Prevention of Explosions During Drilling and Completion Operations

 

 

Over the past several years, there have been a number of serious oilfield fires and explosions that have resulted in worker injuries and fatalities. During this same time, there has been an increase in the use of air during drilling, completions, and workover activities in Western Canada. While regulations exist with respect to explosive hazards, there are no clear industry guidelines dealing with air-hydrocarbon mixtures in these wellsite operations.

 

To address the concerns of both industry and regulators, efforts are underway to prepare an Industry Recommended Practice – IRP 18: Explosive Atmospheres in Wellbores, Vessels, Tanks, and Piping Systems. The IRP is being developed under the direction of the Drilling and Completions Committee (DACC), a joint industry/government committee established to develop safe, efficient and environmentally suitable operating practices for the Canadian Oil & Gas industry in the areas of drilling, completing, and servicing of wells. It is important to highlight that, although the efforts are focused on drilling and completion operations, the research is also expected to have an impact on other oil and gas operations where the potential for explosions resulting from air-hydrocarbon mixtures exist.

 

Because of the complex nature of this issue, the work to develop this IRP is being jointly sponsored and chaired by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC). The IRP is being developed in partnership with the University of Calgary. The UofC brings extensive experience to this initiative as a result of their previous investigative research related to industry incidents. The Committee expects to publish the IRP in 2004 in cooperation with the Canadian Petroleum Safety Council (PSC).

 

To ensure this task is successfully accomplished, the development committee for IRP #18 is petitioning industry and regulators for reference information including incident case histories, procedure documents, and experience related to fires and explosions. Two key areas of interest are: 1) Incidents, including close calls, where air was used for either operations or the purging of equipment, and 2) The procedures and controls that companies have implemented to maintain safe operations. The intent is to better understand both the conditions where the use of air is safe, and where it presents a hazard.

 

 

To learn more about the organizations mentioned above, follow these URLs:

 

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP)   www.capp.ca

Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC)        www.psac.ca

Canadian Petroleum Safety Council (PSC)                      www.psc.ca

University of Calgary (UofC)                                         www.ucalgary.ca

Drilling and Completions Committee (DACC):                 mike.read@shell.ca

 

 

If you know somebody that would be able to contribute to this initiative you can email the contents of this page by clicking below:

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Request for Submissions (MS WORD FORMAT)