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DRILLING ENGINEER

TRAINING SCHEME

DETS 2012

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FL-HR-003 Drilling Engineer Training Scheme Rev 6 October 2011

Fraser Offshore Ltd 2011 Page 2 of 22

Contents

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................ 3

2.0 Drilling Engineering a short history ...................................................... 4

3.0 What is a drilling engineer? .................................................................... 9

4.0 DETS objective .................................................................................... 12

5.0 Scheme Outline. ................................................................................... 13

6.0 Mentoring and Appraisals .................................................................... 15

7.0 Engineering Institutions ........................................................................ 15

8.0 Programme Details .............................................................................. 16

8.1 Rig Crew training ................................................................................. 16

8.2 Onshore Assignments ......................................................................... 17

8.3 Further Offshore Training .................................................................... 17

8.4 External Training ................................................................................. 18

8.5 DETS Advanced Stages ................................................................... 20

9.0 Support Mechanisms ........................................................................... 21

9.0 Drilling Engineer Career Map..21

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1.0 Introduction

Engineering is the art of organizing and directingmen and controlling the forces and materials ofnature for the benefit of the human race.Henry G. Stott (1907)

We will forgive Mr Stott his lack of insight into the advancement of women withinengineering; but outside of this, his statement still rings true - and nowhere more sothan in the field of well engineering.

Offshore drilling is a demanding profession, operating where heavy industry meetsthe ocean. In today's peak oil environment, oil and gas companies are more than

ever looking offshore to meet relentless demand for fossil fuels.

At sea, an oil or gas well becomes a major engineering project costing tens ofmillions of dollars. Day and night, challenges of wind, wave, heat and corrosion,pressure and geology must be faced and overcome. Delivering the job on time andon budget requires world-class equipment, field-proven systems and competent,committed people.

Fraser Offshore is home to people who thrive in this environment. Our engineers,wellsite supervisors and support specialists have the skills and professionalismnecessary to design and construct wells to the highest standards. We are passionate

about our work and focussed on our product: - Safe, clean, cost-effective wells.

We believe that well engineering is a true vocation; a lifetime career in whichexpertise has worldwide application. Mastery of this field takes time - skills andexperience must be acquired over several years and many wells in order to achievea standalone level of competence.Fraser Offshore's Drilling Engineering Training Scheme (DETS) combines classroomtraining with a structured programme of work. The DETS is delivered over a 3-5years period, offers entry level drill crew experience and mentoring by seasoned wellengineering professionals. Training is flexible and is tailored to meet individualrequirements. Duration of training is dependent upon entry-level experience and

individual progress.

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2.0 Drilling Engineering a short history

Mankind has for centuries sunk wellbores into the ground in search of water. By themid-19th century early oil wells were being drilled. Colonel Edwin Drake was one of

the first pioneers of oilwell drilling. This is the story of his famous well at Titusville,Pennsylvania:-

In 1859 Edwin Drake, a retired railway man, washired by the Seneca Oil Company to investigate oildeposits in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Drake had thebenefit of free railway travel, hence could travel towork cheaply. This was thought to be a factor in hisselection by Seneca.

Drake purchased a steam engine to power hisprimitive cable-tool drilling rig. It took some time to

drill through the layers of surface sand and gravel. At16 feet (5 m) the sides of the hole began to collapse.The drill crew began to despair, but not Drake. It wasat this point that he devised the idea of a drive pipe,still used as the starting point for most oil wells. Thiscast iron pipe consisted of ten foot long joints. Thepipe was driven down into the ground. Drilling

continued and at 32 feet (10 m) they struck bedrock.

The going was slow. Progress was made atthe rate of just three feet (1 m) per day. Thewell was soon nicknamed "Drake's Folly",and crowds of people came to jeer at the

unproductive operation.

By now the Seneca Oil Company hadabandoned their man. Drake had to rely onfriends to back the enterprise.

On August 27 1859 Drake had perseveredwith his drill bit, reaching a depth of 69.5 feet(21 m). The men packed up for the day. Thenext morning Drakes driller, Billy Smith,looked into the hole in preparation foranother days work. He was surprised anddelighted to see crude oil rising up. Drakewas summoned and the oil was brought tothe surface with a hand pump.

The oil was collected in a bath tub.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seneca_Oil_Company&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedrockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedrockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seneca_Oil_Company&action=edit&redlink=1

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Much has changed since 1859. Top hats and tailcoats are now scarce at the wellsite.Pipelines, not bathtubs, are used to export the product. However, it is clear from thisshort story that Drake shared many of the characteristics that still define a successfuldrilling engineer.

