Well planning is a first step for any new exploration. With Macondo still in recent memory, many operators have stepped up their game in incorporating competent, well-trained engineers into their strategy as an added barrier against well control incidents.

Shell Exploration & Production recently showcased the latest evolution of its Advanced Well Control course at its Research Center in Rijswijk, The Nether-lands. The company’s program is not new; it has applied additional training to new graduates since 1973. However, the program was validated in 2010 as the world witnessed what can happen as the result of an improper well design.

(Image courtesy of Shell Exploration & Production)

Part of the goal for Shell is to raise the industry standard. “It starts with confidence,” said Peter Sharpe, executive vice president Wells, Shell. “If you don’t have the confidence to do the task, then you haven’t built the right foundation within your organization,” he said.

Part of the confidence Shell places in its well design engineers comes from the recent move to add accreditation to the well design engineer’s checklist.

Shell as an organization operates approximately 17,000 active wells, invests US $10 billion per year into its upstream efforts, and currently has 140 active rigs drilling new wells globally. All of this is handled by 1,700 people on staff in Shell’s Wells group. “One thing all of these members have in common is that each employee started our basic training program when they joined as college graduates,” Sharpe said.

Each graduate engineer spends the first four years with Shell learning how to design wells and how to manage well operations safely. The program is externally accredited through the International Well Control Forum (IWCF) using its Advanced IWCF standard and through the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), both of which are highly regarded in the industry as certification authorities.

The program is not a soft sell. On average, only 80% of the graduates who join Shell actually complete it successfully. To move ahead within the organization, each new employee must complete the full course and pass two rounds of final examinations. In addition, a trade test is administered to each consultant hired. The company’s Advanced Well Control course followed by an examination is available to current employees and is a mandatory requirement for all operations staff every two years.

“The goal for us is to have the best trained people in the industry,” Sharpe said. The end result for Shell is confidence in its process safety management. “We know from a starting point that all of our people are competent,” he said.

In the US Gulf, new requirements call for a professional engineer to sign off on all new well plans. This new requirement has been handled primarily by chemical engineers due to the fact that there is no licensing requirement within the industry for well design engineers.

In the future, this could change. Most people would not board a plane without knowing that a certified pilot, granted a license through a regulatory agency, was in the cockpit. Why should qualifications for operating in high-risk drilling environments be any different?