Building a Well-Control Culture
Authors: Bybee Karen 
Published: February 2015

This article, written by Assistant Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper IADC/SPE 112736, "Building a Well Control Culture With WellCAP," by S.M. Kropla, IADC; O.A. Kelly, SPE, T. Gillis, and P. Sonnemann, Chevron; J.J. Metcalf, SPE, Newfield Exploration; O.L.A. Santos, SPE, Petrobras; and R. Rodrigues, Transocean, originally prepared for the 2008 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Orlando, Florida, 4-6 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

The development of competent personnel capable of recognizing, avoiding, and mitigating well-control situations requires industry-developed systems capable of establishing necessary training standards and quality-assurance programs that monitor training-provider performance, both essential elements for ensuring proper skills development through fit-for-purpose training. The well-control accreditation program (WellCAP) operated by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) is designed to provide the drilling industry with the building blocks for a comprehensive "well-control culture" beginning at the floor-hand level and continuing to the most-seasoned drilling personnel.

Introduction

WellCAP was the first industry-developed training standard and training-provider accreditation program for drilling well control. When implemented in the mid-1990s, it broke new ground with a "core curriculum" for well-control training along with procedures and criteria for evaluating multiple facets of the operations of a training provider, from facilities and equipment to testing practices and instructor qualifications. It also introduced a new role for IADC as a group charged with monitoring and auditing training-provider performance to ensure adherence to its standards. Since the original implementation, these elements have evolved continuously to improve training effectiveness and the strength of the program.

Originally released with only a core curriculum for drilling, the program now also addresses workover and completion; coiled tubing (CT), snubbing, and wireline operations; underbalanced operations; and managed-pressure drilling. The system has been accepted by operators, contractors, and service companies, and it has been adopted as the internal standard for major oil companies and drilling contractors.

Nearly 90 training providers currently are accredited by IADC, with more than 125,000 WellCAP certificates issued since the program started (in recent years, the program has averaged more than 25,000 certificates per year). Instruction currently is given in 12 languages.

Program Evolution

The curriculum offerings have evolved steadily since the program was first implemented in 1995. Originally released with only a core curriculum for drilling, workover and completion were added in 1997. Basic well servicing was addressed with the development of curriculum for CT, snubbing, and wireline operations in 2001. Also that year, IADC developed the industry's only well-control curriculum for underbalanced operations.

While the number of levels of instruction and types of curriculum available to providers may seem daunting, the system is designed to allow both commercial providers and in-house training departments the ability to tailor their training to best meet the needs of their customers or organizations.