He had technical skills, ingenuity and determination

He could hold a team together in the face of adversity

He understood rigs, people and the downhole environment

Since the days of Colonel Drake, many people have made their living drilling oil andgas wells. Drilling techniques and materials have been greatly refined. Modern wellsmay be drilled to depths in excess of 5,000m vertical depth and have achieved lateralstepouts in excess of 10,000m. As technology has evolved, so have the capabilitiesof the men and women responsible for designing and drilling these wells.

The early twentieth century saw a huge rise in demand for petroleum products. Oiland gas wells were drilled in ever-greater numbers, initially in the United States,South America and Canada; later across the world. The crews drilling these earlywells worked with powerful but simple equipment. Wells were drilled vertically torelatively shallow depths. If control of the well was lost, the resulting blowout wasaccepted as normal business

Refinements in geophysics andpetroleum geology allowedmore precision in choosing welllocations so the oil wasrelatively easy to find. The

drilling industry neededpractical, hard-working men buthad no great need forengineering skills orcalculations.

The twentieth century marchedon and the developed worldbecame ever more dependenton petroleum products. Powergeneration, home and officeheating, automotive andaviation industries all ran onoil or natural gas. The strategicimportance of oil was

underlined during two world wars, where the ability to secure and transport fuelsupplies was in many campaigns the deciding factor.

As onshore oil from the domestic United States began to peak, new production cameon stream from giant fields in South America and the Middle East, where US andEuropean oil companies enjoyed a benign relationship with a series of compliantgovernments.

Figure 1 - Spindletop, Texas Ca 1920. Note the

close spacing of these vertical wells

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Figure 2 Historic Crude Oil Prices source: BP

In the latter half of the twentieth century the picture changed. With the developedworld now highly dependent on oil and gas, a new wave of nationalism arose in theoil-producing nations. In 1960 the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC was founded. With OPEC willing and able to regulate the supply of oil to the

market, the early 1970s were marked by a series of oil price shocks. The price of oil,static for almost a century at $2 to $3 per barrel, climbed to $10, then $20 and $30per barrel.

Suddenly it became economic to seek oil and gas offshore rather than onshore.Huge offshore plays began to open up, initially in the Gulf of Mexico and later in theNorth Sea, spreading throughout the world.

Figure 3 Jackup drilling rig Figure 4 Semi-submersible drilling rig

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New rig designs were developed for offshore drilling jackup rigs suitable for waterdepths up to 100m, semi-submersibles capable of drilling in far greater depths.Exploratory drilling could now be carried out almost anywhere on the continentalshelf

Once offshore oil and gas reservoirs were located, giant steel or concrete productionplatforms were installed and pipelines hooked up.

Figure 5 North Sea production platform

Well designs became more complex; onshore, a large oil reservoir would beproduced by drilling hundreds of low-cost vertical wells to access all parts. Offshore,the field would need to be developed from a central production platform from whichwells would reach out directionally to achieve the same coverage.

Figure 6 Modern designer well profile

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The high costs of offshore drilling dictated a new approach to the previously-haphazard business of planning oil and gas wells. The new deviated and horizontalwells had to be custom-designed and carefully constructed. Such wells werestretching the limits of technology in many areas; mud systems, drill bits, directionaltools, metallurgy and more.

The offshore oil or gas well had become a major engineering project costing tens ofmillions of dollars. Such wells could only be designed and drilled by companies withthe necessary skill sets. The need for trained drilling engineers was evident.

The North Sea has been at the forefront of offshore drilling technology since the1970s. For some years major oil companies such as BP and Shell systematicallytrained drilling engineers in well-structured schemes combining classroom trainingwith on-the-job experience. Graduates of these schemes are today found in seniorwell engineering positions worldwide.

Since the mid-1990s, however, major oil companies have greatly reduced theirtraining programmes for drilling engineers. This stems partly from the fluctuating

drilling activity stemming from oil price instability, and partly from the growingtendency for such companies to outsource the provision of drilling expertise.

As a drilling project management company, Fraser Offshore Limited (FOL) is one of asmall group of companies capable of providing such outsourced drilling expertise.FOL has a fundamental business need to field top-class drilling engineers andwellsite supervisors. Based on a proven template for such programmes, the FOLDrilling Engineer Training Scheme (DETS) is presented below.

