Fall was deceptive this year in the Bakken. Last year, the first frost was Sept. 15. This year, it was in the first week of October. But now, it is in full swing. Twenty degrees is a pleasant day, and it gets as cold as an ex-wife occasionally. I spent one memorable night on a rig floor recently at minus 17 degrees.
I finally got back to work, after spending most of the summer at home with my bride, Lottie. She had some health issues and I was worried, so I spooled up and went to Georgia for the summer. Funny thing is, the weather was perfect up here, but way too hot there. Now, I’m back, and fall is here. It seems a little later this year. Last year, the first freeze was Sept. 15; this year, it’s October already and still fly-season. But it’s coming. I went today and got a bunch of gear to winterize my new trailer: heated water lines and sewer lines, skirting, etc. I figure if I don’t do it now, I’ll be on a job when the weather turns and come back to a frozen shack. I’d like to avoid that, ‘cause I spent last winter in a dry camp with no water or sewer, and I can tell ya that a porta-john is not fun at 20 below. Froze my nether regions to the seat once. Not the kind of place to take a book, but that’s another story.
In the ’70s, after drilling and pushing tools for a few years, I had every roughneck’s dream. Every roughneck I ever met wants to be a fisherman. They see him sit in his truck, making pretty good money, and they trip pipe. That’s gotta be better, right? Sometimes, but not always.
Rig maintenance is an ongoing project for those of us who operate complicated mechanical devices in harsh conditions. Seldom do we get a day when the weather is the same as our living room, but we still need to make the job. Sometimes it is hotter’n west Texas and the radiator boils over before the corned beef hash on the manifold gets done.
The Bakken formation, mostly in North Dakota, is turning out to be one of the most prolific oil plays in the history of the United States. It was named after Henry Bakken of Tioga, N.D., in 1953.
Last time I came home for some time off, I got a strong sense of the differences in climate between North Dakota and Georgia. In North Dakota, they have four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction. On the 31st of January, the wind chill was minus 51. That’s colder than an ex-wife. ... I’ve been in Siberia and never seen it that cold.
Once the site is prepared and the rig is on location, it gets interesting. While the rig is rigging up, additional supplies such as fuel, mud, chemicals, water, bits, mud motors and sometimes housing must be brought in. Also, additional service companies must be coordinated to arrive when needed. Mud engineers, mud loggers, cementers and directional drillers are part of most modern wells.
In normal mud rotary drilling, it is not unusual for solids content to approach 20 percent of returns during fast-hole drilling. This is good; it means fast penetration and thus, a quicker, more profitable hole. The trick is to get the solids out of the mud before it is returned to the hole.
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