WWJ Closeup, September 2025

JASON LAMB
CEO
Lamb Drilling LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah

WHAT’S THE LEARNING CURVE RUNNING FLOODED REVERSE?
If I said you could take a class or work on a rig for three months and know everything you need to know, I would be lying. It takes years. There are so many variables that go into flooded reverse drilling and the tooling is much higher in cost than conventional methods. Because of this, I believe it is often overlooked as an ideal drilling method. If you are fortunate to acquire everything needed, that is when the learning curve really begins.

TOP TIP WHEN RUNNING FLOODED REVERSE?
Operating with a superb mud program and having an excellent solids removal system is key. We test our mud three to four times per shift for weight, viscosity, water loss, sand content, pH, and wall cake. Using makeup water from a potable or municipal source does not always mean it is ready for mixing. Check the pH. You must be proactive instead of reactive because it is virtually impossible to fix issues later and you will be dumping mud.

We run dual shaker screens for cuttings, then send the mud through de-sanding and de-silting cones and another shaker screen and then run it through a chamber that allows any heavy silts left in it to drop out before returning it back downhole. Our mud costs are double what they used to be, but we have not had hole problems since we started drilling like this. Invest in a good mud school for your employees.

WHAT’S YOUR TYPICAL PROTOCOL FOR WELL DEVELOPMENT?
We enter the well open ended with dual tube drill rod and airlift any heavy muds out of the well. We then inject a clay dispersant or sodium hypochlorite mixture or both to break down the clay and polymers and work it into the screen with a swab and let it sit for 24 hours.

We then start developing with a dual swab and airlift the screen sections thoroughly. We take samples hourly in Imhoff cones to evaluate progress and monitor sand content being produced and/or reduced. Larger municipal wells can take 70 to 100 hours of this before installing the test pump and pump develop the well. Although not always necessary, we have found that “rawhiding” the pump (shutting the pump off and allowing the column water to flow back into the well) works well for the final touches of development. If you use submersibles, you must remove the check valves to do this.

TOP LESSON LEARNED WITH WELL DEVELOPMENT?
Well costs have skyrocketed over the last five to ten years and the one area that always seems to be trimmed and cut back on is well development time or development products. Clay dispersants are very expensive and airlift development with a drill rig is almost double the cost of pump development.

However, you can literally see the improved results over time, and I have always felt the extra cost is redeemed tenfold in well efficiencies and reduced power costs throughout the life of the well.

HOW HAVE YOU INCREASED DRILLING EFFICIENCY IN RECENT YEARS?
Paying more for smart employees who are good at what they do or investing in schools or training for your employees will make your company efficient and keep you out of trouble.

Investing in a good mud system and eliminating solids will save your bit and BHA tools [bottom hole assembly] from wear and get your hole down faster. That said, have the patience to hold that bit back and drill a straight hole. Straight holes make every step afterwards much smoother. I also try to have multiple backup plans for everything. A day that the rig is shut down is a day that is eliminated from generating revenue. You don’t get it back to do it over.

MOST OVERLOOKED RIG MAINTENANCE ITEMS?
Grease fittings! We either don’t grease them or we grease them too much.