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3.0 What is a drilling engineer?

A drilling engineer is a specialist engineer who plans, costs, schedules andsupervises the drilling of oil and gas wells. The drilling engineers scope includesinitial well design, drilling and completion, testing and workover operations.

Offshore drilling operations are expensive; a modern mobile drilling rig can cost up to$500,000 per day to operate. Total cost per well for offshore drilling is rarely less than$10 million and can be several times that. As wells are drilled to deeper, higher-pressure objectives the technical challenges multiply.

The prime responsibility of the drilling engineer is to ensure the well is both designedand constructed to a standard whereby pressure integrity is maintained. Unplannedrelease of wellbore fluids (blowout) must be avoided both while drilling the well and

during the wells production lifetime.

The quality of the drilling engineers work has a major impact on the safety of drillcrew members and the overall project spend. The work requires a combination ofskills including technical ability, communication skills, team-working and leadership.

Figure 7 Rig floor operations on an offshore rig

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Drilling Engineering is the sum of a number of sub-disciplines or skills, the mostimportant of which are:-

Well design Selection of sizes, depths, materials, trajectories and fluidsystems in order to achieve well objectives and life-of-well pressure integrity.

Well Control Avoiding uncontrolled release of wellbore fluids

Wellsite supervision Translating the well design into reality at the wellsite ina safe, environmentally sound and cost-effective manner

Casing Design A subset of well design, with emphasis on selection andanalysis of casing strings

Drilling Fluids Engineering the drilling and completion fluids used inconstructing and completing the well

Cementing Selection of appropriate cement slurry designs and placementtechniques to ensure effective long-tem pressure isolation and protection for

casings

Directional Drilling Tools and techniques to deviate the wellbore from thevertical

Selection of bits and drive systems Ensuring best cost-per-foot by judiciousselection of drillbits and the downhole or surface power systems used to drivethem

Drilling engineers are employed on land,on offshore platforms or on mobile drillingunits, usually by the operating oilcompany, sometimes by a specialistcontractor or a service company.

The role involves administering drillingand service contracts, engineering designand the planning of wells, and supervisingthe drilling crew on site.

Drilling engineers work with otherprofessionals, such as geologists andgeoscientists, rig managers and servicespecialists to agree well objectives,

monitor drilling progress, oversee safetymanagement and ensure the protection ofthe environment.

Figure 8 - Driller at the brake disturb atyour peril.

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Typical tasks performed by a drilling engineer include:

1. Prepare well objective statements

2. Review offset wells for key learnings

3. Perform well design and casing design using specialist software

4. Specify and procure well tangibles such as casing and wellhead equipment

5. Prepare drilling programme

6. Establish and administer drilling and service contracts

7. Monitor the daily progress of well operations, track and control daily costs

8. Prepare emergency response plans

9. Co-ordinate and supervise the work of the drilling team

10. Support the wellsite operation, amending the drilling programme to deal with

contingencies and scope changes11. Liaise with specialist contractors and suppliers, such as cement companies or

suppliers of drilling fluids;

12. Promote safety and environmental protection

13. Ensure the long-tem integrity of the well against unplanned escape of fluids

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4.0 DETS objective

The objective of the Scheme is to produce competent, motivated individuals

capable of following career paths in drilling engineering, drilling supervision ordrilling contractor management.

The DETS combines classroom training and a structured programme of work throughwhich trainees will develop a sound grasp of drilling engineering and associateddisciplines. In the course of acquiring technical skills, trainees are expected todevelop judgement, maturity and vital leadership skills.

The DETS runs in partnership with drilling contractors who offer vital entry-level drillcrew experience. Following on from this experience, some drilling engineers chooseto follow a career path through rig crew positions into drilling contractor managementranks.

Whatever route is followed, the Scheme allows trainees to maximise their potentialthrough the combination of hands-on work experience, classroom training and well-informed mentoring.

Duration of DETS training depends upon individual progression and the opportunitiespresented by the workflow of projects within FOLs business model.

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5.0 Scheme Outline.

The DETS is delivered over a 3-5 year period depending upon entry-level experienceand individual progress. The timeframes detailed herein are for guidance only and

should not be viewed as set in stone.

Drilling engineering is a broad field, embracing several sub-disciplines and specialistbranches. There is value in experiencing job roles both onshore and at the wellsite.In some companies an early choice is forced between onshore engineering /management roles and offshore supervisory roles. FOL requires its engineers to becomfortable in either environment i.e. office or wellsite and maintains a mix of the twothroughout the DETS.

