If there’s one thing Leon Robinson learned during his 39-year career with Exxon, it’s that drilling isn’t a science. For all the textbook learning he did to earn three degrees in physics, it still wasn’t enough to truly understand drilling.

“Drilling is equal part science and art,” he said. The science of it can be taught in textbooks and classrooms, but the art of it — the experience — you have to get yourself. That’s why field work is such a critical part of training for the new generation of drilling engineers. For Dr Robinson, his own early career was mostly limited to lab work at Exxon Production Research. That’s why it took him 20 years to build up enough field experience and feel truly confident about his drilling competence, he said.

Needless to say, the current industry can’t afford to wait 20 years for the next generation of competent workers, and Dr Robinson urged every employer in the industry to send its young people out to the field at every opportunity. “Nothing replaces visiting the rig,” he emphasized.

RETIRED BUT NOT OUT

Although Dr Robinson officially retired from Exxon in 1992, he never really left the industry. He’s still a drilling instructor with Petroskills, an industry training provider. He is chairman of an API Task Group that rewrote recommended practices for solids control and shaker screens and is still continuing to improve the document. He is on the 2008 AADE Conference Planning Committee and a member of the SPE Waste Management Committee. And he has been leading the IADC Technical Publications Committee in its quest to write a set of drilling “encyclopedia” (see below).

On top of that, he’s made it a personal project to help improve public perception of “Big Oil” from a grassroots level. “The general public has no idea what the petroleum industry is about, and we’re doing a lousy job of informing them. Every chance I get, I talk to students at universities or the Ocean Star museum in Galveston to explain what we do and our sensitivity to the environment. I think every major oil company should being making more educational efforts.”

A LONG WAY FROM 1953

Since joining Exxon (then Humble) in 1953 — “when we had no idea what was going on downhole” — the industry and its innovative technologies have continued to fascinate Dr Robinson like nothing else. “If I hadn’t stayed active in this industry after retiring, I would’ve been totally obsolete by now. The new technologies that have emerged, like rotary steerables and expandables, are so fascinating they’re impossible to put down. Drilling is like a drug; it’s addictive. If I were to quit this stuff, I might curl up and die.”

Q: What is the goal of the IADC Technical Publications Committee?

A: We want to write a complete compendium about drilling, with a peer-reviewed book on every drilling subject, from casing to well control to fluids to managed pressure drilling and underbalanced operations. These will be practical and readily understandable books with expert opinions from the best people in the industry.

When we’re finished, we’ll have a rather unique set of books about all aspects of drilling that should be a great benefit to the industry.

Q: Are you looking for more volunteers to help out with the project?

A: Always! We have about 100 volunteers now, but I’d like to double that. This is a labor-intensive project. We don’t need that many authors, but we need people to help the authors write complete books.

We have more than a dozen books in different stages of completion, and we’re hoping to publish 4 or 5 books this year.

Becky Byrd has been named vice president corporate marketing for National Oilwell Varco. She has served as corporate marketing manager and most recently as director of corporate marketing following the Varco merger in 2005.

Mark Reese has been named president of NOV’s Rig Solutions Group. He served as president of the Mission Products Group from 2000 to 2004, later named president of NOV’s Expendable Products Group from 2004 to 2007.

Jeremy Thigpen has been named president of Downhole and Pumping Solutions for NOV. He has held various positions for the Downhole Tools Group, including general manager of the Gulf Coast region and US sales manager.

Robert Workman is president of the Distribution Services Group for NOV. He has served in a broad range of leadership positions, including manager of international services, general manager of National Oilwell de Venezuela and vice president of operations.

Kirk Shelton has been named president of Mission/Mono Products for NOV. He was named global sales manager for the Mission Expendable business in 1998, then appointed vice president of sales and operations for Mission Expendable and Multiplex Pump businesses in 2000.

AlMansoori works with PTT, Pan Orient to expand in Thailand

AlMansoori Specialized Engineering (MSE) of the United Arab Emirates is acquiring additional logging assets in Thailand. MSE will take ownership of new electronic line, perforating and logging services and assets in the country. A new company, AlMansoori Logging Services (Thailand), has been formed, headed by managing director Martin Tilbrook.

As part of the deal, MSE is working with Thai national oil company PTT to provide perforating services for the onshore S1 field in the Pitt San Ulok region of central Thailand, and with Canadian E&P company Pan Orient Energy to deliver perforating and cased hole logging services in the onshore Wichian Bury area 260 km north of Bangkok.

Cameron to supply Schlumberger IPM with flow equipment

Cameron has signed a three-year worldwide preferred supplier agreement with Schlumberger Integrated Project Management (IPM) for the supply of flow equipment products and services. Cameron will provide Schlumberger IPM with all surface, subsea, drilling, measurement, compression and downstream equipment worldwide.

Separately, Schlumberger has acquired exclusive development and distribution rights to the oil and gas sector for ThinAnywhere, remote access high-end 3D graphics visualization technology from Mercury International Technology (MIT). Schlumberger will use the technology in its LiveQuest solution providing 3D thin client access and enabling centralized application support capabilities. LiveQuest provides single sign-on, one-click collaboration, remote management for all E&P applications and simplifies IT support through infrastructure consolidation.

New CEO at Precision Drilling

Precision Drilling has appointed Kevin A Neveu as CEO and director. He previously served as president of the Rig Solutions Group of National Oilwell Varco.

Varel Holdings acquired

Arcapita, a private equity investment firm, has signed an agreement to acquire Varel Holdings for approximately $369 million. The transaction is expected to close in 2007.

Long-term mooring contract

InterMoor has signed a long-term contract with a subsidiary of Diamond Offshore Drilling to store and maintain Diamond’s mooring hardware in InterMoor’s 22-acre facility at the Port of Fourchon in Louisiana.

Randy Smith Training acquired

Moody International has acquired Randy Smith Training Solutions and its parent company, Results in Learning. Moody, headquartered in Cuckfield in the south of England, provides technical inspection services to many industries.

New LTI facility in Louisiana

LeTourneau Technologies has opened a new facility in Lafayette, the first LTI branch in Louisiana. It will offer sales and support for the LTI Drilling Systems and LTI Power Systems’ product lines.

New team members at TAM

TAM International has named Jack Newberry as vice president, US, Latin America and Asia Pacific sales and operations. Additionally, Mark Jensen was named vice president, TAM International Oil Services.

Enventure expands in Europe

Wendy Simpson has joined Enventure Global Technology as senior technical sales advisor. Roy Campbell has joined as regional applications engineer. Hope Okhuoya and William Addie have also joined Enventure’s European team.

New production control system from VetcoGray

VetcoGray has introduced the PCS 1000, a production control system comprising both topside and subsea-located hardware, combined with the necessary software. It features VetcoGray’s deepwater ModPod technology.

