Member Info for adoubleuk

I quite agree with fandg2's point of view on this one. There have been enough wells drilled on Hurricane's turf up WoS that I feel Dr T has been slightly remiss in not finding an experienced field geologist to act as his 'understudy' when necessary. I completely understand his enthusiasm for being on the rig when it's drilling the 'payzone' (as the TOL is, right now), but the hole will get drilled according to plan whether the geologist is there or not. And it's not as though in the horizontal of Warwick Deep's fractured basement the geologist has to identify different stratigraphic horizons of 'call' casing points.

I reckon he could have taken the three days to get down to London and back out to the rig without having really missed much of what's going on out there.

Goonerboy2018,

"Now showing as “moored” on Marinetraffic."

Yes indeed. About 150m astern of the AM.

" I’m presuming the Grampian will now move in to pick up the hose and carry over to the tanker but hopefully someone better versed in Ops can confirm or correct."

I've been wondering about that, as well. And somehow I have a gut-feeling that a further intervention by another vessel isn't required. It sounds a bit inelegant. But don't know how the tanker gets its pull-in line (seen in that video) attached to the hose. I'm fairly sure someone here will have experience of such operations, and can tell us.

Wellwell,

"Lots of us go to Tenerife for a quick holiday.....not AK though, he goes to Elevenerife....."

Haha. I must admit that caused me to smile, because it reminded me of the gormless guitarist of 'Spinal Tap' explaining how their amplifiers could be turned up to 'eleven', and were thus louder than everyone else's.

However the truth is I've never been to Tenerife, and have no intention of doing so. I prefer places I can drive to, these days...

Yup, 'good spot'! I have to admit to having become very lax on the 'shipwatching' front of late.

But that tanker is exactly one of those expected (works WoS for BP as well), and we know her specs (subject of discussion here many moons ago).

But it raises some intrigueing questions.

Some people have talked about a 'trial offload'. But also we know that the FPSO is certain to have some produced crude in her tanks by now, but not nearly enough to fill a tanker! But what's the point in a 'trial offload' if one's not actually pumping some crude down the hose? And nobody's going to be mad enough to sail a tanker for some sort of 'trial run' and come back empty. Just too costly.

So it'll be really interesting to see where she goes AFTER stopping off at Lancaster. A nearby field, almost for sure, but which one?

Plus there's another little detail. The implication that Lancaster crude is miscible with that of the 'next stop'. Which will give further clues...

shedful,

"Ad I have been in a old building where I climbed up the floor you have obviously never lived."

I hope my post caused you no offence. It wasn't the intention.

But in fact, even while typing it my mind went back a couple of years to a lovely old pub in Wiltshire where I enjoyed a pint or five with a fellow HUR shareholder and poster here. And indeed, due to subsidence or whatever, some 'climbing the floor' was required.

In fact that's maybe why a lot of beer had to be consumed. To make the floor seem level.

Albi,

"The name Inselaffen used in Germany, which means Island Monkeys. Despite the reference to monkeys, the term is not derogatory, quite the reverse actually, as the term comes from the German's amazement at how agile British builders are when climbing ladders and scaffolding on building sites."

Shouldn't the town of Hartlepool get a mention here?

shedful,

"would they drill horizontal and deeper at same time to get to depth ?"

Sorry, but that's a contradiction in terms. An oxymoron.You cannot drill horizontal and deeper at the same time. It's a meaningless concept, like 'climbing up the floor'. Or simultaneously sinking and floating. Or flying on the ground.

Wulbert,

"So the "wiper trip" is basically a smoothing off ream of any rough or loose bits in the bore?"

Essentially, and put rather simplistically, yes, though there are other aspects which would be lengthy to explain.

'Running casing' is supposed to be a 'one way trip'. Get the stuff run to depth, cement it, etc., etc., then progress to the next drilling stage. So the idea is to ensure the borehole (and the 'mud') is in the best possible condition to do the casing run with no hang-ups. Nothing's guaranteed, of course. Nothing ever is in the drilling game! But not taking some extra time to ensure optimal conditions is a difficult decion to justify if problems actually occur...

Albi,

" is your assessment these kind of things are par for the course or as Yuyus indicated basic procedure wasn't followed?"

I know your question was addressed to Cebo, but I feel the need to add my own two h'appence worth. Now that the cat's out of the bag, so to speak.

I heard the story of them not being able to get the casing down around a couple of weeks ago, but decided not to post anything here about it.

The 'error' is not exacty what one might call common, but it's far from unknown. And can be directly attributed to poor judgement, probably both in the field, but maybe also condoned by drilling management in town, or even a direct instruction on the part of said management, and the guy in the field being either inexperienced or not having the balls to argue with his bosses.

