SSkim, indeed. I was told 8:00 a.m. Sunday that the bit had been changed for a diamond bit, and the rig was drilling. The announcement doesn't strictly contradict this: "Following a bit change, the well will drill ahead at 6 (one eighth)" into the Leadville Limestone formation", although it is confusing. Of course, the well doesn't actually drill anything! The RIG IS drilling, and WILL drill, into L'ville.
It was not while changing the bit that the connection gas was measured - the ann. makes that part clear at least; it's only on short shutdowns "such as when connecting additional drilling pipe".
In my 10.52 post, I calculated the mud pressure at standstill at about 540atm. This means that for gas to seep into the mud the gas pressure must be greater than that. The three variables that I would like to know to help evaluate the significance of this are:
the actual mud weight the time of mud pump shutdown (how long does the gas have to seep into the mud) the pressure at the drillhead when the mud compressor is running (background gas is still seeping into the well even at this higher pressure) the mud flow rate the composition of the gas - even a basic sweet or sour would be useful
GDN Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
