DRILLBITS – October 2013
This Month’s Articles
Sign Up For the DRILLBITS Email Newsletter!
IADC Publishes Near Miss/Hit Form
IADC recently launched the Drilling Near Miss/Hit Report in print and online versions. The form contains an agreed upon definition of a near-miss/hit incident and allows space for a brief incident description and documentation of an incident’s severity.
“Near-misses happen. Documenting them allows for an opportunity to learn from mistakes and correct actions before a more serious incident occurs,” IADC President and CEO Stephen Colville said. “The form was requested by our members and is another product that IADC offers to ensure that every worker has the tools they need to competently perform their job.”
A well-servicing version will be available soon.
To access the form, please visit the IADC website.
Major Research into Oil and Gas Skills Gets Underway
Nine of the UK’s leading energy, business and skills organizations recently kicked off the largest ever analysis of the North Sea oil and gas skills landscape. The major study will examine in depth the number of workers needed to address the critical shortage in the industry, and the skillset they require.
Senior representatives from more than 1000 operators, contractors and organizations throughout the oil and gas supply chain are being asked to share detailed information about the profile of their workforce.
The resulting findings, expected to be released in early 2014, will be shared across the industry and with education providers, government agencies, other industry bodies and stakeholders. The study will provide the foundation for the first ever national skills strategy. It will also ensure the sector’s current and future workforce have the necessary skills to fulfill the UK industry’s need.
The study is being led and managed by OPITO in partnership with IADC’s North Sea Chapter, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Decom North Sea, the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, Energy North, the Offshore Contractors Association, Oil & Gas UK and Subsea UK.
For more information about the study, please contact John Atkinson at John.Atkinson@iadc.org.
IADC Receives Prestigious Pioneer Award from the Offshore Energy Center
At its annual gala on Saturday, 28 September, the Offshore Energy Center awarded the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), the prestigious Technology Pioneer Award in recognition of the development of the HSE Case Guidelines.
The award, presented annually, recognizes innovations that stand out in the development of the offshore industry and its resources. IADC previously received the award in 2003 for the development of offshore safety programs, including the Rig Safety Recognition Program and the Rig Pass and WellCAP training programs.
The IADC HSE Case Guidelines provide a framework for developing an integrated health, safety and environmental management system for use in reducing the risks associated with offshore and onshore drilling activities. This framework assists regulatory bodies, drilling contractors and oil and gas producers in achieving higher degrees of personnel safety and environmental protection worldwide.
“A great many IADC members contributed their time and expertise to develop the HSE Case Guidelines, which provide a template for the entire drilling industry,” said Stephen Colville, IADC President and CEO. “At IADC, we are focused on improving operational integrity. As such, we have embarked on a continuing effort to improve safety and provide the tools to ensure competency for every person on every rig. With the great crew change looming, and a new generation of workers being welcomed into our fold, it is our responsibility to give them the necessary guidelines and other tools they need to succeed. The guidelines will continue long into the future, but the work that was done was a landmark effort that I believes improves the work environment every day.”
Terry Loftis Receives IADC Exemplary Service Award
Terry Loftis, a pioneer of the IADC Advanced Rig Technology (ART) Conference, was recognized with an IADC Exemplary Service Award for his contributions to the ART Drilling Controls Subcommittee. Mr Loftis, director of engineering for Transocean, received his award during the opening ceremonies of the IADC Advanced Rig Technology Conference, 17-18 September in Stavanger, Norway.
In his acceptance remarks, Mr Loftis said, “I do love what I do. I enjoy my job. I still enjoy getting up and coming to work every day. Thanks to Transocean for allowing me to participate in IADC.”
Mr Loftis joined Transocean in 1997, relocating to South Korea for shipyard construction of new-generation deepwater rigs. Throughout his career, Mr Loftis has been active in the company’s engineering development and new-build programs. He cut his teeth on MODU construction as a consultant for Transocean in the mid-1980s working on semisubmersible design and construction. A decade later, Mr Loftis worked on design of deepwater drillships.
OGP 452 – Shaping Safety Culture through Safety Leadership Published
OGP recently published OGP 452, Shaping Safety Culture through Safety Leadership. The report was prepared by the Human Factors Subcommittee and aims to raise awareness on how leadership shapes safety culture.
The document defines safety culture and safety leadership, and specifically describe leadership characteristics that can influence safety culture.
The document can be downloaded from the OGP website.
Houston Chapter Hosts Golf Tournament
The Houston Chapter hosted its annual golf tournament on 13 September at Cypresswood Golf Course. 540 golfers participated in the event, which raised $69,000. Money raised at the yearly event goes toward scholarships for outstanding engineering students at the University of Texas, Texas A&M, University of Houston and Texas Tech. To date, the Chapter’s golf tournament has raised more than $800,000 for the scholarship program.
For more information about the Houston Chapter and to participate in upcoming events, please visit the Chapter webpage.
FWS Proposes Habitat Designation for Gunnison Sage-Grouse
IADC joined industry associations in comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regarding their Draft Economic Analysis and Environmental Assessment (DEA) of Proposed Critical Habitat Designation for Gunnison Sage‐Grouse.
The associations requested that FWS correct the economic analysis before moving forward with a final determination for the listing and critical habitat designation.
If FWS proceeds with the proposed listing, companies involved in the oil and gas industry may be subjected to ESA requirements and restrictions that would impact business operations.
The associations contend that the DEA is fundamentally flawed because the model used to determine baseline and incremental administration costs understates the economic impacts on future oil and natural gas activity. FWS incorrectly concludes that economic impacts from oil and natural gas development will be limited to distributive effects. They went on to note that the analysis was not sufficiently informed by a direct solicitation of information from the oil and natural gas industry.
The FWS intends to designate over 1.7 million acres in Colorado and Utah as critical habitat. In general, the critical habitat designation proposed by the FWS is not based on the best scientific and commercial data available. The proposal includes areas that may not have the biological features essential to the conservation of the Gunnison Sage-Grouse, including broad swaths of land that are not suitable habitat and are not critical for maintaining and recovering the species.
For additional information, contact Joe Hurt at joe.hurt@iadc.
IADC Issues Latest International Standards Activities Affecting Offshore Oil and Gas Industries Report
The latest edition of IADC’s periodic report, International Standards Activities Affecting the Offshore Oil and Gas Industries is now available from IADC’s website.
Among other important topics, the report focuses specifically on the following:
For more information, please contact Alan Spackman at Alan.Spackman@iadc.org.
Safety Alerts
For the latest safety alerts, visit www.iadc.org/safety-alerts
Alert 13-21: Iron roughneck “struck by” incident results in fatality
Alert 13-22: Equipment failure during perforating results in near miss
Reminders
Rigs Receive ISP Certificates
For certificates received since last LTI (in years):
New IADC Members
IADC welcomes 24 new members:
DRILLBITS Volume 23, Number 10
David Williams, Chairman • Stephen Colville, President and CEO • Amy Rose, Editor
All listed phone extensions are for IADC’s Houston headquarters,
+1/713-292-1945. Fax +1/713-292-1946.
Send comments/questions to Amy Rose at amy.rose@iadc.org.
To subscribe to Drill Bits, go to www.iadc.org/drillbits.
To change/cancel a Drill Bits subscription, send an e-mail message to IADC Director – Membership Sharon Thorpe at sharon.thorpe@iadc.org.