Directional drilling is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the exploration drilling industry and so this certificate program has been designed to provide candidates with the necessary knowledge of available directional drilling equipment and understanding of directional drilling concepts to allow them to correctly plan a directional borehole and select the most appropriate equipment to drill the borehole. The program focusses on theoretical aspects of directional drilling only, it is not intended as a qualification as a directional driller.
This certificate program is designed for geologists, supervisors, engineers and senior drillers who need to improve their level of understanding of directional drilling concepts so that they can accurately plan and execute a directional drilling operation.
This program consists of 11 courses:
Course 1: Drilling fundamentals
Course 2: Introduction to drilling methods
Course 3: Common drilling calculations
Course 4: The use of drilling fluids and foams in exploration drilling
Course 5: Fundamentals of borehole surveying
Course 6: Economic aspects of exploration drilling
Course 7: The fundamentals of hazard identification and risk assessment
Course 10: Drilling Engineering
Course 15: Fundamentals of directional drilling
Course 16: Directional drilling equipment
Course 17: Planning a directional borehole
Course assessments require that candidates have a good level of experience and have access to a production or exploration drilling operation. Candidates who do not have access to an active drilling operation should not register for this program. This certificate program involves some relatively complex trigonometry and geometry and so it is essential that candidates have a good grasp of these concepts and an above average mathematical ability.