Key components of the PCS 1000 include an electro-hydraulic subsea control module (SCM) to control and monitor subsea valves and sensors and a 19-in. rack-mounted master control station (MCS) that provides control for up to six subsea wells. The PCS 1000 is suitable for any subsea field development up to 300 m in water depth.

Baker Hughes fluid designed for low-salinity setting

Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids has introduced the TERRA-MAX system, a customizable, high-performance water-based mud designed to improve drilling and environmental performance in low-salinity environments. As a water-based fluid, TERRA-MAX presents no associated environmental liability issues, no waste management problems and minimal lost-circulation impact.

120-ton power swivel from Logan Oil Tools

The hydraulic, motor-driven Logan 120-ton Power Swivel with Offshore Package from Logan Oil Tools provides accurately controlled, shock-free rotary power suitable for use in fishing and workover operations. Suspending the swivel from a boom or crane reduces setup time. It is a rugged skid-mounted unit made of heavy-duty structural tubing with welded construction.

It’s equipped with a containment slip to eliminate fluid spills. Both ends are rounded for easy skidding. The lifting frame can be used to attach boom lines or hoist slings. The lifting frame is flush with the sides of the skid. Main runners, running the length of the skid, are strengthened by cross-members for additional rigidity. The entire frame is covered with a polyurea coating for corrosion resistance and has a diamond-patterned deck plate to provide a solid, skid-resistant floor.

HD monitor, sand control screens from Halliburton

Halliburton’s Landmark division has introduced Landmark M5600, a new quad full high-definition monitor for ultra-refined geoscience visualization and analysis. It features a 56-in. screen that’s four times the size and twice the pixel count of today’s highest-resolution 30-in. screens. The monitor also allows users to view multiple data sources together.

Additionally, Halliburton recently delivered three new screen solutions for sand control: the EquiFlow Oil Selector valve (significantly reducing unwanted water or gas production without wellbore intervention), EquiFlow inflow control devices (delay early water or gas coning, thereby increasing recoverable reserves); and PetroGuard Advanced Mesh screen (provides reliable sand control in heavy oil and poorly sorted sand environments).

VAM Express provides unique thread profile

VAM Drilling has developed VAM Express, a high-performance drill stem rotary shoulder connection. Designed to face difficult well conditions, it incorporates internal and external shoulders and a unique thread profile. It offers high torsional strength, mechanical safety margins, quick rig makeup, ease of use and an extended service life.

New Frog-6 accommodates more people

Reflex Marine has developed the Frog-6, a higher capacity version of the three-person Frog-3. The first Frog-6, which can move up to 6 people at a time, are in use in Indonesia, and Reflex Marine is contracted to supply four to China, one to Angola and three low-temperature versions to Sakhalin Island.

The new Frog retains the tetrahedral design of the original, but the frame and seating arrangement have been expanded to accommodate six people. The suspension system has been enhanced, comprising three peripheral springs, hydraulic dampers and larger feet to cushion impacts and protect passengers. New bench-style seating also speeds up the process of securing a stretcher into the Frog in the event of a MedEvac scenario.

R&M Energy package targets tubing wear

R&M Energy Systems has assembled a comprehensive set of Tubing Wear Prevention Solutions to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and increase production. It includes RODEC Tubing Rotators, New Era Rod Guides and Hercules Rod Rotators. RODEC Tubing Rotators attach to the wellhead at surface and provide continuous, slow rotation of the production tubing to evenly distribute wear. New Era Rod Guides, manufactured from engineered plastics with performance additives, center the sucker rod string within the production tubing. Hercules Rod Rotators slowly rotate the rod string to evenly distribute sucker rod, rod guide and tubing wear.

Postle Industries offers casing-friendly hardbanding

Postle Industries introduces Duraband NC, an extreme-wear, casing-friendly hardbanding alloy that applies crack-free and is 100% rebuildable. Its microstructure consists of a hard tool steel matrix with a high volume of tightly packed metal carbides. This combination ensures high wear resistance in open-hole drilling. Typical hardness values of 57Rc can be expected when applied to new tools or properly built joints.

At the Well Control Conference of the Americas in late August, keynote speaker David Payne, Chevron vice president of drilling & completion, drew attention to IADC’s WellCAP Plus program as a key tool for dealing with some of the industry’s complex training needs.

WellCAP Plus provides a high-level skill set for well control and challenging learning experiences. It serves as both an alternative and a supplemental program to the standard WellCAP supervisory level training by promoting a discovery process that improves critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The course is intended primarily for managers, company men, engineers and rig supervisors who have previously attended typical well control supervisory courses and are seeking to challenge their well control skills at a higher level. The suggested minimum level for participation is driller, and participants must have at least two prior supervisory level certificates, including a current certificate.

Chevron has been one of the most active WellCAP Plus providers. Although the company did not hold any WellCAP Plus courses in 2007 due to other operational needs, it has now scheduled one for February 2008 in Thailand. Other accredited WellCAP Plus providers include Transocean, Randy Smith Training Solutions and Wild Well Control. Aberdeen Drilling Schools and Murchison Drilling School have programs pending accreditation.

GLOBAL GROWTH

Recently, petroleum regulators in Europe have taken notice of WellCAP Plus. Ferdinand Gubler, senior inspector with the State Supervision of Mines in the Netherlands and member of the North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF) Well Group, said NSOAF is updating a position paper for well control competence training for Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and UK. The paper will address more specific training needs for specialized drilling applications.

Mr Gubler said that although NSOAF is happy with the basic IADC and IWCF well control courses, regulators have concerns about variable standards of well control training for more complex situations like HPHT and horizontal wells. WellCAP Plus, with its flexible course design and team approach, may provide a vehicle for this advanced training.

Interest in WellCAP Plus is growing in other areas as well. Greg Anderson, president and CEO of Randy Smith Training Solutions, said his company is in developing a WellCAP Plus exercise for a major operator based in the Middle East.

One of the greatest attributes of WellCAP Plus, Mr Anderson said, is that it allows training providers to customize course exercises based on real-world events, thereby emphasizing lessons learned in the field. WellCAP offers three standard course scenarios to training providers, but they are free to develop other scenarios to suit their own needs or their customers’ needs. Eventually, IADC hopes to assemble a library of exercises dealing with a diverse range of well control situations.

COURSE FACILITATION

WellCAP Plus uses facilitation methods originally developed by consultants from the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), a branch of Texas A&M University. TEEX was funded by donations from companies participating on the Development Team, which also provided guidance and oversight into the direction of the program. Companies represented on the Development Team included Chevron, Unocal, Newfield Exploration, BP, Shell, Amerada Hess, Transocean, Diamond Offshore, GlobalSantaFe, Noble Corp, Weatherford, Wild Well Control, Aberdeen Drilling Schools and Randy Smith Training Solutions.

