DRILLBITS -March 2015
This Month’s Articles
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IADC Co-Hosts Workshop Focused on Workforce Attraction and Development in Brazil
On 4-5 March, IADC and Firjan co-hosted a workshop on workforce development in Brazil.
The Firjan system is a network of private nonprofit organizations, who promote business competitiveness, education and quality of life of the industrial workers and society in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Those who attended the workshop heard presentations on IADC projects, including the Workforce Attraction and Development Initiative, the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities competencies and the Competency Assurance program, before breaking into smaller workgroups to discuss how to develop competency programs and the best strategies to bring people into the industry.
“The strong attendance and interest in these important topics is indicative of a commitment to competence and development in the region. There was a lot of energy from those in attendance and we anticipate that this effort will continue well into the future,” said Mark Denkowski, IADC Executive Vice President, Operational Integrity. “We look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues in Brazil and we encourage them to keep going on this path that they have set.”
IADC Labels New US Federal Rules on Hydraulic Fracturing as Burdensome and Unnecessary
In a press release issued on 26 March, IADC’s President and CEO Stephen Colville stated that the final rule regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands will only result in increased costs and regulatory redundancy, ultimately impacting America’s long term energy security.
The final rule, issued by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 26 March Federal Register, includes requirements that replicate controls already in place. These existing requirements themselves enshrine the good oilfield standards that the industry has routinely practiced for many years and continuously improves. BLM estimates that the rule will impose additional annual costs of $32 million. However, other estimates place these expenses much higher.
“IADC strongly disagrees with the necessity of the BLM rule, which creates more bureaucracy at the cost of positive economic impact for states with hydraulic fracturing operations,” said Mr. Colville. “While we are focused on continuous improvement in all facets of drilling and production operations, we believe that the implementation of duplicative rules with regard to hydraulic fracturing are burdensome and pointless and therefore without merit.”
Numerous respected scientific studies have confirmed there is no harmful environmental impact from today’s hydraulic fracturing operations. These operations have been central to America becoming virtually energy self-sufficient, driving energy costs to one-half of those in Europe, and one third of China’s.
Further, the combination of hydraulic fracturing with technologies developed by drilling contractors has been instrumental in employing more than half a million Americans, both directly and indirectly.
“It is noteworthy that hydraulic fracturing has been conducted safely and responsibly in the US for more than 60 years and states have successfully regulated these activities for decades. It appears that BLM has published the final rule without definitive consultation with the states affected by it, and without properly weighing the economic impact against the benefits expected. IADC will never object to regulation that is necessary and beneficial, however, this new rule adds an unnecessary and duplicative layer of regulations. As an added layer of compliance, the rule creates unnecessary costs to an industry that plays a major part in this country’s economy in terms of low energy costs and high employment. It is disheartening that this rule will impact future industry growth.”
API Publishes Specification 16C, Choke and Kill Equipment
API Specification 16C, Choke and Kill Equipment, second edition, was recently published. The publication establishes the minimum requirements for the design and manufacture of several types of new equipment. These include:
- Articulated choke and kill lines;
- Choke and kill manifold buffer chamber;
- Choke and kill manifold assembly;
- Drilling choke actuators;
- Drilling choke controls;
- Drilling chokes;
- Flexible choke and kill lines;
- Union connections used in choke and kill assemblies;
- Rigid choke and kill lines
- Swivel unions used in choke and kill equipment
To order the new publication, visit the API Publications Store.
IADC, Lone Star College, Patterson-UTI Receive 2015 Faraday Award
The Faraday Award, presented by Electric Power and Prequalified Ready Employees for Power International (PReP Int) recognizes and honors employers, programs and partnerships focused on transitioning veterans into careers in the energy industry.
IADC, Lone Star College – Office for Workforce Education and Patterson-UTI will be recognized for a program that screens, prepares, trains and on boards returning veterans for careers in the oil and gas drilling industry. The effort provides meaningful careers to veterans, and since March 2014, it has enjoyed a 92% placement rate for more than 150 participants.
The award will be presented on 21 April during the Electric Power Conference in Chicago.
For more information on the origins of the award, please visit the Electric Power Conference website.
IADC Houston Chapter Receives Donation
From left: Bob Warren, IADC; Jeff Kessler, IADC Houston Chapter Chairman; Ben Bloys, Chevron
At the 17 March IADC Houston Chapter meeting, Ben Bloys, Chevron, presents chapter chairman Jeff Kessler, Blake International Rigs, a donation check to the chapter’s scholarship fund in the amount of $10,732 on behalf of the former Drilling Engineers Association (DEA). DEA disbanded in 2014 as a separate organization, transforming to the IADC Drilling Engineers Committee. The donation represented disbursal of DEA’s remaining funds to scholarships, as required by DEA’s charter
Elman Mikayilov Wins Free Copy of IADC Deepwater Well Control Guidelines
On 10 March, Elman Mikayilov, drilling engineer with BP Angola Wells, was awarded a free copy of the new IADC Deepwater Well Control Guidelines after correctly answering the question: According to an article coauthored by Rana S. Roy, et al, published in the November/December 2007 issue of Drilling Contractor, of the two widely used constant bottomhole circulating methods, which offers more advantage for well control?”.
