Assistant Driller- West Texas

Company Overview

Nabors is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibiting discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, religion, age, color, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. To learn more about our Fair Employment practices, please refer to the Nabors Code of Conduct.

Job Overview

The Assistant Driller is responsible and accountable for the safe and efficient operations on the drilling floor. He/she is responsible for ensuring the safety of the drill crew and all support personnel, ensuring proper care and maintenance of the equipment and the drilling floor, as well as maintaining productivity to ensure attainment of the Company and the contracting company’s goals and objectives. The Assistant Driller supervises and coordinates the activities of the drilling crew to ensure efficient drilling operations under close supervision of the Driller and Toolpusher.

As leader of the drill floor operations, the Assistant Driller is responsible for the instruction, supervision and evaluation of the activities of the Floorhand, Derrickhand, and Shakerhand. At times, the Assistant Driller will have one of the more experienced Floorhands instruct a Roustabout in the duties of the drill floor. The Assistant Driller works closely under the supervision of the Driller and Toolpusher to ensure that the drilling operations occur in a smooth, efficient and safe manner. He/she is responsible for the compliance to company policy, company safety guidelines and procedures as well as federal rules and regulations that pertain to the offshore drilling for oil and gas. He/she must regularly communicate verbally with the Driller and Toolpusher. The Assistant Driller must be able to diplomatically work with the company representative and the Driller and Toolpusher to ensure the objectives of the company and the contracting company is met.

The Assistant Driller works 12 hour tours on a 14 day on, 14 day off rotation. He/she must be able to tolerate working in the relatively close quarters on an offshore rig for extended periods of time. He/she transfers out to the rig via helicopter or water vessel. When transferred via helicopter, he/she may be required to sit up to 1-1/2 hours in a confined space with limited leg room. When transferring via supply boat, the ride may be on rough and turbulent seas for 8 – 10 hours. The Assistant Driller may have to stand and walk on wet/slippery surfaces in all kinds of weather. When preparing to transfer to the rig, the employee may have to walk on the boat deck with waves washing across the deck. The actual transfer to the rig is generally done with the use of a personnel basket or swing rope. This must be safely accomplished in all kinds of weather including turbulent seas and weather. This requires good dynamic balance and hand grip to hold onto the basket or swing rope. The personnel basket may attain a height of 100 feet above the water surface during transfer. This process may take several minutes to complete. When utilizing the swing rope to transfer to and from the rig, the employee must have good perceptual judgment to properly time the swing to coordinate with the rising and falling of the vessel.

Once on tour, the Assistant Driller must make weekly visual inspections of the drilling floor and derrick. To accomplish this task, he/she must walk the floor as well as climb stairs and ladders up to the crown of the derrick 133 feet above the drill floor. The majority of the workday the Assistant Driller works in a drill’s console area. From this vantage point, he/she can visually observe the entire drilling floor and derrick. He/she may be required to stand up to 12 hours per shift while tripping pipe. Otherwise, he/she can alternate sitting and standing as desired. The Assistant Driller controls and continually monitors the entire drilling operation from drilling rate, rate of removing and lowering of drill pipe, mud pressures and circulation and other pertinent information related to drilling. The Assistant Driller must be able to use a hand calculator to accurately multiply, add, subtract and divide to figure out barrels of mud lost or gained, depth and surface to bit rate, etc. He/she must also be able to solve simple to complex algebra type problems dealing with hydrostatic static and fluid controls, well control, etc. by following formulas to calculate weight, convert measurements and establish limits. The Assistant Driller must be able to quickly make recommendations based on these results. The Driller keeps detailed records of drilling operations and equipment used along with scheduled maintenance activities.

During drilling operations, the Assistant Driller, Floorhands and Derrickhands participate in various maintenance and monitoring activities. The Assistant Driller is responsible to give sufficient directions and supervision to ensure efficient use of personnel and upkeep of equipment. The Assistant Driller operates levers and brake pedals which control drawworks that lower and raise drill pipe out of the hole, observes and records gauge readings for proper circulation of mud as well as recovers pipe or pieces of equipment lost in the hole. During tripping operations, the Assistant Driller operates the brake lever and “gas” pedal which controls the speed of the elevator in raising or lowering the pipe in and out of the hole. The Assistant Driller must be alert and attentive to ensure the Floorhands and Derrickhand work in a safe and efficient manner.

As a member of the rig’s administrative team, the Assistant Driller must have an advanced knowledge of the operation and mechanics of rotary drill equipment. He/she must be able to remain alert and attentive to detail even when participating in monotonous, low activity repetitive tasks. He/she not only must instruct and supervise the Floorhands and Derrickhand, but also evaluate their performance and recommend appropriate training and promotions. He/she must be able to communicate well with people and properly train his/her employees. The Assistant Driller will give his/her input regarding the Floorhands, Derrickhand, and Shakerhand on the job training performance before they are allowed to stay in their new assignments or to promote to the next level.

All employees are instructed to seek the assistance of another worker or use a mechanical assistive device to help him/her anytime the employee feels the object to be handled is too large either in size or weight for him/her to safely handle independently. The Assistant Driller is responsible to ensure that the Floorhands and Derrickhand comply with this policy.

All employees are instructed to report any unsafe or potentially unsafe situations to their supervisor immediately. The Assistant Driller must be able to effectively deal with these reports in a timely and expedient manner. He/she must know when to go to the Driller or Toolpusher when a difficult problem arises that requires a solution that might be different from the normal operating procedures.

In the case of an emergency situation on the rig, it is the Driller’s responsibility to perform the appropriate maneuvers to shut in the well. This requires the Assistant Driller to assist him in following established and accepted procedures for well shut in, etc. The Assistant Driller must have good short and long term memory, attention span and the mental stamina to stay alert and attentive for 12 hours a day so as to give his input to insure safe decisions and use proper judgment. When drilling, the Assistant Driller will be performing continual monotonous activities for sometimes his/her entire shift. The Assistant Driller must be able to cope with the mental stress placed on him/her to meet the demands of the job. The employee must be able to convey his/her decisions to others in a diplomatic fashion so as to successfully accomplish the job in a safe and efficient manner.

The Assistant Driller must be able to relate to and work well with others for extended periods of time while living and working in relatively close confines. The employee must be able to give and receive written and verbal instructions clearly and concisely. He/she must be able to train the Floorhands, Shakerhands, and Derrickhand personnel in an efficient manner. The employee must be able to quickly access a situation, seek appropriate advice/information from others and execute his/her decisions in a clear concise manner. He/she must know when to go to the Driller or Toolpusher prior to implementing the proposed course of action.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Twelve months experience as a Derrickhand with Nabors Drilling on a similar rig with similar equipment or twelve months experience as an Assistant Driller with another contractor working on rigs with equipment similar to Nabors.

2. Successfully completed the well control school within 6 months of promotion to the Assistant Driller position.

3. Physical and cognitive ability and agility to perform the essential functions of this position.

4. Advanced level of mechanical knowledge of rotary drill equipment, mud circulating systems, well shut-in procedures, ability to recognize signs of kick and loss of fluid situations as well as the procedures for circulating kick out, i.e., trip tank level, pit level, and mud weight change. Also, good working knowledge of rigging procedures and break point levels.