Time flies...

I have finally decided to just write this offline and post it later, so that I can do it in my own time and catch up with the week. I cannot believe another week has flown by…

Starting again where I left off:

Andrey, the Schlumberger engineer, eventually came round with the data and after a few changes we signed the acceptance papers and I made my way back to Basecamp. Unfortunately it was dinner time so I didn’t eat again, but I had a collection of fruit in my room so that was fine. I got back in time to catch the second half of Touching the void, a documentary film about a couple of glacier climbers who got stuck and the extreme survival of one of them who pulled himself out of a crevasse and down the mountain with a broken leg! Amazing…and quite moving too.

The next morning, Alexey noticed that some data was missing from the logs…eek! Basically I asked SLB for the wrong logging interval and the engineer didn’t double-check it (I misread the depth because the program had changed). We had all the reservoir data though so it wasn’t too much of a problem but it was a bit of a wake-up call for me to pay more attention to the job. I find it quite tough to just drop in on a well without knowing it from drilling, so it requires a lot more concentration to get it right. Gilles asked for a small AAR (after action review) document on this so that this kind of mistake could be avoided in the future, also from the SLB side (they didn’t quite follow standard procedure in this case).

After discussing this issue with Alexey, I left for pad 3 to help Simon with his PEX-XPT job. Incidentally, communication with Alexey has improved a lot since my second shift-it was already a lot better last shift and this time I found it very helpful to be sitting in the same office as him on that level…I could just hit him over the head with a log if he started annoying me :-)

After pad 50, which was very well maintained with sand all over, pad 3 was a bit of a struggle as it was very muddy with large ruts. I decided to not even try getting in and parked at the entrance by the security cabin. It was pretty difficult walking over to the geologist’s caravan but I made it without letting mud in over the top of my boots. I did get stuck on the way to the SLB unit though and Denis-the-DSV had to rescue me :-)

The engineer was Andrey again and after discussing the depth problem from yesterday we got on with the job. We went through all the XPT procedure and made sure we were all clear about what we needed from each other. For this XPT job, another engineer, Serge, was there and although he hadn’t done XPT before he has a lot of experience with pressure testing (just slightly different tools) so it was really interesting talking to him.
Denis stayed in the unit with us which was nice; in this well the drillers decided not to do a wiper trip to clean the hole before logging, because there was a power shutdown planned for the next day and they wanted to save time and finish work on the well before it. Bad idea…we couldn't get into the hole so had to pull out and they had to do the wiper trip anyway…obviously this meant staying in pad 3 for me, which was nice as I could catch up with people and of course the cleaners made up my bed nicely straight away (the Deutag magic).
Next day, we started over again and this time, after a couple of small struggles, we managed to get in and log the hole. At this stage Andrey and I were starting to get the giggles at it seemed that we were having a bit of a Groundhog Day-especially when it turned out that another tool needed calibrating!
After that everything went smoothly with the PEX and XPT, although we were a bit worried before the job about getting stuck with the XPT tool due to the poor hole conditions. We applied all the new procedure a la lettre though and did not have any problems as we took the XPT measurements, except with the penultimate point where the cable tension got really high- almost to snapping point. There were an amazing 20 seconds in the logging cabin where no-one breathed as the operator tried to free the cable...luckily he managed and a lot of pale, shaky-kneed people heaved a sigh of relief!
Because Serge had never done XPT and Andrey didn't have that much experience they were asking me about testing rates and volumes, which was great fun :-) obvioulsy I made it clear the responsibility was theirs but they basically let me pick all the sampling volumes and rates for the points :-) with a bit of guidance on the tight formations (ie the ones where liquid doesn't flow very easily or at all). Basically what we measure is the formation pressure, by sucking out liquid from it and waiting for the pressure to stabilise again; the time this takes depends on how well fluid can move through the formation and therefore the amount taken and the speed at which you take it can really influence how well the pressure stabilises.
Anyway, another XPT job happily finished and we went back to the work unit to wait for the data from SLB. Simon had been bringing me food throughout the day, which was nice, as I didn't have time to leave the logging unit at mealtimes.

I decided to go to the car to get my book and some bits from my bag, to help with the wait for the data. Unfortunately on the way back the digger was working in the only path I knew so I had to work out another route back to the unit. My friend the moustachied digger driver(for it was he) saw me waiting and pointed me towards a dry-ish path which I followed happily until it was time to cut across to the unit. And then...it all went terribly wrong! after 2 steps I ended up completely bogged down with mud to the top of my boots :-( luckily for me, the digger was still nearby and the driver staged a rescue worthy of a princess :-) and I eventually made it back safely to the work unit.

