How do they drill for oil offshore, what is mud, barite etc. used for in the process? is there a book or film?

20 years a captain in the industry and I still don't get it. Drill collars, wire line units, frak boats. there must be a simple sourceHow do they drill for oil offshore, what is mud, barite etc. used for in the process? is there a book or film?
OK, here goes....


Mud is just that, it's a special mud that is designed to accomplish several things: First, to lubricate the drill bit, cooling it off as it grinds away at the rock. Secondly, it is thick liquid that lifts the ground-up rock cuttings from the bottom of the hole and brings it to the surface. There the mud is sifted to remove the cuttings and the mud is then re-circulated back down the inside of the drill stem to the bit, then out of the bit, and back up the outside of the drillstem, carrying the cuttings to the surface. Third, the mud is mixed with various components to achieve the right lubrication properties, viscosity, and weight. The viscosity is controlled to maximize the lifting of cuttings, the weight is controlled to counter act the pressures of the rock (and the petroleum reservoir) and keep the hole from caving in or the hydrocarbons from blowing out of the hole.





Drill collars are simply heavy drill stem pipe sections which are positioned at the lower end of the drillstem to provide weight, to resist wear and to provide stability of the whole drillstem while it rotates in the hole.





Wireline units are various types of equipment that measure some characteristics down in the hole. They can measure the diameter of the hole, natural gamma ray radiation levels, the natural electrical resistance of the rock, an induced electrical resistance of the rock, the spontaneous potential, etc. These measurements are used to correlate the various layers having been penetrated by the bit with other, near or distant, layers as seen in other boreholes. These measurements can also identify hydrocarbon reservoirs because oil and water produce different electrical responses in the ';log'; results. ';Frac boats'; are boats that bring special equipment to the well being tested or produced. This equipment is used to fracture the hydrocarbon reservoirs to permit better production of the hydrocarbons.





You can see these and more at the following URL:





http://www.nationsgas.com/school.htm





For more citations, Google ';Oil Rig Diagram';. That will give you 396,000 ';hits';, and lots and lots of pictures and diagrams.