A LAND DRILLING company recentlyformed by an industry veteran has itsfirst rig operating and plans are to buildas many as three more in the near-term.Right out of the gate, the company’s firstrig set a drilling record.

Orion Drilling Company was formed byWayne Squires, the company’s CEO.He was a partner in the original Pio-neer Drilling Company that was pur-chased by Southland Drilling, withSouthland adopting the Pioneer name.Orion Drilling immediately begandesigning its first rig with several equip-ment innovations as well as communica-tions capability.

R I G D E S I G N

The first unit, dubbed Eclipse, a 1,200hp rig, was delivered and went to workjust after Thanksgiving 2003, andalready has set a drilling record. The rigestablished a drilling speed record forColorado County, Texas, drilling morethan 10,000 ft in only ten days. MrSquires also noted that the Eclipsedrilled from surface casing to 12,000 ftwith only one bit. He attributes thedrilling record and drilling performance

to good crews and electronicmonitoring of the rig’s opera-tions to establish optimaldrilling parameters.

“The performance is a combi-nation of rig design and thepeople,” Mr Squiresexplained. “You have 5-in.drill pipe, 1,600 horsepowermud pumps and state-of-the-art Electronic Driller system.We also have a superior mudsystem and three shakers, soI think it was a combinationof all that.”

The rig incorporates numer-ous design innovations thatresult in better performanceand safety. These includeenclosed mud tanks with curved bot-toms and level covering to prevent tripsand falls. The rig has back-saver slips.The company has its own BOP hoistingsystem plus BOP winches under thefloor. The drillers work in a climate con-trolled cabin with joy stick type controls.The company also plans to installhydraulic catwalks.

While the rigs will not initially have topdrive drilling systems, they willbe built so a top drive systemcan be easily installed, givingthe operator a choice.

The rigs are hydraulically self-elevating, including the gasbuster, shale shakers and sub-structure mast.

“All we do is raise the lightsand handrails on top of thedecks,” Mr Squires said. “Theshakers, desander anddegasser are on a self-elevat-ing skid so we don’t have toworry about lifts.”

“All we do is drop three skidsand the SCR house, wire a cou-ple of them, plug them togetherand we are done,” Mr Squiresexplained.

That results in better safety.The Eclipse has been operat-ing incident and accident free,a result of designing the rig toeliminate lifts. No cranes or gin

pole trucks are required to rig them up.Once the rig is set in place, everything israised hydraulically.

That also means quicker rig moves. Therig recently moved from its first locationin Colorado County to Matagorda andspud a well in 2 ½ days.

The Eclipse as well as the company’sfuture rigs have DC systems rather thanAC systems that were used on the Pio-neer Drilling rigs. Mr Squires noted theyare using DC systems because there islimited support for AC systems on landrigs.

Additionally, Orion Drilling utilizes theservices of Varco’s Electronic Drillerand M/D Totco’s RigSense. With theelectronic driller, Mr Squires says, oper-ating parameters are monitored 24/7,providing Orion with real time datatransmission. Varco monitors the opera-tions from a center near Austin, Texas,to maintain steady drilling conditionsthrough improved control of the draw-work’s disc brake. The ElectronicDriller can maintain constant controlparameters such as weight on bit, rateof penetration, delta-P or torque, andthe communications with the rig enablesVarco to switch between the controlparameters.

“With the Electronic Driller,” Mr Squiressaid, “we have tweaked the operatingparameters via satellite. It doesn’t over-ride what the driller is doing, it justassists the driller.”

42 D R I L L I N G C O N T R A C T O R May/June 2004

Orion Drilling will expand through newbuild rigs

The drillers on Orion’s rigs work in climate controlled cabinsand perform the drilling operations with joystick controls. Therig is also monitored with Varco’s Electronic Driller.

Orion Drilling plans its expansion program strictly aroundnewbuild rigs because of the rig design and type of equip-ment it installs on the rig.

The Eclipse also utilizes M/D Totco’sRigSense monitoring system. “RigSenseis a monitoring system that tells us howmuch mud we have in our pits,” MrSquires said. “It monitors volumes andpump strokes with an instrumentationsystem that is wired into our equip-ment.”

All of the system monitoring on the rigcan be viewed remotely via satellite atOrion’s offices or other locations with alaptop computer. The operator also hasthe option of having the same monitor-ing system as the contractor. “The samepumps, strokes, rotary, everything thedriller is doing on RigSense can beremotely monitored,” Mr Squires said.

C O M P A N Y E X P A N S I O N

Orion Drilling’s second rig is under con-struction with the derrick being manu-factured now. The rig, to be named Hal-ley’s Comet, will be a 1,500 hp unit andis scheduled for delivery in about sixmonths. The drawworks for a third righas already been purchased and con-

struction on that rig, so far unnamed,should begin before year end.

The Eclipse was built at IDM Equip-ment in Houston but Halley’s Comet willlikely be built in Corpus Christi whereOrion has an 8-acre shop and officefacility. The main components will bemanufactured in Houston.

Orion can build its rigs for approximate-ly $4 million a copy, much less than itscompetition, according to Mr Squires.The company is seeking to have mastsand substructures manufactured inChina, and even with transportationcosts to Corpus Christi it’s still aboutone-third the cost of buying the equip-ment domestically.

“If you can get a mast and sub built fora third of the cost and with similar con-struction,” Mr Squires said, “that is oneof the things you do to keep your costsdown and be able to expand.

“You can put out a piece of equipmentthat is competitive to a $12 million

drilling rig for a third of the price so youcan afford to build a fleet,” Mr Squiressaid.

“We will probably try to have four rigs inSouth Texas before we actually expandto other areas,” Mr Squires said, “butwe are looking at opportunities in otherareas as we speak.”

The company plans its expansion strict-ly around newbuild rigs because of therig design and type of equipment itinstalls on the rig.

Rigs that cost less to build will also com-pete more effectively in lower dayratemarkets. While Orion has drilled onlyturnkey wells so far with the Eclipse, thecompany plans to seek daywork con-tracts with the Halley’s Comet.

The bottom line is that Orion Drillingwill receive comparable dayrates as acompany that spent three times as muchmoney for a rig with similar perform-ance. n

May/June 2004 D R I L L I N G C O N T R A C T O R 43