Blowout Prevention is Mistake Prevention
Authors: Coppes J. , Rudd N.E. 
Published: December 2007

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the SPE-European Spring Meeting 1976 of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 8–9, 1976. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

The drilling industry has made important advances in the development of equipment and methods to prevent blowouts. However, it is often seen that rig personnel are not adequately trained to ensure that methods and equipment are properly applied. In other words, despite the advances made, mistakes in well control continue to occur.

This paper examines the methods and training programs currently utilized with the aim to prevent such mistakes, and analyses their effect on the performance of the drilling crew. It appears that there is not only a lack of implementation, but also a need for further development in modern training methods.

One of the authors, a drilling superintendent emphasizes the need to raise the rig crew to a high level of well control proficiency and discusses the techniques that proficiency and discusses the techniques that could be used to accomplish this objective. The other author, a designer of training simulators, presents his views as to the manner in which present systems could be more effectively utilized and discusses possible new simulators to meet the possible new simulators to meet the requirement of the future.

Introduction

The equipment used in blowout prevention has been developed to a high degree of reliability and oil companies and contractors are prepared to purchase the best equipment available. Instruments to detect kicks and means to check the filling of the hole during trips are common on all rigs. Whenever something better appears on the market, drilling supervisors do not find it difficult to persuade their management to acquire it.

Methods to prevent blowouts also have been developed. Drilling programs and casing designs are carefully scrutinized by petroleum and drilling engineers and the safest petroleum and drilling engineers and the safest way to drill and complete the well always has priority over other considerations. Abnormal pressures can in many instances now be predicted by drilling rate, from logs, and by seismic data. The planning of a well can be improved by the use of these pressure prediction methods. Testing of wellhead prediction methods. Testing of wellhead equipment, pressure testing of blowout prevention equipment and casings, establishing prevention equipment and casings, establishing the quality of cementations, studying the strength of formations are all included in the operations mentioned in the drilling program. Drilling personnel critically program. Drilling personnel critically examine the programs.