Kick Simulation for Well Design and Kick Management on the U.K. Continental Shelf:Current Industry Practice and Challenges for the Future

摘要

HSE research spanning a period of nearly 10 years hasresulted in approximately one hundred projects in the ‘Wellengineering and operations’ topic area. About half of theseprojects have addressed kick development and control. Acomputer-based model developed for practitioners, has beenthoroughly tested and applied to numerous incidents.Having reached the position where a tool is nowcommercially available and is used extensively bypractitioners, an evaluation of current Industry practice in thearea of kick simulation for well design and kick managementon the UKCS has been undertaken. The study also addressesthe future direction of work in this area.An Industry wide sample including operating companies,drilling contractors, training providers and relevantassociations has been surveyed, augmented with a substantialsample of well engineering professionals.Broadly, the results of the study suggest that the HSE’swork on kick control has made a significant contribution towell design and kick management. The industry indicates thatthey feel more confident in their ability to predict kickpressures and manage kick incidents as a result of the use ofkick simulator software.Industry views on the needs for future work in the area ofkick pressure prediction; kick detection and kick control havebeen received and form the basis for recommendations arisingfrom the study.