many previously approved expenditures are now being reconsidered in the light of the very serious financial drain imposed by our military effort, I am convinced that there will be more immediate benefit to the Country and to the taxpayer from the Mohole Project than from many other research efforts. For example, the United States Government has a considerable stake in the offshore mineral development in federal waters. This development, because of the depth of the water, will be greatly facilitated by the application to exploratory vessels of the principle of dynamic positioning which was successfully demonstrated in Phase I of the Mohole Project. Shell Oil Company's exploratory vessel "Eureka" is currently operating in federal waters and utilizes this principle. As a further example, other tools and equipment which will be applicable for subsurface exploratory work both onshore and offshore have already been developed through the Mohole Project. These include the wire line electric sidewall coring device recently shown at the International Petroleum Exposition and the Turbocorer. As I am sure you realize, it will not be possible to shelve the Mohole Project at this stage, since the competent technical staff of the prime contractor could not be maintained on a stand-by basis nor re-assembled without a terrible waste of time and money. In addition, the contract cancellation charges which would result from cancelling the contract for the drilling platform would of necessity be almost sufficient to complete it. In the nearly thirty years that I have been active in the petroleum industry, I have seen many research and development projects which necessitated an advance in the state-of-the-art. I was closely associated with the Mohole Project in an advisory capacity from its inception and am therefore fully cognizant of the tremendous task that confronted Brown and Root when they were selected as the prime contractor at the beginning of Phase II in 1962. Most of the engineering problems have now been solved, and I understand a large portion of the equipment, machinery and instrumentation is presently being constructed. While it is true that the present estimate of $84 million up to the point of drilling is considerably greater than some of the very early figures which were used, there was much confusion at that time as to what was and what was not included in the estimate. For example, many of the early figures quoted assumed that government tugs and supply boats would be furnished in kind, and cost figures were not included. I feel we are now sufficiently advanced that $84 million is a very reasonable estimate for this immense drilling rig fully equipped to drill a 35,000 foot hole in the middle of the ocean, including all the research and development work behind it. Barring a catastrophe of some kind, I imagine this estimate is relatively firm. In closing, let me again urge the restoration of the funds for a very worthwhile basic research project, from which the Country will benefit directly in the very near future. Respectfully yours, W. A. ROBERTS. PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY, Hon. CARL HAYDEN, United States Senate, Senate Office Building, DEAR SENATOR HAYDEN: I respectfully urge that the Independent Offices Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee act to restore the funds for the Mohole Project which were eliminated from the National Science Foundation budget by the House Appropriations Committee. While I am fully aware that many previously approved expenditures are now being reconsidered in the light of the very serious financial drain imposed by our military effort, I am convinced that there will be more immediate benefit to the Country and to the taxpayer from the Mohole Project than from many other research projects. For example, the United States Government has a considerable stake in the offshore mineral development in federal waters. This development, because of the depth of the water, will be greatly facilitated by the application to exploratory vessels of the principle of dynamic positioning which was successfully demonstrated in Phase I of the Mohole Project. Shell Oil Company's exploratory vessel "Eureka" is currently operating in federal waters and utilizies this principle. As a further example, other tools and equipment which will be applicable for subsurface exploratory work both onshore and offshore have already been developed through the Mohole Project. These include the wire line electric sidewall coring device recently shown at the International Petroleum Exposition and the Turbocorer. As I am sure you realize, it will not be possible to shelve the Mohole Project at this stage, since the competent technical staff of the prime contractor could not be maintained on a stand-by basis nor re-assembled without a terrible waste of time and money. In addition, the contract cancellation charges which would result from cancelling the contract for the drilling platform would of necessity be almost sufficient to complete it. In the nearly thirty years that I have been active in the petroleum industry, I have seen many research and development projects which necessitated an advance in the state-of-the-art. I was closely associated with the Mohole Project in an advisory capacity from