Anyone who was alive and had media access in 1991 probably remembers the images of huge oilfield fires burning across Kuwait in the wake of the Iraqi invasion of that country. Folks like Red Adair became household names as the struggle to fight the raging inferno was portrayed on the news.

But there's more to well control companies than putting out spectacular blazes. Over the past few years, their focus has shifted to embrace not only disaster response but disaster contingency planning as well. As blowouts and well fires become better understood and as computer technology continues to improve, these companies are able to offer a suite of contingency planning services that aim to reduce the risk to property and personnel on dangerous drilling assignments.

Most operators have some sort of emergency contingency planning incorporated into their standard drilling procedures. But often they lack the staff to analyze the drilling hazard-related issues that could result in a kick, blowout or even fire. And increasingly they've been willing to turn to the experts, the well control companies, to provide this additional analysis.

Contingency planning

Contingency planning primarily addresses the company's planned response in case of a well control incident. Well control engineers sit down with an operator and review its emergency response plan, adjusting it to address specific issues that might have been overlooked.

"We look at the organization they've set up and tailor it if necessary for well control incidents," said Daniel Eby, an engineering manager for Cudd Well Control. "Most of the time we go to the customer's office, go over the plans with them and learn a bit about their corporate culture and how they're likely to react to a well control event."

For instance, he said, in some companies well control is primarily the remit of the drilling department, so even if a producing well blows out due to corroded casing, management of that event is handed to them from the production department. Other companies are just the opposite.
Overall, the best contingency planning happens when there is a strong, consistent relationship between the operator and the well control company. "The better the relationship, the more likely they are to call on us earlier in the event," Eby said. He explained that a well control problem doesn't come from out of the blue; there's usually a chain of events that, if not interrupted, will eventually lead to a serious incident.
Most operators categorize these into levels. A Level 1 incident is not particularly serious. Level 2 incidents are more serious - the well has not yet blown out, but complications are arising that can't easily be handled by the rig crew. Level 3 incidents are the biggies that make the news. If a longstanding relationship has developed between the operator and the well control company, the latter is more likely to be brought in early in a Level 2 occurrence, before things get really ugly.

Contingency planning is not necessarily custom-made for each individual well, although wells that have potential issues such as high pressures or temperatures might get the custom treatment. Other concerns must also be taken into account - a blowout is going to be a much more serious concern in a highly populated or environmentally sensitive area, for instance.

More often a company like Cudd works with an operator to design a plan for a region, perhaps the Gulf Coast or offshore or deep water.

"It's hard to write a plan that can cover the US and the Middle East, but you can write a plan for the entire US," Eby said.

According to a brochure from Wild Well Control, well control modeling can be performed to identify:
• Kick tolerance for critical well sections;
• Kick circulation behavior based on hole section and encompassing hole angle, hole geometry, mud type, maximum calculated casing pressure, pressure schedules and maximum equivalent circulating density at shoe or specified weak point;
• Maximum gas flow rate during kick circulation;
• Critical kick volume per hole section considering possible kick intensity, influx type and other factors;
• Recommended well control procedures and special considerations for various scenarios; and
• Volumetric well control procedures and expected pressures for kicks off bottom, out of hole or plugged bottomhole assembly.

A rig audit addresses the additional problems that can arise due to lack of basic well control equipment on site. Simple kicks can escalate into blowouts because of a lack of equipment, improper rig-up of the equipment or mechanical failure. Rig crews are put through well control awareness orientation to enhance the understanding of blowouts and stress the importance of early kick detection and proper shut-in procedures. And an emergency response document provides an action plan for various well control incidents ranging from a simple kick to a major blowout. The plan lists duties and responsibilities for each response team member, enhancing the making of decisions in a timely fashion.

Extra insurance

It behooves operators to take these things into account. Insurance rates have risen in recent years as even non-well control incidents like the sinking of Petrobras' P-36 have made insurers leery of the industry. According to Bill Mahler, vice president of corporate development for Wild Well Control, the market may have begun to soften, but rates are still high.

In response, Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. launched the Wellsure Program in 1997. Allying itself with Global Special Risks and Lloyd's of London, the Wellsure package includes a full range of well control prevention and post-response services as part of clients' insurance packages
Pre-planning includes a well plan review, an engineering analysis of the mechanical design and operational drilling plan for any well that meets the critical well definition, according to the requirements of the control-of-well insurance policy. According to the Boots & Coots Web site, primary goals of the analysis are to provide reasonable suggestions and recommendations to the company's engineering operations group involving meaningful well control issues and to provide a record to certify that the drilling plan conforms to industry-accepted practices and to support the operator during any well control difficulty.

If an event does occur, Boots & Coots acts as the general contractor and will project-manage the event on behalf of the operator. While the operator maintains control of the decision-making process, well control personnel will handle:

• Control of well operations
• Surface and subsurface engineering intervention
• Planning
• Logistics
• Procurement
• Public relations and reporting to government agencies.

Overall, operators seem to be receptive to the types of "consultancy" services increasingly be offered by well control specialists. Eby said that the Kuwait fires helped to raise awareness of the services that can be provided, and well control engineering is a service that is catching on in popularity as operators realize that they no longer have the expertise in-house.

Added Mahler, "There has been some hesitance, but overall the reception has been good - especially when the benefits become obvious."

Comments