WorldWide Drilling Resource

WorldWide Drilling Resource ® 15 MAY 2015 Drilling Fluid Updates by Ray McLarty McEllhiney Lecture Series I recently received an invitation to attend the McEllhiney National Ground Water Association Lecture Series on the beautiful campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, home of the Ole Miss Rebels. What a gorgeous campus they have. Ron Peterson with Baroid IDP (photo at right), a cu r r en t McE l l h i ney Distinguished Lecturer, has 37 years of experience in the water well drilling industry. Ron made a presentation titled “Drilling Fluids: A Common Sense Approach.” The presentation discussed methods of drilling, the use of bentonite drilling muds, polymers, grouts, etc. To say it was an excellent presentation is an understatement. It was interesting, informative, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the 50 plus students in atten- dance. Following the presentation, I was able to spend some time with Ron and David Roberts, also with Baroid IDP (see photo below). Ron informed me this was the 19th state presentation he had made since January 2015. I strongly recom- mend the readers find, if and when, the lecture series might be in your area, and plan on attending. John David Ortt In the late 1980s, I took over the sales of bentonite drilling fluid and grouts for CETCO ® in Ontario, Canada. I made a call on a company named International Pump Technology owned by John Ortt and his sweet wife Lyn, two of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I set them up as a distributor for drilling mud, poly- mers, foam, and grouts, and worked with them over the next several years. Shortly after starting to work with John, he told me he was coming out with a line of grouting equipment for mixing bentonite grouts. He wanted me to come over and test it, and see how well it would mix and pump the various ben- tonite grouts. He had a large piece of property in a rural area. In the field where we were mixing the grouts, we noticed several groundhog holes. We pumped a lot of grout down those holes. The grouter worked very well. A short time after returning home, John called and told me he was going to fax me his new ad for his grouter and to let him know how I liked the name. John sent me the ad for his new GROUNDHOG GROUTER. As I said at the start, John Ortt was one of the nicest people I ever had the pleasure to work with. It was always a pleasure for me to visit him in Canada, and to see him at the numerous con- ventions and trade shows he attended and participated in. John David Ortt passed away April 20, 2015. He leaves his wife of 48 years Lyn, daughter Kelly, son-in-law Steve, sisters Ginny, Pat, and Vicky, and his beloved canine companion Abby. Rest in peace John. I will miss you buddy. The statements and comments in this article are my own and are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have a question or comment on this article, or on bentonite drilling muds, polymers, grouts, or additives, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Ray Ray McLarty may be contacted via e-mail at michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Crossing the Houston Ship Channel with HDD Compiled by Amy White, Associate Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® First opened as a deepwater port in 1914, the 101-year-old Houston Ship Channel is one of the busiest seaports in the nation, providing passage to over 400 vessels every day, including barges, tankers, containers, and other cargo-car- rying ships. Along this 52-mi le channel, the world’s second largest petrochemical complex can be found. Numerous oil refineries also dot the shoreline, including ExxonMobile’s Baytown Refinery, the largest in the U.S. From the water’s surface, most were completely unaware a world record was being broken below. Michels Corporation recently used horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to instal l pipel ine under the Houston Ship Channel, completing a 12,459-foot span from La Porte to Baytown, Texas. The 2.3-mile project is a world record length for an 18-inch diam- eter pipe. Successful completion of the project took almost two years of planning, one month of on-site preparation, and less than three days to pull the pipe into place. Due to the length and complexity of the project, pilot hole intersect was chosen as the method for drilling. Michels used two drill rigs and a crew of about 15 people. HDD has been used to install almost every pipel ine crossing under the Houston Ship Channel since 1976. Considering this short, yet extremely busy waterway, already has numerous pipeline crossings installed by dredging or other methods, HDD has added signif- icance. With HDD, crossings can be installed within the confines of existing pipeline corridors; traffic is not disrupted; and environmental effects are minimal since neither the channel or its banks are disturbed. Image courtesy of Michels Corporation. In 1894, a water well drilling contractor hired by this town started the first Texas oil boom. Where was it? Find out on page 65!