World Oil
®
Originally appeared in
JANUARY 2015 issue, pgs 37-44. Used with permission.
SPECIAL FOCUS: WELL CONTROL & INTERVENTION
Virtual instructor takes well control training to the crew
As the offshore drilling
industry continues to move
into more challenging
environments, well control
is becoming increasingly
critical. A new digital system
allows rig crews to continually
practice their responses—
to a myriad of well control
situations—and facilitates
objective assessment of
drillers’ skill levels, knowledge
and training needs.
ŝŝDAN GILKEY, Check-6, and DAVID
GOULDIN, Seadrill Ltd.
Seadrill’s West Tellus is a sixth generation
DP3 drillship rated for a maximum water
depth of 12,000 ft.
Given the formidable regulatory, geological and operational challenges of today’s global offshore drilling industry,
the importance of instilling and sustaining well control competency has been
elevated to an unprecedented dimension.
Consequently, it has become apparent
that relying, solely, on the industry-accepted standard of biennial crew training
for mandatory well control certification is
wholly inadequate.
In a proactive response to this everchanging environment, Seadrill is advancing well control proficiency in the form of
new-generation interactive digital technology, which essentially brings continual
training directly to the crews throughout
its global fleet. Following a one-year trial
on eight rigs in the North Atlantic Drilling (NAD) division, the continually
evolving Well Control Virtual Instructor (VI) is now a training fixture on 51
of Seadrill’s operating rigs, and will be a
standard feature on 16 newbuilds coming in 2015 and 2016. At least one Well
Control VI system is in place on each of
the contractor’s jackups, while two are as-
signed to each of Seadrill’s drillships and
semisubmersibles. In addition, the repetitive computer-driven system has since
emerged as a key component in providing objective performance assessments as
part of Seadrill-specific training courses,
designed to promote qualified personnel
within the rig hierarchy, highlighted with
the Assistant Driller to Driller syllabus.
The immersive, easily deployable, well
control competency-maintenance training system capitalizes on the latest in
3D animation technologies, and it is patterned closely after the repetitive, handson, training scenarios long employed by
the military and first-responders. Indeed,
the aptly named system combines fighter
jet pilot-inspired computer simulation
with a virtual instructor, essentially replicating the same training management
system employed by the military, which
within 18 months converts non-pilots
into professionals fully qualified to fly an
F/A-18 fighter jet off a combat carrier,
at night and in combat conditions. Notably, in developing the Well Control VI,
Check-6 enlisted the instructional system
World Oil® / JANUARY 2015 1
WELL CONTROL & INTERVENTION
Fig. 1. The Well Control VI screen replicates the driller’s shack with real-time gauge
readings.
well as the procedures for properly managing secondary well control after shut-in.
The Well Control VI does not replace
the compulsory two-year International
Association of Drilling Contractors
(IADC) WellCAP certification or International Well Control Forum (IWCF)accreditation, but rather provides the
crew a tool that, in the meantime, allows
them to hone well control knowledge
and skills. Moreover, it does so without
incurring the expense, risk exposure and
morale issues associated with bringing
personnel, who are off-hitch, to a centralized training and testing facility.
TRAINING FOR THE NEW ERA
Fig. 2. The Well Control VI BOP console, showing the corresponding Interactive Course
Ware (ICW) that evaluates the student’s competency in responding to changing downhole
conditions.
designers from a leading aerospace company, which was responsible for the construction of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
training system. The same methodology
was customized into primary and secondary well control modules that have been
fully vetted, and validated by respected
industry and academic experts.
Fortunately, owing to thorough planning and extremely strict well barrier management, most rig hands will never have to
respond to a well control event in the real
world. Taking an actual kick, however, is
not the time for on-the-job training. Accordingly, the functionality of the Well
Control VI is rooted in the recognition that
unused skills deteriorate over time, and
that the industry’s long-established model,
2 JANUARY 2015 / WorldOil.com
of requiring drillers and other pertinent rig
hands to undergo well control training and
certification only every two years, is entirely insufficient to develop and retain a high
level of competency. The Well Control VI
addresses that inadequacy by providing
off-tour personnel with a vehicle to repeatedly, and anonymously, practice simulated
well control scenarios, until they become
second nature, thereby allowing the crews
to respond instinctively, and appropriately,
to kicks before they degrade into out-ofcontrol situations.