WellCAP Plus instruction may be provided only by IADC-accredited training providers using certified IADC WellCAP Plus facilitators. So far, TEEX is the sole entity licensed to provide WellCAP Plus facilitator courses. The group has conducted five facilitator workshops involving 45 different participants from Chevron and the former Unocal, Transocean, Diamond Offshore, Randy Smith Training Solutions, Aberdeen Drilling Schools, Wild Well Control, RigTrain, Petroleum College International and Murchison Drilling schools.

FLEXIBLE CONTENT

Course content for WellCAP Plus is flexible yet focused on progressively difficult exercises for which participants must develop team solutions. Participants must pass a rigorous entry examination. However, in a departure from traditional WellCAP instruction, no exit examination is required; participants are judged on course participation and teamwork.

WellCAP Plus is not intended to replace site-specific training. Site-specific training for all stakeholders is encouraged when the anticipated characteristics and challenges of a particular well warrant additional pre-planning measures and focused mitigation procedures.

WellCAP Plus is a voluntary program; there is no requirement for a WellCAP provider to participate. It is considered a specific type of accreditation with unique requirements for application, review, renewal, recordkeeping and auditing.

The unique form of training approach used in WellCAP Plus is setting new industry standards, and IADC hopes the program will ultimately help make the next generation of complex drilling operations safe and efficient.

More information about WellCAP Plus can be found on the IADC web site at www.iadc.org.

Steve Kropla is IADC’s vice president of accreditation and certification programs.

IADC’s WellCAP system embraces a philosophy of providing tools needed to establish a well control culture at all levels of a drilling organization.

Introductory level — Rig workers are introduced to the basics of well control equipment.

Fundamental level — Simulator exercises provide a higher level of practical knowledge; recommended for derrickmen, assistant drillers and drillers.

Supervisory level — Involves more complex simulator exercises and calculations; designed for drillers, toolpushers, superintendents and drilling foremen.

WellCAP Plus — Provides a higher-level skill set for well control and more challenging learning experiences by promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Hughes Christensen has set a field record using its Genesis XT PDC bits in Mexico’s southeast marine region. Historically, the Ixtal field’s Cretaceous formation, consisting of fractured mudstone and wackstone and 5% to 10% interlays of bentonite and chert, had been drilled with 8 ½-in. TCI bits and a seal reliability limit of 350,000 revolutions, resulting in multiple runs at low rates of penetration.

For Ixtal-34, a competitor ran a new impregnated bit design for increasing ROP. The performance was poor, so the operator pulled it out of hole and asked Hughes Christensen for a bit proposal to solve the problem. The team recommended a 13-blade Genesis XT 513Z with 16-mm Zenith cutters for increasing ROP and durability. The HC513Z reached TD at a total of 682 ft (208 m) at a ROP of 11 ft/hr (3.28 m/hr).

The ROP was 46% faster, with 14% more footage compared with the same formation’s best offset. The bit came out of hole in excellent condition. The run broke the paradigm of using impregnated bits as the only answer for this tough application.

Separately, Hughes Christensen’s Genesis motor steerable technology has drilled an 8 ½-in. hole section in the McCully field in eastern Canada. The objective was to reduce cost/ft by maximizing penetration rates and to finish the section in one run. To meet the challenge, Hughes Christensen recommended an 8 ½-in. Genesis bit with EZSteer depth-of-cut control technology to limit the cutter’s “bite” for improved tool face control. The bit was run and set a single run footage record of 7,006 ft (2,135 m) in 175.6 hrs of drilling at an average ROP of 40 ft/hr.

In Talisman Energy’s first through tubing rotary drilling (TTRD) project, Red Spider Technology supplied its new 5 ½-in. TTRD protection system for operations in three wells in the Claymore field.

TTRD aims to optimize production levels by providing a cost-effective means of accessing stranded pockets of oil from existing wells without having to drill new wells.

In the Claymore operation, Red Spider’s protection sleeve was run as a shield positioned inside the existing tubing retrievable sub-surface safety valve (TRSSSV), defending it from the effects of additional drilling activity carried out through the device, while the liner drop-off system was used as a disconnect point during the liner deployment stage of the operation.

The deployment marked the first application of Red Spider’s TTRD tools in the UK sector, said business development manager Andy Skinner, and more deployments for Talisman are possible. This follows successful campaigns in the North Sea for Statoil and Hydro.

The Claymore field is operated by Talisman on behalf of partners ENI UK and Dana Petroleum.

The Statfjord ERD Well C-33 AT4, drilled with M-I SWACO’s oil-based WARP Fluid Technology, overcame several technical challenges to evolve as the highest-producing well in the entire field.

Categorized as one of the most difficult wells to drill and complete on the Statfjord field, the well was part of the “Statoil Late-Life Project.” The objective was to compensate for the loss of reserves with the declining formation pressures. The well is being put on production from the lower Ness formation with a daily production rate of 12,600-bbl/day, making it the highest producer in the entire Statfjord field.

Elsewhere, another operator used the WARP system to drill five wells in the UK sector. Production tests have shown extremely low skin-damage and higher than expected production rates. WARP utilizes micron-sized weighting agents milled to less than 10 microns. The technology been used offshore Norway, the UK, the Caspian Sea and the East Coast of Canada in long, extended-reach wells, HPHT, slim hole and other critical drilling applications.

OPE has launched the Satellite Services Platform (SSP), a spherical-shaped floating vessel with a center column that the company says provides distinct advantages over ship-shaped vessels and traditional platforms.

According to Gary Quenan, OPE president, the SSP is extremely stable, mainly due to the design’s height-adjustable center column. Tests performed on SSP-320 in the Netherlands resulted in less than 4° significant pitch/roll in Katrina-type storm conditions and less than 0.07g heave acceleration in a one-year Gulf of Mexico winter storm.

The column also provides storage room for chemicals, diesel, potable water or multiple risers/umbilicals.

The SSP can be fabricated in virtually any construction port and fully equipped before being towed to the site. It is suitable for water depths up to 13,000 ft, which OPE says is limited only by current mooring systems. It can function as an FPSO with workover or drilling, floating drilling/production platform, LNG unloading terminal, early production platform, and more.

Ng Eng Hen, minister for manpower and second minister for defense, and Choo Chiau Beng, chairman and CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine, top off the last two helmets of the “World’s Longest Chain of Safety Helmets” on 21 October 2007. Keppel O&M is attempting to attain a Guinness World Record by creating the longest unbroken chain of safety helmets. Eighteen thousand safety helmets were used to form a chain spanning 5.8 km.

In 2006, Keppel O&M invested nearly $10 million on safety equipment, education and promotion.

Four gas turbine-driven compression trains to be upgraded by GE Oil & Gas will help Statoil extend the life of the Statfjord oil field in the North Sea.

Under a wide contract, GE will provide new compressor internals for four compression trains, each for Statoil’s existing B and C platforms in the Statfjord field, which straddles the border between the Norwegian and British sectors in the Tampen area in the northern part of the North Sea. The trains will be dedicated to recompression and gas lift services.

