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NobleAdvances Featured in Journal of Petroleum Technology

NobleAdvances Featured in Journal of Petroleum Technology

Since 2013, more than 6,500 students have passed through Noble’s drilling training facility located just outside of Houston. The building was meant to get the firm’s crews trained up on the newest breed of cyber-based drilling rigs.

But amid the slowdown in offshore activity, the company’s  training arm— NobleAdvances—is looking to enroll student crews from oil companies and the service companies they use on their projects.

NobleAdvances: What It Takes To Drill an Offshore Well
"Operators are seeing this as the best way to go before a well is drilled,” he said, adding, “In this downturn, everyone is focused on financial security—and how you get that is by drilling efficient wells.”

Human Factors & Crew Resource Management

 

By: Paulo Moritz

Human Factors and Crew Resource Management (CRM) are generating buzz in the drilling industry. Defined as the “interaction of individuals with each other, with facilities and equipment and with management systems” (IOGP 502, 2014), Human Factors are already embedded in the aviation industry. The concept of CRM has been growing in other high-risk industries such as health care, firefighting and maritime. The battle against human error is not new to the drilling industry, but a CRM approach brings a focused way to address it.

CRM focuses on techniques to enhance crucial non-technical skills to provide the knowledge, skills, and motivation to:

  • Be aware of our limitations and learn to work together to account for it
  • Perform effectively as a team
  • Reinforce and practice the ‘speak up’ culture
  • Create a safer work environment

There are two important concepts that are fundamental to the implementation of CRM/human factors training:
  1. CRM is not a soft skill - Although a standalone course to introduce the concepts and emphasize the importance of non-technical skills is recommended, the tools and techniques should be inserted in existing courses and blended with the technical training. (I.e., apply situation awareness tools and elements to HMIs and system monitoring.)
  2. CRM is a safety issue - A broad study made by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) found that over 80% of the investigated accidents in UK, Australia, and Canada were “directly associated with the occurrence of human error”. An increasing number of catastrophes have been caused by poor situation awareness, leadership and decision making. The same study identified poor situational awareness, communication, and failure to cope with performance shaping factors such as stress and fatigue as major root causes for human errors incidents. (ABS 2004 - Maritime Accidents and Human Performance: The Statistical Trail).
At NobleAdvances we offer different options for oil & gas professionals to learn, practice and repeat nontechnical skills while facing realistic drilling and completion scenarios. A blend of technical challenges and simulation-based activities allows NobleAdvances students to integrate nontechnical skills into on-site operations.

Human Factors & Crew Resource Management are integrated into all NobleAdvances classes in form of case studies, simulated exercises, and activities. Each of our IADC & IWCF Well Control Courses include time in a full-sized conventional simulator for students to practice stripping exercises. The Well Site Management Simulation which is designed for Drilling Foremen, Engineers, and corporate personnel. Our full-sized & realistic dynamic positioning, engineering and drill floor simulators test students in challenging environments they could see in the field.  

Do Well Site Leaders Know Enough About Station Keeping?

Do Well Site Leaders Know Enough About Station Keeping?

Introduction to Dynamic Positioning - 2 Day Workshop

Though a Well Site Leader is the decision maker for the entire deepwater asset, the majority of his / her focus is on the drilling process. What happens if we lose a thruster? Why do yellow and red drift-off times matter? Will that incoming squall affect tripping speeds? In a Class 3 DP Simulator students will learn the necessity of station keeping and its key interactions with the drilling process.

Are you making informed decisions?

Class Date:
June 19th - 20th

Time:
8:30am - 5:00pm
Lunch Provided

Blending IADC WellSharp and Advanced Simulation Technology

Blending IADC WellSharp and Advanced Simulation Technology

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Blending Advanced Simulation with Theoretical Knowledge

Strictly following IADC WellSharp curriculum & IOGP recommendations, NobleAdvances' IADC WellSharp Supervisor Level Course covers both well control theory and practical exercises. Participants engage in activities designed to gauge understanding of well control in both the smaller DS-20 well control simulators and our full-sized DS-5000 conventional drilling simulator.

Having honed our drilling operations for the past 97 years, NobleAdvances has distilled the necessary knowledge from our fleet of rigs into well control policies, procedures & industry best practices.

Every student gets to experience stripping exercises in our full-size conventional drilling simulator at our State-of-the-Art Facility in Sugar Land, TX.

Course Content:

  • Theory and Calculations
  • Small Group Discussions
  • Data Sheets and Kill Sheet
  • Kick Prevention Methods
  • Proctored Examination

Simulator Exercises:

  • Kill Sheet for Vertical Wells
  • Practical Simulator Testing
  • Identify Warning Signs of a Kick
  • Shut in the Well in Correct Sequence
  • Stripping Exercises
  • Analyze Post Shut in Problems

Use discount code: OILPRO to get 10% off your registration

Learn More

To schedule a tour of our state-of-the-art facility Click Here

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Course Highlight - Stuck Pipe

Course Highlight - Stuck Pipe

Theory only goes so far...

In a full-size drilling simulator participants have a realistic and safe environment to practice the mechanics of hole cleaning, wellbore instability and differential sticking.

Learn industry best practices to avoid and mitigate stuck pipe incidents so we can keep the bit turning to the right.

Course Content

  • Preventative Measures
  • Jarring Calculations
  • Stuck Pipe Mechanisms
  • Stuck Pipe Causes
  • Pack-off Situations
  • Mitigation Techniques

May 2nd-3rd - Sugar Land, TX

Use discount code: OILPRO to get 10% off your registration

Learn More

To schedule a tour Click Here