helmerich&payne_blog

  How is the industry driving safety forward? Gain invaluable insights and be part of the movement for safer roads! Don't miss our enlightening panel discussion, "Driving Safety Forward," featuring HSE leaders across the oil and gas industry and moderated by H&P's Micah Backlund, Director, HSE North America Solutions. Together, let's champion responsible driving habits and work toward reducing accidents. 👏 A special thanks to our panelists: Jon Hamill, Oxy, Director, HSE U.S. Onshore Resources & Carbon Management Diana Lopez, Baker Hughes, VP, HSE & Service Delivery Clint Anderson, EOG Resources, Safety Manager Gabe Leal, Nabors, QHSE Director, Global Interested in more FREE safe driving resources? Visit this page to download a driving safety moment, printable stickers, and more: https://www.helmerichpayne.com/our-ap ... 📖📚 Dive into our 100+ year history here: https://bit.ly/hpabout REVOLUTIONARY RIG DESIGN. 💪 Read about our award-winning FlexRi...

Accurate wellbore placement and collision avoidance are increasingly important in today's tightly spaced horizontal wells and congested fields. Modern well plans incorporate hydraulic fracture geometry, reservoir characteristics, and other factors to maximize reservoir extraction while minimizing drilling costs and safety risks . Directional surveys that have minimal uncertainty are crucial to drilling the optimized well plan. This work enables more accurate directional surveys and wellbore placement through site-specific high accuracy magnetic models. Under the Industry Steering Committee on Wellbore Survey Accuracy (ISCWSA) error model, the use of In-Field geomagnetic Referencing (IFR) dramatically reduces some of the largest sources of error in wellbore location. Unfortunately, IFR can be expensive or out of reach for smaller or less mature basins because of the high cost of flying or purchasing high-resolution aeromagnetic surveys. An economic and timely alternative has been...

Drilling process automation has been a trending topic within the technical community, most recently discussed in SPE-212565-MS (Cayeux et al. 2023). Recovery control - specifically in the case of motor stalls - is not only integral to consistently completing automation control system execution, but also building confidence for the control system users and ultimate automation benefactors. Predicting, preventing, detecting, mitigating, and recovering motor stalls through automated recovery control solves an issue affecting most operators, contributing to additional bottom-hole assembly (BHA) damage and unplanned trips. The recovery control system was designed with six major process control interfaces, two of which occur during on-bottom drilling : drilling while rotating and drilling while sliding. Each control interface is a means by which an external system can control the rig tools in a coordinated fashion, managing what control is currently active and ensuring the driller can ultim...

Drilling surveys are a critical component in the exploration and production of oil and gas resources. Wellbore placement is a strategic operation that involves positioning the wellbore within a specific segment of the reservoir to optimize production. This requires a thorough understanding of the subsurface environment, which is informed by geological and geophysical data. The data collected during wellbore surveying are vital for making real-time decisions about drilling direction and for subsequent well planning and development. Make necessary corrections to keep the wellbore on course. Analysis is done using various software tools that can visualize complex data sets and predict the well path using advanced algorithms. Survey Management Tools : To ensure precision and efficiency, specialized survey management tools are utilized, such as: Measurement While Drilling (MWD) systems: For real-time data transmission. Risk Mitigation: An integral part of survey management is the identi...

Maybe we’ve let a kid lay down in the back of a car because they are sleepy and grumpy – after all, the back seat is safer, isn’t it? The whole group wants to ride together, and someone sits on a lap in order to fit in one car – it’s fine, though, we’re only going down the street. Momentary decisions can have lifelong impact. My passion for seatbelt safety comes from exactly that. My daughter’s close friend, Kailee Mills, was in the back seat of a car with three other friends. She removed her seatbelt to take a picture with her friend at the exact moment the driver lost control. The three others in the vehicle walked away with bumps and bruises, but Kailee will forever be 16. The Mills family will live with unquantifiable grief for the rest of their lives. When the accident occurred, they were shocked she wasn’t buckled. The thing is, she was, until the moment where she made a fleeting decision. Within days of the accident, Kailee’s father David Mills addressed a group of heartbroken t...

