VILT – BASIC WELL ENGINEERING
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VILT – BASIC WELL ENGINEERING
About this Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT)
This Basic Well Engineering VILT has been designed to provide participants with a thorough knowledge of well engineering principles. Based on the global practices, API Standards and Specifications and using real examples, this represents how well engineering is managed within the oil and gas industry.
As drilling tools and technology evolves, the drilling community must keep pace in order to make the right decisions at the right time. Some of these decisions have a significant impact on reducing non-productive time. However, they are also important to stand out in process safety as major well control incidents [like the Deepwater Horizon] have taught us so dramatically in the past. We therefore need a consistent and technology-based approach to decision-making. This can only be achieved if the basics of well engineering have been thoroughly taught, understood and are then wisely applied.
Course Objectives
To enable participants to understand well engineering principles and practices that must be applied to ensure that the process to drill and complete a well can only be successful if it is based on sound planning and implementation.
Delivery of Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT)
The VILT will be delivered online in 15 sessions/days consisting of 4 hours per day (GMT+7 Thailand Time), with 2 breaks of 15 minutes per day. Some exercises will have to be individually done [calculations], some will be completed through group effort and consensus and some will be a simple multiple-choice session. A formulae sheet will be provided. Some homework or home study is highly recommended.
Cost effective
Because of COVID-19, most of the energy organisations are complying with social distancing rules and have increased telecommuting plans for their employees. Therefor Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) has become a popular training method to ensure that the staff remain SAFE, engaged, productive and competent during these challenging and difficult times.
The total cost for the company will be reduced. No traveling- and accommodations cost, and the participants can do the course from their office space or from home.
Of the same reason as above, PTS has been able to reduce the price per. candidate.
Green Footprint
The course will be arranged more and less without any paper. The manuals/handouts will be sent to the participants by email or a link for downloading. We will use PTS e-test system for all multiple-choice questions. Other type of exercises will be sent out by ++email. Need for traveling reduced to zero.
Who Should Attend?
Well engineers in their first few years of their career and having the aspiration to become knowledgeable in applying globally accepted standards and practices in well engineering. It is also meant for those who hold a supervisory position in the field and are daily instructed to implement the highest standards and good practices. The course may also provide a refresher for the more experienced drilling or well engineer, who has missed out on the basics of well engineering in the past and/or has limited field experience. It is also important that with knowledge gained, the attendee will be able to challenge the many specialized services at the well site, by homing in on critical factors they control and which often make or break a successful drilling campaign.
Operations Well Engineers
Front-End Planning Well Engineers
Drilling Process/Performance Engineers
Toolpushers and Senior Drillers
Field-Based Drilling Engineers
Drilling Supervisors
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
Define the critical elements of a drilling program, the practices that contribute to minimize non-productive time, the equipment and tools we need to collect downhole information, the high standards required to maintain process safety and the methodologies that enable analyzing and solving of drilling problems.
Demonstrate how to apply a methodical approach to well planning, which can then be used to implement good practices at the wellsite.
Develop a thorough understanding of basic well engineering and the essential skills to work as a team member.
Learn that opportunities are available to broaden our foundation of knowledge, so that we can rise to the challenge.
Focus on a number of well design and well operational elements that either enhance or hinder us in getting to a successful end result.
Illustrate the benefits of having sound well engineering skills that enable a consistent well delivery in the field.
Please note that this VILT is limited to 12 participants.
Course Schedule [can be amended as per client’s request]
| DAY 1 | BHA + DRILL STRING DESIGN |
| 0 | Welcome. Course Objectives and Expectations. |
| 1 | BHA Design, Buoyancy and how we ensure that the BHA is fit for purpose. |
| 2 | BHA Individual Components, Strength, Connections. |
| 3 | Exercise on BHA Design in vertical / deviated wells. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| 4 | Introduction to Drill String Design. |
| DAY 2 | DRILL STRING DESIGN |
| 1 | Review of Day 1. Question and Answer Session |
| 2 | Drill Pipe Grade and Yield Properties, Axial and Torsional Strengths, Thread Compound, Hardfacing, Desgin Factors. |
| 3 | String Dynamics, Heavy Wall Drill Pipe, Drill String Design Loading, Failure Mechanisms. |
| 4 | Exercise on Drill Pipe Desgin in vertical wells. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 3 | CIRCULATING SYSTEM + DRILLING FLUIDS |
| 1 | Review of Day 2. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Rig Pumps, Pressure Loss, Equivalent Circulating Density, Swab and Surge. |
| 3 | Water and Oil-Based Mud Systems. Testing of Mud Properties. |
| 4 | Multiple Choice Quiz on Drilling Fluids. |
| DAY 4 | SOLIDS CONTROL + HYDRAULICS |
| 1 | Review of Day 3. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Solids Control Equipment and Operating Efficiency. |
| 3 | Drill String, Annulus and Bit Hydraulics Optimization. |
| 4 | Exercise on Bit Hydraulics. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 5 | BIT TECHNOLOGY, BIT CLASSIFICATION + DRIVE SYSTEMS |
