DRILLING SURFACE & SUBSEA

The IADC WellSharp® level course provides students with the tools for developing practical problem-solving tactics and strategies when confronted with a well control incident for surface and subsea; focuses on kick detection, shut-in procedures, calculations, standard well control methods, and completing killsheets.

WELL CONTROL COURSE OUTLINE IADC

Interactive Study Tools

• Provide students with over 600 pages of pre-course study
  materials at wildwell.com
• Provide students with a study guide that covers up to 150 interactive
  well control questions and answers.
• Provide students with a 50 question test to determine their well control knowledge gaps.

Preliminary Items

• Safety: escape routes, muster points, etc.
• Discussion of special needs
• Introductions
• Class paperwork
  
  

SURFACE: Serious Well Control Problem From the Wild Well Library

• Students form teams
• Team discussion of the potential well control problem
• Simulator exercise demonstrating the well control challenge
• Return to class to discuss the challenge
  
  

Well Control Course Objectives

• Formations, pore pressure, fracture gradients
• Killsheet, kick detection, flow checks, well shut-in, and gas behavior
• Well control methods
• Well control equipment (barriers, BOPs, manifolds, accumulator, etc.)
• Completing the well and post-completion activity
• Final well control simulation: from kick to kill, with a complication
• Assessments: skills and written
  
  

Formations, Pore Pressure, Fracture Gradient

• Formation structure
  - Porosity
  - Permeability
• Fracture gradients, kick tolerance, pore pressures
  -Related formulas/math (hydrostatic pressure, the U tube, force,
  MAASP, etc.)
  - Equivalent mud weight
  - Kick tolerance
  - Pore pressure vs. fracture gradient (drilling margin/window)
• Simulator exercise demonstrating a FIT; discussion of LOT (if needed, depending upon class knowledge level)
• Discuss casing and cementing program
• Discuss drilling fluids program
  
  

Barriers

• Philosophy and operation of barrier systems
• Number of barriers for safe operation
• Testing barriers
  
  

Shallow Gas, Water Flows, and Top-hole Drilling

• Definitions and causes of pressure in top-hole formations
• Causes of underbalanced top-hole
• Diverting practices
• Top-hole drilling practices and causes of kicks
  
  

Abnormal Pressure Warning Signs

• Abnormal pressure
• Shaker evidence
• Changes in mud properties
• Changes in drilling data/parameters
  
  

Killsheet, Kick Detection, Flow Checks, Well Shut-in, and Gas Behavior

• Related formulas/math (capacities/volumes, strokes,
  circulation times, etc.)
• Causes of kicks
• Kick signs
  - Overt kick signs
  - Pre-kick signs
• Flow-check procedures
• Shut-in procedures
  - Hard shut-in
  - Soft shut-in
  - Shut-in challenges
• Paper killsheet with preliminary well data
  - Well data, volume calculations
  - Discuss the importance of a killsheet
• Simulator exercises demonstrating hard and soft shut-in
  - Kick detection and shut-in
  - Students complete killsheet with simulator well data
  (or instructor-given data)
  - Discussion of killsheet calculations:
  - What do they mean? (if needed) Discussion of
  
  

IADC WellSharp rounding rules

• Gas behavior
  - While drilling
  - In horizontal wells
  - While shut-in
  

Well Control Methods

• Review of related formulas/math (capacities/volumes, strokes, circulation times, kill mud, MAASP, ICP, FCP, etc.)
• Wait and Weight Method
  - Discussion of Wait and Weight
  - Techniques
  - Skills (pump startup, step-down chart, gauge use, lag time, etc.)
  - Simulator exercise
  - Driller’s Method
  - Discussion of Driller’s Method
  - Techniques
  - Skills (pump startup, capturing pressure after the first circulation,
  lag time, etc.)
  - Simulator exercise
  - Volumetric and Lube and Bleed
  - Discussion of Volumetric Method
  - Formulas
  - Understanding the process and technique
  - Skills (use of electronic killsheet or paper graph, managing gas migration)
• Simulator exercise
• Discussion of Lube and Bleed
  
  

Stripping Pipe Under Pressure

• Discussion of technique
• Skills (annular pressure, speed of strip, managing wellbore pressures via volumetric method)
• Simulator exercise
  

Bullhead Method – Discussion and simulator exercise if time allows
Discussion of study guide questions

Well Control Drills

• Pit drills
• Trip drills
• Stripping drills
• Choke drills
• Early response and empowerment to act
  
  

Completing the well and post-completion activity: a short discussion

• Completions
• Differences between drilling and workover
  
  

Final simulator exercise (if time allows)

• Abnormal lateral well and kick detection
• Kill the well with Wait and Weight Method
  

Discussion

• Ballooning wells vs. kicking wells
• Fingerprinting
  
  

Discussion of Study Guide Questions
Skills Assessment

SUBSEA:
Learning Objectives

• Subsea well control concepts
• Pre-recorded data
• Well control methods
• Kick awareness
• Barriers
• Kick detection
• Top-hole drilling and shallow gas
• Shut-in procedures
• Risk management
  
  

Subsea Well Control Concepts

• Downhole pressures
• Downhole temperatures
  
  

Pre-Recorded Data

• Choke-line friction pressure (CLFP)
• Subsea killsheet
• Subsea simulation
  - Kick detection
  - Well shut-In
  - Killsheet data
  
  

Well Control Methods

• Driller’s Method
• Wait & Weight Method
• Pump startup
• Sweeping the stack
• Risk of gas in riser
  
  

Kick Awareness

• Ballooning
• Riser margin
• Swabbing and surging
  
  

Barriers

• Subsea BOP stacks
• Lower marine riser package (LMRP)
• Risers
• Valves
• Connectors
• Control systems
  
  

Kick Detection – Review Of Warning Signs
Top-hole Drilling And Shallow Gas
Shut-In Procedures

Risk Management

• Emergency disconnect system (EDS)
• Emergency backup system
• ROV intervention
• Riser gas

Computer-Based WellSharp® Exam