“The wellhead pressure is dropping gradually over time, as reservoir pressure maintenance is stopped,” said Jeff Nagel, vice president GE Oil & Gas Global Services. “Extensive modification of the equipment on the platforms is required to adapt to the continuing decline in wellhead pressure and to maintain production from the oil field.”

GE Oil & Gas will supply 13 BLC centrifugal compressor internals, 4 BCL flange to flange compressors, gearbox and couplings for the project. The equipment will be installed during summer 2009.

Production from the Greater Plutonio development area in Block 18 offshore Angola started on 1 October 2007. It consists of five fields discovered in 1999-2001 in water depths of up to 1,450 m and is the first BP-operated asset in Angola.

The Greater Plutonio offshore development area is located 160 km northwest of Luanda and is comprised of the Galio, Cromio, Paladio, Plutonio and Cobalto fields in water depths from 1,200 m to 1,450 m. It will contain 43 wells: 20 producers, 20 water injectors and 3 gas injectors. The development uses a floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to process produced fluids and export crude. The FPSO is connected to the wells by a large subsea system.

The heart of the Greater Plutonio subsea system is the longest single riser tower system of its kind in the world. At 1,258 m, it connects the FPSO to a network of subsea flowline and control systems that include 150 km of flowlines, nine manifolds and 110 km of instrument and control umbilicals. Many components of the subsea systems, including the riser tower, were constructed and assembled in Angola, including six of the subsea manifolds, along with the worlds largest CALM (Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring) offloading buoy and the first-ever Angolan assembled and tested subsea trees.

Many Angolan technicians and engineers, whose numbers will continually increase over the next several years, have been trained to operate and support the Greater Plutonio development area in an ongoing five-year development program.

Commenting on the news, BP chief executive Tony Hayward described the start of production from the first BP operated development offshore Angola as “a further significant step in the steady build-up of oil and gas output from new projects due on stream this year and next.”

Schlumberger has opened the Breakthrough Performance Center, Innovation Lab and Executive Briefing Center in Houston to showcase, create and test the latest digital technology innovations in the oil and gas industry.

Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS) is collaborating with technology leaders — Barco, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, NVIDIA, Panoram Technologies and The Whitlock Group — to make the Breakthrough Performance Center the industry leader in next-generation E&P technologies. It offers the industry’s first Innovation Lab, a collaborative environment to create and test solutions integrating technologies and services.

“The Innovation Lab is a venue where we can work collaboratively with our customers and industry experts to pioneer ground-breaking solutions to solve the tough challenges of exploring and producing increasingly complex reservoirs,” said Olivier Le Peuch, SIS president.

The variety of advanced technologies available for solution development in the center highlights its open and collaborative approach. Regularly scheduled briefings are planned in the coming months. Clients will learn from industry and company experts how they can use the latest SIS solutions to solve the problems associated with complex reservoirs, challenging operational environments and increasingly sophisticated geoscience and engineering workflows.

Noble Corp has taken delivery of a new high-specification jackup drilling rig constructed by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry in Dalian, China. The Noble Roger Lewis, the first of three such rigs being built for the company, is in transit to its inaugural drilling assignment in Qatar, where it will work under contract to Shell.

The Noble Roger Lewis was constructed based on the F&G JU-2000E design, which includes enhanced environmental protection, safety and drilling efficiency features. It is designed to operate in water depths up to 400 ft and is equipped to drill wells in high-pressure, high-temperature environments up to 30,000 ft deep.

Atwood Oceanics has announced that the Atwood Hunter’s contract with Woodside Energy offshore Libya was to be suspended upon completion of its current drilling program. The rig will be moved to Egypt to work for Burullus Gas. The Burullus contract is expected to take 140 days to complete, including mobilization and demobilization to the point of origin in the Mediterranean Sea.

Immediately upon completion of its work in Egypt, the Woodside contract will be reinstated, and the rig is expected to be moved to Mauritania.

Additionally, Atwood announced that, upon completion of the current well, the Richmond semi will be moved to a shipyard to undergo a life-enhancement upgrade estimated at between $14 million to $15 million. It is expected to take 60 days to complete. The rig was working for Helis Oil & Gas in the Gulf of Mexico and had been committed to drill one more well for Helis. The drilling of that well has been deferred until 2008.

Parker Drilling has been selected as one of America’s Safest Companies for 2007 by Occupational Hazards magazine. The award program recognizes companies that have demonstrated outstanding multi-level safety efforts throughout their organizations. Ten organizations were recognized for 2007.

“(Honorees) understand that work-related injuries and fatalities are a cost — in human and financial terms — that no company should expect to incur,” said Stephen G Minter, editorial director and publisher of Occupational Hazards.

“Our performance is a result of contributions from every one of our 3,000 worldwide employees, and they are proud to share in this honor,” said Parker chairman and CEO Robert L Parker.

Apache Corp has signed a multi-year agreement with EV Energy Partners and institutional partnerships managed by EnerVest to explore for oil and gas in deeper formations across 400,000 acres in Central and East Texas. Apache agreed to explore for new reserves below the base of the Austin Chalk formation and will be the operator. EVEP and EnerVest will contribute the acreage. “This is an excellent opportunity for Apache to explore substantial onshore US acreage,” said G Steven Farris, Apache president and CEO. “We have demonstrated that access to acreage can become opportunities to increase production and reserves.”

A subsidiary of ENSCO has entered into a definitive drilling contract for ENSCO 8502, an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rig, with Nexen Petroleum USA. The contract calls for a minimum two-year primary term in the Gulf of Mexico, which can be converted to a three- or four-year term prior to commencement of operations. The aggregate dayrate revenue for the two-year term is expected to be approximately $340 million.

ENSCO 8502 is the company’s third of four ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rigs in the ENSCO 8500 Series. All four are under construction at Keppel FELS.

They remain on schedule and within budget, with expected deliveries in the second quarter of 2008 for ENSCO 8500, the first quarter of 2009 for ENSCO 8501, late in the fourth quarter of 2009 for ENSCO 8502, and in the third quarter of 2010 for ENSCO 8503. ENSCO 8500 and ENSCO 8501 are already committed under long-term drilling contracts.

TOTAL has announced two new gas discoveries in the southern part of the offshore Mahakam block, 45 km from Balikpapan in Indonesia. The discoveries lie a few km from the Stupa field and strengthen the potential of this field.

Both drilled in about 60 m water depth, the two wells East Mandu-1 and West Stupa-1 respectively encountered 164 m and 72 m of good-quality gas-bearing reservoirs. These two discoveries are planned to be developed in connection with the development of the Stupa field.

The drilling of East Mandu-1 was particularly sensitive regarding the control of pressures and fluids. Operations were carried out with the Indonesian company PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk, with which TOTAL has five drilling rigs in operation in Indonesia.

Keppel FELS in Singapore has delivered West Atlas, the third KFELS B Class design jackup rig for Seadrill, within budget and ahead of schedule.

