Member Info for Ezhik

AJ. Add another month on that mate--just my view. No news on the topdrive, not tested, not shipped. 2 weeks for it go by road to Azer ( they could fly it and surprise us ) a week or so to get it fixed up and operationally tested---and here were are near to the end of June before any drilling and that's if they get it out of Italy in the next day or two. End of July to complete the drill--that 750 KH will have to wait till Christmas

It was something I was on about at the time, no info from Zen available. It was assumed that the concept had been abandoned at the point of deciding to deepen it to phase 2 (i.e it became pointless). Initially it was to clean out, then test, then decide whether to deepen based on flow. i.e. if it flowed well, then they may not deepen and just leave it to produce, therefore they either tested it and it wasn't worth putting on prod, or they just decided to go for deepening without test. I believe that in the first instance, the second target was not in the frame and they were only talking about going into Eocene further and then later, at the point of deciding to go for the late cretaceous I guessed that the testing had been forgotten/shelved as it would serve no purpose.
There was a Q& A session about then also where investors were invited to send in their questions for them to answered live, but it was a farce and so far as I could tell, none of the questions raised, (certainly none of mine) were put forward or answered. The flow test was one of those questions amongst several others that were not mentioned during the so called 'live' Q&A. The only 'live' bit was AC and the interviewer.

No doubt someone will know more accurately but the share talk update on Tuesday showing part of the BHA being lifted up indicates they are ready to drill ahead again and probably have started. Having checked a bit more info on twitter, I noticed that there was a cement truck on site early May and another tweet suggesting there had been 900m of pipe pulled out at some point, therefore it confirms second casing point at 1500, thankfully.
Anyhow, seems the bb is more focussed on other matters just now

Yeah, maybe not prepared to wait until Christmas for this top drive eh

ooh err. If that's the drill string in its entirety then there is something awry. If that were the string from 1500m there would be about 150 sections of drill pipe laid out. It doesn't look like that in the picture, more like 50. What are they picking up through the Vdoor? looks like the BHA assembly which sort of indicates the string is out. maybe this is still the first casing point then. Difficult to see from the phone camera for certain.
Don't know why anyone would think they would be running smaller diameter drill pipe, whats the point. if the smallest casing is going to be 7" then standard pipe will do just fine.
Just discussing what it looks like, hopefully I am entirely wrong and me specs isnae wuckkin.

Somewhere between 3rd and 10th I would say which leaves just two contenders according to the list.

masochistic more like.

T'is why I went mad last week and bought another 790k.

Part 2. :
The actual drilling process is slow anyway and whether 3 lengths of pipe are joined together or just one, it makes very little difference really. If you consider that it usually takes an entire 12 and sometimes 24 hr shift to drill 30-50m when at the deeper sections of a well so in a day with 50metres drilling achieved, a top drive will make 2 connections and rotary table etc will make 5 connections. The difference in the time taken would be about 10 minutes.

"Thus the top drive will save time in the long run".
Well, going for a long run is no longer a realistic option for me these days but if you and Zeb are talking about running in and out of the hole then I'm afraid that you are not quite correct here with the statement about all those pipe joins. C37 has been drilled mostly, therefore it will be a case of running in to the current depth and then start drilling:-.
Running in/out is known as tripping and if you coma all the way out, change the drill bit or something else at the Bottom Hole Assembly and then run all the way back in, then it is called a 'round trip'.
Maybe I misled or confused someone in a previous post but when tripping in and out, you still use 3 sections of pipe joined together (stands) whether you are using a top drive or not. The ability to rack back and store 'stands' is reliant on the derrick height and general capacity thereof. A top drive is a little bit quicker but only on the basis of two particular operations: The pipe can be spun in/out when joining the stands (making a connection) and the pipe elevators are attached to the pipe by the driller pushing a button as opposed to the rig crew latching them on by hand. There is almost no time difference between these two elevating methods only in one operation the driller is out of the way of getting his finger caught somewhere in the elevators and pipe or nipping his fingers in the latching mechanism, either or both of which end up costing time and pain, and the rig crew are at risk. Also, there is almost zero likelihood of the elevators coming off the pipe when using the automated version in conjunction with the top drive, therefore no pipe stands being dropped onto the rig crew. The Kelly drive and bushing that would be used when drilling without the top drive, gets disconnected from the drill string and the main hook on the travelling block and is stored in what is called the rat hole on the drill floor when the pipe is being run in or out. This when there is no actual drilling or pipe rotation operation needed. When tripping without a top drive, all that happens is the connections are spun in/out with a pipe spinner which is a piece of equipment that hangs from a steel wire from the derrick and when needed, you unhook it and let it move towards the drill pipe, line it up and press 'go' and a couple of rubberised wheels wrap around the drill pipe and spin it in whatever direction you want. the spinner is then pulled back to the side of the drill floor and hooked up again. Rig tongs are used the make up the joint to the right torque. or used to break out the connection whether a top drive is used or not, so the extra time taken for non top drive method is really only the bit where the pipe spinner is used instead of the top drive and the difference is a few seconds only per joint.

there = their.

