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Drilling

Taking well control training to new levels

By Steve Redgrave, Director of training courses across both rotary drilling operations but may have secondary

Aberdeen Drilling School and well intervention disciplines. involvement in well operations and rea- n October 2012 the International sonable capability to aid the avoidance or Human factors are key to the future

I

Association of Oil & Gas Producers mitigation of a well control event.” success of well control and operational • (OGP) published Report 476 entitled Level 2 (Introductory) has been training. Although currently in the early “Recommendations for enhancements to designed as a 3-4 day course for “all stages of development, training that well control training, examination and members of the wellsite operations team recognizes and addresses the role of certifcation.” working in roles which may directly human factors has the potential to create

This report was produced as a result contribute to the creation, detection or a fundamental change in the industry’s of the Macondo and control of a well infux.” attitude towards all well operations. • The human factors aspect of well control

Montara well control inci- Level 3 (Driller/ has been highlighted in OGP 476 and a dents, and in recognition Operator) has been

Human factors further OGP report (OGP 460: Cognitive of the need to develop redesigned to focus more issues associated with process safety and well control compe- on the specifc require- are key to the environmental incidents) that highlights tency. The recommenda- ments of those personnel the importance of the appropriate indi- tions of the report are responsible for shutting future success of vidual and group behaviors and actions in now being implemented a well in. • preventing all incidents including, but not worldwide through The Level 4 well control and limited to, well control incidents. Among the International Well (Supervisor) course is operational training.

these are: situational awareness (being

Control Forum (IWCF) intended for “wellsite aware of emerging events through the and the International supervisory and offce- observation of weak signals and being able

Association of Drilling based personnel primar- to predict the consequences); and cognitive

Contractors (IADC). The report identifed ily involved with the well design and bias (the consequence of intuitive short a number of limitations within the existing operational decision making process.” cuts in thinking and decision making).

training structures, and included within Further to the changes in syllabus and the fndings were recommendations that: the emphasis on role-specifc responsibil- The changes recommended by OGP • Additional technical content needs to be ities, these courses are now progressive. 476 are being implemented on a global added to the well control training syllabus;

IWCF candidates, if they do not already scale. The well control training industry •

Clearer guidelines need to be estab- hold the necessary certifcate, will have is in the midst of a positive transition lished as to what level of training is to begin at Level 2 and then progress to period that I’m sure will beneft the needed for each function/role in the Level 3 if they are at driller level before industry and its most important resource: operations team; and moving onto Level 4 if they work at the people working in it. •

Additional well control training is supervisor level. • required for specialist operations. Level 5 (Engineer) has been recom- Steve Redgrave is

The need for additional content has mended as an additional course for engi- director of Aberdeen been met, as both the IWCF and IADC neers and front line wells management Drilling School and have either implemented or are in the pro- personnel with a key role in well design. IWCF board member. cess of implementing a revised syllabus for

The course is intended to cover those Redgrave has over 40 each of the certifed well control courses.

aspects of well control that “need to be years’ international embedded into well design, well control experience in the oil

Five training levels equipment selection and rig selection.” and gas drilling

Currently being implemented, in line industry, working for major, and indepen-

The future of well control training with the above recommendations, is the dent oil companies. Redgrave has also introduction of fve levels of well control At the time of writing this article, details published and presented SPE papers on training, for drilling and well intervention, of the syllabus for the Level 5 course have improving drilling performance and been from Level 1 through to Level 5. The inten- not been released to the industry (expected involved in publishing The Technical and tion is to make each level more role-spe- to be introduced some time in 2015).

Legal Guide to UK Oil and Gas Industry. cifc and encourage a broader range of job IWCF, IADC and well control training

He is now a leading advocate of the new roles to undertake well control training. companies have been working to imple-

OGP-recommended improvements to •

Level 1 (Awareness) is a short (3-4 Well Control training, and currently plays ment the recommendations from OGP 476 hour) course designed for personnel a key role on the IWCF Rotary Drilling since its publication. Aberdeen Drilling who are “non-critical to well control Taskforce.

School, for example, now offers Level 1-4

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