Out of well control

Abstract

Controlling hydrostatic pressure in an drilling platform is the primary means of preventing an escape of oil or gas to the surface. This extremely dynamic system coordinates the efforts of many departments constantly responding to changing circumstances, where communication plays a critical role for operational success. Simply attributing the cause of these accidents to human error is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way humans and machines interact in a complex system. In this study, the causes of blowouts were investigated from a systems point of view, identifying weaknesses that contribute to opportunities for humans to make mistakes. When designing a complex system, the goal is that mistakes are uncovered by the system long before a human has to act. The objective of this study is to eliminate design mistakes in the system so humans are not acting upon incorrect or incomplete information that may contribute to hazardous accidents.