FAQ - drilling and training

There is currently no initial training to become a driller. Drilling is a job that you learn by doing, starting out as an operator and progressing, through your work and skills, to site manager or supervisor. It's a job that pays very well and offers great career opportunities, as long as you show courage, seriousness and professionalism.

In order to fill vacancies with qualified employees, EFF Training offers specific training courses open to jobseekers and people undergoing professional retraining. Because the needs of deep drilling and surface drilling are different, the training courses offered are tailored to suit.

EFF Training offers 5-day introductory courses in deep drilling. They enable you to learn the basics of the job and test your appetite for this area of activity.

EFF Training propose également des formations longues pour démarrer dans le métier de foreur en forage de surface en tant d’aide-foreur pour la géothermie ou le forage d’eau.

Deep drilling is used for oil and gas production, medium and high-energy geothermal energy and CO2 storage. It is a set of techniques that make it possible to dig a well from 200 m to more than 5 km vertical depth.

It can be vertical, deviated or horizontal.

It allows hydrocarbons or geothermal fluids to be extracted.

Deepwater drilling projects are carried out by international companies: drilling operators and contractors. The sites are located in France or abroad, on land or at sea. Teams work in shifts, day and night. A drilling team is made up of around ten people who work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with shifts lasting 3 to 5 weeks.

Deep drilling is not without risks for the environment and personal safety. EFF Training, a french long-standing specialist in deep drilling with the only internationally recognised rig school in France (IWCF accreditation), offers training at all levels of responsibility to ensure that teams from the largest drilling groups have a high level of competence in safety, well control, well intervention and HSE drilling.

Surface drilling involves digging a hole in the subsoil to a maximum depth of 200 m. It is used to install low-energy geothermal energy systems (GMI), also known as groundwater or borehole geothermal systems. It can also be used to exploit underground water.

Surface drilling projects are carried out by specialist companies: SMEs or subsidiaries of major groups. They are often located in a geographical area relatively close to the company's head office, and may sometimes extend beyond national borders.

A drilling team generally consists of 3 people: 1 driller and 1 or 2 assistant drillers. The driller is responsible for the site (in the absence of a site manager or foreman) and takes decisions based on the technical drilling file and in compliance with instructions and standards. It is generally necessary to hold the position of assistant driller before becoming a driller. This stage allows you to hone your skills. This is a technical job with environmental and safety constraints that require serious training to learn good practice.

For people with no experience of surface drilling, EFF Training has set up a 10-week training course (5 weeks at the centre and 5 weeks' work experience in a company) in conjunction with BRGM Formation and GRETA-CFA Midi-Pyrénées Ouest. This surface geothermal drilling assistant training course, soon to be accredited as part of the CQP of the AFPG and SFEG industry associations, is designed to meet the growing demand from drilling companies faced with an increasing number of geothermal system installation projects.

The course covers aspects of site preparation, the drilling itself, regulatory obligations and safety in the workplace, as well as equipment maintenance. No pre-requisites are required. This course is an ideal stepping stone to becoming a drilling assistant.

For contractors with experience in surface drilling who wish to obtain the Quali'Forage qualification issued by Qualit'EnR so that their company can operate in the GMI field, BRGM Formation has set up a qualification course with a MCQ for Drilling on Probe and an MCQ for Drilling on Groundwater. This course covers the regulatory and standards aspects of water and geothermal drilling.

Someone with no drilling experience will start out as a labourer. Specialised temporary employment agencies most often carry out the recruitment work for drilling companies, whether for deep drilling or surface drilling.

In France, there are only 2 deep drilling companies with projects in France and around the world: SMP Energies and Arverne Drilling. Internationally, there are many companies: drilling contractors or operators, for oil, gas and geothermal energy. Often the labour positions are filled by local nationals.

In surface drilling, there are a large number of water drilling and geothermal drilling companies, each with a manager and one to three teams consisting of a driller assisted by one or two assistant drillers. In France, they are spread throughout the country.

Through its surface geothermal drilling assistant training course, EFF Training offers motivated individuals the opportunity to be taken on by the company in which they are immersed. The 5-week work-study period enables the driller and assistant-driller to get to know each other better, while the assistant-driller acquires basic skills and checks that he or she really likes the job.

Surface geothermal drilling assistant training course is therefore an excellent opportunity to enter the surface drilling industry.

Anyone interested in a course offered on the EFF Training website can pre-register online by filling in a form accessible from the REGISTRATION button on the course presentation page and selecting an available session date. For training courses certified by the IWCF (well control, well intervention), please have your CR number ready; we will take care of registration on the IWCF forum.

Depending on the availability of the session, the pre-registered candidate will then receive confirmation of registration and a training agreement to be signed and returned with payment for final registration.

Access to certain courses will be subject to validation of an application.

If it is possible for France Travail to cover the cost of the training (well control, introduction to deep geothermal drilling practices), we will create a quotation for the jobseeker on receipt of their pre-registration, which will be sent to them in their personal space on francetravail.fr or on the Ma Formation mobile application. Once accepted by the jobseeker, the quote is sent to their France Travail advisor for validation or refusal. If approved, enrolment is confirmed and the applicant receives confirmation of enrolment from EFF Training.

The training sessions available and their start and end dates are displayed on the registration form for each course, under the heading ‘Dates for face-to-face sessions’ or ‘Dates for distance learning sessions’ (drop-down menu). It is up to the candidate to choose the one that suits them best.

In some cases, France Travail may cover the cost of training (well control, introduction to deep geothermal drilling practices).

Candidates must first pre-register on the EFF Training website.

Once we have received the jobseeker's pre-registration, we create a quotation which they can access in their personal space on francetravail.fr or on the Ma Formation mobile application.

Once accepted by the jobseeker, the quote is sent to their France Travail advisor for validation or refusal. If approved, enrolment is confirmed and the candidate receives confirmation of enrolment from EFF Training.