When I first heard the news, with the story about 'no wiper trip' included, my heart sank. Because the most frequent cause of getting problems running casing to depth is exactly that. No 'wiper trip'. Space (and maybe peoples' interest or lack of it) prevents me from making a complete explanation of what a 'wiper trip' is about, but it's simply an operation that (at those depths) would have maybe taken 12 hours. But translate that as being 50% of the rig's dayrate, the fact that the 'casing crew' will have already been onboard (so on the payroll) and the figures start to add up. And it's a sad fact that for the last 30 years or so, drilling operations tend to be lorded-over by beancounters rather than engineers.

It's also very possible that trying to 'circulate the casing down' once things had got 'sticky' just compounded the problem. That's often the case

Of course this is easy to say with 20/20 hindsight, because a 'wiper trip' is just a sort of insurance. As an analogy, having insurance doesn't determine a person's ability to drive a car safely. But get involved in an accident when you're not insured, and there's generally hell to pay.

The whole situation will probably have added about 3 million to the well cost. Maybe more, I don't know. But it'll be investigated, and doubtless if any error is attributed to Petrofac, some of that cost will be subtracted from their end-of-campaign invoice.

But again, word has it that the drilling is now 'back on track', and as is always the case, if the well is successful, the delay and the causes will be relegated to the 'just one of those things' collection.

Drilling oilwells isn't easy, and problems occur on an almost daily basis. The important thing is that nobody got hurt, no marine pollution occured, etc..

Albi,

" Musically I can see we both appreciate the Hammond. Not so sure about the Mellotron, weird and wonderful though it certainly is."

Or rather, was.

The roadies' nightmare, and finding one which actually still works properly would maybe cost as much as a Ford GT40.

Rather like a helicopter, it was a machine which defied logic, and shouldn't really work. But in the right hands, it did. But trucking it around and ensuring it arrived in one (workable) piece? Different. But in its own weird way, a bit like a precious woman. Treated with enormous care, it took one to different places. Whereas the Hammond B3 was a sort of 'workhorse' thing, which didn't mind some mistreatment from time to time...

Same goes for rotary-steerable drilling assemblies, though.

Haircule,

"Atavistic. Now there’s a word to conjure with. Takes me back to Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad."

A novel somewhere on my bookshelves. And I've travelled up that river by boat myself.

But also, try 'atavistic' in terms of the late Dr Hunter H Thompson's relationship with large-caliber handguns...

The Hammond B3 (plus TWO) Lesley speakers is the musical equivalent of a Patriot anti-missile system.

TradingLad,

"Spiral grooves on the external surface of the drill pipe reduce differential sticking"

Correct, except the grooves reduce THE RISK of differential sticking.

Plus those ain't 'drillpipes', they're DC's.

Anyway, over to you. I'm old, tired, a little bit drunk, and have an online poker game to sign into.

2kally,

"why do some of the drill pipes (if that's what they are) have spiral groves in them?"

They're not 'drillpipes', they're 'spiral drillcollars'. The spiral grooves are to aid fluid-flow (and thus 'cuttings removal') from around the BHA while drilling, and thus reducing 'backpressure' down where the bit is, at the bottom of the hole. This 'backpressure' being sometimes referred to as ECD, or 'Equivalent Circulating Density' of the drilling fluid, more colloquially called 'mud'.

I believe that video was actually taken when they were just starting the drilling...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVkkbJ_KI2Y

SIPP,

"Oh, the irony."

Irony is a slightly more interesting literary weapon to use than mere sarcasm.

Tends to penetrate deeper and leave longer-lasting wounds. Which is the object of the exercise.

JB,

"Those were the days , not anymore sadly."

Speak for yourself, mate.

But no, equally, the version of 'Sweet Jane' I have is 'Lou Reed Live', on one of the 'CD charger' things for the car, but also on vinyl.

Listened to at full volume, of course.

But that was a weird thing, driving back overnight from Spain at top speed the other night. My 'onboard computer' was indicating a far bigger fuel-consumption than normal. But suddenly realised I had the stereo on full-blast, and also the headlights. Plus the AC, 'cos the night was warm.

Eats up the juice.

Haricule,

"Wasn't it Niels Bohr who said, "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future."

Maybe not.

Niels was just plagiarising.

The quotation is attributed to Karl Khristian Steinck, an obscure Danish philosopher, sometime around 1945.

Dammit JK!

We were writing at the same time!

Bring on the weekend O/T!

What I really am concerned about is Escargot's neighbour's camel, and where it's gone.

JB,

What? That link took me to somewhere modern and weird.

Those aren't VW camper-vans!

(Think split-screen 60's vintage instead, though nevertheless with a Porsche engine,and about 500,000 miles on the clock). Uncomfotable as heck, lousy roadholding, but great when driving back from Camden Town Roundhouse to Norwich having just seen the Hevy Metal Kids in concert, and Lou Reed playing 'Sweet Jane' at full volume on the stereo. In 1974. At night.

Frits,

" Ohh well, I guess you can’t have it all"

To quote Sheryl Crow, "It's not having what you want that counts, it's liking what you have".

And as regards your passing comment about 'manning up', I'm not a homophobe, but that sounds like a very childish thing to say, possibly showing some insecurities, backed-up by the reference to the number of 'upticks' you get for your posts.