By Dachnial Dan Imansyah
Job Planning and Record Keeping
In fishing jobs, the customer is looking to you to provide an assessment of the problem and a plan for resolving the problem. They will need you to respond as quickly and as efficiently as possible so that they can resume productive operations. You will earn their confidence by being professional, thorough, and precise in your planning, coordination, and execution of fishing operations.
At the end of the job, the customer will expect to be charged a fair price for fishing services. To satisfy this need, you will need to plan an efficient operation and keep accurate records of equipment used and services performed.
Topics
1. Job Planning
2. Scheduling Personnel and Equipment
3. Management on Location
4. Determining the Amount DOK Required to Reach the Fish
5. Determining the Kelly Bushing (KB) Measurement
6. Maintaining an Accurate Fish Location
7. Maintaining the Tally Book
8. Post-Job Procedures
- Job Planning
Successful fishing jobs start with excellent job planning. You will need to do extensive research about the fish and hole conditions before the job is even started. Appropriate paperwork must be maintained throughout all phases of the job, including the planning stage.
Proper preparation ensures that:
1. The best option for fishing is determined
2. Time and money are not wasted on an unfishable job
3. Equipment, personnel, and other assets are available when needed.
In planning for a job, you will need to:
1. Gather important information about the job
2. Determine the dimensions of the fish
3. Develop a fishing plan
4. Obtain approval for the fishing plan
5. Schedule personnel and equipment for the operation.
Several important details should be obtained about the company, job location, well parameters, work string, fish, and the operation at the time of the incident. Important questions to ask include:
1. What are the hole size, angle, and depth?
2. What are the size, weight, and depth of all casings and liners?
3. What are the connections between the work string and drill collars?
4. What is the depth and condition of the top of the fish?
5. Does the job require jars? Are there jars in the hole? If so, are they working?
Additionally, you should request that a copy of the bottom hole assembly (BHA) be faxed to you. This document will list everything that is included in the BHA along with the specifications for each part. This will be especially important for you to be familiar with because it is often what you will be fishing out. When you have gathered all of the job information, research previous fishing jobs with similar characteristics. The documentation from these jobs may help you to anticipate problems that may be encountered and learn about some of the best practices that have been used.
It is very important to determine all possible dimensions of the fish. This can be done by obtaining a complete well profile if one is available.
The following information should be included in the oil well profile:
1. OD, ID, and length of the fish
2. OD, ID, and length of the fishing tool assembly
3. OD, ID, and length of the work string
4. location of the top of the fish
5. tensile and torsional strengths of everything that is run into the hole. The strength of the fish must be either memorized or noted in a readily accessible location. You may need to pull this information quickly and not have the time to calculate or research maximum pull values. Remember that pulling strength is 80% of the tensile strength. Other resources for information about the fish include the composite catalog, technical manuals, and manufacturer’s drawings. These resources can provide you with the critical points of recovering, turning over, or milling up the fish. One of the first steps in planning a fishing operation is studying how the manufacturer recommends releasing or picking up the
specific tool.
Important: You should have a replica of the fish (e.g., same type packer, etc.) delivered to the location. It is far more valuable than drawings, specification sheets, or photos.
2. Scheduling Personnel and Equipment
When determining the personnel and equipment requirements of the job, consider previous jobs and possible complications of the job. You may decide to obtain standby commitments for assets that might be required to
complete the job if the operation does not proceed as initially planned.
The phone number of a contact person on the rig should be secured in case of any delay or problem lining up the tools. Get good directions to the rig or boat dock and give the company man a reasonable ETA.
Scheduling Required Equipment
1. Submit the equipment requirements for the job to the customer’s operator.
2. Determine whether or not the rig has sufficient tools.
IF the rig does not have sufficient tools, THEN consider:
Modifying the program and re-submitting the equipment requirements.
Whether the tools are compatible with the fish and fishing plan and are available for rental.
Special ordering or designing tools.
Consider the time required to design and/or order special tools and deliver them to the job site.
