Every well is a pressure vessel built in rock, designed to reach a target safely, keep formation fluids under control and deliver production for many years. This intermediate refresher in drilling and well engineering is written for engineering graduates who want to consolidate the principles behind modern well design and operations. It covers pore pressure and fracture gradient, well design and casing, cementing, the rig and drill string, drilling fluids and hydraulics, well control and barriers, directional and extended-reach wells, completions, inflow and tubing stress, subsea wells, and well cost and project economics, with worked problems in each section. The course treats the well as an integrated system in which rock properties, rig hardware, fluids, barriers, casing, completion and economics all interact, and it shows how good design is not only technically sound but also safe, operable and economically justified.
Course at a glance: Duration 20 hours · Self-paced online · Level: Intermediate
What you will learn
- Explain how pore pressure, fracture gradient and rock properties set the design window for a well.
- Understand the principles of a casing and cementing programme and how casing is checked for burst, collapse and tension.
- Explain drilling hydraulics, equivalent circulating density and the logic of a kill sheet.
- Explain how well barriers and regulation keep a well under control.
- Plan directional, extended-reach and complex wells, including torque, drag and survey considerations.
- Evaluate completion, inflow and tubing choices for production wells and subsea wells.
- Understand the cost, risk and economic case for a well, including the AFE and investment decisions.
Inside the course: a high-level summary, section by section.
Rocks, reserves and the pressure window
The course begins with the subsurface. Rocks for drillers explains the sedimentary rocks, traps and seals that host hydrocarbons, and why features such as faults and salt are both geological opportunities and drilling hazards: faults can act as leak paths and cause lost circulation, while salt is an excellent seal but creeps into the hole and can load casing. Evaluation and reserves introduces how hydrocarbon volumes are estimated and classified. Pore pressure and fracture gradient then define the most important constraint in well design, the window between the pressure needed to keep formation fluids in place and the pressure that would fracture the rock.
Well design, casing and cementing
Engineering integrity is the theme of well design. The well design basis gathers subsurface data, objectives and constraints. Casing strings are chosen and set so that each section can be drilled within its pressure window, and casing loads, burst, collapse and tension, are compared with pipe strength using appropriate design factors. Cementing provides zonal isolation and supports the casing, and the course explains slurry design, placement and verification. A casing programme practice study brings these elements together.
Well and facility interfaces
Wells do not end at the wellhead. The course explains how wells connect to production facilities, from wellhead and tree through processing to export, and how facility operations, safety systems and decommissioning interact with well design across the life of a field.
Business essentials
Wells are major investments. The authorisation for expenditure, or AFE, sets out the estimated cost and justification for a well. Investment decisions weigh cost against expected production and risk, and HSE, risk and people are treated as integral parts of the business case rather than add-ons.
Drilling technology
The drilling rig is described in terms of its main systems: hoisting, rotating, circulating, power and well control. The drill string and directional tools, including bottom-hole assemblies, motors and rotary steerable systems, are explained. Bits and drilling fluids are matched to formations, and drilling hydraulics explains how pump pressure, flow rate and fluid properties determine hole cleaning, bit performance and the equivalent circulating density that the formation actually sees while circulating.
Drilling operations management
Well control is the core of safe drilling. The course explains how kicks occur, how they are detected and how they are circulated out using standard methods, with the kill sheet as the planning tool that converts pressures and volumes into a step-by-step procedure. Barriers and regulation explain the principle of independent, verified barriers and how regulatory frameworks enforce them. Planning and executing the well covers programmes, procedures, communication and governance.
Advanced well engineering
Directional well planning defines trajectories to reach targets from a given surface location, using build, hold and drop sections. Torque and drag increase with well complexity and can limit how far a well can reach, and extended-reach and complex wells push those limits. Wells at the edge, such as high-pressure high-temperature and deepwater wells, raise additional challenges. A directional well plan practice study consolidates these skills.
Completions and subsea wells
Completion design connects the reservoir to the surface through tubing, packers, safety valves and sand control where needed. Well performance links reservoir inflow to tubing outflow, showing how completion choices affect production rates. Tubing stress analysis checks the completion under changing pressure and temperature loads throughout production and intervention. The final topic follows the subsea well to the flowline, explaining how subsea trees and tie-backs change completion and intervention strategy.
