While drilling a well, crucial decisions are made on the basis of what is believed to be happening downhole. There are a large number of factors that can affect drilling performance from the drilling rig itself and associated surface equipment to the downhole equipment; from run parameters and formation type to their consequential effect on drill string dynamics and bit life. It is the purpose of this document to improve the understanding of the entire drilling system and provide guidelines so that the pertinent factors affecting drilling performance can be identified and managed. With better identification and understanding of drilling, problems informed decisions can be made to improve drilling performance and significantly reduce the drilling costs for our customers, the operator.

These guidelines cover aspects of running a drill bit from arriving at the rig site through to recommending drilling parameters, run recording, and reporting. The guidelines can be used as part of the Drilling Optimisation Process, the Plan, Execute & Evaluate Cycle to ensure a quality service is provided to the client.

Whilst in the position of Drilling Optimisation Specialist for BP, Martyn Fear developed two formalized drill-off test procedures for optimizing drilling parameters for maximum performance. so let's go