Drilling Job Description
Drilling Job Profile and Description
A drilling engineer is in charge of planning, developing, scheduling and supervising the processes necessary for drilling oil and gas wells. They have to be involved from the initial stage of designing of well to testing, completion and the eventual abandonment of the project. Drilling engineers are employed on onshore, offshore platforms or on mobile drilling units either by the oil company, an independent contractor or a service company. They need to collaborate with other professionals, such as geologists, in order to monitor the drilling progress, oversee safety procedures and also ensure that the ecological balance is maintained.
Duties and Responsibilities
- The main responsibility of a drilling engineer is to supervise and administer drilling
- He has to engineer the design of wells and monitor the work of the drilling crew on site
- He is also responsible of designing and selecting the best equipment required for the work
- He must draw up drilling programmes, and take into account the desired production flow rates
- He must obtain and compile relevant data, carry out analysis on site and recommend whatever action is necessary
- He must carry out engineering study of rig site data and make regular reports
- He may also need to recommend changes or improvements to the rig work techniques
- He must be in contact with specialist contractors and suppliers, such as cement companies or suppliers of drilling fluids
- He must regularly monitor safety procedures and ensure the maintenance of the well
Skills and Specifications
- It is a very physically demanding job, hence it is very important to have stamina and robust health.
- One needs to spend days without seeing one’s family, so he should be able to adapt to all environments.
Education and Qualifications
Graduation degrees in mechanical, petroleum, marine, mineral, structural engineering and also knowledge of geology is helpful