Learning through worked problems and practice studies
Each section ends with worked problems that apply the methods to realistic situations, and two practice studies, a casing programme and a directional well plan, ask learners to bring several methods together into a coherent design. The emphasis is on the reasoning behind each step: why a particular load case governs, why a design factor is applied, how a change in mud weight or setting depth ripples through the rest of the design, and how to check that an answer is physically sensible. This approach mirrors how well designs are reviewed in practice, where the ability to explain and defend assumptions matters as much as the calculation itself.
The course also places technical work in its governance context. Well programmes, procedures and management-of-change processes exist because wells are high-consequence operations in which small oversights can escalate. Understanding the regulatory expectations for barriers, verification and documentation helps engineers work effectively with operations teams, regulators and contractors.
Thinking in systems
A central message of the course is that well engineering decisions are interdependent. The pressure window sets the casing scheme; the casing scheme limits hole sizes and therefore completion options; fluid choice affects hydraulics, hole stability and formation damage; trajectory influences torque, drag and casing wear; and every choice carries cost and risk that must be justified in the AFE. Engineers who see these links can spot problems early, such as a casing design that leaves too narrow a margin for a deeper section, or a completion that cannot be installed through the planned well geometry.
Why this matters in practice
Wells are the most expensive and highest-consequence elements of most oil and gas developments. A solid understanding of pressure, casing, fluids, well control, trajectory and completions supports safer operations, better design reviews and more credible cost estimates.
Key takeaways
You leave able to explain the pressure window, outline casing and cementing programmes, reason about drilling hydraulics and well control, plan directional wells, evaluate completions and tubing loads and understand the cost and economic case for a well.
How you study
The course is delivered fully online and is self-paced, so you can fit roughly 20 hours of study around professional commitments. Lessons combine clear explanation with examples, diagrams and short interactive checks.
Course contents
- Subsurface Fundamentals: Learning Outcomes; Topic Structure; Practice and Further Reading; Rocks for Drillers; Evaluation and Reserves; Pore Pressure and Fracture Gradient; Subsurface Worked Problems
- Wells and Well Construction: Engineering Integrity; Design Outcomes; Topic Structure; Practice and Further Reading; Well Design Basis; Casing Loads and Strength; Cementing; Wells Worked Problems; Casing Programme Practice Study
- Production Facilities: Facility Scope; Learning Outcomes; Topic Structure; Practice and Further Reading; From Wellhead to Export: Well and Facility Interfaces; Facility Operations, Safety Systems and Decommissioning; Facilities Worked Problems
- Business Essentials: Scope and Purpose; Learning Outcomes; Topic Structure; Practice and Further Reading; Well Cost and the AFE; Investment Decisions; HSE, Risk and People; Business Worked Problems
- Drilling Technology: Scope and Focus; Technical Topics; Role in Well Engineering; The Drilling Rig; Drill String and Directional Tools; Bits and Drilling Fluids; Drilling Hydraulics; Drilling Technology Worked Problems
- Drilling Operations Management: Scope and Focus; Management Topics; Governance Context; Well Control; Barriers and Regulation; Planning and Executing the Well; Kill Sheet Worked Problems
- Advanced Well Engineering: Scope and Focus; Advanced Contexts; Programming Topics; Directional Well Planning; Torque, Drag and Complex Wells; Wells at the Edge; Advanced Well Worked Problems; Directional Well Plan Practice Study
- Advanced Completion and Subsea Systems: Scope and Focus; Completion Topics; Subsea Systems; Completion Design; Well Performance; Tubing Stress Analysis; From Subsea Well to Flowline; Completion Worked Problems
- Summary: Key Takeaways
Who this course is for
This intermediate refresher is for engineering graduates, drilling and well engineers, petroleum and production engineers and professionals from related disciplines who need a structured review of well engineering. It assumes an engineering degree or equivalent experience, plus a working knowledge of fluid statics, basic fluid mechanics and strength of materials.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Drilling and Well Engineering take?
The course is designed for about 20 hours of study. It is self-paced and fully online, so you can spread it over a few weeks or complete it more quickly.
What is covered?
The course is organised into sections, moving from foundations to applied methods, as summarised above.
Is there material to keep after the course?
Yes. The course material remains a useful reference for later work.
Can I record this study for my own professional development?
Yes. The course notebook includes a self-assessment of the course objectives before and after study, a reflection page and a learning log, which you can use to keep your own record of professional development.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 20 hours
Related courses: G03 – Oil and Gas Engineering; G01 – Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale Gas; F03 – Subsea Engineering; G04 – MSc Petroleum Production Engineering
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