American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2017 - 73

SpecialReport: Insurance Update
to ensure that all contractors and employees on a site are
practicing open communications so everyone understands the
activity taking place on a given day.
This also makes hiring qualified contractors and having
good contract terms even more critical. Develop a formal
process for attracting qualified candidates; having a well-written
job description detailing the essential functions of the position-
including any physical demands-helps in finding the right
workers for the job.
For a business owner, it has a lot to do with understanding
the hiring, training and safety practices of the contractors and
service providers that they are using to construct or service a
well. Hiring the lowest bidders is not always cost-effective in
the long run, especially if they are not safe and a loss occurs.
Tools are available online to help companies define job
functions and associated safety risks. For instance, Travelers'
risk control portal provides a functional job analysis to help
customers evaluate and understand a position's tasks and physical
demands. To identify safety issues, we recommend the job
safety analysis tool, which helps companies understand the
hazards associated with a specific job and helps define procedures
to address potential exposures.
The interview process can be a critical component in helping
select a candidate who will align with the company's core
safety values. For example, behavioral interviews give the interviewer the opportunity to assess a candidate's responses to
"what if" questions by using role-based scenarios, as well as
assess critical thinking skills.
Pad operations in horizontal resource plays have introQ:
duced new operational complexities in field development.
What do you see as the biggest risk factors in pad operations?
How are insurers responding to challenges unique to horizontal
drilling and hydraulic fracturing in tight oil and shale gas plays?
BOQUIST: Conducting simultaneous operations on a well
pad is a significant enhancement to oil and gas recovery,
bringing many innovations to the production process on a well
site. As the modern well pad comes closer to resembling the
complexity of a high-rise construction project, the choreography
and the process have become increasingly challenging.
The biggest risk factors lie with the number of contractors
on a site at one time during these simultaneous operations (for
example, a multiwell site typically will have a driller, a
completion crew, a fracturing contractor, a wireline contractor
and more). The operator, which is ultimately responsible for the
project, should have contractor management controls in place
to help minimize problems in each phase of well construction.
The drilling plan includes all of these players, but even the
best-laid plans can be affected by delays, errors and unforeseen
events. This is why it is so important that daily, broad job safety
analyses and contractor safety meetings take place to discuss
activities and exposures at length.
Looking specifically at the potential for cross-well comQ:
munication during pad site operations, what recommendations would you offer to help prevent communicationrelated well control issues?
BOQUIST: Communication between wells always has been
an exposure when drilling new wells and can be complicated
even further with multiwell sites. Knowing what wells are in
the area is critical. We suggest mapping this out before beginning

any multiwell site. Active wells typically are shut in and
monitored during the well stimulation process. These wells
should be monitored for changes in pressure.

Challenging The Status Quo
MOHAMED AMER | Wild Well Control Inc.

How do you summarize well control risk on pad sites
Q:
with multiple horizontal wells? What are the biggest
risk factors? Are there any potential "blind spots" that oil and gas
companies should be aware of during drilling and completion
operations that could put a well or pad at higher risk of frac hits
or other well control problems?
AMER: Well control risk mitigation starts with challenging
the status quo. Multiwell pad drilling has become the standard
drilling method in the lower-48, and with the more cost synergies
and efficiencies gained in the past few years, the key performance
indicators (KPIs) have evolved to reflect a "cheaper and faster"
model rather than "more efficient and safer" model. A comprehensive model should be developed to integrate planning through
visualization, real-time and post-drilling data to help identify
hidden lost times and deficiencies to improve the overall performance and well control safety aspects of the well.
There is more than one perspective on the well control risks
associated with the multiwell pad developments, but risks on
pad sites can be grouped into four categories: pad design, well
construction, well placement and hydraulic fracturing.
Normally, pads are designed to achieve maximum operational
efficiency during drilling, completion, remediation and production
phases. Because of construction costs and environmental impact
reduction efforts, pad design involves a compromise between
minimized footprint and operational sizing requirements. It is
common for well control considerations to be unaccounted for
during the pad design phase. An example of the well considerations
includes confining a well control incident to the problem well
without inducing collateral damage to surrounding wells. Asset
integrity, personnel safety and business continuity are all key
risks during a well control event that have the potential of intensified impact on pad sites because of the increased number
of high-density spacing wells.
With regard to well construction risks, pad wells strike a fine
balance between operational efficiency and economic considerations. This can be attributed to the fact that the target formations
in unconventional plays have very low permeabilities that do
not allow for fluid flow while drilling without hydraulic
fracturing. These tight formation conditions have resulted in
what we call "complacent" well design. Well control capacities
at hole section total depths have been altered from a primary
concern (a "must have") into secondary design criteria (a "nice
to have").
Because of the economic considerations, multiple wells can
be drilled with no well control issues while one or two can
cause costly well control problems. The higher risk appetite
while drilling these wells can overrule safe well construction
design aspects. Wells are now more often experiencing well
control issues (e.g., gains masking losses) that involve low-permeability zones with higher pore pressures. In order to meet
these challenges with a sustainable solution, a well control risk
management program that identifies, analyzes and mitigates
these issues should be adopted by operators with a commitment
DECEMBER 2017 73

American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2017

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