The course provides fundamental, basic knowledge of the intricacies of drilling fluid, drilled solids management, drill bits, drill string design, cementing, casing, safety, directional drilling and tools used, and a discussion of predominant problems such as stuck pipe and lost circulation. During the first day of this course, the entire drilling process will be discussed. The language of drillers – understanding their terminology. Understanding the abbreviations and acronyms associated with drilling. The process begins with the identification of a target formation and discusses the equipment and procedures used to reach that target. This provides the background to explain all of the interacting variables involved in drilling wells.

The remainder of the week involves detailed discussions of the rig equipment and the functions of each, bits types, assembly, casing, cementing, lost circulation, blowouts, under and overbalance. The course will illustrate the drilling problems and how to detect and predict the problems considering preventive action. Also discussing the primary technologies needed to understand the science, engineering, and art needed to create, or construct, a useful wellbore. Although some mathematics, such as algebra, will be used in some of the discussions, the primary intent is to provide an understanding of the theory. The ability to calculate the various numbers will be very helpful, but not absolutely necessary, for comprehension of the procedures and theory.