Tong Chong Heong, managing director and chief operating officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine, said, “It was slightly more than two months ago when we delivered the second rig, West Prospero, to Seadrill on budget and ahead of schedule. I am pleased that we have replicated that achievement. More importantly, West Atlas achieved a sterling safety record, with more than 2.5 million manhours of work without any lost-time incidents.”

According to Ian Shearer, Seadrill senior vice president jackup division, the company has invested more than US$1 billion in projects with Keppel FELS.

Keppel FELS is building one more KFELS B Class jackup rig and a semisubmersible drilling tender rig for Seadrill. They are reportedly progressing according to schedule and are expected to be delivered between mid-2008 and end-2009 respectively.

GlobalSantaFe announced it has executed an agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to build a new ultra-deepwater exploration and development drillship for delivery in September 2010. Shipyard construction costs are expected to total approximately $740 million. The drillship will be constructed in Ulsan, Korea, under a turnkey agreement.

The new vessel is an enhanced version of GlobalSantaFe’s GSF C.R. Luigs and GSF Jack Ryan drillships, which entered service in 2000. Like those rigs, the newbuild will be capable of drilling in water depths up to 10,000 ft and is upgradeable to 12,000 ft. In addition, the new rig will feature advanced dynamic positioning capabilities, triple activity load paths, a derrick rated for 4 million lbs, dual liquid-storage systems, larger quarters and an efficient deck design that provides significantly more space than previous-generation drillships.

“This next-generation drillship resulted from listening to our customers, assessing the growing need for deepwater capacity and combining the best features of our drillships and semisubmersibles in a single unit capable of meeting our customers’ full range of exploration and development drilling needs,” said GlobalSantaFe president and CEO Jon Marshall.

Mr Marshall added: “Our decision to move forward without an executed drilling contract is clearly a departure from our much more conservative past approach. However we would not have taken such a capital risk without a very high degree of confidence in the ongoing strength of the ultra-deepwater market.”

ONGC Videsh, the wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has been declared the winner in three offshore exploration blocks in Colombia — two blocks in collaboration with Ecopetrol, the national oil company of Colombia, and one block in collaboration with Ecopetrol and Petrobras, in a bidding round christened the “Caribbean Round 2007” in Colombia. Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency had offered a total of 13 exploratory blocks, including two in shallow offshore, four in deepwater and seven in transition areas.

“Participation in these three new blocks in partnership with Ecopetrol and Petrobras is part of our strategy to expand our investment in prospective E&P assets in Latin America,” said ONGC chairman R.S. Sharma.

BG Group has confirmed the success of the Tupi Sul appraisal well in the BM-S-11 concession in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. The appraisal well flowed at a rate of 2,000 bbl of oil and 65,000 cu m of gas per day. The well, located approximately 9.5 km southwest of the Tupi discovery, has proved the southern extension of that discovery. The Tupi Sul appraisal well is the fourth consecutive success for BG Group in the deepwater Santos Basin since the company began drilling there in 2005.

“These are excellent results from the Tupi Sul appraisal well, which maintain our 100% success rate in the deepwater Santos Basin,” said BG CEO Frank Chapman. “This outstanding sequence enhances our confidence in this emerging hydrocarbon province and supports our strategy in the region.”

Go deep, young man, might be the advice of a 21st-century Horace Greeley. In the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico, BP estimates that some 22 billion bbl remain to be discovered – this beyond the 18 billion bbl already found, of which that major participates in about a fourth. “We’re very much in the dearly creaming stage,” remarked BP Americas head of operations Keith Elliott, speaking at LAGCOE in October.

IADC Drilling Gulf of Mexico 2007, 5-6 December in Galveston, will examine the challenges and promise of the deepwater GOM.

Subsalt and extra salt are special considerations, as are high-pressure reservoirs. “Where we see ourselves today, high pressure is more of an issue [than high temperature] in deepwater,” Mr Elliott said.

The industry went deep in October’s record-breaking Lease Sale 205 for the Central GOM. According to the US Minerals Management Service, 40% of the tracts lie in ultra-deepwater (defined as greater than 1,600 m, or 5,249 ft). More than a quarter of high bids (26.3%) were for blocks in water depths exceeding 2,000 m (6,562 ft).

High bids totaled more than $2.9 billion, the second-highest in US leasing history. The highest bid, by Shell Offshore, exceeded $90 million for Walker Ridge Block 7. This, and Walker Ridge Block 51, tied as the blocks receiving the highest number of bids (13).

A strange highlight is the bid for the deepest block, Amery Terrace Block 206, which lies in 3,398 m (11,149 ft) of water. The bid itself was nothing if not underwhelming — $825, with no trailing zeros. This proposal, which MMS is unlikely to judge as fair value, was one of 15 by newcomer Kimberlee International Energy Corp. According to the company’s web site, KIEC was founded by the 2006-2007 Miss Black America.

In deepwater, the promise looms large, but development costs aren’t chump change, either. Mr Elliott said that, with $150 million drilling and completion well costs not uncommon, the price tag “keeps us up at night.”

And while drilling expenditures command most of the attention, it is completion costs that are driving much of the cost escalation. Some of these costs can approach 9 figures, sources say. In the deepwater Gulf, the high-dollar completions stem from a virtual zero tolerance for sand inflow.

DON’T COUNT THE SHELF OUT

Deepwater is the frontier, while shelf drilling languishes. As reported in this issue, overall GOM drilling is at a 15-year low, in terms of contracted rigs. While drillships are at 100% utilization and semis in the upper 80s, jackups are dragging the numbers down. The culprits are well known — hurricane season, low gas prices, and superior opportunities elsewhere.

While the US GOM squeaked through this hurricane season with nary a scratch, gas prices are more problematic. The Energy Information Administration reported on 25 October that storage levels rose to 3,443 Bcf, a week-on-week change of 68 Bcf and a worrisome 7.2% above the five-year average. On the other hand, this level is essentially equivalent to last year’s.

Another hiccup complicating the natural gas picture, reports Raymond James Energy, is Pemex’s success in increasing Mexican gas production. In the last five years, Raymond James notes, Mexican natural gas production rose more than 30% to nearly 6.0 Bcf/day. This has slashed US exports of natural gas south of the border by some 0.3 Bcf/day. Typically, US exports have ranged from 0.5-1.0 Bcf/day .

Despite this gloom, there are compelling reasons why activity on the Shelf will continue, despite the bad news. Observed Dennis Jordan of Mitsubishi-owned MCX USA, the shelf offers easy entry for MCX, political stability, a single minerals owner to deal with, large infrastructure, and convenient markets. Mr Jordan made his comments at LAGCOE.

Further, as we move away from hurricane season, many observers expect activity to rise.

The Gulf of Mexico has been written off before, but always recovered. Don’t be too hasty to write it off today.

