Training in the oil and gas industry
Pros and cons debated at oilsands royalty review
Moratorium on oil tankers on West Coast is disputed by federal cabinet minister
Training in the oil and gas industry
Enform operates as a non-profit organization that is owned, directed and partially funded by six industry trade associations:
• Canadian Association of Geophysical Contractors (CAGC),
• Canadian Association of Oil well Drilling Contractors (CAODC),
• Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP),
• Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA),
• Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC), and
• Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (SEPAC).
Enform delivers high quality training that meets the standards established by our trade associations and the regulatory agencies in each of the provinces and territories. Training programs consist of long and short-term courses in safety, environment, technology, and career development, as well as customized and international courses.
Safety training includes general safety courses, oilfield driver training, safety management courses and a selection of safety courses specific to the seismic industry. Environmental programs include general environmental and waste management courses and emergency response programs, and the technology department enhances the skills of operators and technicians through courses in petroleum engineering, gas technology, field production operations, drilling and well servicing, and petroleum fundamentals.
Career development programs are comprised of management courses, instructor training, and pre-employment courses such as Drilling Rig Floor hand and Oil and Gas Production Operator Basics. Enform also facilitates the training of the industry’s remote and mobile workforce through a variety of distance delivery models, such as Computer Based Training (CBT) and self-study workbooks.
These programs are available through Enform training centers in Calgary and Nisku, AB, as well as through partnerships with colleges and training agencies, and a network of franchised instructors across the country. Training is delivered in the field, in the classroom, on the rig and on the computer, and it is consistent among all jurisdictions; the same material is taught in St. John’s, NL as in Fort St. John, BC.
Enform consults with the provincial governments and Workers Compensation Boards to ensure that regulatory compliance and occupational health and safety are cornerstones of worker training in the industry, and works collaboratively on campaigns to target specific issues, such as driver safety. A field office was established in Fort St. John in 2005 to help facilitate training and safety services in support of oil and gas operations in northeast BC.
Training
Entry-level training has been emphasized as key to reducing injuries and fatalities in the industry, as more young and inexperienced workers appear on the jobsite. Enform’s computer-based Petroleum Safety Training (PST) program is a modular, interactive, multimedia orientation program designed to introduce workers to the world of oil and gas. The CBT delivery method has shown to be especially effective with young workers, due in large part to their familiarity with computer use, and the advantage of this method is that it is economical and instantly available – literally at a student’s fingertips, 24/7.
Classroom training is the most common delivery of Enform courses, as it is most conducive to developing problem solving skills and allows for group discussion. The biggest challenge with classroom training is simply logistics. In times when industry is experiencing high volumes and pace of work, it can be difficult to gather students in one location at a predetermined time; field locations are further disadvantaged by their smaller student base.
In spite of these challenges, though, completion rates from Enform courses are very high and our competency-based approach to instruction that incorporates in-progress assessments is designed to ensure success in learning.
The Canadian petroleum industry made great strides in developing the skills of their workforce by embracing the use of ‘real’ industry equipment for hands-on training. In the 1980s, with the support of the Alberta government, Enform (at the time known as the Petroleum Industry Training Service) constructed the world class Nisku Training Centre. Spanning 40 acres, the Centre operates as an integrated hands-on facility, including two fully operational drilling rigs, a service rig, a well control facility with natural gas injection to simulate kicks, an oil production facility, a gas production facility, a gas utility centre, rescue training devices, 17 classrooms and a skills training area.
Enform is probably best known for its signature program, H2S Alive. H2S gas is a potential killer – odourless, colourless and virtually undetectable by human senses – and because most Canadian production areas have the potential to produce some degree of sour gas, it is widely accepted that field workers have H2S Alive training.
A well-trained workforce is integral to this industry’s success and Enform works diligently with regulators to ensure worker competence and safety. As testament to this, Enform issued approximately 175,000 training certificates in 2006, representing 125 different courses, as well as exam challenges and competency assessments.
Contractors are generally required to provide certification records for any personnel they will place on a work site, and the resulting volume of certifications and re-certifications places a strain on Enform’s infrastructure. The industry is using a variety of strategies to facilitate electronic communication of certification data to expedite the process and Enform is looking at expanding this area of service.
