Page 300 - Drilling Technology in Nontechnical Language

Chapter 12 – MANAGING DRILLING OPERATIONS 291

2. Lump sums for flat-time operations. A fl at-time operation

is one where the depth of the well is not increased. Figure 3–7
showed an example time-depth curve. The one given in figure

12–2 shows the actual vs. planned time-depth curve for a well
in the Gulf of Suez. The horizontal parts of the graph (fl at time)
relate to operations such as running casing or nippling up and
testing BOPs. Time marches on, but the well gets no deeper,
so the line is horizontal. Instead of staying on day rate, the
contractor could agree to complete some of these operations for
a lump sum. This gives the contractor an incentive to plan and
execute this part of the job efficiently, and it limits the cost to the

operator if the contractor has a problem or equipment failure.

Fig. 12–2. Time-depth graph

3. Meeting specific targets. A target could be any performance-
related objective that can be measured, such as cost at total depth
or time to total depth.

4. Percentage of well cost saved. The well could have an agreed
target cost, and for every dollar saved against that cost, the
contractor earns a percentage.

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