its inception and am therefore fully cognizant of the tremendous task that confronted Brown and Root when they were selected as the prime contractor at the beginning of Phase II in 1962. Most of the engineering problems have now been solved, and I understand a large portion of the equip ment, machinery and instrumentation is presently being constructed. While it is true that the present estimate of $84 million up to the point of drilling is considerably greater than some of the very early figures which were used, there was much confusion at that time as to what was and what was not included in the estimate. For example, many of the early figures quoted assumed that government tugs and supply boats would be furnished in kind, and cost figures were not included. I feel we are now sufficiently advanced that $84 million is a very reasonable estimate for this immense drilling rig fully equipped to drill a 35,000 foot hole in the middle of the ocean, including all the research and development work behind it. Barring a catastrophe of some kind, I imagine this estimate is relatively firm. In closing, let me again urge the restoration of the funds for a very worthwhile basic research project, from which the Country will benefit directly in the very near future. Respectfully yours, W. A. ROBERTS. AMERICAN PIPE & CONSTRUCTION Co., Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR MAGNUSON: This is to bring to your attention our company's interest in Project Mohole and to ask your good services and efforts to see that this project continues. Last October our company was awarded contracts to manufacture two offshore drilling platforms for the Union-Marathon Oil Companies which will be located in Cook Inlet, Alaska. In order to do this we have leased a large portion of the old Vancouver, Washington shipyard where we now have a work force of 585 men in addition to the substantial work force which we employ in our Portland facility. We elected to get into this business in view of the current offshore petroleum activity off the Oregon and Washington coasts and in the Alaskan area. We firmly believe that this work will continue and will add a further boost to our Northwest economy. As you are aware, the oil companies are continuing to pursue a search for petroleum reserves in deeper and deeper waters. This is particularly true in our Northwest area. The practical limit for drilling from fixed platform structures and bottom sitting rigs has now been reached. It is very likely that the further expansion in this business will be from floating type platforms operating in deeper water. Continued expansion of offshore activities should be of considerable interest to all of us who are concerned about our Northwest economy. Therefore we feel that the Mohole platform with its much advanced capabilities will be the prototype design for future drilling vessels which will be necessary for drilling operations in deep waters. We would like to urge your favorable consideration to see that funds are provided to complete the Mohole platform which is presently under construction on a fixed price contract. Certainly the entire West Coast should have a strong interest in seeing that this type of vessel is built and tested without delay. It now appears to be a virtual certainty that in years to come several offshore drilling units of this type will be used in the deeper waters of the Pacific and will be serviced from West Coast ports. Further, West Coast shipyards will certainly realize their share of future construction work for platforms of this type and the Northwest area should anticipate the strong possibility of receiving a fair share of this potential work. Your continued interest and strong support of the Mohole Project is sincerely requested. Sincerely yours, ROBERT S. EDENS, Division Manager. PETROLEUM ENGINEER, Dallas, Tex., June 9, 1966. Hon. WARREN W. MAGNUSON, U.S. Senate, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR MAGNUSON: Reports on hearings regarding Project Mohole would make it appear that this is a wasteful undertaking and that it has not produced nor will it produce useful results to the American people. Perhaps the same might be claimed of our dynamic space program. Both have much in common. They are scientific and engineering frontiers yet to be conquered; both programs have pushed back many frontiers of research and development; and each step makes the next more exciting and promising. Who can measure in dollars the benefits gained by all industries participating in the giant space effort? How much of the breakthroughs in metallurgy, in communications, in controls, automation, construction, design and fabrication rubs off onto commercial applications is most difficult to ascertain. In the case of Project Mohole, many of the research and development programs have given birth to new products, new equipment and new services now in use in the drilling industry. Some of these are summarized in the enclosed reprints taken from Petroleum Engineer. At this moment, the turbo-drill perfected under Project Mohole is being prepared for its first commercial application in drilling an oil well offshore. A number of the platform design criteria developed for Project Mohole have been used in designing the world-wide expanding fleet of floating