Preliminary Assessment and Communication Strategies for Common Situations During Drilling Operations

Preliminary Assessment and Communication Strategies for Common Situations During Drilling Operations

During drilling operations, subsurface conditions are often variable. As the client, learning to preliminarily assess common situations and mastering effective communication strategies with the drilling contractor is crucial for joint decision-making, risk control, and cost management. This allows you to transform from a passive waiting party to an actively informed participant.

I. Preliminary Assessment of Common Situations

You can gain a basic understanding of subsurface conditions through observation and questioning.

Drilling speed suddenly slows down or stops ("unable to drill"):

Preliminary assessment:  Most likely, a hard rock layer (such as rock or large pebbles) has been encountered. Observe the drilled cuttings; if they are hard rock powder or碎石块 (crushed rock fragments), this can be basically confirmed.

Communication and questioning: "Master, have we hit hard rock?  The cuttings look like rock powder. How thick is the layer? Can our drill bit get through it?"

The amount of return water (mud) from the wellhead suddenly decreases or even stops returning ("mud loss"):

Preliminary assessment:  The drill may have encountered a loose, porous sand and gravel layer or underground fractures, and the drilling fluid is leaking into the formation.

Communication and questioning: "Why is the amount of water (mud) returning now less? Is it leaking into the formation? Is it serious? How should we handle it?"

A large amount of sand or water gushes out of the well ("sand/water gushing"):

Preliminary assessment: The drill may have penetrated a confined aquifer or encountered an unstable quicksand layer. Sand gushing is a dangerous sign, while clear water gushing may be a good sign.

Communication and questioning: "Is the water gushing out of the well clear or muddy with sand? Is the water volume large? Will it affect continued drilling and casing installation?"

II. Core Communication Strategy: Joint Decision-Making and Clear Responsibility

When the above or any other abnormal situation occurs, the goal of communication is to "understand the situation, assess the risks, and make joint decisions." Stay calm and communicate promptly: When you notice signs of a problem, proactively and calmly ask the construction manager about your concerns: "How will the current situation affect our drilling goals and progress?"

Request clear explanations and solutions: Ask the construction team to explain in language you can understand:

"What is the problem?"

"What are the usual methods for dealing with this problem?" (For example: For hard rock, should we change the drill bit and continue drilling, or consider avoiding it? For mud loss, should we seal it with materials, or quickly drill through?)

"What are the costs, timeframes, and risks of different solutions?"

Make joint decisions based on the information: This is a crucial step. After understanding the different options, you need to make a choice together with the construction team. For example:

Faced with a thick layer of hard rock, should you choose to "increase costs and change the drill bit to continue drilling," or "accept the current depth and evaluate whether to complete the well," or "abandon this hole and drill in a different location"?

When making decisions, consider: your budget, the urgency of your water needs, and the construction team's professional advice.

Confirm changes and keep records: Once significant adjustments are made to the original plan (such as increasing depth, using additional materials, or incurring additional costs), be sure to confirm verbally and ideally keep a simple written record or WeChat text record, clearly stating the changes and related responsibilities to avoid disputes after completion.

In summary, an effective on-site communication strategy is: Observe phenomena, ask questions proactively → Request understandable explanations and feasible solutions → Make joint decisions based on your own situation and the other party's professional advice → Confirm and record important changes.

In this way, you can not only understand the project progress but also work with the construction team in a cooperative rather than confrontational manner to jointly address the unknown challenges underground, ensuring that the project steadily progresses towards the ultimate goal of successfully completing the well.