The current construct of the Well
Control VI comprises 126 training sessions engineered to assess and document
each crewmember’s readiness and competency in kick detection and shut-in, as
Over the past several years, the global
offshore industry has undergone a profound and well documented transformation, reflected in large part by the growing
number of wells being drilled in ever-increasing water depths and frequently targeting deeper and alien horizons within
HPHT and equally harsh downhole regimes. These extreme sedimentary environments invariably generate extremely
narrow margins between pore pressure
and fracture gradient, with the resulting
tight drilling windows leaving little room
for chance when it comes to safely managing pressures. In tandem with hostile
downhole conditions, the acceleration offshore of MPD, and similarly sophisticated
drilling techniques, has further magnified
well control competency as an imperative
knowledge set for all crews. Consequently,
Seadrill is among the contractors that have
intensified their efforts by adopting competency assurance training to maintain
crew skills during the two-year time lapse
between well-control recertification.
Regulatory oversight, likewise, has taken on a more prominent role in offshore
theaters across the world, especially in the
wake of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon
tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. The industry, in response, has steadily developed
new HSE standards and guidelines, many
of which are oriented toward well control
proficiency. The influential International
Association of Oil and Gas Producers
(OGP), for one, released its OGP 476
recommendations that, in part, conclude
that well control training must be more
role-specific and progressive than what is
now the universal standard. Specifically,
the OGP recommendations outline five
levels of both rotary-drilling well control
and well-intervention pressure-control
WELL CONTROL & INTERVENTION
training, using updated curricula and accredited examinations for critical positions. The IADC Well Control Committee last year also mandated increases in
simulation training for WellCAP-certified
well control schools.
The Well Control VI system exceeds
the requirements of both the OGP guidelines and the IADC mandate. As a casein-point, the system maintains crewmembers’ two-year competency and includes
training at OGP 476 levels three and four,
meaning that personnel begin their recertification training at a much higher level
than ever before. More importantly, it elevates expertise to a considerably higher
degree across the drilling operation.
With accessibility as simple as logging
into a standard video game, the Well Control VI provides a training medium where
the student must, for instance, identify the
cause and then react to real-time changes
in gauge readings, much like being physically positioned in the driller’s shack,
Fig. 1. By way of illustration, rather than
simply define how to identify a plugged
nozzle, the proprietary Downhole Vision
Module, built into the Well Control VI,
uses advanced 3D animation to visually
depict debris clogging the drill pipe with
gauges showing the pressure fluctuations
as they occur.
A corresponding Interactive Course
Ware (ICW) accompanies this and all
the other built-in complications and
situations deemed as requiring specified
learning objectives. In fact, the ICW is
where the true academic learning principals of the Well Control VI take place.
In the plugged nozzle case example, after
reviewing only the gauge measurements
and other visuals, the student will be
asked to identify the specific cause, based
on what is being shown on the screen, selecting from multiple choices, Fig. 2. To
avoid the chance of a lucky guess, if answering correctly the student must then
explain—again from multiple choices—
why the selected answer was the correct
one. The same process is used to lead the
student through the proper steps for remediating a plugged nozzle complication.
In addition, randomization is built into
the platform, so the student may encounter different scenarios with each session as
an additional safeguard against recognizing symptoms and reacting from memory.
In other words, every facet of the system
is designed as a tool for learning and not
simply training.
More importantly, the student can
practice all applicable procedures and
techniques as frequently as desired, increasing the retention rate considerably
to the point that the deviation becomes
smaller and the results more reliable.
Owing to the inherent repetitiveness and
the creation of experiences the student
may otherwise never receive, the proper
response to a well control situation becomes second nature.
The plugged nozzle scenario plainly
typifies the impetus behind the Well Control VI: Quantity and quality of experience
trumps years on the job, which, along with
personality, historically has been the industry’s primary criterion for assessing competencies. Since the virtual instructor is incapable of distinguishing the experienced
from the inexperienced, it eliminates the
inherent subjective nature of typical instructor-based training where favoritism,
typically, leans heavily toward the hand
with multiple years of experience.
ONE-OF-A-KIND PLATFORM
The platform upon which it is built
makes the Well Control VI the industry’s
only learning management system, which,
as its name implies, works through a virtual
instructor to objectively capture training
performance in real time. Conversely, conventional drilling training systems require
a physical instructor, who takes the class
through a prescribed program, after which
the students’ responses are graded, their
respective scores transferred to the designated location and, finally, recorded in
the specific learning management or tracking system being used. This unwieldy, but
common, process not only opens the door
for miscommunication and myriad errors,
but relies heavily on a single individual’s
subjective opinion of how the respective
student performed, and thus a potential
single point of failure. The Well Control
VI, on the other hand, is the only training
system in the industry that delivers a completely objective assessment.
By incorporating the Well Control
VI, training departments’ primary roles
would consist of tracking up-to-the-minute progression of hands in their training schedule, identifying precisely where
additional help is needed and generally
making training very targeted.
