WICOverview.

qxd 12/14/05 9:08 AM Page 52

WELL INTERVENTION AND CONTROL

OVERVIEW
This year, we have witnessed the continuation of a general upward Well Intervention
trend in the worldwide rig count that started in the second quarter of and Control
2002. The Baker Hughes U.S. rig count published 11 November 2005
additional reading
stood at 1,479. In the U.S. alone, this increase translates into at least
available at the
12,500 people being hired to work on the approximately 750 rigs put
SPE eLibrary:
to work in the last 3 years. Almost 4,000 of those people were hired to
man the 228 rigs placed in operation during the last year alone. One must wonder what www.spe.org
effect this growth has on the number of well-control situations encountered.
SPE 92626
“Modeling Ultradeepwater
The first line of defense against well-control events is a knowledgeable rig crew—not just Blowouts and Dynamic Kills
the tool pusher and driller, but each person on the crew. Inexperience shows up in dif- and the Resulting Blowout-
ferent forms at various levels. There have been many cases in which routine kicks were Control Best-Practices
allowed to escalate into critical situations because someone did not report what should Recommendations,” by Samuel
have been an obvious sign of the well flowing. An example: an inexperienced floor hand F. Noynaert, SPE, BP, et al.
sees flow over the shale shaker with the pumps off but is not aware of the significance.
SPE 93956
The upper-level positions of the rig crew and the drilling supervisor are expected to have “High-Pressure/High-
the knowledge and experience to deal with influxes effectively when they occur. Temperature Coiled-Tubing
Intervention Operations in the
Inexperience at this level often results in kicks being taken that should have been avoid-
North Sea Within the Past 2
ed and routine kicks being allowed to escalate because of improper handling. Inadequate
Years,” by A. Turner, SPE,
circulation before pulling out of the hole and improper implementation of kick-circula- Halliburton, et al.
tion procedures are often-cited examples that result in these situations.
SPE 92594
Keeping experienced personnel on the rigsite during a sustained upswing, such as the one “Development of a Screening
we have experienced over the last few years, is a monumental task. Fortunately, there seems System To Identify Deepwater
to be an increased awareness of the importance of this experience compared with the last Wells at Risk for Annular-
“boom” cycle. This awareness can be seen in the additional focus on rig-crew training and Pressure Buildup,” by U.B.
other structured programs designed to minimize well-control incidents. Consequently, the Sathuvalli, SPE, Blade Energy
number of serious well-control events is, at least for now, well below the proportionate Partners, et al.
increase in the rig fleet. Operators and drilling contractors that are driving these efforts
should be commended. JPT

David Barnett, SPE, is Vice President of Engineering for Wild Well Control Inc., a com-
pany specializing in firefighting, well-control, and engineering services. He has more than
20 years of drilling, snubbing, coiled-tubing, and well-control experience. Barnett’s expe-
rience includes work as a drilling engineer, rig superintendent, snubbing supervisor, and
well-control specialist. He has been involved with the planning and implementation of
numerous relief-well, high-pressure-snubbing, and well-recovery operations. Barnett was
a team leader in the Kuwait project and has worked on well-control projects in many coun-
tries around the world. He holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from the U. of
Houston and serves on the JPT Editorial Committee.

52 JPT • JANUARY 2006