News Cuttings

IADC North Sea Chapter holds annual ceremony to recognize excellence in safety

The IADC North Sea Chapter (NSC) recognized excellence in safety performance during its Annual Safety Awards Ceremony in Aberdeen on 20 April.

Rowan Drilling’s Peter Wilson, who serves as Chapter Chairman, welcomed a capacity audience to the ceremony. “This event is our opportunity to applaud the efforts of our workforce in the vital area of safety,” he said. “Despite continuing challenging times, we should take heart from those safety leaders who strive to achieve the safest working environment possible, and I encourage everyone to consider how they can support them and make a difference.”

The award for best safety performance in jackups went to Ensco for rigs working over 1 million manhours and to North Atlantic Drilling for rigs working under 1 million manhours. Transocean was the winner in the category of floating rigs with over 1 million manhours, and Diamond Offshore in the under 1 million manhours category. The winner for platform drilling was Odfjell Drilling. Chairman’s Awards, which recognize individual rigs and their crews, went to Ensco 92, Ensco (jackup); WilPhoenix, Awilco Drilling (floating rig); and Scott, KCA Deutag (platform). The Associate Member Award went to Hoover Ferguson.

The event raised money for the Grampian Autistic Society and the Oil Chaplaincy Trust Fund.

IADC Nigeria Chapter holds HSE awards ceremony

The IADC Nigeria Chapter held its Annual HSE Awards ceremony on 17 May in Lagos. The chapter has worked on three major initiatives in the past four years – annual safety statistics award ceremony/database, technical sessions and training gap analysis. From left are Toks Akinuli, Chapter Secretary; Ote Enaibe, Chapter Chairman; Adesua Ero, Cardinal Drilling; Oreva Ofulue, Cardinal Drilling; Hisham Zebian, IADC; Moyo Cole, Chapter Administrator; and Chuks Enwereji, Chapter Vice Chairman.

IADC Cybersecurity Committee Hosts Workshop in Norway

On 12 April, the IADC Cybersecurity Committee hosted a cybersecurity workshop in Stavanger, Norway. More than 30 people attended to discuss legislative and standardization activities, guidelines for network segmentations, automation systems and cybersecurity integrity and risk management and the NIST cybersecurity framework. Also on the agenda were two guidelines that have been published by the committee – the IADC Guidelines for Assessing and Managing Cybersecurity Risks to Drilling Assets, and the IADC Guidelines for Baseline Cybersecurity for Drilling Assets. After the workshop, the group toured the ULLRIGG Drilling and Well Centre.

IADC Brazil Chapter works with government, industry groups to prevent changes to Repetro

The IADC Brazil Chapter, represented by its Executive Secretary, Dr Leandro Luzone, recently worked with several industry groups to help prevent the advance of a bill that would have changed Repetro in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Repetro is a special customs regime that allows the import of specific equipment to be used directly in oil and gas research and mining activities without incurring federal taxes. This enables the temporary entry into the country of high-value equipment for use in oil and gas E&P.

The bill, which had been advanced by the Rio de Janeiro Parliament, intended to limit the tax limit to only the exploration phase. The justification was that the state of Rio de Janeiro could not lose out on tax revenues due to the country’s ongoing financial crisis. Under the pretext of increasing revenues in the short term, the proposed bill would have led to job losses in the state in the medium and long terms, as companies that are currently working in Rio de Janeiro may opt to work in other tax-exempt states.

ULL Student Chapter members attend MPD/UBO conference; tour Weatherford facility

In April, five students from the IADC Student Chapter at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) were invited to attend the 2018 SPE/IADC Managed Pressure Drilling & Underbalanced Operations Conference in New Orleans. Pictured are Damon Emmitt (from left), Allison Morency, Garrett Mallires, Kassie Comeaux and Colby Williford.

ULL chapter students also were invited to tour Weatherford’s technical research facility in April. The students were able to view MPD systems and risers, among other technical equipment, during the tour, which was organized by Neal Richard, North America Technical Manager at Weatherford.

Brad Green Recognized for IADC Subcommittee leadership

IADC President Jason McFarland recently presented Brad Green, Category Advisor and Global Sourcing with Ensco, with an award recognizing him for his leadership of the IADC Manufacturing Record Book (MRB) Subcommittee. The group recently released Revision 1 of the MRB Guidance document. Mr Green has positioned the subcommittee to publish a second revision by late 2018.

More than 50 members participate in IADC Caspian Chapter’s Inaugural Golf Tournament

The IADC Caspian Chapter hosted a golf tournament, the Chairman’s Trophy, on 26 May in Baku, Azerbaijan. More than 50 chapter members participated in the inaugural event. Bruce Ferguson, Drilling Manager for SOCAR AQS and IADC Caspian Chapter Chairman, said, “We are delighted to have established the Chairman’s Trophy in the infancy of the IADC Caspian Chapter. We are grateful for all of our member companies who joined us to sponsor what will become an annual chapter event.”