Appendix 1 (Drilling Engineer Career Map) presents a very general outline of therelative seniority and progression between onshore and offshore job roles.

In addition to technical competencies, DETS trainees will be expected to acquire and

demonstrate top-end skills in vital non-engineering competencies including:- Management of wellsite safety

Environmental awareness

Leadership and motivation

Team working and communication

Planning and logistics

Commercial Awareness

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The basic scheme outline is as follows:-

Phase Work Experience Classroom Training (Typical)

Year 1 6 to 12 months in rig crew,Roustabout and possiblyRoughneck positions.

Safety & Survival

Well Control

Directional Drilling

Drilling Fluids

Bits

Cementing

Year 2 Offshore materials, onshore

trainee drilling engineer roles.

In-house projects

Outplacements with client andservice companies

Drilling Engineering

Well Design

Drillstring Design and FailurePrevention

Offshore Logistics

Offshore supervision

Years 3 5 Working as wellsite drillingengineer with progression through

night drilling supervisor positionsto onshore drilling engineering

Advanced Well Control

Stuck Pipe Prevention

Petroleum Engineering

Contracts and Finance

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6.0 Mentoring and Appraisals

DETS Trainees will be allocated a mentor drawn from senior staff at FOL. Mentorshave themselves experienced a similar sequence of training and development within

the drilling industry. They are a vital source of advice, information and support.

The mentor is a vital sounding-board and is available to the trainee on a routine basis and if in need, on a 24-hours basis.

A competency logbook will be issued and should be completed for each stage oftraining. The logbook forms a record of progress and assists in identifying furthertraining needs.

FOL operates a system of annual performance review; DETS trainees will participatein this process.

7.0 Engineering Institutions

All FOL engineers are encouraged to join the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE),an international body. SPE does not grant chartered engineer status.

At this time the FOL DETS is not accredited by any UK or European-basedengineering institutions which can grant chartered engineer status. It is notuncommon for drilling engineers to become chartered engineers, normally throughthe Institution of Mechanical Engineers (I.Mech.E) or the Institute of Materials,minerals and Mining (IOM3) however; the profile of chartership as a badge of

competence within the international oil industry is very low by comparison with thestatus afforded chartered engineers in other industries within the UK.

Successful completion of the FOL DETS will, however, provide trainees withdocumented evidence of training, experience and managerial responsibility. This willgreatly assist with any application to the UK institutions in pursuit of chartered status.

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8.0 Programme Details

8.1 Rig Crew trainingDETS trainees are required to start at thesharp end of the drilling business. Theoilfield has a culture and vocabulary all ofits own, and this phase of the training canbe viewed as learning the language.

Trainees will spend part or all of the firstyear working on an offshore drilling rig as amember of a roustabout crew. This willtypically be on North Sea mobile rig on atwo or three-week equal-time rotation.

Before going offshore, trainees will attendoffshore fire and survival training and willneed to pass an offshore medical.

The work is physically demanding, working12-hour shifts at the bottom end of thehighly-stratified chain of command. Taskswill include working with cranes, cleaningdecks and painting. Subject to job slotsarising, trainees showing promise asroustabouts may be able to gain rig floorexperience as a roughneck

Trainees will take part in the drilling contractors competency structure and canexpect to receive formal training in entry-level disciplines such as:-

Risk assessment

Safety observation programmes

Banksman and slinger

Forklift operation

Permit to work

Waste Management

During this period, trainees are actually employed by the drilling contractor and aretreated no differently to any other member of the rig crew. During days off the rig(field break) several days may be spent either in formal training or assisting withoperations in FOLs Offices.

Figure 9 - Roustabout trainees

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8.2 Onshore Assignments

On completion of basic rig crew training, trainees will be assigned a shore-basedposition working alongside experienced personnel.

As well as training value, assignments will have real-life deliverables. Trainees will beexpected to keep to deadlines, to interface with clients and service companies andpresent themselves in a professional manner. Typical assignments will include:-

Engineering studies

Materials and logistics projects

Offset well review

Tender analysis

Through interface with mentors, and by reference to competency matrices, traineeswill be able to put their growing list of work experience into context with the overall

competency framework.

Onshore assignments are likely to include short-term work placements with clientcompanies or with service companies.

