On 22-23 August, IADC held the Well Control Conference of the Americas & Exhibition at The Ritz Carlton in New Orleans. This event examined the innovations that are shaping the future of well control, from technology to personnel competencies. The conference program focused on timely technical presentations highlighting recent developments and innovations in technology, techniques, training, management systems, and a wide variety of other topics that affect well control. The featured address, “Drilling Contractors Perspective,” was delivered by Josh Price, Vice President Operations – US Drilling at Nabors, and Chris McGehee, Technical Training Manager at Noble.
Extending support to the leaders of tomorrow, IADC proudly sponsored four students from the IADC Student Chapter at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to attend the conference. The following officers from the IADC Student Chapter at UL Lafayette were in attendance:
- Cory Ostrander – President
- Coreil Dantin – Vice President
- Ezekial Tarin – Treasurer
- John Sweeny – Secretary
Drilling Contractor Interviews from the 2023 Well Control Conference of the Americas
Careful planning needed to mitigate risks involved in MPD operations
Managed pressure drilling (MPD) can be a great tool when operating in challenging basins, and the utilization of MPD services has grown steadily in the past few years, says Adam Keith, MPD Product Champion at Patterson-UTI. However, using MPD often comes with additional complexities and challenges not seen in conventional drilling, he added. In this video interview with DC from the 2023 IADC Well Control Conference of the Americas, Mr. Keith talks about how drilling contractors can mitigate risks associated with MPD operations. Among other things, he discusses the MPD Operations Matrix, an API operational guide for drilling MPD sections.
IADC Riser Gas Handling Guidelines aim to boost safety and efficiency in deepwater
Earlier this year, the IADC Underbalanced Operations and Managed Pressure Drilling (UBO & MPD) Committee released the Riser Gas Handling Guidelines. These guidelines are designed to address challenges associated with gas in the riser during deepwater drilling while utilizing surface back pressure MPD or installed riser gas handling systems. The utilization of this equipment can significantly change riser gas handling in deepwater – without it, gas in the riser events can potentially lead to uncontrolled riser unloading, said Oscar Gabaldon, Chairman of the Gas in the Riser Subcommittee. Speaking to DC from the 2023 IADC Well Control Conference of the Americas, Mr. Gabaldon discusses the subcommittee’s work in drafting the guidelines, as well as their potential value for the industry.
Pruitt MPD Services VP: Barrier management key to safe execution of MPD operations
Managed pressure drilling (MPD) techniques have proven to be reliable and safe when drilling difficult onshore wells, and it is now widely used as an enabling method for drilling complex offshore wells. The equipment on the rig serves as a barrier preventing influx of fluids from flowing unintentionally from the formation into the wellbore and is critical to safely executing MPD operations. The drilling industry has a number of tools and guidelines available to help drillers identify these barriers, said Martyn Parker, VP of Pruitt MPD Services. Mr. Parker speaks to DC about these tools, which include the IADC Guidance for UBO and MPD Techniques for Land Operations. He also discusses new guidance that is currently under development, such as API RP79-2, “Tripping Guidelines for MPD Operations.”
Thank you to everyone who attended, presented, exhibited, sponsored, and organized this conference!