The genesis of what is now the Well
Control VI evolved from earlier work to
develop a computer-driven training system devoted to crane safety, long iden-
Fig. 3. The Well Control VI tripping
panel that leads students through the
identification and remediation of kicks
while tripping.
tified as one of the largest contributors
to lost-time incidents (LTI) on the rig.
Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon explosion on the Macondo deepwater well,
focus shifted to the engineering of a similar interactive training system, but one
oriented strictly to well control.
With its first iteration, and the one
placed originally on the eight NAD rigs,
the system included eight built-in training
lessons, consisting of numerous modules
covering the procedures for managing
secondary well control scenarios, post
shut-in. Like any new technology, the
first-generation Well Control VI system
on the NAD rigs encountered its share
of growing pains. Among the lessons
learned, and the one that resolved many
of the glitches early on, was the decision
to host the learning management system
on the Check-6 server. Doing so provided
a dedicated and singular focus, thereby
maintaining performance at an appreciably higher and consistent level.
More recently, the newest-generation
Well Control VI augmented the secondary post shut-in modules considerably
with the development of five primary
well control lessons, specifically comprising the identification and remediation
of kicks while drilling, tripping, making
connections, running casing and wireline
logging, Fig. 3. The current Well Control
VI model also includes ballooning and
complications modules, which, like all
the others, has an accompanying ICW,
specially designed to test competencies
for responding to each of the various well
control situations that are to be formally
scored, documented and tracked.
On the rig, the Well Control VI is, usually, accessed through a laptop in a chosen
location. However, if a more elaborate
World Oil® / JANUARY 2015 3
WELL CONTROL & INTERVENTION
Fig. 4. As part of a joint training partnership, Check-6 specialists conduct Well Control VI
training for Wild Well Control personnel.
Fig. 5. The Well Control VI platform allows company training departments to track the
well control competency of key rig hands.
system is desired, and the space is available, the learning management system
can be displayed on large screens and
within a dome configuration.
Exploiting the latest in video game
technology, the Downhole Vision Module very clearly illustrates the new-age
training approach designed into the Well
Control VI. With this module, the student
actually visualizes the origin and extent of
the pressure influx from the formation
and how the gas bubble migrates during
an influx. Consequently, the student can
actually see and come to fully understand
what occurs downhole.
Furthermore, internal with each of
the pre-built well control scenarios, the
student must complete the applicable rig
math. As such, during the session they
will be required, where appropriate, to
complete a number of calculations, such
as kill weight mud, effective weight muds
and hydrostatic pressures, among others.
Any incorrect calculation is immediately
pointed out by the virtual instructor,
4 JANUARY 2015 / WorldOil.com
which will then provide the applicable
formula, with the appropriate values, allowing the student to make the necessary
corrections as they go through the process. Typically, after working through the
Downhole Vision Module, and completing all the required calculations, the student will receive an actual kill sheet that
must be filled out completely.
Quite simply, the Well Control VI explains, through animation, rather than
often-canned lectures, exactly how to
identify a kick, and afterwards takes them
visually through the applicable shut-down
and shut-in procedures. As a result, the
Well Control VI adheres to the tenants
of behavioral research, which conclude
that humans retain 10% of what they read,
30% to 50% of what they see and hear, but
upwards of 90% of what they actually do.
In a related acknowledgment of basic
human nature, the so-called Sandbox feature has become one of the more popular components of the advanced learning
management system. The Sandbox al-
lows the student to anonymously practice well control exercises over and over,
without the inherent peer pressure that
comes with having their exercises scrutinized by colleagues and others, where not
making a mistake often takes precedence
over actual learning. The way it works is,
if an assistant driller, for instance, logs
into the Well Control VI using his/her
designated access credentials, a schedule
appears showing that they are required to
satisfactorily complete Driller’s Method,
First Circulation in 15 days. Before their
performance is to be actually graded and
documented, the assistant driller can
anonymously log-in to the Sandbox and
practice the exercise as many times as
needed to feel comfortably proficient.
While the name of the individual remains anonymous, the system administrator can track and graphically illustrate
overall performance trend lines, based
on aggregate results of those logging into
Sandbox. This capability provides a vehicle to document the group progression
of performance improvements, or lack
thereof, for a particular exercise. Again, by
way of example, data could reveal that as
a group, generic Sandbox scores of those
practicing the kick while tripping exercise
was 60% and four months later had improved to an 80% level.
As reinforced by military and firstresponder training, this repetitiveness
breeds competence. If someone has not
practiced kick detection and shut-in, they
would be ill-prepared to follow the proper
sequence of events that must be followed.