8.3 Further Offshore Training

From year 2 onwards DETS trainees will be considered for positions in the offshorerig supervisory team. These may include:-

Offshore materials man

Wellsite Drilling Engineer

Night Drilling Supervisor

Again the job role and support regime will be tailored to allow the trainees to performa front-line job while accumulating knowledge and experience within the drillingengineering competency framework.

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8.4 External Training

DETS trainees will participate in a number of external training schools which will bescheduled either during field break from offshore assignments or during onshore

periods. Year 1 and 2 courses are likely to include:-

Course Title Duration Description

BOSIET (BasicOffshore SafetyInduction andEmergency Training)

3 days Helicopter escape training

Post escape first aid

Firefighting (basic extinguishers, smokehoods and self rescue)

Permit to work systems

Emergency Breathing Systems

IWCF Well Control 5 days Kick detection

Well control methods

Well control calculations

Simulator practise

IWCF written & practical examination

Directional Drilling 2-3 days Principles of wellbore surveying

Survey tools

Wellbore deflection tools

Trajectory planning

Bottom-hole-assembly (BHA) selection

Field practises

Drilling Fluids 2-3 days Functions of drilling fluids

Clay chemistry

Formation problems and treatment

Solids control

Lost circulation

Mud systems and treatment

Completion brines

Bits 1 day Bit styles

Bit selection

Performance optimisation

Bit grading

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Cementing 2 to 4 days Functions of oil well cements

Slurry design

Cementing chemicalsField procedures

Further classroom training during later stages of the DETS are likely to include:-

Course Title Duration Description

Drilling Engineering 10 days Drilling Engineer role

Well types

Rig types

Well Design

Completion design

Tangibles casing / wellheads / liner hangers

Mud / Cement / Directional / Bits intro

Drillstring Design andFailure Prevention

5 days Drillstring stress regime

Drillstring failures

Material properties

Design & procurement standards

Operating practises

Drilling contracts,procurement andlogistics

3 days Contract structures for offshore drilling

Contract management

Tendering and procurement

Sea and air transport

Dangerous goods

Operations forecasting and call-off

Invoice processing

Cost tracking

Drilling Supervision 2- days Rig management principles

Legal and contract responsibilities

Emergency response

Operations management

Contingency management

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8.5 DETS Advanced Stages

A feature of the DETS is early responsibility. While trainees spend considerable timein classroom training, work roles are real jobs rather than make-work exercises or

passive observation. The later stages of the programme will comprise of a series ofjob roles through which the trainee will broaden his or her experience and furtherdevelop both technical and non-technical skill sets.

External training opportunities and cross-posting will continue and the trainee willcontinue to benefit from mentoring and support of FOL senior engineering and HRstaff.

Some engineers may wish to specialise in offshore supervision, or in specialisttechnical areas such as subsea or completion engineering, or in commercialmanagement. These tend to be plateau positions in which engineers are working asa fully-capable part of the project team under the guidance of experienced linemanagement.

Over time, as experience is accumulated, the competency matrices are completed.This marks the end of the DETS although there is currently no formal mechanism bywhich people graduate from the scheme.

After six to eight years in trainee and standalone engineering positions, someengineers will achieve senior engineer or drilling superintendent status, or willprogress to a position as a day drilling supervisor. These positions represent a furtherstep in responsibility, with job holders acting as team leaders and taking onmanagement responsibilities for significant budgets and entire wellsite teams.

We never stop learning. Although the formal programme of education and trainingthat goes to make up the FOL DETS stops at the end of Year 5 or thereabouts, FOL

will continue to support its staff through ongoing training, periodic appraisal andtraining opportunities.

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9.0 Support Mechanisms

FOLs DETS scheme makes high demands on the individual physically, mentallyand sometimes on relationships. We recognise that we expect a lot from you. At

some point in our careers any of us may find ourselves struggling. Whether anindividual has problems with the work that they have been asked to undertake ortheir working relationships, whether they have come to the realisation that this line ofwork is not for them or perhaps a personal matter is causing them some difficulty; nomatter how large or small, whatever the problem is, there is always someone here tohelp.

Most problems can be resolved and Fraser Offshore welcomes the opportunity toaddress with you any issues that may arise.

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OFFSHORE ONSHORE

Drilling Engineer Career Map

Drilling Engineer

(Materials Man)

Rig Crew

Drilling Superintendent

Project Manager

Night Drilling

Supervisor or

Wellsite

Engineer

Trainee Drilling

Engineer

Senior Drilling Engineer

Drilling

Supervisor

Entry Level:- Graduate Engineer

10 Years plus

2 - 10 years

1 year

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