process more efficient and lower offshore project costs for customers,” Mr Trowell said. “We continue to see better utilization for rigs that deliver the greatest efficiencies for customers’ offshore well programs and, given the proprietary nature of Continuous Tripping Technology, we expect that it will help to further differentiate Ensco’s assets from the competition and position us well for future contracting opportunities.”