Past Event - Well Control 101

Speaker:

David Cargill, General Adjuster - Lloyd Warwick International (Biography attached).

Presentation Synopsis:

This presentation will give a fast and furious review of the basics of well control from a practical perspective. From the inception of the oilwell by “spudding”, and the recognition of the parameters that create the “drilling window”. The need for casing strings and the importance of the cement job will be discussed. We will look at the industry requirement for performing formation strength tests after drilling out a casing shoe track, and what this information means. A brief discussion on the theory of kick tolerance and what that means in a practical sense, and how exceeding this may result in an underground blowout. At this point we will briefly discuss the indications of an UGBO, and the more reliable verification of the UGBO marking depths of interest for the well kill. 

We will cover the circulating system for conventional land drilling, understanding the role of hydrostatic pressure, and the fateful consequences of suffering lost returns during the drilling campaign.

Having now identified the red flags that may emerge during the drilling process, we will discuss the drilling crew’s responsibilities to identify these red flags and the actions they take to efficiently shut the well in, thus preventing the kick from becoming a blowout. We will take a closer look at the equipment made available to the drilling crew to achieve this goal and look forward to the future of the blowout preventer and how it continues to make the oil and gas industry a safer place to work.

The consequence of inaction will be discussed in some level of detail, before moving on to a brief explanation of the remediation of the well blowout.

Date: Tuesday 12th March

THIS PRESENTATION AND MEETING VIDEO IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE OPERA MEMBERS AREA FOR CURRENT MEMBERS ONLY