Expertise in: Drilling Mechanics, Dysfunction Diagnostics, and Continuous Improvement
Pastusek and Associates offers training and consulting services to the drilling industry. Our focus is on the development of deep technical insights in Drilling Mechanics to relentlessly improve drilling processes and tools to their economic limit. We offer training, mentoring, and development of employees to be able to continue to create new insights independently.
About Us
We have expertise in rig instrumentation, control, and automation, drill string dynamics, steerable systems, borehole quality, bit selection and applications, cutting mechanics, and failure analysis.
Our CTO, Paul Pastusek, has a BSME from Texas A&M University and MBA from the University of Houston. He is a Registered Professional Engineer with 46 years' experience, 43 US patents, and 80+ papers and presentations on drilling technology. He received the 2020 SPE International Drilling Engineering Award and gave a series of SPE Distinguished Lectures on Rig Control Systems.
Training
We offer a comprehensive Drilling Mechanics and Continuous Improvement training plan. With 16 modules, each session is approximately 90 minutes most include pre & post quizzes, and time for open discussion. References are given for additional study.
When classes can be delivered in person in the US content retention is much better. This can be 3 full days, or 6 half days, as required to accommodate work schedules.
For remote training, we suggest two 90 minute video calls per week with cameras turned on to gauge the student's engagement and comprehension of the material. Students can read the references as pre-work to help maintain their regular business activities.
Consulting and Workshops
This content can be customized based on your company's needs and incorporated into dedicated workshops focused on your most relevant issues and opportunities. We also consult on a wide range of drilling issues and can coordinate with other Subject Matter Experts for additional topics and support.
Energy Industry Overview and Oilfield Basics
90 min
- Primary Energy Sources and Energy Flow
- Basic oilfield geology
- Roles of mineral owners, operators, service companies, and contractors
Drilling Basics
90 min
- Main Functions of a Drill Rig – Hoist, Pump, Rotate, Well Control
- Types of drill rigs
- Well Design
Continuous Improvement & Drilling Optimization
90 min
- Planning – allows for fundamental drilling improvements
- Modeling – steady state and transient, limitations
- Real time – fine tuning parameters
Industry Challenges and Opportunities
Below are a few of the open industry challenges that have a significant impact on drilling performance. If you are a service company, industry consultant, or academic interested in working together on one of these challenges give us a call.
Downhole ROP
More Details »Downhole ROP is useful for closed loop directional control to know how much footage has been drilled ahead.
- Downhole ROP is useful for closed loop directional control to know how much footage has been drilled ahead.
- It is also useful when trying to control penetration per revolution (PPR).
- PPR control is the best way to drill interbedded formations.
Unconditionally Stable Auto Driller
More Details »Auto drillers can be stabilized by dynamically adjusting the system's gains based on feedback to prevent instability.
- Auto drillers can be unstable when drilling through different formations and can be stabilized by dynamically adjusting the gains of the system.
- This requires detection of instability and adjustment of the gains based on feedback.
- Another approach is an auto driller that primarily operates in penetration per revolution mode, adjusting to stay within constraints (WOB, Diff Pressure, Torque).
Publications
- A Method For Detecting And Solving Auto Driller Instability; A Real-time Control System Solution
Crispin Chatar, Paul Pastusek, Nathan Wicks, Julien Converset, Tyler Quarles, Gregory Payette
To be presented at the ADIPEC 2024 Conference, 4-7 November 2024
- Modeling PDC Cutter Loads When Drilling Interbedded Formations at Constant Penetration Per Revolution vs. Weight on Bit
Paul E Pastusek, Mason M Cherry, Gregory S Payette, Rahul R Bijai, Ole J Gjertsen, Bala Durairajan
To be presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, September 22-25, 2024, New Orleans, LA.
- Comparing Open-source Drill String Models: Establishing Test Cases and Methods
D. Yoon, E. Hamidov, L. Endres, E. Gildin, P. Pastusek, R. Shor, and X. Li
To be presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, September 22-25, 2024, New Orleans, LA.
Presentations
- Large Scale Rig Automation: Lessons Learned, Challenges, and Opportunities
Nov 12, 2024
AADE Technical Forum, Midland, TX
- Drilling and Cutting Mechanics
Nov 7, 2024
Roman Shor Graduate Student Guest Lecture, Texas A&M University
- Importance of Transient Events in Drilling and Drilling Optimization
Oct 18, 2024
Vdoorlocksmith Show, Gibson Reports
Watch on YouTube
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