VDoorLocksmith Ep 5 Fred Dupriest

I sit down with the legend himself Fred Dupriest former Chief Drilling Engineer for Exxon-Mobil and now professor of practice at Texas A&M University. We talk about Limiter Redesign Method, drilling practices, geothermal and MSE.

If you would like to learn more check the links below

Two important additional sources of physics-based practices. Any degreed engineer can sign up for the actual A&M class as a "certificate" student. They do not get credit toward a degree, but otherwise are no different than any other student. Fred and Sam have been actively recruiting these experienced engineers and get involved in their wells if they wish it so they tend to actually have a better learning experience than the resident students. They hear it in class and go do it. Classes are recorded and a process is already in place to manage the official "graduate distance" students. People can get information on the certificate program by emailing Sam Noynaert.

There is a new chapter was added to the IADC Drilling Manual a few years ago called "Drilling Practices". It was put together by a work group, Fred lead from about 15 companies, but in the end it's basically a text version from Fred's class. It's probably about 50 pages long and was written to be at the rig crews level.

Other sources

3:35 – DG: Introduces the guest, Fred Dupriest (FD). Asks about his big life work.
FD: Discusses his background including 35 years in drilling, the last 10 years at ExxonMobil. Speaks of a different path they took in understanding the physics which evolved into ‘limiter redesign.'

7:10 – DG: Mentions that the guest has passion in watching the EDR screen.
FD: When you understand the physics, you understand the ‘why’ behind the data and you continue to peel the onion layers to reveal more. Speaks of applying weight on bit in 30 to 60 seconds rather than the way we were all taught, to do it slowly.

13:18 – DG: Asks about service companies working better with operators.
FD: The operator’s drilling engineer makes certain decisions that the directional driller can’t. First, the drillers and operators need to understand physics so they both have a common language and understanding. Discusses being physics based as opposed to being experienced based.

20:39 – DG: Asks about the amount of time he has cut off wells.
FD: You have to do something different. The main difference comes from weight on bit. The key in the industry is to add weight until you don’t see a linear response, which means something’s wrong.

24:20 – FD: You must redesign what limits you. Explains that doing step tests eliminates just running the weight that the bit company recommends the whole time and further more, you must know when to increase/decrease WOB at the correct times.

28:30 – DG: Mentions Brandon Foster’s presentation about making drilling engineers drilling engineers and not paper pushers.
FD: Discusses that it has always been that way. Discusses the difference between engineering to improve performance or engineering to avoid trouble.

35:29 – DG: Asks about how to address the cultural issue at the rig site or management to make sure we don’t go back to old ways.
FD: Urges not to target cultural change. You become how you work. It’s not philosophy.

43:33 – DG: Asks about how closely related drilling oil and gas is to geothermal.
FD: It’s dependent on the resource. The basic challenge in geothermal is high heat near the surface. Where we have the resource, the rock drilling is the same.

51:59 – DG: Asks about benefit to having a higher bend angle motor.
FD: Shares that there is not only a lack of benefit but that it may be the root cause of so many drilling problems.

55:24 – FD: Mentions the need to pay attention to motor efficiency. Discusses the difficulty making change in larger companies as opposed to smaller companies, and why it worked for ExxonMobil.

57:56 – DG: Continues to read audience questions and allows guest to answer.

[leroygonsalves]

Fred is definitely one of my idols and role models who I revere and have learnt a lot from. He is a key source of learning in our industry. Thanks Fred. God bless you for your contribution to our industry.

[usama-sabir]

This is pure gold for drilling engineers. The trump of physics based practices over experience based is the only way to go in these times of <$30/bbl. The course he teaches should be taught globally and learnings should be shared so that efficient gains can be made across the industry. Else inefficient company will go bankrupt just because of them no realising the bigger picture of going for physics based drilling.

[oscarcastillo]

This is absolutely true. A good understanding of basic principia can lead to major achievements. Instead of repeting the same "experience" over and over.

[YunchuanZHAO]

And the offshore augers... yes! I remember some downtime due to the augers.

[leroygonsalves]

So eagerly looking forward to Graham Mensa Wilmot’s presentation too. Another one of my idols who has been very influential and a role model in imparting drill bit knowledge throughout the industry and especially to me since my Smith days. I’d encourage everyone to listen in and gain some