offshore drilling platforms used in the Gulf of Mexico, off the West Coast, the North Sea, and other parts of the world. The list of oil field developments arising from Project Mohole impetus is long and impressive when analyzed in detail. The oceans of this continent—and the world, for that matter-are new horizons in our search for petroleum to meet increasing demands by the American people. Leading authorities of both the Petroleum Industry and the scientific community working jointly on Project Mohole are helping to pave the way towards faster and more economic exploration of these unexplored oceans. The investment in Project Mohole is large, and much more is at stake than meets the eye. I invite your serious consideration of these brief points in your deliberations over the future of Project Mohole. Cordially yours, J. E. KASTROP, Publications Manager. [Reprinted from Petroleum Engineer, March 1965] PROJECT MOHOLE-TESTS TOOLS FOR DEEPEST DRILLING (By J. E. Kastrop, Editor) The recent successful conclusion of a test drilling program to evaluate the new tools, equipment and techniques developed for the National Science Foundation's Project Mohole should prove of great value to the oil industry. For a number of these innovations hold great promise for use in the ultra deep drilling that lies ahead. Developing tools to reach the required 35,000-ft. Mohole depth which is about two miles deeper than any previous hole, has been one of the major engineering tasks of the project. According to the National Science Foundation, which administers and directs the project and Brown & Root, Inc. prime contractor for the project, the success of the recent field evaluation tests help bring the unprecedented Mohole depth closer to reality. 63-054-66-pt. 2-51 The ultimate goal of Project Mohole is to core and sample all layers of the earth's crust and the underlying mantle. Because the top of the 1800-mile-thick mantle comes closest to the surface in deep ocean basins, the drilling operation must be carried out in deep ocean water from a floating vessel. The site selected for the project is about 115 miles northeast of the island of Maui in the Hawaiian group. Here, the Pacific Ocean has a depth of approximately 14,000 feet and the depth to the mantle is about 31,000 feet below sea level, according to the interpretation of refraction seismograph work carried out in the area. The 82-day test drilling program was carried out in hard volcanic rock that lies beneath the rugged landscape of the Leona Valley Ranch near Uvalde, Texas. By careful geophysical work, members of the Mohole staff had located a plug of dense basaltic rock with sufficient development to permit 3000 feet of drilling to be carried out in competent rock. The top of the dense rock lies only 485 feet beneath the surface of the ground. This rock was the toughest medium available for testing Mohole drilling tools that was near oil field supplies and services. Additionally, geophysical exploration of four possible Mohole sites had indicated that this type of rock may be encountered in drilling to the mantle. Cores from the test well apparently have confirmed this assumption, for some of the accoustical velocity and density measurements are approximately the same as those obtained for the third layer of the earth's crust. Tests of cores from the well indicated that the compressibility strength ranged up to 58,000 psi-slightly less than that of mild steel. TEST HIGHLIGHTS From the standpoint of depth capability, the turbocorer-a new version of the turbodrill with a hollow shaft and a wireline core barrel assembly-proved to be one of the most important drilling tools to come out of the Mohole effort thus far. Its design came as the culmination of a two-year joint effort with the manufacturer, and it was expected to operate for about 100 hours without maintenance or replacement of bearings. However, during the test program, it greatly exceeded this time, actually operating for 201 hours without any major maintenance. After that time, it was still operable. This total time was logged in 46 runs in the hole-the many runs were occasioned by the great number of field tests which were required to obtain data and establish performance levels for a series of bits designed for the the turbocorer, which were inspected between runs. Penetration rates in the basaltic rock were considerably higher than anticipated. Some years back, three conventional rock bits were run into the top of this plug. Because of the lack of weight and the tough nature of the formation, a total penetration of only 18 ft was attained before the hole was abandoned. The turbocorer averaged 5.6 ft per hour in this hard rock, coring a total of 1144 ft. Recovery of cores was just short of 100%, and some of the new diamond core bits lasted much longer than expected. One of the specially-designed bits ran 109 hours on the turbocorer and cored more than 655 ft in the dense rock. Moreover, it was pulled before reaching the limit of its useful drilling life. Successful mechanical separation of undesirable particles from the drilling fluid was effected by hydrocyclones with a side stream assist from a decanting centrifuge. This equipment provided a drilling fluid virtually free of abrasives, and engineers felt that this materially added to