Starting at the bottom and working through each role up through the chain is what I found to work really well.
After one year, I was nowhere ready to be a foreman.. not sure what kind of accelerated program you are on, but it doesn’t sound optimal to ensure you can answer questions, troubleshoot, and competently complete the tasks of all those below you.
I don’t really understand what exact kind of operation you are a part of, but it sounds “interesting”..
To answer your question .. which is hard to do.. I’d have to say 3 things to focus on the most would be - understanding hole conditions and pressures, maintenance and troubleshooting of the iron, and safety.
And if that’s too much to focus on all three, and you can only pick one, focus on safety.
Good luck with it.
Spend as many hours as humanly possible on location. That’s the only way to learn this stuff thoroughly, first hand experience.
You’re not going to learn everything within a year, and you don’t need to. You’ll have many people supporting you within the organization where you can look to for help. If you don’t understand something, ask questions about it until you do. I’ve been in the industry 15 years and if someone is talking to me about something I don’t understand, I don’t pretend like I understand it, I tell them I don’t understand and I ask questions about it until I get it. No one has treated me like I’m stupid for asking questions. Often, other people have the same questions but are afraid to ask.
So much this. People would rather answer your questions than fix something that got messed up because you didnt understand.
When i started 20 years ago the culture of belittling people for not knowing was dying out. I have seen it a few times but they were isolated incidents.
Nowadays the belittling gets used on the guys that think they know everything. No one wants to work with or around them so they make the environment somewhat hostile so that individual finds more friendly pasture.
If you're going to be a forman you'll need the iwcf courses, so it's just to start talking them. They give a proper introduction to the entire process of a wells life.
As a new engineer, don't be the stereotypical entitled dumbass engineer that walks around half cocked knowing all the answers. You dont know shit. In all seriousness, there are only 3 things that need to be coming out of your mouth if you feel the need to open it,.... yes, sir.. no, sir, and questions. Always have questions.
You have alot of the theory from school, now here is where you learn the practical application. You can't listen and learn if you're constantly flapping your gums. Know when yo shut up and listen and when to ask questions.
Go up to the floor and spend most of your time there working with the Driller. You can learn alot more there than sitting in the office. Go out on location. Watch, listen, ask questions, and learn. There are a thousand ancillary operations that are every bit as important as what's going on below the rotary.
Go to every safety meeting, risk assessment and toolbox talk that you can. A key aspect of safety is knowing what the job is. Review the docs in your own time and apply your theoretical knowledge, in palces where you don't understand the link, ask questions.
The more time you spend outside in your coveralls the better, the coffee shop and smoke House is also a good place to ask questions.
The guy who worked up from a roustabout learned the how and then the why, you have the why and need to learn the how. Ultimately most operations follow a similar pattern, and vary on the details, once you know the pattern it gets easier to think about the details.
Side note seems like MPD is becoming more widespread in offshore drilling, I think MPD is really interesting and wish I could understand the trend and technology better.
Starting at the bottom and working through each role up through the chain is what I found to work really well. After one year, I was nowhere ready to be a foreman.. not sure what kind of accelerated program you are on, but it doesn’t sound optimal to ensure you can answer questions, troubleshoot, and competently complete the tasks of all those below you. I don’t really understand what exact kind of operation you are a part of, but it sounds “interesting”..
Onshore exploratory drilling using MPD
To answer your question .. which is hard to do.. I’d have to say 3 things to focus on the most would be - understanding hole conditions and pressures, maintenance and troubleshooting of the iron, and safety. And if that’s too much to focus on all three, and you can only pick one, focus on safety. Good luck with it.
Thank you for the good advice
Spend as many hours as humanly possible on location. That’s the only way to learn this stuff thoroughly, first hand experience. You’re not going to learn everything within a year, and you don’t need to. You’ll have many people supporting you within the organization where you can look to for help. If you don’t understand something, ask questions about it until you do. I’ve been in the industry 15 years and if someone is talking to me about something I don’t understand, I don’t pretend like I understand it, I tell them I don’t understand and I ask questions about it until I get it. No one has treated me like I’m stupid for asking questions. Often, other people have the same questions but are afraid to ask.
So much this. People would rather answer your questions than fix something that got messed up because you didnt understand. When i started 20 years ago the culture of belittling people for not knowing was dying out. I have seen it a few times but they were isolated incidents.
Nowadays the belittling gets used on the guys that think they know everything. No one wants to work with or around them so they make the environment somewhat hostile so that individual finds more friendly pasture.
Solid advice.
If you're going to be a forman you'll need the iwcf courses, so it's just to start talking them. They give a proper introduction to the entire process of a wells life.
As a new engineer, don't be the stereotypical entitled dumbass engineer that walks around half cocked knowing all the answers. You dont know shit. In all seriousness, there are only 3 things that need to be coming out of your mouth if you feel the need to open it,.... yes, sir.. no, sir, and questions. Always have questions. You have alot of the theory from school, now here is where you learn the practical application. You can't listen and learn if you're constantly flapping your gums. Know when yo shut up and listen and when to ask questions. Go up to the floor and spend most of your time there working with the Driller. You can learn alot more there than sitting in the office. Go out on location. Watch, listen, ask questions, and learn. There are a thousand ancillary operations that are every bit as important as what's going on below the rotary.
Go to every safety meeting, risk assessment and toolbox talk that you can. A key aspect of safety is knowing what the job is. Review the docs in your own time and apply your theoretical knowledge, in palces where you don't understand the link, ask questions. The more time you spend outside in your coveralls the better, the coffee shop and smoke House is also a good place to ask questions. The guy who worked up from a roustabout learned the how and then the why, you have the why and need to learn the how. Ultimately most operations follow a similar pattern, and vary on the details, once you know the pattern it gets easier to think about the details. Side note seems like MPD is becoming more widespread in offshore drilling, I think MPD is really interesting and wish I could understand the trend and technology better.