§ 250.1520 - What elements must a basic course cover?

See Table (a) of this section for well control and Table (b) of this section for production safety systems. The checks in Table (a) indicate the required training elements that apply to each job. Tables (a) and (b) follow:

Table (a).—Well ControlElements for basic trainingDrillingSuperFloorWOSuperFloorWS1. Hands-on:Training to operate choke manifold ✔✔Training to operate stand pipe ✔✔Training to operate mud room valves ✔2. Care, handling & characteristics of drilling & completion fluids ✔✔3. Care, handling & characteristics of well completion/well workover fluids & packer fluids ✔✔✔4. Major causes of uncontrolled fluids from a well including:Failure to keep the hole full ✔✔Swabbing effect ✔✔Loss of circulation ✔✔Insufficient drilling fluid density ✔✔Abnormally pressured formations ✔✔Effect of too rapidly lowering of the pipe in the hole ✔✔5. Importance & instructions of measuring the volume of fluid to fill the hole during trips ✔✔6. Importance & instructions of measuring the volume of fluid to fill the hole during trips including the importance of filing the hole as it relates to shallow gas conditions ✔7. Filling the tubing & casing with fluid to control bottomhole pressure ✔8. Warning signals that indicate kick & conditions that lead to a kick ✔✔✔✔9. Controlling shallow gas kicks and using diverters ✔10. At least one bottomhole pressure well control method including conditions unique to a surface subsea BOP stack ✔✔11. Installing, operating, maintaining & testing BOP & diverter systems ✔12. Installing, operating, maintaining & testing BOP systems ✔13. Government regulations on:Emergency shutdown systems ✔Production safety systems ✔Drilling procedures ✔Wellbore plugging & abandonment ✔✔✔Pollution prevention & waste management ✔✔✔✔✔Well completion & well workover requirements (Subparts E & F of 30 CFR part 250) ✔✔14. Procedures & sequentials steps for shutting in a well:BOP system ✔✔✔Surface/subsurface safety system ✔Choke manifold ✔✔15. Well control exercises with a simulator suitable for modeling well completion/well workover ✔16. Well control exercises with a simulator suitable for modeling drilling ✔17. Instructions & simulator or test well experience on organizing & directing a well killing operation ✔✔18. At least two simulator practice problems (rotate the trainees & have teams of 3 or less members) ✔✔19. Care, operation, & purpose [& installation (for supervisors)] of the well control equipment ✔✔✔✔20. Limitations of the equipment that may wear or be subjected to pressure ✔✔✔21. Instructions in well control equipment, including:Surface equipment ✔✔✔Well completion/well workover, BOP & tree equipment ✔✔✔Downhole tools & tubulars ✔✔Tubing hanger, back pressure valve (threaded/profile), landing nipples, lock mandrels for corresponding nipples & operational procedures for each, gas lift equipment & running & pulling tools operation ✔✔Packers ✔✔22. Instructions in special tools & systems, such as:Automatic shutdown systems (control points, activator pilots, monitor pilots, control manifolds & subsurface systems) ✔Flow string systems (tubing, mandrels & nipples, flow couplings, blast joints, & sliding sleeves) ✔Pumpdown equipment (purpose, applications, requirements, surface circulating systems, entry loops & tree connection/flange) ✔23. Instructions for detecting entry into abnormally pressured formations & warning signals ✔24. Instructions on well completion/well control problems ✔25. Well control problems during well completion/well workover including:Killing a flow ✔Simultaneous drilling, completion & workover operations on the same platform ✔Killing a producing well ✔Removing the tree ✔26. Calculations on the following:Fluid density increase that controls fluid flow into the wellbore ✔✔Fluid density to pressure conversion & the danger of formation breakdown under the pressure caused by the fluid column especially when setting casing in shallow formations ✔Fluid density to pressure conversion & the danger of formation breakdown under the pressure caused by fluid column ✔Equivalent pressures at the casing seat depth ✔Drop in pump pressure as fluid density increases; & the relationship between pump pressure, pump rate, & fluid density ✔✔Pressure limitations on casings ✔✔Hydrostatic pressure & pressure gradient ✔✔27. Unusual well control situations, including the following:Drill pipe is off the bottom or out of the hole/work string is off the bottom or out of the hole ✔✔Lost circulation occurs ✔✔Drill pipe is plugged/work string is plugged ✔✔There is excessive casing pressure ✔✔There is a hole in drill pipe/hole in the work string/hole in the casing string ✔✔Multiple completions in the hole ✔28. Special well-control problems-drilling with a subsea stack (subsea students) includes:Choke