I found Pasha near the DSV's office as he is living in pad 3 while rig 4 moves, so spent a bit of time relaxing with a nice cup of tea and ice cream :-) then back to the unit to wish Simon a happy birthday at midnight! Ivan had brought a cake back from Salym village and we even had birthday candles which were fun to light. After enjoying a slice of cake I sent the boys to bed as it seemed pointless for all of us to stay up waiting for data-especially not Birthday Boy.
The data eventually came, and after sending the boys back a few times, and an interesting conversation with Andrey (he is only 2 weeks older than me, a geologist/geophysicist and has played the piano as long as I played the violin, also in a music school, and also wants to go electric so we were discussing the merits of electric violins/pianos and how he wants to get a mixing set-up) I finally got to bed at 5:30 am!!
After a few hours' sleep, I explained to Simon how to do a full-hole CBL and left for Basecamp after lunch. The main road back has a lot of potholes and I am getting a little bit fed up with that section so I tried singing at the top of my voice to make it less boring...and make sure I stayed awake. Which luckily worked.

No time to write because...

I got up at 6 am yesterday, worked all day in BC till 10 pm, relaxed for 2 hours then drove to pad 50. At 3 am went to bed for 3 hours as the type of logging did not require my presence at this stage. I have been working since; it is 3.30pm and there are at least 4 more hours, then 1 hours' drive...and that's assuming Vassily can come over to relieve from having to wait for data/check logs.

Still busy

This shift is a lot busier than the previous one, as 3 rigs are currently drilling reservoir sections. Rig 4 is still moving and this will still take some time, which in a way is a relief as 3 rigs is quite a lot to manage already!
I went to bed at 5:30 am and slept till 11 so am feeling a little spaced out at the moment, but happy because the job went well yesterday. I have just been told I need to go back out for a while tonight...an interesting prospect.
More soon

Boris Yeltsin

Mr Yeltsin left us today...

Busy bee

So here goes-a summary of my first few days back on shift:

Day 1: Wednesday

after a long train journey with hardly any sleep due to the 3 snoring Russians I was sharing a compartment with, arrived late in Basecamp just in time for lunch. Had a good handover with Stijn, who was just finishing his time here in Salym. He will be moving on to a new posting in Oman...
He also handed over the car keys and it sounds like the good old Niva is really having a hard time. Apart from the usual accessory problems (no horn etc), the battery is playing up quite badly and the tow-rope is broken because they got stuck in really bad mud. Apparently the car lost all acceleration power on one of the days, although that has now been repaired. So the Niva768-Florence relationship is not currently one based on trust.
That evening I drove up to pad 16 with Sasha "little brother" K to pick up our gear from the living caravan. Had to park the car near the entrance as we almost got bogged down, then squelch through wellie-deep mud to get to the living caravan-quite an experience. The rig is moving so there is quite a lot of heavy equipment being shifted, resulting in thigh-deep tracks which thankfully were not filled with water. Once in the living caravan, we realised it would be almost impossible to carry all our stuff back to the car so enlisted the help of the bulldozer driver who was luckily (for us) on a break at the time. Rig 4 contacts worked again...he drove our bags round to the car for us, despite getting stuck for a while behind a bogged-down lorry that was being dragged out of the mud. Great guys.
I then drove Sasha over to pad 10, which is the new location of rig 2 (SSK). This was a different story altogether...the last 5 km of road to the pad are impracticable by car, so we had to call Sergey who was on the rig to ask the DSV to be picked up by their digger-which was promptly refused. We were told to wait for SLB to arrive, which would have meant at least a 2-hour wait (no dinner yet and a 2-hour drive back to base ahead for me!). Luckily we found out that SLB had not even left basecamp yet and managed to negociate for Sasha to be picked up. I was rather tired when I got back to base just before midnight.

Pad 16...looking rather different!

Day 2: Thursday

Another day of beautiful weather-still cool here, nothing like London last week but extremely pleasant. My new position here for my last shift is "Queen of the Field" ;-) to follow on from "Lord of the Rig" (Stijn-don't ask). Basically it means that I am in charge of organising the movements etc of geologists currently on rigs and making sure they are OK with their jobs/providing support where they don't have the experience. Currently, Sasha G (technician) is on rig 1, learning to be a geologist, so he needs training on some specifics; Sasha K is on rig 2,

apparently swimming from the work caravan to the canteen; and Simon is on rig 3, drilling away with leaking boots.
My time this shift, as agreed, will be spent 50% on wellsite geology, 50% on PT work. With this in mind, Gilles let me know about a frac job which was going to take place that afternoon. A quick chat with my good friend Ravil and I was in on the job (as an observer of course)...and Sergey R agreed to teach Sasha G how to call TD, on his way back from pad 10. Separate frac post coming up. It was a good day.

Day 3: Friday

Another beautiful day. On Thursday I thought it would be interesting to go along to all the morning meetings with Alexey, to see what it is like at that end of the phone. I did regret that decision when my alarm went off ridiculously early on Friday morning but soon cheered up when I walked outside and breathed in the crisp fresh air and saw the sun shining already.
After the meetings I helped Alexey with some documents he had to prepare, then went to sort out my trip sheet for the day...which was promptly taken from me! A bit of anger and several phone calls later, it turned out that the lovely man in charge of my driving license wanted me to sign a piece of paper to certify that I can drive in summer conditions (???) before I could get another trip sheet . I needed to be at the CPF to do that...which of course I would need a car to get to. So Alexey managed to negociate that I would go next week when I had time after my work, which is after this man's shift change so he didn't care anymore anyway. Oh dear.
When I finally had my driving license it was time to go back for the second part of the frac job, which I was determined to make despite a pending logging job in rig 1. This was planned for the same night so I decided to take some overnight things in case I needed to go straight to pad 50 but I ended up with more time than expected so went back to base anyway.