| 1 | Review of Day 4. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Bit Technology and Bit Classification. |
| 3 | Downhole Drive System, Downhole Vibration, Bit Costing. |
| 4 | Multiple Choice Quiz on Drilling Bits. |
| DAY 6 | PRIMARY CEMENTING |
| 1 | Review of Day 5. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Casing Handling and Casing Accessories. |
| 3 | Primary Cementing, Additives, Cementing Plugs, Displacement Efficiency. |
| 4 | Exercise on Primary Cementing. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 7 | FORMATION EVALUATION + CORING |
| 1 | Review of Day 6. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Open Hole and Cased Hole Logging. Quick Look Evaluation. |
| 3 | Cement Bond Evaluation, Conveyance Methods and Coring. |
| 4 | Group Exercise on Quick Look Evaluation. |
| DAY 8 | WELLBORE GEOMETRY + SURVEYING |
| 1 | Review of Day 7. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Trajectory to Target[s], Coordinates, Magnetic and Grid Corrections. |
| 3 | Surveying Tools and Principles, Surveying Errors, Separation Factors. |
| 4 | Exercise on Trajectory Design and Surveying. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 9 | RIG OPERATIONS + PROBLEM SOLVING |
| 1 | Review of Day 8. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Standard Instructions, Pre-Job Work/Safety Discussion, Hole Problem Anticipation. |
| 3 | Preparation and Response to Hole Problems such as Stuck Pipe. |
| 4 | Multiple Choice Quize on Problem Solving. |
| DAY 10 | CASING DESIGN [INTRODUCTION] + CASING SEAT SELECTION |
| 1 | Review of Day 9. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Preliminary and Detailed Casing Design. Design Philosophy. Understanding the Risks. |
| 3 | Casing Seat Selection. Top Down, Unlimited Kick and Modelled Kick Approach. Litholody. |
| 4 | Group Exercise on Casing Seat Selection. |
| DAY 11 | STRENGTH OF TUBULARS |
| 1 | Review of Day 10. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Casing Grades, API Tolerances, API Yield, Collapse Resistance. |
| 3 | Burst Resistance, Axial Stress, Triaxial Stress Analysis,Von Mises Ellipse, Pipe Perfomance Envelope, Buckling. |
| 4 | Exercise on Strength of Tubulars. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 12 | CASING SELECTION + BURST / COLLAPSE / TENSION LOAD LINES |
| 1 | Review of Day 11. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Casing Design Loads and Load Cases. External and Internal Pressure Profiles |
| 3 | Uniaxial Pipe Selection. Check on Casing Installation Loads and Pressure Testing |
| 4 | Group Exercise on Load Lines. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 13 | CASING SELECTION + CONNECTIONS / WEAR / CORROSION |
| 1 | Review of Day 12. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | Final Check and Considerations on Casing Selection. |
| 3 | Casing Connections, Casing Wear and Corrosion Issues. |
| 4 | Multiple Choice Quiz on Final Casing Design Checks. |
| DAY 14 | KICK TOLERANCE + WELLBORE STABILITY |
| 1 | Review of Day 13. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | The Significance of Kick Tolerance. The Factors that Influence Well Control. |
| 3 | Bore Hole Stresses, Overburden, Pore Pressures and Formation Strengths. Drilling Margins and Wellbore Stability |
| 4 | Exercise on Kick Tolerance. Use Formulae Sheet provided. |
| DAY 15 | BHA + DRILL STRING DESIGN |
| 1 | Review of Day 14. Question and Answer Session. |
| 2 | How to Deal with Kick/Loss Situation. Fracture Breathing [Ballooning]. |
| 3 | Off Bottom Well Control [Stripping]. Impact of Deviation on Well Control. |
| 4 | Multiple Choice Quiz on Off Bottom Well Control. |
| 5 | Course Review. |
About your Expert VILT Instructor: Gerard de Blok
Gerard has over 45 years of experience in the Oil & Gas industry. During that time, he has worked exclusively in the well engineering domain. After being employed in 1974 by Shell, one of the major oil & gas producing operators, he worked as an apprentice on drilling rigs in the Netherlands. After a year he was sent for his first international assignment to the Sultanate of Oman. Out there he climbed up the career ladder from Assistant Driller, to Driller, to wellsite Petroleum Engineer and eventually on-site Drilling Supervisor, actively engaged in the drilling of development and exploration wells in almost every corner of this vast desert area. At that time, drilling techniques were fairly basic and safety was just a buzz word, but such a situation propels learning and the fruits of ‘doing-the-basics’ are still reaped today when standing in front of a class.
After some 7 years in the Middle East, a series of other international assignments followed in places like the UK, Indonesia, Turkey, Denmark, China, Malaysia, and Russia. Apart from on-site drilling supervisory jobs on various types of drilling rigs [such as helicopter rigs] and working environments [such as jungle and artic], Gerard was also assigned to research, to projects and to the company’s learning center. In research he was responsible for promoting directional drilling and surveying and advised on the first horizontal wells being drilled, in projects he had was responsible for a high pressure drilling campaign in Nigeria and in the learning center he looked after the development of new engineers joining the company after graduating from university. He was also involved in international well control certification and served as chairman for a period of 3 years. In the last years of his active career he worked again in China as a staff development manager, a position he nurtured, because he was able to pass on his knowledge to a vast number of new employees once again.
After retirement in 2015, Gerard delivered well engineering related courses in Australia, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, China, South Korea, Thailand, India, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, The Netherlands, and the United States. The training he provides includes well control to obtain certification in drilling and well intervention, extended reach drilling, high pressure-high temperature drilling, stuck pipe prevention and a number of other ad-hoc courses. He thoroughly enjoys training and is keen to continue taking classes as an instructor for some time to come.
