Deepwater Drilling Design and Operations

Course Outline

This course has been designed to help drilling engineering professionals understand the technologies, terminology, concepts, processes, and equipment used to drill deepwater oil and gas wells. The course will follow a typical deepwater drilling program and drilling process from geology to rig selection and station keeping to conductor driving and surface casing setting. The wellhead systems, BOP, and marine riser systems for typical deepwater rig equipment will be covered. Once the drilling process and equipment has been reviewed the class will then look at some of the other aspects that are different for deepwater drilling technology such as well control and shallow hazards. After this the course will continue with new emerging technologies such as dual gradient and managed pressure drilling. Finally participants will learn about some of the typical operational aspects and workover issues associated with deepwater wells.

This course will be a mix of video presentations, power points, and discussions, along with group exercises to discuss the challenges encountered in a deepwater program. At the end of the course, the participants should understand the complexities associated with a deepwater drilling operation and will gain an understanding of issues that must be addressed when drilling deepwater wells. This course has also been designed to address the deepwater drilling issues and challenges. Participants will be expected to know many of the common conventional drilling technologies. The course does not address common drilling engineering such as trajectory design, mud systems, hole cleaning, or ballooning. However, where the deepwater environment has an effect on these drilling processes the course will highlight those specific issues.

Deepwater Drilling Operations and Offshore Drilling History

• • Deepwater drilling operations
  • Deepwater history
  • Deepwater locations and geology
  • Overburden and compaction
  • Pore and fracture pressures

Planning Operations

• • Metocean and currents
  • Rig selection
  • Station keeping
  • Open water operations (ROV’s)
  • Conductors
  • HPHT Well Control – on bottom, while stripping, out of hole

Surface Casing and Well Design

• • Subsea wellheads and casings
  • Cementing
  • BOP systems
  • Drilling riser systems

Deepwater Rig Surface Equipment and System Automation

• • Drilling equipment for deepwater
  • Deepwater well control
  • Drilling challenges
  • Shallow hazards

Drilling Fluids, Subsalt Issues, and New Technologies

• • Fluids
  • Subsalt
  • Dual gradient drilling and MPD
  • Completions
  • Well intervention
  • Operations management

Who should attend?

Drilling professionals with well design and operations experience desiring an understanding of the challenges faced in the deepwater drilling environment. This class can serve as an introduction to both entry level and experienced drilling professionals for deepwater drilling technology.