Have a comment? You can reach Mike Killalea at mike.killalea@iadc.org

For the first time, the IADC South Central Asia Chapter has held its Technology Meet outside of Mumbai — this time in Vizag (Visakhapatnam) on India’s east coast in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Recent oil/gas discoveries by ONGC, RIL, GSPC and Cairn Energy have indicated the vast hydrocarbon potential of the area.

The 18th Technology Meet: Vision East Coast was inaugurated by U.N. Bose, ONGC director-T&FS and SCA Chapter chairman. Addressing the attendees, Mr Bose said that the present E&P era is facing problems such as depletion, aging fields and shortage of manpower. However, India’s east coast offers a ray of hope with its prospective oil and gas finds, he noted.

Mr Bose continued on to urge IADC to facilitate discussions so the east coast’s potential can be fully tapped. He also stressed the need for exploring alternative energy sources, urging drilling and production engineers to look at exploitation of coal gasification, gas hydrates, etc.

Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh made a presentation on the government’s initiatives in infrastructure development along the coastal belt. Experts from various E&P companies then made presentations on the merits of drilling on India’s east coast and on the challenges and opportunities awaiting them.

The North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF) has provided the first formal recognition of the IADC European Competency Training Programme, an initiative to harmonize training standards across Europe.

By approving a new strategy at the its 2007 annual meeting, NSOAF agreed to work toward “full mutual recognition of safety training certificates between the offshore regime and international regime for mobile offshore units, within recognized frameworks.”

The IADC competency training programme has been recognized as such a framework that lays “the foundation for efficient movement of personnel working on mobile units.”

In order to allow workers in the North Sea offshore sector to travel freely across borders, NSOAF will work toward convergent safety training using:

• A common functional map of what safety training must cover.

• A common set of learning outcomes.

• Convergent quality assurance arrangements underpinned by independent verification.

Other positions adopted in NSOAF’s new strategy include:

• Focus on similarities of safety training’s function elements and learning outcomes.

• Confidence that different training approaches can give similar competence.

• Approved training institutions providing safety training within recognized frameworks, such as IADC’s, will be recognized.

• Arrangements for cooperation in the process of revising national safety training standards will be developed, focusing on existing forums such as NSOAF.

• Regular attendance by stakeholders at NSOAF meetings.

Drilling Contractor was recently recognized by the Business Marketing Association – Houston Chapter. The July/August 2007 issue of DC received the top honor, a Lantern Award, for best magazine for external audiences. DC also won an Award of Excellence for best magazine cover with its January/February 2007 edition. The winners were announced at the BMA Lantern Awards dinner on 18 October 2007 in Houston.

This achievement comes after DC’s circulation reached an all-time high this year, exceeding 32,700 readers with the July/August 2007 issue.

“2007 has been an exemplary year for DC. We look forward to providing more cutting-edge news on drilling technology, market trends and more in 2008,” said Mike Killalea, IADC vice president and publisher/editor of Drilling Contractor.

The IADC UBO & MPD Committee has made several achievements in 2006-2007, according to committee chairman Joe Kinder of Secure Drilling. They include:

• Drafted, presented and achieved release for API Spec 7NRV, a manufacturing spec for non-return valves, in a joint effort with API.

• Worked through internal ballot resolution for a comprehensive recommended practice (RP) on underbalanced operations. This will be presented to the API Executive Committee on Drilling and Production Operations by the end of
2007.

• Worked with the Minerals Management Service (MMS), Offshore Operators Committee (OOC) and industry representatives to assist with a draft Notice to Leaseholders (NTL) on managed pressure drilling. The NTL includes excerpts and philosophy from the API RP draft.

• Issued MPD additions to the UBO glossary.

• Working with the API task group on well intervention, normalized testing times to ensure continuity between standards.

• Cooperation was continued with the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors to achieve consistent guidelines and practices to help promote efficient and safe MPD/UBO operations within the industry.

• Revised MPD/UBO HSE guidelines.

All IADC members are encouraged to participate in the UBO & MPD Committee.

The SPE/IADC Managed Pressure Drilling & Underbalanced Operations Conference & Exhibition will be held 28-29 January 2008 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

As implementation of the IADC Offshore Competency Training Programme enters the final stages, IADC has reached agreement with the Falck Nutec training facility in Esbjerg, Denmark, to run a fully certified Basic Introduction to Offshore Safety (BIOS) course there on 11-13 December 2007. This follows the successful execution of the trial BIOS course at the same facility in March 2007. The course, which will include the Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), will have a maximum of eight participants drawn from Maersk Contractors, Noble Drilling and Seadrill, plus observers.

By Linda Hsieh, associate editor

In 1986, average crude oil prices fell to $14.64 per barrel and the average US rig count dipped below 1,000 for the first time since 1972. It was a tough year for both the drilling industry and the general oil business. It was also the year John Lindsay graduated from the University of Tulsa with a petroleum engineering degree.

Out of the 50 petroleum engineering graduates at the school that year, half were international students who likely had jobs waiting for them back home. For the other half, the pickings were slim.

“There weren’t many jobs to be had. Only a handful of us got jobs,” said Mr Lindsay, who counts himself among the lucky ones that year. He had landed a position with Helmerich & Payne, and by January 1987 he was roughnecking on H&P rigs drilling in East Texas and Oklahoma.

Twenty years later, Mr Lindsay is serving as H&P’s executive vice president of US and international operations, overseeing a total fleet of 200 rigs. He’s also serving as vice chairman of IADC and on his way to becoming the association’s 2008 chairman, providing leadership for the global drilling industry.

Interestingly, drilling didn’t even appear on his career radar until a year after he graduated college.

PATH TO THE OILFIELD

If you had asked Mr Lindsay in high school what he imagined his career would be, the answer would have been professional football, dreaming of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. His early life had been all about athletics — football, baseball and basketball. He attended his first four years of college on a football scholarship, and the computer science degree he got during that time was merely a secondary pursuit.

After graduation, he pursued professional football for a year. He got the opportunity for that dream tryout with the Cowboys but settled for signing with the Oklahoma Outlaws of the now-defunct USFL.

After being injured, “I was released from the team, and within a month, I was enrolled at the University of Tulsa to get a petroleum engineering degree. The dream of playing professional football was just that — a dream. But it was an unforgettable experience, and I would have always wondered if I could have made it if I didn’t get that chance.”

“So now I was faced with what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I had tried a part-time computer science job while training for my football career and knew I didn’t want to do that anymore. Growing up in Tulsa around the oil industry, I had a general understanding of the business. Plus, I had always liked engineering,” he said. “Of course, at that time, I didn’t realize just how tough the drilling business was.”

That was 1984, and he also didn’t know that the business was only going to get tougher by his graduation in 1986.

ROUGHNECKING START

Mr Lindsay’s first roughneck job put him into H&P’s training program for new engineers, including a short stint as a driller. “It was a very valuable job. I developed a good knowledge base and learned how the money is really made in this business — by our drilling crews and people in the field interacting with the customers, not in the office sitting behind a desk.”

