Well control course launched
30 Jul 2014
A free online course aimed at improving awareness of the life cycle of an oil well has been launched in response to the 2010 disaster at BP’s Macondo field in the Gulf of Mexico.
The International Well Control Forum (IWCF) course will have a particular emphasis on well control and is aimed at everyone working in the oil and gas industry and those planning on entering the sector.
The free e-learning initiative will be available on IWCF’s website before the end of the year and supports IWCF’s drive for increasing understanding of how well control events can occur, their consequences and prevention methods following the recommendations from the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) after the Macondo tragedy.
It will give insights into how we can all work together to make the offshore environment a safer place to work
IWCF CEO David Price
BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Macondo Field in April 2010 suffered a well blowout and subsequent explosion that created the largest marine oil spill in history.
“Introducing free basic awareness training is in direct response to some of the recommendations made by OGP following the Macondo incident as we believe that it will help to increase basic well competency and offshore safety,” said IWCF chief executive David Price.
“We would urge anyone with an interest in the oil and gas industry from university students to people working in onshore roles to get involved as it will give a lot of interesting insights into how we can all work together to make the offshore environment a safer place to work.”
The training will start with a scene setter on how reservoirs are formed and the lifecycle of a well through to drilling and intervention activity and finally hazards, prevention methods and industry techniques to deal with a blowout with real life examples on Macondo and other incidents. The online programme is being designed and built by Oilennium, part of the Petrofac Group.