Safety Services
Safety services are a key element of the industry’s strategy for developing an effective and efficient workforce. Within Enform, the Safety Services division supports industry safety through a variety of initiatives, including Industry Recommended Practices (IRP), the Health and Safety Certificate of Recognition (COR) Program, annual safety seminars, Safety Stand Down Week and Awards of Distinction.
An IRP is a set of best practices and guidelines established by expert industry and government stakeholders. The petroleum industry currently has 23 IRPs in place to guide practices in, for example, Critical Sour Drilling, Safety Program Development, and Danger Tree Control.
Enform acts as the certifying partner in the Certificate of Recognition (COR) program. Petroleum industry companies with health and safety programs that meet approved standards are awarded a Health and Safety Certificate of Recognition (COR). COR is a voluntary program, supported by the BC and Alberta Workers Compensation Boards with employer rebates for effectively managing worker safety and reducing worker injuries.
Safety Stand Down Week is a campaign that speaks to management commitment by encouraging presidents, CEOs and senior managers to visit their field sites and remote operations to observe and discuss safety issues with frontline workers. Enform administers the week-long event, sharing a ‘toolbox’ of free items such as brochures, stickers, posters, perception surveys, CDs and an online discussion. This approach yields positive results for all levels of the company, and participation increases every year.
Enform distributes safety newsletters and alerts to raise awareness of hazards and share recommendations from incident investigations. Finally, the Petroleum Industry Annual Safety Seminar (PIASS) held each year in Banff, AB provides a forum for communication about industry safety. This sellout event includes Awards of Distinction, where individual contributions to safety are recognized.
The line between safety services, training, labour recruitment and retention is increasingly blurred as new strategies are explored to build a sustainable workforce. A safe work environment is essential to recruiting young workers; training is integral to safe work, and retention is enhanced by a worker’s sense of value and belonging. Enform is uniquely privileged to offer the petroleum industry a full range of these services under one roof.
Here in Canada the petroleum industry is proactive in continually adapting and improving its training, standards and work practices. Enform believes that the provision of effective, timely training and safety services is a key tool in workforce management as technological advances and sophisticated work processes demand skilled operators, and society demands injury-free worksites.
Pros and cons debated at oilsands royalty review
The lack of public presence June 4th at a provincial oilsands royalty review is troubling given the importance of the issue, said the chairman of the review panel.
Bill Hunter noted it’s the first arms-length independent public review of the royalty regime and expressed concern that it drew only one representative of an environmental group and no Aboriginals.
The Fort McKay First Nation Industry Relation Corp. had been scheduled to be the final presenter on Tuesday, but pulled out the morning of June 4th without giving any reason.
Hunter said one consolation has been the approximately 80 submissions the panel has received via its website.
Of the three speakers that took to the podium, Michael Borrell of Total Energy and Dale Hohm of MEG Energy both argued for the status quo.
Borrell said the current royalty regime has been successful in achieving its objectives and can continue to do so despite risks and uncertainties, including the billions of dollars that must be spent on construction.
“Now is not the time to dramatically alter it,” he told the review panel.
Even with the risks, including a lack of skilled labour, he said there is clearly long-term value in the oilsands.
Hohm agreed, adding the current system is working well for Albertans and any changes are troubling to international investors, who may perceive it as “changing the rules in the middle of the game.”
Gary Lewis, a contractor and member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, had more environmental concerns.He wants royalties on bitumen kept in place because they could act as an incentive for industry and result in less bitumen being put into tailings ponds.
Fort McMurray is the fourth stop on a five-city tour for the review panel. Previous meetings have been held in Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Calgary and Medicine Hat.
Six companies were to be represented plus a representative of the Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Specializing in product development product manufacture and field implementation, Volant Products, a young and growing company, is beginning to make a mark in the oil and gas industry in Alberta.