line friction determinations ✔✔Using marine risers ✔✔Riser collapse ✔✔Removing trapped gas from the BOP stack after controlling a well kick ✔✔“U” tube effect as gas hits the choke line ✔✔29. Mechanics of various well controlled situations, including:Gas bubble migration & expansion ✔✔Bleeding volume from a shut-in well during gas migration ✔✔Excessive annular surface pressure ✔✔Differences between a gas kick & a salt water and/or oil kick ✔✔Special well control techniques (such as, but not limited to, barite plugs & cement plugs) ✔✔Procedures & problems involved when experiencing lost circulation ✔✔Procedures & problems involved when experiencing a kick while drilling in a hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) environment ✔✔✔Procedures & problems—experiencing a kick during snubbing, coil-tubing, or small tubing operations and stripping & snubbing operations with work string ✔✔30. Reasons for well completion/well workover, including:Reworking a reservoir to control production ✔✔Water coning ✔Completing from a new reservoir ✔✔Completing multiple reservoirs ✔✔Stimulating to increase production ✔✔Repairing mechanical failure ✔✔31. Methods on preparing a well for entry:Using back pressure valves ✔Using surface & subsurface safety systems ✔✔Removing the tree & tubing hangar ✔✔✔Installing & testing BOP & wellhead prior to removing back pressure valves & tubing plugs ✔✔32. Instructions in small tubing units:Applications (stimulation operations, cleaning out tubing obstructions, and plugback and squeeze cementing) ✔Equipment description (derrick & drawworks, small tubing, pumps, weighted fluid facilities, and weighted fluids) ✔BOP equipment (rams, wellhead connection, and check valve) ✔33. Methods for killing a producing well, including:Bullheading ✔✔Lubricating & bleeding ✔✔Coil tubing ✔✔Applications (stimulation operations, initiating flow, & cleaning out sand in tubing) ✔Equipment description (coil tubing, reel, injecting head, control assembly & injector hoist) ✔BOP equipment (tree connection or flange, rams, injector assembly & circulating system) ✔Snubbing ✔✔Types (rig assist & stand alone) ✔Applications (running & pulling production or kill strings, resetting weight on packers, fishing for lost wireline tools or parted kill strings & circulating cement or fluid) ✔Equipment (operating mechanism, power supply, control assembly & basket, slip assembly, mast & counterbalance winch & access window) ✔BOP equipment (tree connection or flange, rams, spool, traveling slips, manifolds, auxiliary—full opening safety valve inside BOP, maintenance & testing) ✔34. The purpose & use of BOP closing units, including the following:Charging procedures include precharge & operating pressure ✔✔Fluid volumes (useable & required) ✔✔Fluid pumps ✔✔Maintenance that includes charging fluid & inspection procedures ✔✔35. Instructions on stripping & snubbing operators & using the BOP system for working pipe in or out of a wellbore under pressure ✔ Table (b)—Production Safety Systems1. Government Regulations:Pollution prevention & waste managementRequirements for well completion/well workover operations2. Instructions in the following: (contained in, but not limited to, API RP 14C):Failures or malfunctions in systems that cause abnormal conditions & the detection of abnormal conditionsPrimary & secondary protection devices & proceduresSafety devices that control undesirable eventsSafety analysis conceptsSafety analysis of each basic production process componentProtection concepts3. Hands on training on safety devices covering, installing, operating, repairing or maintaining equipment:High-low pressure sensorsHigh-low level sensorsCombustible gas detectorsPressure relief devicesFlow line check valvesSurface safety valvesShutdown valvesFire (flame, heat, or smoke) detectorsAuxiliary devices (3-way block & bleed valves, time relays, 3-way snap acting valves, etc.)Surface-controlled subsurface safety valves &/or surface-control equipmentSubsurface-controlled subsurface safety valves4. Instructions on inspecting, testing & maintaining surface & subsurface devices & surface control systems for subsurface safety valves5. Instructions in at least one safety device that illustrates the primary operation principle in each class for safety devices:Basic operations principlesLimits affecting applicationProblems causing equipment malfunction & how to correct these problemsA test for proper actuation point & operationAdjustments or calibrationsRecording inspection results & malfunctionsSpecial techniques for installing safety devices6. Instructions on the basic principle & logic of the emergency support system:Combustible & toxic gas detection systemLiquid containment systemFire loop SystemOther fire detection systemsEmergency shutdown systemSubsurface safety valves