Owner's representative
The plan is good. The question is whether what happens on the lease resembles it. We put someone on your side of the table who knows what the rig should be doing and will say so at the time.
What the role is
Not a safety watcher and not a second driller. A trenchless engineer present on your behalf, with a written scope of authority, whose job is to know at every moment whether the installation is inside the design envelope — and to act while it still can be corrected.
Set-up and calibration
Witnessing the navigation calibration, confirming the entry and exit survey, checking the assembly against the drill plan, and confirming the containment and response equipment is actually on site.
Path and pressure
Watching the bore log against the designed profile, the annular pressure against the envelope, and the separation from every foreign facility as the path approaches it.
Hole condition
Pass schedule, fluid volume reconciliation, returns at both ends, and the judgement about whether the hole is ready for pipe or needs another conditioning pass.
The load
Pull force logged continuously against the computed allowable, with a defined value at which the pull stops. This is the moment the whole engagement exists for.
Signature
Witnessing and signing the inspection and test plan hold points, so the turnover package is complete when the crew leaves rather than chased afterwards.
On the spot
Running the response ladder with the contractor, reconciling volumes, advising on seal-versus-abandon, and starting the record that your regulator and your insurer will want.
Authority, written down
The single thing that determines whether this role is useful is what our representative is permitted to do when something is wrong. We agree it in writing before mobilisation, and we would rather decline the mandate than hold a title with no authority attached to it. At minimum we ask for:
- Authority to stop a pull or a pass on a defined technical trigger — pull force, annular pressure or path deviation — with the numbers named in advance.
- Direct access to the drill log, the pressure data and the navigation record as they are produced, not at the end of shift.
- A named person at the owner reachable at any hour for a decision that exceeds our authority.
- Standing to require a hold point be met before the work proceeds past it.
The contractor runs their own crew, their own safety system and their own means and methods. We do not direct their work, and taking over the drilling is the one thing that would transfer their liability to you. We observe, we measure against the design, we require, and we stop — and we write down all four.
What you get
- Daily reports: what was drilled, the loads and pressures seen, what was signed, what is outstanding.
- Witnessed hold points and a complete turnover package at demobilisation.
- An independent record of the installation, held by you, in a form that stands up later.
- Immediate technical advice at the moment a decision has to be made.