We should be finishing up this well sometime tonight and probably getting underway tomorrow. That means I’ll be even more busy (with less time to blog) than usual.
I’m not used to these drilling rigs yet. I’ve only been doing it off and on for the last couple of years. I’m a mariner, not a driller. 😉
I do find it amazing how fast they get the job done on these rigs over here in Africa. In the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), I seem to remember it taking many months to drill a well.
Here it seems to take them only a few weeks. I’m sure part of the reason is that these ships are the latest and greatest (so far)- 6th generation dual derrick drill ships. They can use both derricks at once, that saves them a LOT of time.
Ocean Rig Olympia
I hear this next job will only take a week or so. That one is only putting down the ‘top-hole’, it’s not the same thing as drilling a well.
This kind of work keeps me MUCH more busy than I usually am offshore. I’m learning a lot, which is always good. I just hope it doesn’t get too stressful (it’s ALWAYS stressful when we’re moving).
It should only take us a couple of hours to get there once we finally get underway. The new well is only about 12 miles from where we’re at right now. What takes time is getting underway and then getting set up again once we reach our new location.
Our drillers and subsea guys have to pick up all the riser and the BOP. We (DPOs and ROV guys) have to pick up all our transponders and then secure our transducer poles for our acoustic reference system. All that can take quite a while.
When we get to our new location, we have to do all that in reverse. We will also spend a lot of time and effort to calibrate all our equipment so that it all works as well as possible.
I’m looking forward to the move, but a little nervous too. :-/
PS- I was on the Olympia last hitch, but these are not my photos, (I got them from googling “drillships”)
Life at a rig from outside seems to be awesome!
Awesome?! Well, it’s different for sure. Glad you’re enjoying hearing about it.
Yes. I enjoy reading it. Once I also wanted to join one of these. But no one was interested in taking me 😉
The oilfield has always been very cyclical. When it’s booming, they’ll hire anyone. When it’s slow, they get VERY choosy. Right now, it’s slowing down pretty quick since the price of oil has been dropping.
It depends on what your job is too. Subsea is always in high demand.
Well I don’t have any previous experience in oil field. Just wanted to experience that. I was in a ship though. In the engine side 😉
Plenty of ships working in the oilfield now. I’ve been doing that for years now. What kinds of ships were you on? QMED?
I studied to be an oiler at the same time I was studying for AB. I never got around to taking the test. I wish I had now.
I was in bulk carriers as the trainee marine engineer
That must have been an interesting job. Did you get to go anywhere exciting?
Do you still sail? Still an engineer?
Yes, I travelled to some places in the last contract, USA, Canada, Germany, South Korea etc.
But I am not sailing now. I felt like taking a big break. But now I am missing that life.
Yes I am technically still an engineer 😀 But I haven’t applied for my competency exam, still I have my valid CDC 🙂
Reading you is always a learning experience. Thanks for that.
I really appreciate that you’re getting something out of it. 🙂