Recent casing running projects in the SAGD sector have added to the successful implementation of the GatorBACK™ top drive casing running tool. The GatorBACK™ attaches to the top drive connection on the rig, and is utilized to handle the casing, make up the connection, and provide fill up and circulate functions during the running in of the casing. It also allows for casing rotation and reciprocation of the casing during both installation and cementing. The tool is unique from others in the market from two standpoints, it is compact in design, it is fully mechanical in operation. The Driller controls the setting of the tool utilizing rotation as the setting method.
To date, Volant has been involved in the successful completion of four SAGD drilling projects with various operator and is currently geared up and looking forward to their next SAGD project which will begin in late June, early July in the Fort McMurray oil sands area.
Other oil related projects ongoing are near Wabasca, Bonneyville, where the casing running tools are running in both slant and vertical well applications.
Because of the efficiency, and improved safety by the use of the GatorBACK™ casing running tool, Volant in conjunction with an operator in Calgary, was given the opportunity to deploy the casing running tool on a rig which is drilling shallow gas wells. Due to the depth of these wells, it was critical that the tool improve the already efficient method of running the casing on these wells. These wells are drilled inside of a day, and only improved efficiency and safety would bring forward the change. Volant and the rig crew, along with the cooperation of the operator, were able to show the new technology had a place on this rig, in the shallow gas well application.
The crew of the Precision Drilling rig were one of the first to become trained in the operation of the tool, to the point of leaving the tool with the crew to use on a daily basis for the casing run, without field service technicians on location. Tools are sent back to Volant Products at regular scheduled maintenance intervals. This has since been implemented as a means of running casing on an Ensign rig as well, where the crew has been trained in the operation of the tool, and a field service technician is no longer present.
Volant’s HydroFORM™ casing and liner centralizer is making its mark in the directional wells as a means of providing positive standoff for cementing purposes, as well as a means of reducing drag for running the liner in the well through long horizontal sections. Manufactured using a single tube material, and high pressure water to form it, the centralizer performs extremely well in the most demanding environments. Originally manufactured to support the casing drilling market, the centralizer is becoming a standard accessory for a few major operators, here and in the U.S. Two major operators in Alaska have adopted the HydroFORM™ centralizer for their multi lateral extended reach wells. The smooth and robust design of the centralizer is able to withstand the tortuous edges of the window, and provide the drag reduction required to reach T.D.
Locally in Alberta, the Hydro-FORM™ centralizer continues to gain market recognition for torque and drag reduction on directional wells also.
Multi Lobe Torque Rings, which enhance the torque capacity of API connections without additional machining, are being utilized in casing liner connections to enable rotation during cementing as well as installation. The MLT Ring™ is installed into the coupling centre section. It is manufactured from L80 material, and provides a torque shoulder for the pipe face to land against during the make up of the connection.
When used in tubing connections, it provides a positive stop for the make up of the connection. This enhances the torque capacity of the connection, which eliminates the need for a no-turn tool, as well as prolongs the life of the connection which incurs multiple make up and break out cycles.
Moratorium on oil tankers on West Coast is disputed by federal cabinet minister
By Scott Sutherland
Growing interest in routing new oil and gas pipelines to British Columbia’s northern coast has some decades-old fears about oil spills bubbling to the surface again.
Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn is fuelling those fears with comments that there is no moratorium on oil tanker traffic on the West Coast because nothing was ever written down back in the 1970s.
The minister insists that doesn’t mean an increase in such traffic would be allowed without oversight, but federal and provincial politicians want Ottawa to institute a full, formal ban on oil tankers in B.C. coastal waters, a move being backed by environmentalists and some First Nations.
“There actually is no moratorium for (oil tanker) traffic coming into the West Coast,” Lunn said. There is what he called “a voluntary exclusion zone” that historically has applied to U.S. tankers carrying Alaska oil to terminals in Washington state through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates the United States and the southern tip of Vancouver Island.
“This is something that was brought in quite a long time ago and is being respected.”
But while denying there is any tanker moratorium, the Vancouver Island Tory MP does say there is a ban on offshore oil and gas development “that's absolutely clear.”
That’s not good enough for Denise Savoie, the New Democrat MP for Victoria. She's presented a motion in the House of Commons calling on Parliament to reaffirm the moratorium on coastal drilling and to affirm a formal moratorium on international tanker traffic.
