Experientially Based (“Hands-on”) Well Control Training A Training and Research Initiative at the Petroleum Engineering Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory (PERTT Lab) Funded through the Louisiana Applied Educational Oil Spill Research and Development Program (OSRADP)

Announcement

Applications are now being accepted for “Hands-on” Well Control Classes. Seven of these single day classes will be offered at the PERTT Lab facility on the Baton Rouge Campus of Louisiana State University between March and July of 2003.

The classes are offered to Louisiana residents, employees of Louisiana based companies, employees of companies working in Louisiana, and employees of companies that work offshore of Louisiana in the Petroleum Extraction Industry and Petroleum Extraction Service Industry as part of a state funded research and training program administered through the OSRADP.

There is no enrollment fee for qualified students to attend. The class is intended to familiarize individuals working in the drilling industry or the drilling service industry with the basic well control techniques required for effective blowout and oil spill prevention.
 

The general application period began on December 1, 2002 and ended on February 1, 2003. Applications post marked (or received) after the February 1, 2003 application deadline are being considered on a “first come first serve basis” if space is still available after the open enrollment period.
Personnel working in the drilling or drilling services sector of the oil and gas industry are qualified to attend if ANY of the following apply:  (1) reside in Louisiana, (2) work for a Louisiana based company, (3) are working in Louisiana, (4) are working offshore of Louisiana, OR (5) are being trained by a Louisiana based company.

More information about OSRADP and other sponsored training opportunities can be obtained via the internet at www.osradp.lsu.edu

Contact Information

Interested parties can contact the LSU PERTT Lab for more information and to obtain application packets. Send correspondence to:
 

LSU PERTT Lab, Dept. of Petroleum Engineering ATTN: “Hands-on Well Control Training” 3516 CEBA Building Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Primary Contact: Darryl Bourgoyne, PERTT Lab Director Principle Investigator:  John Rogers Smith, Assistant Professor Ph: 225-578-8458,  Fax: 225-578-8433

Email: WCT@LSU.edu Training Initiative Web site: www. PetE.LSU.edu/WCT/training.html Craft and Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering Web site:  www.PetE.LSU.edu

Program Intent

The primary focus of these OSRADP sponsored classes is to provide practical, hands-on training with realistic kicks in real wells using rig equipment to supplement conventional well control training. The goals of this program are threefold. The first is to reduce the frequency of blowouts and related spills by providing training that increases the participant’s understanding of, and confidence in, applying sound well control procedures. Second, it will provide a wider range of oil and gas drilling companies and drilling service companies accessibility to full-scale, hands-on well control training. The final goal is to test and improve experientially based techniques for training drilling industry field personnel basic blowout and spill prevention methods. Consequently, class participants will be required to complete a simple pre-class well control skill assessment survey. The pre-class assessments along with required post-class assessments and a voluntary three-month content retention survey will be used to evaluate and compare the well control teaching methods used in the class.

Course Content Summary

The one-day course will focus on providing field drilling personnel with practical “hands-on” well control experiences using full scale equipment commonly used to control “kicks” and prevent well blowouts. Students attending the class will receive instruction while controlling pressurized gas kicks in a full scale training well. A key part of each student's learning experience will be the class time he/she spends operating the drilling choke, operating the triplex pump, making key well control decisions, and observing other students doing the same tasks. The primary emphasis will be on the practical procedures for identifying and controlling kicks using the driller’s method.

The content of the course is aimed at individuals with some drilling operations training and experience, but little or no well control training and experience. Individuals who currently work as assistant drillers and/or derrickmen are examples of the targeted audience for this course. Another target audience for the course is individuals with well control training but little or no practical well control experience. This group includes personnel just starting work as drillers, tool pushers, operator representatives, and drilling engineers.

Individuals who work in supporting roles during drilling operations would also benefit from the course. Examples of these supporting positions are rough necks, shaker hands, mud loggers, mud engineers, and cementers. More experienced individuals (like seasoned drillers, tool pushers, operator’s representatives, and drilling engineers) whose job responsibilities include training subordinates to perform key kick prevention, kick detection, and blowout prevention tasks may also be interested in attending the class to gain valuable insight on how to train and evaluate their less experienced subordinates and co-workers.
 

Class size will be limited to 12 enrolled students for each scheduled class. Three of the twelve student positions will be reserved for individuals with significant well control experience. It is anticipated that mixing a few experienced personnel into each class will enhance the overall class quality.
Students will receive practical instruction with actual equipment and instruments on fundamental well control tasks including: measuring pre-recorded information, kick identification, flow checks, hard shut-in procedure, record-keeping during control, and implementing the first circulation of the “driller’s method” of well control.  Special emphasis will be placed on practicing proper operation of the choke and the pump during start-up, kick circulation, and shut-down with each student receiving at least twelve and an average of over twenty minutes of time operating the choke and a similar amount of time operating the pump. Hands-on activities will be complemented with discussion, class exercises, and practice calculating kill weight mud and initial circulating pressure.  Mandatory reporting procedures for oil spills will also be reviewed.

The hands-on exercises will typically begin with an introduction to the facility, the flow system, and the planned operations for the day, similar to a pre-tour meeting for a drilling rig. We will then measure slow circulating rate pressures and other pre-recorded data and then detect and shut-in an actual kick in each of two exercises.

In the first exercise, which is a gas or water kick in an actual well, each individual student will practice pump start-up, choke and pump operations, and pump shut down.  The primary purpose of this exercise is to give every participant practice operating real equipment during control of a threatened blowout.

In the second exercise, the group experiences a large gas kick in a 5800 foot deep well and takes turns operating the pump and the choke and recording data as the kick is removed from the well.  The primary purpose of this exercise is to show participants the real sequence and magnitude of events occurring during a realistic kick.  It also builds confidence that the procedures being taught will work successfully.
Pre-class and post-class Skill Assessments will evaluate each enrolled student’s ability to perform fundamental well control tasks and allow assessment of the effectiveness of the specific exercises and methods used in that student’s training.

Note that this course is intended to supplement more conventional and comprehensive training, such as provided by IADC WellCAP courses, with practical, hands-on experience controlling a kick. Consequently, it is not intended to replace such courses and carries no industry accreditation or certification.
 

All classes will be held at the PERTT Lab Facility located on the LSU Campus at 2829 Gourrier Lane, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 

7:30 am	PERTT Lab facility opens  (doughnuts, coffee, & juice available).
8:30 am	Class begins.
	Morning Break: Lunch orders taken for students interested in eating lunch on site.
11:30 am	Lunch (students can dine offsite if they prefer)
1:00 pm	Class Resumes
5:00 pm	Class Ends

 

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