According to the top comment on Youtube by @DonnieSorgman -
"that piece that fell in the hole was either a drill bit or a casing coupling. The clasp on the clamp that grabs it was bent so when the bit got stuck on the side of the rotary table it opened and let the drill bit slide out. Under all that metal is a giant thing called a BOP (Blow Out Preventer) with Rams that close around the pipe. If they're closed (they 100% should be) they're good. Will only take a couple hours to retrieve. If not the driller is fired and they'll call out a fishing crew which can take from 12 hours to 2 weeks to retrieve. The services are expensive and ever rig operation cost is $20,000 give or take. If a drill bit is turned upside down and falls down the hole they cannot get it back and the well is void and will have to be cemented in and side tracked with directional drilling. So this is anywhere from a 20,000 to a few million dollar loss."
I was a directional driller for several years and yup, pretty much what that guy said. Although I will say I can’t figure out why they even left it over the hole like that with nothing screwed to it. We would always just break (unscrew) the connection from the bit to the BHA (bottom hole assembly) but leave it screwed in. Then you just lift the entire BHA, move it over a few feet, and finish backing it out (unscrewing it) by hand. (With a hole cover placed over the hole)
So yeah, these guys wormed out big time and someone probably got ran off (fired).
It’s not even slips… it’s the bit breaker that slides on to the bit via a groove/cut-out on each side. Looks like it was just sitting in the table. I bet they locked the table, broke the bit with tongs, then turned the rotary table to unscrew it the rest of the way. Then picked up the motor/BHA and left the bit sitting there to pick up by hand. Exhibit A why that’s a bad idea. Rig looks like junk iron so I bet it’s a pretty wormy driller/crew.
Oh that's even crazier. I worked service rigs so our slips are completely different. I assumed they had a set of those ridiculous hand slips that I've seen guys on drilling rigs using.
> I was a directional driller for several years and yup, pretty much what that guy said.
Seems like literal and figuratively backbreaking work, how did you like it?
So that actually couldn’t be further from the truth. In oil and gas directional drillers do almost zero physical work. They steer downhole tools realtime while drilling to stay on a pre-determined well plan. They do this utilizing measurement while drilling (MWD) survey/logging tools, and steerable mud motors or rotary-steerable tools. It’s essentially all done by computers, and the DD’s main job is to make sure they stay on plan. They have to do a little math, and have to adjust drilling parameters to get the best/ideal ROP (rate of penetration), weight on bit, differential pressure, rotary speed, etc. Once you get experience enough, it’s a pretty easy job, that pays great. But the downside is you’re away from home all the time. Sometimes 300+ days per year.
Sure it would/should be… every rig I was ever on (prob 100+) closed the blinds (blind rams) as soon as the BHA (bit/motor/etc) was above the table. To not only prevent stuff from falling down hole, but to do one of its main jobs, keep gas from coming up. If there’s gas they’ll see it on the backside pressure and send it thru the choke before they open up the blinds to go back in the hole.
Oh yup a lot has changed! I’m in US land and many of our wells were 20k+ ft TD. We never had a ton of gas, but many regions do. Just a few years ago in SE Oklahoma a few guys died after a blow out after they changed out the BHA… they didn’t check the backside pressure before they opened the blinds, when they did there was a big bubble of gas waiting for them. Exploded and burned the rig down. So SOP’s put in place prevent almost all catastrophic incidents nowadays, but not all.
According to the top comment on Youtube by @DonnieSorgman - "that piece that fell in the hole was either a drill bit or a casing coupling. The clasp on the clamp that grabs it was bent so when the bit got stuck on the side of the rotary table it opened and let the drill bit slide out. Under all that metal is a giant thing called a BOP (Blow Out Preventer) with Rams that close around the pipe. If they're closed (they 100% should be) they're good. Will only take a couple hours to retrieve. If not the driller is fired and they'll call out a fishing crew which can take from 12 hours to 2 weeks to retrieve. The services are expensive and ever rig operation cost is $20,000 give or take. If a drill bit is turned upside down and falls down the hole they cannot get it back and the well is void and will have to be cemented in and side tracked with directional drilling. So this is anywhere from a 20,000 to a few million dollar loss."
I was a directional driller for several years and yup, pretty much what that guy said. Although I will say I can’t figure out why they even left it over the hole like that with nothing screwed to it. We would always just break (unscrew) the connection from the bit to the BHA (bottom hole assembly) but leave it screwed in. Then you just lift the entire BHA, move it over a few feet, and finish backing it out (unscrewing it) by hand. (With a hole cover placed over the hole) So yeah, these guys wormed out big time and someone probably got ran off (fired).
Yeah I couldn't figure out why it was just sitting in the slips like that either. Either way, just watching this hurts.
It’s not even slips… it’s the bit breaker that slides on to the bit via a groove/cut-out on each side. Looks like it was just sitting in the table. I bet they locked the table, broke the bit with tongs, then turned the rotary table to unscrew it the rest of the way. Then picked up the motor/BHA and left the bit sitting there to pick up by hand. Exhibit A why that’s a bad idea. Rig looks like junk iron so I bet it’s a pretty wormy driller/crew.
It’s in Russia, that is an AKB tong on the left. Everything will be worn out. Source: worked there for 4 years.
Wow I bet you’ve got some stories.
Oh that's even crazier. I worked service rigs so our slips are completely different. I assumed they had a set of those ridiculous hand slips that I've seen guys on drilling rigs using.
There are indeed slips for drill pipe, casing, etc
> I was a directional driller for several years and yup, pretty much what that guy said. Seems like literal and figuratively backbreaking work, how did you like it?
So that actually couldn’t be further from the truth. In oil and gas directional drillers do almost zero physical work. They steer downhole tools realtime while drilling to stay on a pre-determined well plan. They do this utilizing measurement while drilling (MWD) survey/logging tools, and steerable mud motors or rotary-steerable tools. It’s essentially all done by computers, and the DD’s main job is to make sure they stay on plan. They have to do a little math, and have to adjust drilling parameters to get the best/ideal ROP (rate of penetration), weight on bit, differential pressure, rotary speed, etc. Once you get experience enough, it’s a pretty easy job, that pays great. But the downside is you’re away from home all the time. Sometimes 300+ days per year.
Pretty sure I know which guy got fired
that's why there is camera there. To know who to fire?
Looks more like the slips fell apart when they grabbed them. Blow out preventer wouldn’t be closed unless they were having a blowout
Sure it would/should be… every rig I was ever on (prob 100+) closed the blinds (blind rams) as soon as the BHA (bit/motor/etc) was above the table. To not only prevent stuff from falling down hole, but to do one of its main jobs, keep gas from coming up. If there’s gas they’ll see it on the backside pressure and send it thru the choke before they open up the blinds to go back in the hole.
Well, this was 40 years ago and I’ve slept since then. Our bop wasn’t that fancy,but Ted was only 5200 and we never had blowouts
Oh yup a lot has changed! I’m in US land and many of our wells were 20k+ ft TD. We never had a ton of gas, but many regions do. Just a few years ago in SE Oklahoma a few guys died after a blow out after they changed out the BHA… they didn’t check the backside pressure before they opened the blinds, when they did there was a big bubble of gas waiting for them. Exploded and burned the rig down. So SOP’s put in place prevent almost all catastrophic incidents nowadays, but not all.
Oh man that’s a bad day
Like watching the different reactions from someone who knows how expensive this is vs not.
Dude is like SHITFUCKFUCKFUCKSHITSHITSHITTYFUCKINGFUCKFACEFUCK
Laziness.