H&P has created a robust, industry leading, fleet-wide standardized six-month training program for our Short Service Employees (SSEs). Our recently revamped SSE Path to Graduation Program advances the safety, efficiency, and culture at the H&P jobsite. People learn in different ways – we use three different types of teaching to facilitate retention for employees of all learning styles and backgrounds: visual, auditory/verbal, and kinesthetic/hands-on. Our mentorship program gives our SSEs one-on-one support from experienced personnel to review program lessons, advancement, and give transparent feedback. COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION Integrates employees into H&P’s culture Reduces the likelihood of exposures of Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) Increases role-based skills and knowledge Provides visibility to managers and superintendents regarding new hire development Increases our ability to retain high-performing talent Encourages a two-way channel of communic...

The oil and gas industry is witnessing a significant transformation with the advent of drilling rig automation. Traditional drilling operations are being upgraded with advanced software and robotic systems designed to enhance efficiency and safety. Drilling rig automation allows for precision and consistency by removing human error from drilling operations, making the process faster and more reliable. Drilling rig companies are at the forefront of this revolution, offering automated solutions that integrate with existing infrastructure. These companies are enhancing their rigs with sensors, control systems, and artificial intelligence, enabling them to monitor and adjust drilling activities in real-time. The data collected through these automated systems are invaluable for making informed decisions about the drilling process, anticipating issues, and optimizing performance. The adoption of automation technology in drilling rigs is not just a matter of operational efficiency, but als...

  Model-based engineering has become more prevalent in the drilling industry over the last few decades. While there is great value in using models, a realistic understanding of the types of problems that can be solved with models, the associated cost, and limitations is critical. Understanding these challenges will help facilitate communication, planning, and collaboration. This paper describes some of the challenges to understanding and ultimately automating drilling processes using models. Examples of models used to solve industry problems are torque and drag, stick slip, surge and swab, drillstring dynamics , and many more. Models may be data-driven, or physics based, steady state or dynamic, high fidelity or reduced order for execution speed and clarity. To learn from a high-fidelity model, data must be collected and fed to the model and parameters estimated to reproduce the behavior of interest. Often there is not enough data to be certain of the relevant dynamics either bec...

  ANTICIPATING THE INEVITABLE: WEATHER PREPAREDNESS Drilling rigs are exposed to the elements, and the unique environment of an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico has its own unique potential issues. The inevitability of adverse weather underscores the necessity for meticulous preparation. It’s not a matter of “if” but rather “when” such challenges will arise. Hurricanes loom as one of the most dangerous threats to an offshore rig . As hurricane season approaches, meticulous planning commences well in advance under the banner of Actively C.A.R.E . Rigorous preparation and frequent review of procedures ensures swift responses when hurricanes threaten operations. VIGILANCE IN FORECASTING: MONITORING AND ACTION A network of workgroups diligently monitors weather patterns year-round, comprised of contractors , operators, and third-party service providers. The first trigger for action begins when a tropical weather system may be over 1000 miles away. Once a weather system ...

  While my children can sometimes be compared to small tornados, that’s not what I mean. Tony’s account of his experience demonstrates the importance of staying aware and alert at all times, with the safety of those you’re responsible for as your highest calling. The demands of the job are high – around the clock, for the both of us, there’s a job to do. Drilling rigs are inherently exposed to the elements. Equipment must be designed to withstand some of the most severe environmental conditions, with drilling taking place in nearly all climates around the globe. Desert sands in the Middle East provide constant sandblasting effect and rigs must be outfitted with larger tires to move efficiently from one location to the next. Feet of snow can accumulate in the northernmost rig sites. Maybe you’ve seen North Sea TikTok? As the Shale Boom has progressed in the United States, unconventional long lateral wells are drilled in areas that encounter severe thunderstorms and tornadoes on a ...