New IADC Project Will Enhance Competency Guidelines For Drilling-Rig Personnel

Houston, 4 June, 2012 – The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) announced today a major drilling industry project to develop enhanced competency guidelines for rig personnel. Building upon IADC’s existing Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) templates, virtually all rig positions will be covered, with priority focus on safety-critical positions with well-control responsibilities.

The main objective is to provide the tools for confirming proficiency levels of the current drilling work force, developing competence levels for new entrants, and helping to ensure industry accepted levels of competency exist when recruiting. In industry parlance, competency is the ability of an individual to perform a job properly, combining knowledge, skills and behavior, as developed through training and experience.

“IADC is the global leader in developing competency and training programs for the drilling industry,” said IADC Chairman Dan Rabun, Chairman, President and CEO of Ensco plc. “This ambitious expansion of IADC’s KSAs represents a step change for safety and competency in our industry. It is another demonstration of the commitment across all IADC members – oil companies, drilling contractors and others – to work together to improve our performance.”

“The revamped KSAs will provide the industry with a benchmark for globally consistent drilling position requirements, as well as recommend means for effectively evaluating personnel,” remarked Stephen Colville, IADC President and CEO. “It will also help personnel identify areas where further training and development are needed and point them to resources to help close those gaps.”

In addition to generic rig positions, the new project will cover enhanced KSAs for highly specialized occupations, such as subsea engineers. By defining key competencies, the KSAs can also form the building blocks of future IADC accreditation and certification programs. IADC is renowned as an accreditor for drilling-industry training programs conducted by oil companies, drilling contractors, oil-field service firms and independent training institutions.

The KSA project will be conducted under the leadership of Steve Kropla, IADC Group Vice President-Operations & Accreditation. Mr Kropla’s group also oversees IADC’s accreditation and certification programs.

The IADC KSA templates were originally released in 2000 and represented the basic skills and knowledge necessary for competence for 12 rig positions. In addition to job-specific KSAs, the IADC Training Committee also developed a general KSA focused on health, safety and environmental issues.

IADC has contracted Petrofac Training Services (PTS) to assist in the effort. PTS will collect data across different industry sectors to develop a list of competence guidelines. The first Phase of the project will focus on safety-critical drilling positions with well control responsibilities.

Petrofac Training Services (PTS) is a division of Petrofac, a leading international service provider to the oil & gas production and processing industry. For more than 30 years, PTS and its heritage companies have provided the energy industry with learning and competence assurance solutions to increase workforce capability and minimize risk. To learn more, please visit www.petrofactraining.com.

About IADC

IADC is dedicated to enhancing the interests of oil-and-gas and geothermal drilling contractors worldwide. IADC’s contract-drilling members own most of the world’s land and offshore drilling units and drill the vast majority of the wells that produce the planet’s oil and gas. IADC’s membership also includes oil-and-gas producers, and manufacturers and suppliers of oilfield equipment and services. Founded in 1940, IADC’s mission is to improve industry health, safety and environmental practices; advance drilling and completion technology; and champion responsible standards, practices, legislation and regulations that provide for safe, efficient and environmentally sound drilling operations worldwide. IADC holds Accredited Observer status at the International Maritime Organization and the International Seabed Authority, specialized agencies of the United Nations. The Association is a leader in developing standards for industry training, notably its Well Control Accreditation Program (WellCAP)® and rig-floor orientation program, RIG PASS®. IADC is headquartered in Houston and has offices in Washington D.C., the Netherlands, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as chapters in the UK, Venezuela, Brazil, Australasia, South Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and across the United States. For more information, visit the IADC website at www.iadc.org.