the expected operating time of the turbocorer. TURBOCORER TESTS The 82-in OD, 58-ft-long tandem turbine turbocorer has a total of 155 stages. The unit can cut cores up to 47 ft long, and they can be retrieved by wire line. The overall unit consists of six sections or sub-assemblies: the package bearing section, the lower turbine, the upper turbine, the core tube latch housing, instrument housing and instrument package. The instrument package used in conjunction with the turbocorer operates on the same seven-conductor armored cable that retrieves the core barrel and is used for logging. Teflon-coated conductors telemeter turbocorer performance data to a console at the surface. It transmits such information as: position of the latch in the core barrel; change in AC voltage applied downhole; level of core in the barrel-expressed in percentage; rotational speed of the bit; differential pressure across the tool; pull in pounds on the cable head; and inclination of the turbocorer from vertical. Diamond core bits used with the turbocorer were 9%-in by 2-in. A 9%-in diamond reamer was added to the drilling assembly to further stabilize it and assure better core recovery. Fluid rates were maintained between 450 and 500 gpm, and bit weights were held from 10,000 to 32,000 lb. Bit speeds ranged from 550 to 600 rpm. CONVENTIONAL CORING While the turbocorer appears to offer the most practical and direct approach to coring through the earth's crust and into the underlying mantle, other coring methods were tested for general performance and reliability. Conventional coring which requires a round trip of the drill string was included in the Uvalde tests. Equipment consisted of a bottom 30-ft square-spiral lower core barrel section, with an upper 8-in. OD round conventional core barrel section. Square outer stabilizers were spaced on about 16-ft centers and topped with a combina. tion stabilizer and safety joint. The chief advantage of the square-spiral con figuration is that it effects an increase in OD from 82-in to 91316-in. (measured diagonally across the rounded corners). This helped stabilize the tool in the 9%-in. ID hole. Space between the flat sides of the spiral-square and the walls of the hole provided ample fluid channels. The square was twisted or spiraled about the axis of the tool with a lead of 540 deg in 24 ft. All quadrants of the other barrel had equal and continuous bearing surfaces on the wall of the hole. Square stabilizers used in the string had an OD of 927/32 in. Forty-one runs were made with this equipment and its performance was found satisfactory. Weights on the bit were varied from 6,000 to 45,000 lb while coring at 24 to 140 rpm. Core recovery was also high. Stabilization by the square stabilizers and square-spiral core barrel controlled deviation and prevented undercutting of the cores by the bit. Conventional wire line coring also was tested to determine its suitabiilty for its use in the Mohole. Test equipment included a 30-ft square-spiral outer barrel with square stabilizers at top and bottom and a non-rotating inner barrel with a core catcher. Diamond core bits were 9%-in by 2-in, and bit weights were varied from 10,000 to 40,000 lb while rotary speed ranged from 40 to 80 rpm. Seven runs were made with this equipment, and a high percentage recovery resulted in all but two runs. This phase of the test program was considered successful and the technique and equipment is satisfactory for use in the Mohole program if needed. Both conventional and wireline coring with diamond bits are considered proven techniques throughout the oil industry. Very little research and development was necessary to adapt these tools to the ultra deep Mohole drilling program. DIAMOND BITS Diamond core bits were tested to determine their penetration rates and life expectancy in basaltic rock. Three basic types of bits were run: 1. Five 9%-in. by 4%-in. conventional diamond core bits were tested. Each differed as to the size, arrangement and number of diamonds, the type of matrix material and the design of water courses. 2. Six 9-in. by 2-in. diamond core bits were used with the turbocorer. They differed in similar respects. 3. Three 9%-in. by 2-in. diamond core bits were used with the conventional wire line core barrel. All of these diamond core bits performed satisfactorily. One run was particularly outstanding. It was a 9-in. by 2-in. diamond core bit used with the turbocorer. This bit drilled 655 ft. of the dense basaltic rock in 109 hours and 13 min for an average penetration rate of six ft. per hr. Success of these bits can be attributed to quality of design, and improved stabilization provided by the square-spiral core barrel, the square stabilizers and, in the case of the turbocorer, to the use of a diamond reamer located just above the bit. Cores were cut smoothly and for the most part were retrieved with very little breakage. DRILL PIPE COATINGS Several coatings designed to minimize corrosion were tested on the five-in. drill pipe. The most successful one was a zinc and aluminum metallized spray. The inside and outside of three joints of pipe were sprayed with varying thicknesses of this coating. The results were both interesting and promising. Apparently this metallic coating prevented corrosion of the exposed steel at damaged |