Just Knowledge for Drilling Operation

• In the oil industry, a rig is not called an oil rig unless it actually finds oil. Until then, it’s called a drilling rig.

• The mudman--the man in charge of the circulating fluid, or mud--probably doesn’t work for the same company as the drilling crew. He might travel around to two or three different wells.

• What is black gold? It’s another name for oil. For centuries, people searched for gold, hoping to become rich. Today, more people search for oil instead of gold--so we sometimes call it “black gold”

• Most of these crews are not part of the oil company that drilled the well. A company representative (he might be an engineer) will be at the site, to tell them what the company wants done. He’s the boss--after all, it’s his company that is paying all the different crews!

• In the old days, the bullets were real bullets! After the cement dried, oilmen would set off an explosion at the bottom of the well. The bullets would shoot off in all directions, making holes in the cement.

• Today, oilmen use “chemical bullets” instead. They use a perforating gun which jets chemicals out to eat holes through the casing and the cement, and into the rocks.

• A derrick looks cool, but you won’t see many derricks in an oil field that is producing oil. Once oil is reached and the casing has been put in and the bullets have blasted their holes, the derricks are taken down and moved somewhere else. What you will see at a producing well is the pump jack.

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