News cuttings

OEC recognizes IADC, Spackman as technology pioneers

At the annual Offshore Energy Center (OEC) gala on 27 September, IADC was recognized with an election to the Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame as a Technology Pioneer. IADC was awarded the honor in the category of Health Safety and Environment for work on API Recommended Practice 75.

Additionally, Alan Spackman, IADC Vice President, Policy, Government and Regulatory Affairs, was individually recognized as a Technology Pioneer in the same category.

“These awards recognize the special role IADC plays in the industry and the value that we add to our members toward improving performance for the drilling industry. In particular, the individual recognition of Alan Spackman as a Technology Pioneer is well-deserved,” commented Steve Colville, IADC President and CEO.

The awards, presented annually, recognize innovations that stand out in the development of the offshore industry and its resources.

“This award recognizes the entire group of people who initially developed RP 75. It also recognizes the industry’s initial steps to develop guidance on safety management systems for the offshore industry,” Mr Spackman said. “Work continues and must necessarily continue to keep pace with the ever-changing nature of offshore operations.”

IADC releases drilling manual eBooks

Stand-alone chapters of the 12th edition of the IADC Drilling Manual have been issued in electronic form. More than 100 technical experts contributed to the first major rewrite of the manual in 22 years.

Currently, 13 chapters of the updated Drilling Manual are available via the IADC Bookstore, and more will be released throughout 2014 and 2015.

“The updated IADC Drilling Manual is a major deliverable of IADC and represents thousands of hours of work by a dedicated group of renowned industry experts. The new and updated content reflects the latest technologies developed over the last 22 years,” said Mike Killalea, IADC Group Vice President and Publisher.

The eBooks are compatible with most eReaders, including DL Reader (mobile devices), BlueFire, Adobe Digital Editions and more. Hard copies of the 12th edition of the IADC Drilling Manual are expected to be released in 2015.

Click here to access the IADC Bookstore and Drilling Manual eBooks.

IADC committees host workshops on drilling technology advances, cybersecurity

Two IADC committees recently hosted workshops to address pressing industry needs.

The IADC Drilling Engineers Committee hosted a 3Q Technology Workshop on 15 September. The event focused on new technologies and their ability to lower overall costs and add value.

Presenters at the workshop discussed advances in drilling automation, real-time data/decision capabilities, drill bits, horizontal cementing optimization, water management, purpose-built rigs that enable multilaterals and stacked shale plays while reducing the overall footprint and optimized fracture design.

On 9 October, the IADC Advanced Rig Technology Committee, in conjunction with the Drilling Control Systems Subcommittee, hosted a Cybersecurity Workshop. The event outlined the goals and plans of the new workgroup, Cybersecurity – Drilling Control Systems. The workgroup will build recommendations based on existing cybersecurity standards.

Click  here to view an exclusive video with Cybersecurity Task Group Leader Siv Hilde Houmb about the group’s goals and planned activities.

IADC establishes quality committee

The committee is seeking support from industry professionals who oversee their company’s vendor quality, vendor surveillance, QA/QC, process improvement or operational excellence.

Potential committee activities include:

• To provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge, best practices and ideas.
• To establish, implement and manage an IADC quality audit program for suppliers and other IADC members.
• To develop an IADC-specific quality management system and develop an IADC equipment-specific quality specifications and IADC service/maintenance-specific quality specifications.
• To review, recommend, develop and publish guidelines to be used by the drilling industry in the manufacture of equipment and/or design of services and service-related products.

For more information, please contact Elfriede Neidert at elfriede.neidert@iadc.org.

Click here to access the Quality Committee webpage.

More positions added to KSA competencies database

The IADC Knowledge, Skill and Ability competencies (KSA) database has been expanded to include competencies for marine operations, technical maintenance and companyman. These were added to the existing KSAs launched in June 2014.

The KSA competencies represent IADC’s effort to offer a comprehensive guideline of globally accepted core competency benchmarks for rig-based positions. The database is available via IADC’s website free of charge. It allows users to generate a unique set of competencies based on position, rig type and operational environment, providing a tool to demonstrate personnel qualifications.

The KSA competencies project initially began in 2001, with the development of KSAs for 12 rig positions. In 2012, at the request of both regulators and the industry, IADC assembled a team to update and expand on the original work to reflect advancements in industry technology. Subject matter experts from across the industry participated in multiple work groups to define competencies by functional category. The output of that work is the creation of KSA competencies for more than 70 rig-based positions.

The KSA competencies serve a variety of purposes for industry users. They can be used to build or evaluate in-house competency programs and assess personnel capabilities and qualifications by building assessment guides. Further, they can be used to build personnel development tools by identifying competency strengths and can assist in the development of career advancement pathways.

“The KSA workgroups have worked diligently to get the most accurate information for all rig positions,” said Brooke Polk, IADC Competence and Learning Development Specialist. “The work on Phase 1 is complete and represents an outstanding effort by a dedicated group of industry experts. Members of our workgroups are looking forward to Phase II of the project, which will expand to include KSAs for additional positions and add new features to the database.”

Click here to access the IADC KSA competencies database.

IADC staff tours Helmerich & Payne yard, rig near Midland

On 11 September, IADC staff members toured Helmerich & Payne (H&P) facilities in Midland, Texas. Stephen Colville, President and CEO; Bob Warren, Vice President of Onshore Operations; and Rhett Winter, Director of Onshore Operations, toured the H&P yard and warehouse facility. One new FlexRig is being completed and mobilized per week from this facility.

The IADC staffers also participated in an orientation of the H&P system for safety alerts, JSAs and communications. The group then toured Rig 605 and received a first-hand look at H&P operations.