Text 2. Drilling Contractors

The operator usually sends a proposal to several drilling contractors. The proposal describes the drilling project and requests a bid. The contractor then fills out the proposal, signs it, and sends it back to the operator. If the operating company accepts the bid, it becomes a contract between the operator and the drilling company. This signed agreement clearly states the services and supplies the contractor and the operator are to provide for a particular project.

The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) supplies popular contract forms. IADC is an organization whose membership is made up of drilling contractors, oil companies, and service and supply companies with an interest in drilling. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, and with offices throughout the world, IADC provides many services to its members, not only in the U. S., but also in other parts of the globe. Its mission is “to promote a commitment to safety, to preservation of the environment, and to advances in drilling technology”.

Contractors are paid for the work their rig and crews do in several ways. Operators can pay contractors based on the daily costs of operating the rig, the number of feet or metres drilled, or on a turnkey basis. If the contractor calls for the contractor to be paid by the number of feet or metres drilled, it’s a footage or metreage contract. And, as you can guess, if it’s a turnkey job, then the operator and contractor sign a turnkey contract, in which the drilling contractor is responsible for the entire drilling operation. Day work contracts are the most common.

Service and Supply Companies

The operating company owns the well and usually hires a drilling contractor to drill it. But to successfully drill a well, the operator and the contractor need equipment, supplies, and services that neither company normally keeps on hand. Service and supply companies provide the required tools and services to expedite the drilling of the well. Supply companies sell expendable and nonexpendable equipment and material to the operator and the drilling contractor. Expendable items include drill bits, fuel, lubricants, and drilling mud – items that are used up or worn out as the well is drilled. Nonexpendable items include drill pipe, fire extinguishers, and equipment that may eventually wear out and have to be replaced but normally last a long time. Supply companies market safety equipment, rig components, tools, computers, paint, grease, rags, and solvents.

In many instances, when a well reaches a formation of interest, the operator hires a well logging company. A logging crew runs sophisticated instruments into the hole. These instruments sense and record formation properties. Computers in the field generate special graphs, called “well logs”, for the operator to examine. Well logs help the operating company determine whether the well will produce oil or gas.

Another service company provides casing crews. A casing crew runs special pipe, casing, into the well to line, or case it after the rig drills a portion of the hole. Casing protects formations from contamination and stabilizes the well. After the crew runs the casing, another service company – a cementing company – cements the casing in the well. Cement bonds the casing to the hole.

Most offshore rigs, and land rigs in very remote fields, require cooking and housekeeping services, since personnel live as well as work offshore or in isolated regions for long periods. The drilling contractor or operating company often hires an oilfield caterer to furnish these services.

1. Complete the sentences:

1) The operator usually sends a proposal to….

2) If the operating company accepts the bid….

3) This signed agreement clearly states….

4) IADC is an organization whose membership is made up of….

5) The mission of International Association of Drilling Contractors is….

6) Operators can pay contractors based on….

7) Service and supply companies provide….

8) Expendable items include….

9) Nonexpendable items include….

10) When a well reaches a formation of interest….

11) Computers in the field generate special graphs, called….

12) Well logs help the operating company determine whether….

13) After the casing crew runs the casing….

14) The drilling contractor or operating company often hires….

2. Give English equivalents.

запросить цену, заполнить план, подписанное соглашение, предоставлять услуги, расходуемый материал, безопасное оборудование, сложные инструменты, изолированный регион

3. Give Russian equivalents.

to describe the project, to sign a document, to accept a bid, services and supplies, headquartered in towns, to keep on hand, the required tools, expendable equipment, to sense and record properties, to generate graphs, to produce oil and gas, to protect from, to cement the casing, cooking and housekeeping services, oilfield caterer

4. Say what you have learned from the text, using the outline:

· The International Association of Drilling Contractors.

· Expendable and nonexpendable equipment.

· Well logs.

6. Make up a plan and report on it in brief.

7. ROLE PLAY

Imagine that you are a “visiting card” of the International Association of Drilling Contractors. Your task is to represent your organization, mentioning the membership, the main centers of the Association and its leading mission.

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 1558