Profession drilling engineer

Drilling engineers develop and supervise the drilling of gas and oil wells. They assist in the designing, testing and creation of wells and are employed on land or offshore platforms. Drilling engineers work with other mining professionals and oversee the drilling progress and safety of the site.

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Personality Type

• Investigative / Realistic

Knowledge

• Geology

  Solid earth, rock types, structures and the processes by which they are altered.

Skills

• Use a computer

  Utilise computer equipment or digital devices to facilitate quality control, data management, and communication. Follow instructions given by a computer programme, create computer files or documents.

• Manage drilling team

  Coordinate and supervise the activities of a drilling team.

• Supervise staff

  Oversee the selection, training, performance and motivation of staff.

• Plan oil wells

  Develop engineering plans and supervise activities necessary to successfully drill a well.

• Design drill programmes

  Schedule drilling activities; monitor production flow rate.

• Analyse drill engineering

  Gather relevant data, carry out on-site engineering analysis; make up reports and recommend necessary measures.

• Restore natural environment after drilling proofs

  Restore drilling site to its natural environmental condition in the event that drilling will not take place.

• Manage drilling contracts

  Establish and manage drilling contracts between well operators and drilling contractors, which specify the nature, duration, fees and other characteristics of the cooperation between the organisations.

• Troubleshoot

  Identify operating problems, decide what to do about it and report accordingly.

• Prepare well data sheets

  Prepare data sheets, listing all relevant information on a well, including location, geological properties of the well, type of resources, temperatures and various analyses plotted against the depth.

• Ensure compliance with environmental legislation

  Monitor activities and perform tasks ensuring compliance with standards involving environmental protection and sustainability, and amend activities in the case of changes in environmental legislation. Ensure that the processes are compliant with environment regulations and best practices.

• Design well-head equipment

  Design and select well-head equipment. Take into account local geology, the type of resource and other specific properties of the site as well as costs.

• Monitor well costs

  Daily monitoring of well costs; compare current well costs with expenditure proposals; develop cost-effective measures and strategies.

• Monitor well safety

  Inspect the safety of an oil well on the drilling rig or drilling site, detect safety issues or potential risks.

• Manage service contracts in the drilling industry

  Establish and manage service contracts for people working in a drilling company, which includes the nature, duration, fee and other characteristics of the cooperation between the organisation and the person.

• Suggest well maintenance

  Ensure appropriate well maintenance is provided after discovering issues or risks on the drilling rig or drilling site.

• Prepare technical reports

  Prepare technical reports that describe results and processes of scientific or technical research, or assess its progress. These reports help researchers to keep up to date with recent findings.

• Monitor well operations

  Monitor the daily progress of well activities.

• Design well paths

  Design and calculate multilateral and horizontal well paths.

• Address problems critically

  Identify the strengths and weaknesses of various abstract, rational concepts, such as issues, opinions, and approaches related to a specific problematic situation in order to formulate solutions and alternative methods of tackling the situation.

• Liaise with specialist contractors for well operations

  Establish business relationships with specialist contractors and with suppliers of goods such as cement or drilling fluids.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB