Bonanza! Your petroleum geologists have discovered an oil or gas deposit. Now you just have to get as much up as possible at the lowest possible cost. Part of the procedure is drilling production wells, usually done with the help of templates. Here is a basic introduction to what template drilling is, and why & how we do it.

Top hole drilling is as much science as art. But in order to do it right, you've got to mean business. Here are three basic things you need to get right in order to avoid building inclination. Follow these principles and you will end up with a vertical top hole, and not the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Drill pipe buckling is a nasty thing. When a tubular (casing or drill string) buckles, it can become useless - or worse, it may cause other problems, like parting the string with time consuming fishing operations and costly repairs.

To every drilling supervisor, getting stuck pipe is a nightmare. You want to get out, but you can't. But unlike a bad dream, which is free of charge, stuck pipe costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. Still, getting stuck is a character-moulding experience worth its weight in gold.