re: #832 Obdicut

Sorry for the morbid curiosity, but can you explain the technical terms in your post?

Specifically, pipe-string and blind-ramming?

The string is the part that holds the bit. Basically a big straw with a grinder on the bottom. The tube is hollow so that drilling mud can be pumped down to the bottom. The drilling mud does three things. I cools and lubricates the bit. It carries the drill cuttings back to the surface. And it’s weight is adjusted to keep the formation open as pressure increases with depth. If the mud isn’t heavy enough, it will allow natural gas and water to enter the bore. The water thins the mud and the natural gas expands as it nears the surface. This is called a “kick”.

If the kick is relatively small, you circulate heavier mud down the string and stabilize the weight/pressure differential. If the kick is larger, you can close the Hydril, which is basically a big rubber sphincter that holds the returning mud coming back to the surface outside of the string, and again pump heavier mud down the string.

If the Hydril doesn’t work, there are two other options. One is a pipe ram, which is a metal shear that closes around the string, shutting off the annulus between the casing and allowing mud only to be pumped down the string. The other is the blind ram, which is another shear the slams both the annulus and the pipe shut.

If the doesn’t work, the well blows out.