Schedule the delivery of all required tools for the date when fishing will begin.
3. Management on Location
Your responsibilities
When you arrive on the rig for a fishing job, you should:
1. verify all the pertinent information with the company man and/or tool pusher
2. check the rig’s equipment
3. check the string figures
During fishing operations, you will need to:
1. maintain an accurate fish location
2. maintain the tally book
3. call in a daily report to the fishing supervisor.
Verifying information
Introduce yourself to the company man and verify all pertinent information concerning the fish, well, and local conditions. Record the BHA and pipe in the hole with the company man.
Note: The fishing tool coordinator should be consulted if the company man does not agree with the Weatherford fishing supervisor’s suggested course of action.
Checking Equipment
Follow the steps below when checking equipment before a fishing operation.
The fishing supervisor should personally caliper all tools upon arrival on location. It is very important to be precise when caliper tools.
Count all pipe on the location and compare with the company man’s records.
Clean out the V door and mark the first joint of pipe on the rack.
Count and tie off all pipe in the derrick. The count on the surface subtracted from the total on location should equal what is in the hole.
4. Determining the Amount DOK Required to Reach the Fish
You will need to determine the amount down on the kelly (DOK) required to reach the fish to design your fishing string. Because you can’t always rely on the string figures furnished by the customer, it is best to personally check the figures before beginning operations.
The “In” and “Out” method is a good way of checking the string figures for possible mistakes. The formulas used to calculate the total out and total inL and then the amount DOK required to reach the fish are shown below.
Length of old overshot BHA, lengths of any pipe left out to allow room for the wash pipe plus length needed down on the kelly (DOK) to reach fish —– “Out”
length of old overshot BHA
lengths of any pipe left out to allow room for the wash pipe
Length needed down on the kelly (DOK) to reach fish —– “In”
“Out” – “In” = amount of DOK required to reach the fish.
Note : The total “Out” must always exceed total “In” to use this formula.
Example :
The following is an example using the “In” and “Out” methods for calculating the depth of the top of the fish. The customer twisted off while drilling at 4,000 ft. They recovered 3,895.73 feet, including the length DOK. The customer then made a bit trip and tagged the fish with 37 feet. DOK. To calculate the difference between the bit run and the following overshot run, subtract the (in) from the (out).
The difference will be the length of DOK with an overshot run.
5. Determining the Kelly Bushing (KB) Measurement
The standard oilfield measurement to any depth downhole is recorded from the wellhead, plus the distance to the kelly bushing (KB) on the rig that drilled the well. This is called the original elevation and is recorded in the well file.
Everyone needs to be talking about the same depth. That is why the total depth is always reported from the original rig elevation. If the original rig has been replaced by a smaller workover rig, you will need to account for the difference in this rig’s elevation from the original elevation.
The difference between the original rig elevation and the current rig elevation is added to or subtracted from the current pipe tally to establish the true well depth. This is called the kelly bushing (KB) measurement.
For example, assume that the original elevation of a well is 30 feet. The current elevation is 6 feet. If you start running a pipe from the current elevation, you are already 24 feet into the well. Therefore, to reach a fish that is at a depth of 4,500 feet, you will need to run pipe 24 feet shorter than 4,500 feet because the depth is measured from the original elevation (24 feet higher).
6. Maintaining an Accurate Fish Location
The fishing supervisor must always know the location of the top of the fish to properly complete a job. Not knowing the location of the top of the fish is the primary reason for being relieved from a job.
Once you verify the depth of the top of the fish, never deviate from that base number. If you cannot make contact with the top of the fish, the customer may try to convince you that you are fishing at the wrong depth.
The only instances in which you should change the fish location are when:
– some of the fish is recovered, moving the top of the fish deeper
– the fish falls deeper into the hole.
The Procedure :
- Strap out of the hole on the very first trip.
- Verify the depth of the top of the fish on the first trip out and continue to use this figure.
- Verify the pipe count also and ask the drillers to notify you if they pick up or lay down any pipe.
