Modern oil and gas fields rarely give engineers the luxury of a single straight borehole — reservoirs sprawl sideways, environmental limits restrict surface locations, and cost pressure demands that one pad reach multiple targets. Directional drilling is the discipline that makes this possible, and the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy built this training course to walk participants through exactly how it works, from well planning and survey tools to the equipment that steers the bit underground.

Across the sessions, trainees move from the conditions that call for a directional well and the calculations behind planning one, through downhole motors and rotary steerable systems, to the day-to-day problems crews face on site — torque, tripping, hole cleaning and well logging — finishing with how the different elements of the drilling string are put together and adjusted while the well is still being drilled.

Who Should Attend

• Petroleum engineers and drilling contractors.
• Personnel working on oil well drilling rigs and in oilfield operations.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of directional wells against the other applications where they are used.
• Design the downhole components of the drilling string for horizontal wells, and understand well profiles and design restrictions.
• Apply the basics of guidance statements and the core calculations behind directional well design.
• Choose appropriate drilling methods and bottom hole assembly configurations, and carry out the practical procedures needed to adjust drilling based on well conditions.

Module 1: Why Directional Drilling Matters

• A short history of directional drilling and how horizontal techniques developed.
• The conditions and applications that call for a directional rather than a vertical well.
• The advantages and disadvantages of directional wells.

Module 2: Planning and Surveying the Well

• Well planning and the restrictions that shape directional well design.
• Survey terminology and survey tools.
• Measurement and recording processes carried out during drilling.

Module 3: Downhole Equipment and Steering Systems

• Directional drilling equipment used downhole.
• Drilling motors and rotary steerable systems (RSS).
• Different types of bottom hole assemblies (BHA) and how they are selected.

Module 4: Drilling Methods and Field Adjustment

• Vertical drilling versus slant and directional techniques.
• Practical procedures for adjusting the drilling process based on the well's current condition.
• Directional drilling applications on real projects.

Module 5: Operational Problems and Chain Design

• Common problems in directional drilling: torque, tripping operations and hole cleaning.
• Well logging during and after drilling.
• Designing the elements of the drilling process chain.