The motion seeks to ban international tanker traffic in northern B.C. waters of Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. Savoie said she wants parliamentary hearings with public participation on the issue when MPs return to Ottawa in the fall.
Such a ban would not affect the current shipping of oil and gasoline, mostly by barge and small tankers, to Vancouver Island and other parts of the coast.
“British Columbians feel the same way about it today as they did in the 1970s,” said provincial New Democrat Rob Fleming. “They are opposed.”
Fleming said a ban on both tankers and offshore development has survived eight prime ministers and nine B.C. premiers.
“What's changed in 30 years? Has the risk to our coastal waters been reduced?” he asked. “No, the science has not changed, the risk has not been reduced.”
The issue has gained prominence mainly due to several proposals to construct pipelines linking Alberta with the coast at Prince Rupert or Kitimat.
Crude oil from the oilsands would be pumped west for export, while ‘condensate’ used to thin the thick crude in the pipeline would be removed and sent back eastward along a parallel pipe. There is also a proposal that could see a liquified natural gas, or LNG, terminal built in Kitimat to accept cheap gas from Asia for distribution to North American markets.
“There's lot's of talk and people trying to raise an issue, but there is nothing on the table at this point in time,” said Lunn, reiterating that the Canadian government has not even been asked to consider any project so far.
“And if something ever should come forward, I would commit that there would be a very exhaustive, comprehensive environmental process, as well as Transport Canada looking at all the issues, both on and off shore, before any decision would ever even be considered.”
He also promised broad public consultation.
“An opportunity for everyone to be heard, that’s the most important aspect, before any decision is made,” he added.
Environmentalists and First Nations say any one of these schemes would inevitably lead to a high volume of tanker traffic though extremely sensitive coastal waters, including the channel where BC Ferries’ Queen of the North struck an island during a routine voyage in March 2006 and sank with the loss of two lives.
In consultation with the Canadian Coast Guard, the ferry corporation recently decided against trying to retrieve fuel oil that might be left aboard the sunken ship because of the depth of the wreck about 425 metres below the surface. The decision is a major worry for local First Nations who rely on the coastal waters for their livelihood.
Lunn’s denial of the existence of a tanker moratorium exasperates long time anti-tanker crusader and former federal environment minister David Anderson.
“This is not something that the people of British Columbia want done (and) we never have in the 35 years I’ve been involved in this issue,” said the retired Victoria Liberal MP.
“It doesn't make logical sense to say we did not commit to keeping tankers off the coast,” he said. “That is basically wrong. We did!”
The U.S. went to great lengths, and great expense, to route tankers bound from Alaska well away from Canadian waters, he said.
“Why would they have done all that to protect the Canadian shore unless Canadians were willing to do the same to protect their own coast. I mean, it just doesn’t make sense.”
In bilateral talks in the Trudeau era, it was made clear to the U.S. that Canada would similarly ban east-west tanker traffic to Canadian West Coast ports, Anderson said.
Small shipments of crude from a terminal near Vancouver were allowed under a grandfather clause. Anderson estimated there have been roughly 900 such shipments over the last 30 years, but warned that if Canada were to permit tankers to enter B.C.’s northern waters, there would be an immediate call to increase oil exports though Vancouver.
And Anderson, who fought the tanker issue in U.S. federal court in the 70s and won, is worried about the message Lunn and the Stephen Harper government would be sending to the Americans if Canada does anything that deviates from a policy that for decades has kept tanker traffic to a minimum.
“I don’t think it’s good news to give Americans cause to say Canada acts in bad faith,” he warned. “If you are dealing with Americans, you should be pretty straight forward and honour your agreements.”
Ironically, Anderson said, it was the tanker ban that was the catalyst for the companion moratorium on offshore oil development that is still being acknowledged by the federal Conservatives.
“If they succeed in allowing oil tankers along the coast it brings us much closer to lifting the moratorium on oil and gas exploration and drilling once the means of transporting oil is established,” said Ken Wu, of the West Coast Wilderness committee, a group that has campaigned since the B.C. Liberals came to power to keep the ban in place.