The dryest spot in pad 16...in the Good Old Days before I lost my hard hat :-( (I am very upset about this)

Day 4: Saturday ie today

This morning I woke up at 1:30, 3:30 and 5:45 to check on the logging job. I felt sorry for my roommate but had warned her that I had a night job...she is the onsite English/Russian teacher and she spends 2 days in basecamp and 2 at the CPF so I hadn't seen her yet. Seems quite friendly.
The logging job was planned at 3am, with a PEX on TLC, which means that the logging tools are fixed to a tube, not a wire as we usually do. TLC jobs are very time-consuming and we usually only use them if we have problems with wireline jobs. There was no problem here but there have been a lot on rig 2 (also SSK) and to cut a long story short, it was decided that all logging jobs in SSK should be done on TLC from now on.
However, I was happy to find out that this one had been changed to wireline because of planned power cuts tomorrow. This means a 5-hour job instead of 25 :-)
So I phoned Sasha in the middle of the night to get status updates, and ended up leaving base at 6am as the logging was delayed a little. Not the best night's sleep, but better than just 3 hours. We have just finished this job and Sasha did well for his first time. Now waiting for SLB engineer, going to check data, and back off to base. Tomorrow I will be going to pad 3 to do an XPT job-Simon's first. There is a lot of pressure on this job (no pun intended there-XPT...pressure...following?) because the XPT tool got stuck on rig 2 and had to be fished out of the hole. This was mostly because the procedure wasn't followed correctly, so I have re-written it yet again to spell out everything in minute detail, and I need to test run it again to make sure everything works ok. I have my "XPT girl" reputation to preserve as I am one of the people with the most XPT experience here. We'll see what happens.

That's it for now, more later and photos too, which I am being useless with. The problem is I have been taking pics with a very old-fashioned film camera which I came across while tidying a cupboard at home...so once that is finished I can start using modern technology again!

Paka!

Arrived happily in Siberia

I'm back :-)
The weather is gorgeous and it's great to be here again.
I have already learnt loads in 1 1/2 days.
It is very muddy in the field...but I am based in Basecamp at the moment.
Photos and updates coming soon, including posts from time off.

Week One back home

After getting the night train back from Moutiers to Waterloo we arrived home early on Sunday morning, and I headed straight for bed. Unfortunately the eurostar did not have any couchettes :-( as hoped for so this might not be an option next time.
Monday and Tuesday were taken up excitedly going to IKEA and (less excitedly) putting together loads of flat-packs, for the new TPA office in Old Queen Street. Just when I thought I had seen the back of those terrible diagrams...oh well. The new office is looking good, and is so much nicer, quieter, more spacious...and cheaper! than the old one.
On Tuesday evening I attended and said a few words at an IEA dinner with John O'Sullivan as guest speaker...I was lucky enough to sit next to him and he had many inspiring words to say.
Wednesday seemed to fly by and Thursday saw me visiting Grandmother and Uncle Robert and enjoying some sunshine in the garden (and desperately trying to eradicate the racoon markings acquired in France ;-) And that was the end of week 1-we left London on Thursday evening to spend the Easter weekend in Leeds. How time flies...

In one piece

Well, we both got home in one piece after a fun week on the pistes.
Thursday was quite a good day spent practising what I learnt from my lesson then going over to 1850 to join Matthew and enjoy the better snow ( it was starting to get into a pattern of icy mornings/slushy afternoons down in 1650). I still prefer 1650 as it is a lot quieter than 1850 and has some good runs, especially towards the top. Andy, James and I also skied over to Meribel-just to make use of our 3 Valleys ski pass! it was quite nice doing a few different pistes (including quite a tough red) but the snow was a lot worse on this side.
Friday was a difficult day for me-although all the aches and pains had gone and I was definitely feeling a lot fitter, my worst skiing technique was impossible to get rid of, especially as the snow was pretty poor and icy everywhere. It didn't help that I took a very difficult red (I suspect it was a very dark red!!) that was a real struggle and then kept bumoing in to my ski instructor every time I made a mistake :-o
The snow line receded dramatically over the length of our stay, from an all-round powdering on the trees to feeling like we were skiing in the green grassy summer!
Snow was planned for Friday during the day but it actually ended up snowing all night Friday.
Which meant that we were all up bright and early on Saturday enjoying the 35cm of lovely powder...after doing a blue which felt like off-pisting (not groomed) we went straight up following Andy's inspired itinerary to do a red...but ended up doing a black! Which was a slightly scary but in-retrospect enjoyable experience, thanks to the good snow. After that we did several reds, and I finally felt myself let go of the fear in the blues, which felt rather easy after all that!
Matthew came with us on the black and did pretty well considering he was a complete beginner at the start of the week. He is now a blue-piste skier, and I would put myself as red.
All-in-all a great trip/holiday-despite the occasional hallucinations of not having left Russia??! (many, many Ruskis in 1850).