Chief Drilling Officer

Skills at this level

Well Control

— Directs interpretation of well signals for high-pressure gas and fluids and the countermeasures that prevent uncontrolled situations; sets and governs IWCF/IADC well-control competency standards across the crew hierarchy from roughneck through OIM as an enterprise safety obligation.

Drilling Performance / NPT Analysis

— Analyzes drilling performance and non-productive time across rigs and wells to optimize operations and reduce cost, translating cost/foot and spud-to-TD metrics into functional and divisional performance targets.

AFE Cost Writing

— Owns Authorization for Expenditure discipline for the drilling program — writing and approving AFEs and holding the organization accountable to drilling budget and schedule against actual performance.

Horizontal and Directional Drilling Design

— Sets standards for planning and designing directional and extended-reach well trajectories including complex curves, laterals, and pad-drilling programs across the portfolio.

Casing and Grade Selection

— Governs well-construction integrity through casing, grade, and centralizer selection practice, ensuring wellbore designs meet the technical specifications of the drilling program and manual.

BHA Design

— Directs bottom-hole-assembly design practice and evaluates new BHA and directional technologies to improve drilling performance and cost efficiency across operations.

Anti-Collision and Vibration Mitigation

— Sets anti-collision criteria and drillstring-vibration mitigation standards (buckling, stick-slip) governing safe multi-well pad and infill drilling.

Well Intervention / Fishing

— Provides technical authority over intervention and fishing operations — selecting methods and tools to remove obstacles such as liners, broken casing, and stuck drill pipe using coiled-tubing, slim-hole, and horizontal techniques.

Cross-Discipline Collaboration

— Integrates drilling with geoscience, reservoir, completions, land, construction, and regulatory groups so wellbore delivery aligns with subsurface, completion, and permitting requirements.

Vendor and Contractor Performance Management

— Evaluates rig-contractor and service-company performance and negotiates drilling and service contracts, holding vendors accountable to drilling cost, schedule, and safety outcomes.

Drilling Safety and HSE Governance

— Ensures the health and safety of all personnel at the wellsite and across drilling and intervention activity, embedding BOSIET and well-control competency and personnel accountability into the operating standard.

Drilling Program Strategy

— Develops and implements the enterprise drilling plan — well-planning standards, technology adoption, and continuous-improvement agenda — aligning drilling execution with corporate capital and portfolio strategy.