A little more than a year later, Mr Lindsay was promoted to drilling engineer. By 1992 he had been named operations manager for H&P’s US land division and was promoted to vice president of US land operations in 1997. Since March 2006, Mr Lindsay has served as H&P’s executive vice president of US and international operations.

Mr Lindsay estimates that when he joined H&P in 1987, the US land division had no more than 10 working rigs out of 41 land rigs available. By 1994, after an acquisition of 12 land rigs that led to the opening of a South Texas office, the company was running 60-70 rigs, only about 25 of which were in US land. International land rigs and platform rigs offshore the Gulf of Mexico made up the balance of the fleet and all of the profits.

“Our US land guys were concerned that the company might sell off the US land fleet since we hadn’t made any money for several years. It is hard for people to imagine today, but in the early ’90s we actually had rigs running at $4,500 dayrates with four-man crews and no cash flow to speak of,” he said.

H&P’s growth in the US land market began in the late 1990s. As the company worked to improve safety and drilling performance by refurbishing its existing fleet, it realized that rig safety shouldn’t depend solely upon having better drilling processes and better people — rigs should incorporate “safety by design. We determined that it was very hard to take an old rig that wasn’t safe by design and make it safe. So we asked ourselves, ‘How could we design hazards out of rigs? What new technologies could we add to rigs to make them inherently safer and more productive at the same time?’ We recognized that we needed to build a new-generation rig.”

That’s where the FlexRigs came in.

COMPANY TURNING POINT

H&P began designing FlexRigs in 1997 and built six on spec in 1998. Like the year in which Mr Lindsay graduated with his engineering degree, 1998 wasn’t exactly a great year to be putting out new rigs, with the US rig count dropping from 1,000 rigs to 600 by year end.

Still, the company was confident it had built a rig that would provide value to operators, could drill faster, move faster and improve safety. Good field results from the first six FlexRigs encouraged H&P to build 12 more in 2001. These rigs faced another market downturn in 2002, and the subsequent US land rig count dropped from 1,136 to a low of 628. Yet, performance value kept the 18 new FlexRigs working at 95% activity.

Trusting its instincts and with a desire to grow the company counter-cycle, H&P Engineering, in a collaborative effort with drilling operations, designed the third generation of FlexRigs and began an aggressive newbuild program of two rigs a month beginning in July 2002. A total of 25 FlexRigs were put out in a 13-month span, all on spec.

By the time H&P stopped the newbuild program in spring 2004, it had built a total of 50 new FlexRigs since 1998 for approximately $500 million. “I wish I could say it was easy on our employees and shareholders, but we challenged our competitors and the investment community by bringing our new ideas and better performance into a market with too many rigs.”

The very next year in 2005, the company restarted its newbuild program when it spotted an industry need for shallower-depth FlexRigs.

“We put together the largest single contract in H&P’s history at the time with Williams Exploration. They contracted 10 new FlexRig4’s on three-year term contracts. Our engineering group worked with Williams to design a built-for-purpose rig that merged over 100 years of FlexRig experience and the operator’s desire to drill 22 wells from a single location, minimize surface disturbance and enable SIMOPS.” The timing turned out to be nearly perfect, with delivery of the new rigs beginning in January 2006.

With unsatisfied operator demand for a larger US land fleet coupled with many operators beginning to realize AC drive technology’s advantage for drilling performance, contracts came at a faster rate than anyone imagined, Mr Lindsay said. As of early October 2007, the company had 70 of 77 new FlexRigs, on top of the original 50 built on spec. What’s more, all 77 rigs, built for $1.2 billion, have at least a three-year term contract.

From a 3% market share in 2001 with an 1,100 rig count to a 9% market share in 2007 with a 1,700 rig count, Mr Lindsay said, “that’s been our growth story and the foundation of our success.”

NOT A COMMODITY BUSINESS

FlexRigs have created new opportunities for H&P. In March 2007, H&P opened a new market with four FlexRig contracts in California — two existing rigs and two newbuilds, all with three-year contracts. The operator, looking to improve safety and drilling efficiency, has reported in excess of 35% improvement in performance since the FlexRigs began operating there. That’s in line with reports H&P has received from other FlexRig operators, who generally cite improvements in the 25%-65% range.

Approximately 60%-70% of all wells drilled by FlexRigs are directional or horizontal, a growing market that makes up about 40% of all wells drilled in the US today, according to Mr Lindsay. H&P sees more FlexRig growth potential in unconventional reservoirs such as the Piceance Basin, the Barnett Shale and the Bakken Shale.

“We’ve created a different look in what was historically seen as a commodity business. It’s been said that a rig is a rig — it doesn’t make any difference which rig you pick,” he said. “But today we know that everybody doesn’t see all rigs as being created equal. We’re very proud of that.”

Advanced-technology rigs also will continue to provide growth opportunities in the US land market, he said, even in the current environment of equipment oversupply and softer gas prices. “There are still hundreds of conventional rigs out there that average 30 years old, and in many applications where more technically difficult work is required, operators in general want to upgrade to newer technology in order to achieve better safety and drilling performance.”

Mr Lindsay added that H&P will also look for growth in the global market by expanding its footprint. It is currently operating in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Tunisia and Venezuela. “We have worked internationally for 50 years. In fact, we celebrated our 50th anniversary working in Venezuela this year. Our international strategy will be to grow the company organically by continuing to build FlexRigs with better safety, efficiency and environmental performances.”

“H&P has historically had a ‘differentiated’ approach to the business, and the FlexRig exemplifies that,” Mr Lindsay said. “But it is our people that have been and will continue to be our most strategic asset at H&P.”

STRONG OUTLOOK

The last time Mr Lindsay spoke with Drilling Contractor in late 2006, natural gas prices were soft, storage levels were high, and contractors were worried about newbuilds flooding the market.

“Nothing has really changed since then on the natural gas macro, but clearly one question has been answered,” he said, “and that is the industry has added to the total rig count that is nearing 1,800 rigs, and several hundred rigs have stacked in favor of newbuilds and newly refurbished rigs hitting the market, yet the industry has been able to maintain a fairly healthy drilling environment.”

Not that the drilling business won’t continue to be tough and cyclical, but Mr Lindsay believes the industry’s long-term future looks bright. “The next 10 years should be better than my first 10 years in the business (1987-1997),” he joked.

Pointing to the growing dominance of unconventional gas plays in the US, which have wells with high depletion rates and lower initial production rates, Mr Lindsay is “cautiously optimistic” that rig demand will remain high as operators work to keep production up. “Unconventional gas has changed the US land business. The ‘gas factory’ approach to drilling wells has opened opportunities for many companies that are willing to capitalize on the new technology, ideas and advancements available today.”