The question was posed via IADC’s social media networks and through email.
To stay updated on IADC activities and participate in future contests, follow IADC on Facebook and LinkedIn and follow Drilling Contractor magazine on Twitter.
The Deepwater Well Control Guidelines include new content on operational risk management, sometimes called process safety, with additional new and refreshed content on well integrity, well planning, rig operations, equipment, procedures, training and drills, and emergency response. The year-long project was led by Louis Romo, BP, Chairman of the Deepwater Well Control Guidelines Task Force, and Moe Plaisance, Diamond Offshore Drilling (Retired), Executive Advisor, with support from nearly 100 top-level experts.
The Guidelines aim to facilitate safe and efficient deepwater drilling operations. It provides guidance for maintaining primary well control, applying secondary well control methods and responding to an emergency in the event of a blowout. Each chapter is intended to facilitate the rig team’s primary task of maintaining and optimizing control of the well.
Electronic and print copies of the book can be purchased through the IADC Bookstore.
IADC Chairman’s Anniversary Award Program Now Accepting Submissions
IADC believes in the importance of continually improving performance for the drilling industry. The Chairman’s Anniversary Award was developed to recognize field-based individuals who have made a direct impact on improved performance for their company, either through a project or personal effort. The Award will be given every five years as part of IADC’s anniversary celebrations.
Award winners will demonstrate how their innovative project directly improved performance in the field in one of the following ways:
- Eliminating injuries
- Enhancing process safety
- Reducing NPT
- Improving equipment reliability
- Increasing efficiency
Submissions will be accepted beginning 1 March through 21 May and will be judged based on the above criteria by a selected group of IADC staff and industry veterans. The winner will be contacted in August and the award will be presented by IADC Chairman Ed Jacob during the IADC Annual General Meeting on 5 November in San Antonio.
For more information, please visit www.iadc.org/chairmans-anniversary-award
New eChapters of the IADC Drilling Manual Now Available
Three additional stand-alone chapters of the 12th edition of the IADC Drilling Manual have been issued in electronic form and are available for purchase via the IADC Bookstore.
More than 100 technical experts contributed to the first major rewrite of the manual in 22 years.
The new chapters include:
Rotating and Pipehandling Equipment
Covers the full range of equipment, including operations and maintenance. Topics include top drives, hoisting and running in, pipehandling, make up/break out, racking, auto-handling, tubulars, drawworks, elevators, casing running tools, power catwalk, manual and power tongs, instrumentation, maintenance and inspection, and more.
IADC Glossary: acronyms, abbreviations and definitions
the IADC Glossary is an appendix to the IADC Drilling Manual, 12th edition. The 12th edition glossary provides guidance about common and not-so-common acronyms, abbreviations and terms.
* Complimentary as a companion to purchasers of any other eBook chapter of the IADC Drilling Manual, 12th edition.
Well Control Equipment and Procedures
Covers the gamut of well-control equipment and practice, from equipment to maintenance to procedures for land, bottom-supported rigs and subsea operations. Updated with the latest information, this stand-alone chapter covers blowout preventer stack equipment and arrangements, BOP design, BOP testing, inside BOPs, chokes, diverters, control systems and more. The chapter’s section on well control procedures explains calculations and more for well killing. As an added bonus, the chapter includes the latest IADC Killsheets for Driller’s Method, Wait and Weight (surface and subsea) and Bullheading Method. Each killsheet conveniently provided in US, metric and SI units.
There are in addition to the chapters previously released in electronic format. The eBooks are compatible with most eReaders, including DL Reader (mobile devices), BlueFire, Adobe Digitial Editions and more.
Hard copies of the 12th Edition of the Drilling Manual are expected to be released soon.
To purchase any of the available eBooks, please visit the IADC Bookstore.
Accreditation Updates
RigPASS
WellCAP
Safety Alerts
For the latest safety alerts, visit www.iadc.org/safety-alerts
Alert 14-29: Personnel basket failure serious near hit
Rigs Receive ISP Certificates
For certificates received since last LTI (in years):
New IADC Members
IADC welcomes 45 new members:
DRILLBITS Volume 25, Number 3
Ed Jacob, Chairman • Stephen Colville, President and CEO • Amy Rose, Editor
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+1/713-292-1945. Fax +1/713-292-1946.
Send comments/questions to Amy Rose at amy.rose@iadc.org.
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