Note: You must be alert and observe the operations. Do Not depend on the driller to necessarily inform you if they pick up or lay downpipe. It is the fishing supervisor’s job to ensure that an accurate count is maintained.
7. Maintaining the Tally Book
Record keeping is especially helpful when there is a shift change before a job has been completed. Additionally, records from previous jobs form a base of information that can be used as a resource when planning fishing jobs. Record keeping is also important for ensuring that the customer is billed for the correct equipment and services.
The tally book is a short and abbreviated notation of each trip made in the hole and the tools that were used. The tally book provides important documentation of the job that is useful for job analysis after the job has been completed. Additionally, the tally book provides the specifications of the tools used and services rendered for billing purposes. The tally book should be kept in such a manner that a relief man could carry on the job with the information contained in the book.
The tally book must be accurate, legible, and current.
The tally book should include:
1. a complete description of the fish and all oil well data
2. the time, date, number, and brief description of each trip
3. all parameters, if a milling job is performed.
These parameters include:
depth
RPM
strokes per minute (SPM)
weight on bit (WOB)
torque
time
rate of penetration.
4. the size and footage along with all auxiliary equipment and daily charges, if wash pipe is run
5. a record of any accidents.
Guidelines for the format of the tally book include:
1. only one trip should be recorded on each page
2. use one line for each tool description with the OD, ID, length, fishing neck, and serial number.
The tally book should be kept for future reference.
The following abbreviations are acceptable for use in the tally book
| RPM | rounds per minute | TOF | top of fish |
| SPM | strokes per minute | MD | measured depth |
| WOB | weight on bit | TVD | true vertical depth |
| BHA | bottom hole assembly | BF | buoyancy factor |
| WOC | wait on cement | DP | drill pipe |
| WOO | wait on orders | DC | drill collar |
| WOW | wait on weather | Dh | diameter of hole in inches |
| TIH | trip in hole | e | stretch in inches |
| POH | pull out hole | P | over pull in pounds |
| GPM | gallons per minute | ESP | estimated stuck point |
| AV | annular velocity | MOP | margin of over pull |
| ECD | equivalent circulation density | NP | neutral point |
| FV | funnel viscosity | OPT | optimum |
| C&C | circulate and condition mud | MW | mud weight in ppg |
| HHP | hydraulic horsepower | Lbs | pounds |
| LC | loss circulation | Len | length in feet |
| LCM | loss circulation material | LOT | leak off test |
| YP | yield point | BOP | blow out preventer |
| WL | water loss | SLM | steel line measurement or |
| strap in/out hole |
The resume is a narrative of the fishing operations and tools that were used each day. Each trip will be noted along with the outcome of the operation. The resume is very important because it is the documentation for what the customer is charged. The billing department will not know what to charge the customer and the customer will not agree to any charges unless they have been documented in the resume.
Anything that will be billed to the customer, including estimated repairs or sold grapples, must be recorded on the resume and signed by the company man.
The company man must sign the job resume when it is completed. We leave ourselves open to legal action if the company man does not acknowledge the tools and services that were utilized during the job.
8. Post-Job Procedures
The job is not complete until all paperwork, including the resume, and tools use sheet is completed and signed for.
Account for all contractor tools. Insure they are loaded in the tool baskets or loaded on the trucks prior leaving the job site.
If possible, use the rig tongs to break down all tools that come through the rotary. Most contractor’s stores do not have the facilities to perform this operation and vendors charge per joint to break down the tools. However, note that rig time on some offshore rigs is prohibitively expensive for this operation. For example, when fishing on an offshore rig, especially in the North Sea, it is cheaper for the customer to be charged for breaking down the tools at the shop facility.
Ensure that all protectors are installed on the tools before transporting them back to a contractor store location. This is important to prevent damage to exposed thread.
Ensure that only contractor property is transported back to the store location. It is difficult to arrange a return trip to bring equipment that is not the property of contractor back to well site.