As for that fickle variable called natural gas price, he doesn’t spend much time worrying about it. “Why worry about something I can’t control? We will stick to our strategy and focus on providing great service and value to our customers, and we believe the best rigs will continue to work. I think that if natural gas prices remain flat or trend lower, we’ll be busy. If prices go up, we’ll be very busy.”

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

When asked where he wants to focus his 2008 IADC chairman term, Mr Lindsay was resolute about his top priority — safety. “Safety is the most important decision we make. Everything comes after safety, because if we can’t do it safely, we shouldn’t be doing it at all. We need to think about each of our decisions on safety and have the mindset that all accidents are preventable,” he said.

At H&P, safety performance has been Mr Lindsay’s proudest achievement. “I’ve seen my share of injuries and, unfortunately, a few fatalities in the last 20 years. I know that the most rewarding thing we can do is to continually improve the working conditions for our employees so they can go home safely. I feel very proud seeing our safety performance get better every year.”

But just because we’re getting better doesn’t mean we’re good enough. Mr Lindsay cautioned that many people still get injured in this industry each year, and no company has reached the finish line until it reaches zero incidents.

Another important challenge for the industry, he said, continues to be people. One aspect is recruiting, training and retaining, a hot topic that has been discussed at plenty of industry meetings and events. “In the late ’80s to late ’90s, we skipped a generation of hiring as many quality, technical people as are required, and we need to catch up on that. Moreover, if we do come upon a down cycle, we can’t afford to let people get away.”

Another less-noticed aspect of the people problem, he pointed out, is getting the young people who are already in the industry to become more involved.

“When I go to IADC conferences and meetings, I don’t see the large percentage of young faces as we should. We have to get the young people in our organizations more exposed to professional organizations like IADC. It’s a great forum for knowledge sharing, and IADC can tackle a lot of issues that individual companies don’t have the time or resources to resolve. It’s an important association to be a part of, and we need to get our young people more involved.”

Security is another challenge, he said. Company leaders must take responsibility for helping employees to understand potentially threatening security situations — wherever they’re working.

Finally, there is the environment. “We owe it to ourselves, our communities and our companies to improve environmental performance. But we must be careful not to lose focus on personnel safety,” he said. “Shifting our primary focus on safety while trying to improve environmental awareness at H&P has happened before, and our safety results suffered. We must keep our priorities in order, but I believe, as an industry, we can do more to enhance environmental stewardship.”

LIFE LESSONS

Although it’s a shame that Mr Lindsay didn’t fulfill his dream of a professional football career, his experience in the sport was rewarding. It taught him “valuable lessons that are important in the drilling business — hard work, sacrifice, a certain amount of playing with pain, and commitment to the team above yourself,” he said. “I think about H&P and the people who work here, how hard they work and the sacrifices they make — it’s a real privilege to work with them. I look forward to the future, continuing our growth, creating opportunities for individuals and advancing the reputations of H&P and our industry.”

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take up ExxonMobil’s appeal of a Ninth Circuit Court decision made after the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska. The circuit court had said that the company, as shipowner, could be held liable vicariously for punitive damages for the actions of the ship’s crew, which caused the accident. The Supreme Court decision’s to take the appeal follows an amicus curiae brief that IADC filed in September to support ExxonMobil’s appeal. IADC’s brief highlighted the fact that the Ninth Circuit’s opinion conflicts with more than 200 years of federal maritime law and with other circuit court rulings.

GOM acreage may become Sanctuary

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering adding Gulf of Mexico acreage to the national Marine Sanctuary Program beyond the currently designated Flower Garden Banks in the MMS western GOM planning area. This is an unwelcome development as it could further limit oil and gas exploration throughout the GOM, much of which is already closed to development by congressional and presidential moratoria. Industry has met with NOAA officials as it begins its study and hopes to illustrate the value of its information-gathering efforts in determining shallow hazards, deep current regimes and undersea pipeline routing.

WTD court process begins

The long-awaited formal process involving trade unions’ challenge to UKCS implementation of the EU Working Time Directive as applied to offshore work began on 8 October in the Employment Tribunal (Scotland) in Aberdeen. The central question is whether the EU Directive guarantees four weeks of additional paid holiday leave to offshore workers. The UK offshore oil and natural gas industry, including IADC, takes the position this is already provided in the existing rota system. Industry expert witnesses have testified. A three-man panel will determine the outcome.

Industry urges ratifying Law of the Sea

IADC, in concert with API and NOIA, has long advocated ratification by the US Senate of the Law of the Sea Treaty, to which upwards of 150 countries have acceded. In the US, opposition has come from extreme conservative groups who argue the treaty impinges on US sovereignty. Paul Kelly, now a consultant to Rowan Companies, testified on 4 October on behalf of the collective US E&P industry in support of the treaty. Oil and natural gas interests see the treaty as a means of resolving offshore territorial disputes and of extending US offshore boundaries for potential E&P leasing. Industry is joined by the US Navy, many environmental organizations, former Secretaries of State and President Bush in endorsing the treaty.

That’s why IADC recently formed the Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee, headed by committee chairman Brady Long, Pride International’s chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel. The goal is to help drilling contractors better comply with anti-corruption laws through shared best practices.

POSITIVE RESPONSE

The committee held its inaugural meeting in late September, and response was overwhelmingly positive. It is clear that there’s a great desire among our members to have a better understanding of what governments around the world expect of them.

Traditionally, lawyers find law in statutes, cases, treaties and so forth. But when dealing with subjects of corruption and bribery, that information isn’t necessarily enough. Companies need to establish compliance programs, including policies and procedures, and there are few textbook answers for that.

There are a number of inter-industry professional conferences that discuss implementation of compliance programs for employees. However, as we all know, the drilling industry is very different from other industries. Advice that suits Lockheed Martin or Continental or Hewlett Packard may not work for the drilling industry.

With the Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee, IADC will provide an open forum specifically for drilling contractors. In this forum, they will be able to find out what their peers are doing and what they’re being advised to do. They will be able to discuss the types of anti-corruption programs that are in place and how procedures are being followed.

At the initial meeting in September, Brady put Pride’s anti-bribery compliance program on the table. He explained the efforts Pride has made, the challenges they faced and the solutions they found. An open discussion followed that allowed frank questions and answers on each component of Pride’s program.

Active participation from everyone proved that people had been seeking this information for some time; it had just never been presented in a convenient and efficient way. IADC hopes that through open conversations such as this, the committee will ultimately help the global drilling industry uphold its high standards of ethics and protect itself from legal risks.

All IADC drilling contractor members are welcome to join the committee and help the industry work toward a higher ethics standard. For more information on committee activities, please visit www.iadc.org.

The mission of the IADC Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee is to foster understanding and compliance with US and international laws, including but not limited to laws pertaining to corruption, bribery and import/export. The committee will also promote the highest standards of ethics within the drilling industry by providing a forum for sharing strategies designed to promote ethical behavior. Through shared best practices, the committee will work to educate its members on developments in principles of ethics and applicable laws, as well as trends in enforcement.