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Every post in this series so far has assumed the well is going according to plan. This one covers what happens when it doesn’t — specifically, when the drill string gets stuck downhole, and the...

The drill bit gets less glamour than the motor sitting above it, but it’s arguably just as important to a directional well. A great motor with the wrong bit underneath it still won’t hold...

So far in this series we’ve covered how a well is planned (post 1), how directional drillers know where the bit is (post 2), and the math used to track progress between surveys (post 3). Now for...

Modern well planning software will happily crunch every number in a directional well plan for you. And yet, walk onto almost any rig with an active directional job, and you’ll still find a...

Here’s a question that sounds simple but isn’t: if a drill bit is 3,000 metres underground, curving through rock nobody can see, how does anyone know exactly where it is? You can’t...

If you’ve ever seen a diagram of an oil well, there’s a good chance it wasn’t a straight vertical line. Modern wells curve, bend, go sideways, and sometimes even curve back toward...

In modern drilling operations—especially directional and horizontal wells—Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) is one of the most critical parameters for well control, hole cleaning, and overall...

Understanding Cutter Density in PDC Drill Bits Introduction Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) bits have become the dominant drilling tool in modern oil and gas operations due to their high rate of...

Fulcrum BHA A Fulcrum BHA is designed to build inclination (increase angle). Basic Principle A near-bit stabilizer is placed close to the bit, while the next stabilizer is positioned farther up the...