‘Fishing’as a Petroleum (Drilling) Engineer

Fishing in Petroleum Engineering In Petroleum Engineering, Drilling Engineers use the term ‘Fishing’ to recover any objects accidentally lost/dropped in an oil/gas well The ‘fish’ could be anything including drill-pipe, drill bits, cable, tools and junk. ‘Fishing’ requires ability to identify the ‘fish’, and design a retrieving tool to recover the fish (think rod, reel & hook! No bait required)

Steps in ‘Fishing’ Identify the fish and obtain information on the size, dimensions & “latch on” characteristics. Design or select an appropriate fishing tool Use tool selected to locate, latch and retrieve fish Finally, as with fishing, be patient – trial and error & improvement is required.

Common “Fish” in oil/gas wells Drill Bits Drill pipe Tubing Cable Logging tools Chains Miscellaneous items

Common ‘Fish’ Drill pipe or tubing Cable Drill bit Wire & logging tool Chain

Common Fishing tools Overshot Grapple Magnets Spear Hook Custom design tools

Common “Fishing”tools Hooks Magnet Overshot Spear Hook Grapple Drill Bits Drill pipe Tubing Cable Logging tools Chains Miscellaneous items

Activity - Time to go fishing! <- Gusher#1 Two wells Gusher #1 & Gusher#2 are being drilled in Million-Barrel Oil Field. Both wells have ‘fish’ in them Your task is to retrieve the fish and continue drilling so that you can produce your well first. Gusher#2 ->

Time to go fishing! Identify fish Use Playdough ito create an“impression” block to identify fish

Time to go fishing! Select/design an appropriate fishing tool based on fish identified

Time to go fishing Insert fishing tool into well and try to retrieve ‘fish’

Time to go fishing! FISH ON !!

Fishing Challenge! Horizontal well fishing ! Retrieve the fish from a horizontal well! Did you know? Horizontal wells in the Barnett Shale in North Texas are drilled ~7000’ deep and ~3000’ laterally! Horizontal wells in the Bakken Shale are drilled 10,000 ft (~ 2 miles) deep and 10,000 ft (~ 2 miles) laterally!

Being a Petroleum Engineer Petroleum Engineers have many sub-specialities. Drilling Engineers drill for oil/gas. Reservoir Engineers calculate the amount of oil/gas and the best way to produce the oil/gas. Production Engineers produce & transport the oil/gas.