For example, he might immediately shut
down, whereas one who has practiced the
exercise frequently, would instantly know,
through practice and repetition, that the
correct response when taking a kick is to
first space-out, followed by shutting down
the pumps, then shutting in and monitoring the annular gallon count to ensure the
annulus is, in fact, fully closed.
It is also noteworthy that before any
module was incorporated into the system,
it was evaluated thoroughly, and often
re-evaluated, by industry experts. A number of petroleum industry and university
physicists, for instance, fully vetted the
physics models and other scientific components, to assure complete accuracy in
the final version. In addition, countless
highly experienced drilling personnel
reviewed the “look and feel” of the Well
Control VI in order to validate the system’s authenticity and user-friendliness.
WELL CONTROL & INTERVENTION
As a testament to its validity, the system
is a fundamental component of the joint
training partnership between Check-6
and Wild Well Control, announced at the
2014 Offshore Technology Conference
(OTC) in Houston, Fig. 4.
OBJECTIVITY RULES
The virtual instructor scores each crewmember on his or her performance of
every skill, or learning objective, tracking
every individual’s progress over time, regardless of location. An assistant driller, for
instance, can complete a session onboard a
rig off West Africa, and the results are easily
accessed and replayed, as needed, by designated personnel in the corporate office.
For operators, the system provides unbiased assurance that contractors meet or exceed industry standards, while contractors,
on the other hand, maintain the privacy
and security of their training records.
For each task the virtual instructor
evaluates, the student is assessed a score
that corresponds with his/her demonstrated competency level, with grading
standards ranging from:
4–Flawless performance
3–Minor errors, self-corrects, and
does not detract from overall performance
2–Moderate errors, self corrects
1–Significant errors, requires instructor assistance
0–Unable to accomplish task.
One is evaluated as being proficient
in the assigned task if scoring a two or
above on each objective, Fig. 5. A lesser
score requires the student to simply redo
the session until grading out at a two or
higher for all objectives. This systematically engineered training methodology
enables training managers to both clearly define and measure proficiency, and
make course adjustments based on the
results. In the future, it is hoped that all
scores eventually could be compiled into
a comparative analysis of the WellCAP
recertification grades.
The granularity built into the system
also provides an impartial means of looking at the resultant competencies in all the
individual skill sets. As such, administrators can look at the comparative performance of a group of drillers and ascertain,
for example, that they collectively are very
proficient in shutting in, but are less-thanproficient in bringing the pumps back up
to speed. By studying these trends, the
company can accurately determine specific areas that require additional training
across-the-board.
Since its offshore debut, the Well Control VI has been incorporated as a key
tool in Seadrill’s Dubai training center,
where eight units have been installed as a
cornerstone of the contractor’s Assistant
Driller to Driller curriculum—the first of
several planned courses designed to prepare and promote individuals to other rig
positions. The Well Control VI raises the
confidence level for promoting the right
personnel, at the right time, when they
are fully prepared and competent without
having to rely, solely, on subjective criteria, such as years of experience, personalities and word-of-mouth.
Going forward, the ingrained flexibil-
Article copyright © 2015 by Gulf Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ity of the Well Control VI will allow for
continual evolution, with the addition
and modification of modules and training tasks to meet new requirements as
they arise. Unchanged, however, will be
the singular focus on exponentially closing the gap between reliance on years of
experience to competency that is centered strictly around precise, knowledgebased criteria. Like the F-35 instructional
management system upon which it was
grounded, the Well Control VI accelerates experience to a higher level and helps
the industry meet its goal of developing
experts faster than ever before.
DANIEL GILKEY brings more than 22 years of
leadership experience to his current role as
Technical Sales director for Check-6 Training
Systems Inc. Over the last five years, he has
trained crews on more than 30 offshore rigs
worldwide, and has extensive experience
developing and teaching objective-based
planning and plan-based execution. Mr.
Gilkey is an expert in advanced simulation
training and instructional techniques, where
he leverages his extensive experience as a
U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Instructor Pilot and
simulator instructor with his offshore training
experience.
DAVID GOULDIN is a 40-year veteran of
the oil industry. He has been continually
operations-focused in a variety of senior
management positions during numerous
worldwide assignments, including the Middle
East, West Africa, Asia, South America and the
Norwegian Arctic. Today, he is responsible for
Well Control Compliance within the Seadrill
fleet, based at their headquarters in London.
During his career, Mr. Gouldin has seen the
introduction of third-, fourth-, fifth- and
sixth-generation rigs, along with the growth
and sophistication of well control equipment
installed on these units.
Printed in U.S.A.
World Oil® / JANUARY 2015 5
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