Standing tall, drilling deep

By Philip Navarrette/reporter@trcle.com

Tue, May 13 2008

— It was a day of white hard-hats and black shale for a group of Joshua High School students Thursday as they toured Devon Energy’s Snodgress 2-H gas well drilling rig on the outskirts of Keene.
The students walked the site, examining the rig and learning how it works and about the intricacies of the drilling industry. The rig punches holes deep underground to penetrate the Barnett Shale and release the natural gas and some crude oil beneath.
The rig is run by Helmerich & Payne Inc., whose employees work with Devon Energy to keep the rig going.
The towering rig is part of an effort to take off-shore drilling technology and apply it to land-based operations, drilling foreman Steve McDonald said.
Students learned how the rig’s pumps work, how drilling fluids work in managing drilling and what keeps the whole site from going up in flames. They also learned about drill bits and about the most important thing about working with the rig, McDonald said — safety.
“You’ve seen those horrible pictures on TV of wells on fire,” he said. “We do everything we possibly can to avoid that.”
One of the most important safety devices is the rig’s blowout preventor, a large machine that stabilizes the well and recirculates the gasses inside to avoid an eruption.
“There’s only two ways to control a well — with fluids and this,” McDonald said pointing to the preventor. “Other than that, run.”
The site is so concerned with safety that no one can wear rings for fear they will become caught on a piece of hardware and cause injury to the wearer or others. Several workers bear indentations and discolorings on their ring fingers where their wedding bands usually sit.
“Safety is the first priority,” employee Gary Davis said.
JHS golf coach Gary Wright said the industry has changed since he was a roughneck years ago.
“Technology has played such a big part in this,” he said. “Everything was manual. The basics are the same, but everything’s changed. This is all really neat.”
Indeed, McDonald said the rig is state of the art.
“This is the best of the best,” he said. “We’re fortunate enough to have quite a few rigs out here.”
Students were also impressed with the rig.
“I thought it was pretty neat to see how they do everything,” student Electra Springsteen said. “You drive by and you always wonder what they do there, and now I know.”
Student Reed Watson summed the tour up simply.
“It’s some cool stuff.”

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