Well, I for one gave up drilling a lifetime ago now ( about 20years) and since I last got on the chopper home I have had just about no involvement or particular interest in it, however, the overall process hasn't changed, only some of technology and the ability to better interpret what is happening down hole through electronic and better seismic data. Ddboy mentioned a mud motor, I didn't comment, but just my opinion is that it would be unlikely unless this is a directional drill and tbh, I don't know or particularly care whether it is or not. Yep, I know they can be used in verticals and in theory increase the rop whilst slowing down the rpm of th string, but I still doubt there being any need. This cement job using the thing I called a cement mixer that someone jumped down my throat about saying they done use cement mixers, will be mixing cement on site using the hopper that is clearly visible on the back of the truck and then adding various chemicals such as ******er to slow down the hardening process and allow the cement to flow behind the casing. They will have to get rid of any mud gels by circulating th mud out for some time until they are reasonably sure that here are no lumps of mud left that would give problems to the cement slurry. E.g., mud going in at the top is the same as the mud coming back into the pits or tank or whatever they have. Same shear forces, same viscosity etc which indicates that there is a free flow from the dap up the outside of the casing. They will pump the cement in to the calculated volume necessary to reach the right depth which should be an hour or two's work and then leave it to reach the desired strength before drilling. They may send a skinny bloke with long arms into the hole to tap the inside of the casing to check for any hollow sections behind the casing, or they may run an ultrasonic log to do the same job, or they may just be satisfied running a bench test with a simulation of downhole temp and pressure on a 'test piece' to check its strength and the assume the same has happened down hole. Hopefully th casing will have been run with centralisers to pr vent it from jamming against one side or the other of the well bore and to disrupt the cement flow and create some turbulence to enable the cement to reach all the way around and into any little anomalies in the formation. We dont want any gas finding its way up the outside of the casing and onto the drill floor do we now. Keep the pipe turning during the cement process to help cement flow or use a reciprocal motion using the drawworks but personally I'm not keen on that method as it causes pressure differentials down hole and well damage. Anyhow, after the cement has set, that cement mixer can drive off and they can drill through the cement plug and press on for another 600m or thereabouts. ATB retired ( from drilling) non expert. Last post here, not interested in ego's, or justifying my existence.

Just noticed your post about logging, unfortunately I can help on that one, they certainly ought to be logging the open hole section before casing it of course but whether they do it by wire or LWD is another matter.
I am thinking that we will al be having a similar conversation this time next Sunday.
Lets see what arrives to site next week.

It's what I said a couple of days ago when I suggested that the driller is the best bloke to ask, maybe the toolpusher if he is on the ball, company man if he has been told the truth and is able read what is/has happened for himself, other than that, It's just a guess. Some of the guessing is however entertaining. The other post about the kick off point is not relevant to this drill though.
Anyhow, we have professor chow to keep us right.

4 days week and more of the same anticipated. Anything different would be a unexpect d bonus.

Did you notice whether there was a second casing point mentioned?

Have a look at weight on bit, too. They may need some extra weight and more torque on the bit to improve drilling which would sort of coincide with swampy report about slow noisy progress last week.

That's true mytton, you can't blame him for that. Updates on what is going in or out is also useful if it comes with a photo such as the cementing truck etc. To post a total guess about the process is not such a great plan though. Zoom. If you are looking, have a look at drill collars..these are the spiral drill pipe you mentioned, do some research about what they are. Also have a look at stuck pipe and differential pressure. There will be stuff from drilling companies on YouTube.
Cement mixer indicates that casing has reached the casing point and will be cemented in place before they carry on drilling (it usually means that in any case). If anyone is in possession of the casing point depth from the well design info then we can estimate how much further there is to go.

P.B. Drill pipe is likely to be heavyweight for the collars to be attached. It means they will have to pull out of the hole to add the collars and DP in the string. Round trip out, add the collars and pipe, run back again should really only be a day--(if they are actually using them), they could be there 'just in case' or could be "we need em now". Useless information--apols

No, but I did say to him that a reply was not necessary as the purpose of the message was to suggest that it would be good to hear from Geologists and Drilling manager at the next presentation. I had a whinge about the late decision of the top drive and fund raise and a whinge about the A100. He has always replied in the past but maybe I am on the naughty step now or he took the message in the spirit in which is was intended and took heed of my saying no need to reply.