Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Drilling and Well Engineering
Well Integrity Management and Barrier Verification
Format and Duration:
5 days
Ensuring well integrity is a critical component of safe and efficient well operations. A failure in well integrity can result in environmental hazards, operational downtime, and catastrophic blowouts, making a structured approach to well integrity management essential. This course provides a comprehensive understanding of well barriers, their verification, and well integrity management systems. Participants will gain knowledge on barrier principles, industry regulations, verification techniques, and operational challenges throughout the well lifecycle—from drilling to abandonment.
The course begins with the fundamentals of well barriers and integrity, including definitions, industry standards, and how barriers are designed, implemented, and verified. Participants will learn how different well barrier elements—such as casing, cement, wellheads, and fluid columns—interact to maintain well integrity. real-world case studies will help reinforce these concepts. A significant focus will be placed on well barrier verification, testing methodologies, and how to assess well integrity in different operating conditions. Load cases and risk scenarios will be analysed to demonstrate how barriers withstand operational stresses. The course will also cover well intervention and abandonment, examining barrier element selection, quality assurance, and regulatory requirements. Participants will learn how to mitigate common integrity risks such as annular pressure buildup, casing failures, and cement integrity issues. The final section of the course will introduce Well Integrity Management Systems (WIMS) and Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS). These systems are used by operators, regulators, and industry stakeholders to monitor and verify well integrity throughout its lifecycle. Participants will learn how to implement hazard analysis, emergency response planning, management of change, and contractor selection to maintain well integrity. By the end of the course, participants will be equipped with the technical knowledge and practical tools needed to ensure well integrity, perform verification testing, and comply with regulatory standards—improving well safety, reliability, and environmental protection.This course can be tailored to suit various experience levels, from introductory professionals to advanced specialists in well integrity management, well barrier verification, and regulatory compliance.
This course is delivered in partnership with Black Reiver Consulting Ltd.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
This is a classroom course comprising a mixture of lectures, discussion, case studies, and practical exercises.
- Instructor led interactive sessions using case studies, simulations, and hands on barrier verification exercises.
- Step by step guidance on well barrier selection, verification, and regulatory compliance.
- Industry best practices shared through real-world examples of well integrity failures and lessons learned.
- Group discussions and scenario based exercises to reinforce learning through practical applications.
- Demonstrations of well integrity monitoring and verification techniques.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn how to:
- Understand well barriers, their design principles, and acceptance criteria.
- Identify and assess well integrity risks throughout the well lifecycle.
- Apply regulatory and industry standards for well integrity compliance.
- Analyse well barrier elements such as casing, cement, tubing, wellheads, and fluid columns.
- Perform well barrier verification testing and assess load case impacts.
- Develop well integrity management strategies for well intervention and abandonment.
- Implement Well Integrity Management Systems (WIMS) and Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS).
- Evaluate well integrity failures through case studies and real world scenarios.
Course Content
1. Well Barriers and Their Principles
- Definition of Well Barriers – Primary vs. Secondary Barriers.
- Overview of Well Integrity – Importance in operational safety.
- Industry Standards & Government Regulations – API, ISO, NORSOK, and regulatory frameworks.
- Barrier Schematics & Acceptance Criteria – Understanding well barrier envelopes.
- Case Study: real-world examples of barrier failures and integrity breaches.
- Managing risk in well integrity assessments
2. Well Integrity Elements and Issues
- Common Well Integrity Issues – Causes and consequences.
- Well Barrier Elements – Fluid columns, casing, cement, tubing, packers, wellheads, and completions.
- Interrelation of Barrier Elements – Ensuring a robust well integrity system.
- Case Study: Analysis of well integrity failures and barrier assessment.
- Reading the local, industry and global standards documents.
3. Well Barrier Verification
- Principles of Verification – The paper trail.
- Barrier Verification Testing – Integrity testing
- Load Cases & Stress Analysis – How different well operations affect barrier performance.
- Operational Integrity Monitoring – Ensuring continuous barrier effectiveness.
- Case Study: Step by step walkthrough of a barrier verification process.
4. Well Barrier Element Selection and Issues in Intervention & Abandonment
- Choosing the Right Well Barrier Elements (WBEs) – Material selection, standards, and quality control.
- Manufacturing Quality Control Plans (QCP) & Testing – Ensuring reliable WBEs.
- Well Barrier Issues in Well Intervention – Casing inspections, cement integrity, and tubing failures.
- Annular Pressure Buildup (APB) Management – Causes, monitoring, and mitigation.
- Well Abandonment & Suspension – Regulatory requirements and best practices.
- Case Study: real-world abandonment project—barrier selection and risk mitigation.
5. Well Integrity Management Systems (WIMS) & Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS)
- Well Integrity Management Systems (WIMS) – Components and implementation.
- Safety & Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) – Role in regulatory compliance.
- Operational Phase Well Integrity – Monitoring, inspections, and risk management.
- Hazard Analysis & Emergency Response Planning – Strategies for integrity assurance.
- Contractor Selection & Documentation – Ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks.
- Practical Exercise: Developing a well integrity management strategy.
This comprehensive course provides participants with the knowledge and practical tools needed to oversee the design, verification, and management of well barriers throughout the life of a well. By integrating technical, operational, and regulatory perspectives, attendees will develop a structured approach to well integrity assurance, ensuring safety, reliability, and compliance in well operations.
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course is ideal for professionals involved in well integrity management, well design, and regulatory compliance, including:
- Drilling, Completion, and Well Engineers responsible for well barrier design and verification.
- Well Integrity Engineers & HSE Personnel overseeing regulatory compliance and risk assessment.
- Operations Supervisors & Rig Managers responsible for maintaining well integrity during well construction, intervention, and abandonment.
- Regulatory & Environmental Compliance Officers involved in well integrity governance.
- Production Engineers & Asset Managers ensuring well integrity throughout the well’s operational life.
- Service & Intervention Contractors involved in well integrity assurance and testing.
Instructors
Kevin Gray
Kevin can offer the experience of over 5000 days of operational experience and operations support positions from an oilfield career of over 31 years as well as working as lead trainer for a multi award winning ERD engineering team based in Perth Scotland. Kevin has been consistently the highest rated drilling training instructor in a major multinational training company over the last four years and throughout his offshore career was repeatedly graded in top 5% within both offshore and onshore positions for the largest oilfield service company.
Kevin has designed and overseen the delivery of multi week training programs for offshore drilling, well intervention and fluid supervisors for a number of clients. This has included competency assessment and skills gap analysis throughout the programs. Kevin is also able to draw on his well documented teaching skills to deliver courses or programs in directional drilling and surveying, stuck pipe, extended reach drilling and various other drilling related subject areas. He wrote the first Operation support centre SOP for directional drilling which was later adopted globally. In addition, he has designed and delivered various 'Real Time Centre' training courses including human dynamics training. In his former role as directional drilling coordinator, based in Aberdeen he still holds a number of world records for drilling achievements with motor and RSS tools.
In his earlier career he led an offshore team that developed the first multi axis drill vibration measurement tool to report measurements in real time, and subsequently wrote the core documentation on vibration control for D&M. Later he was responsible for the introduction and field testing of Powerdrive RSS tools and had considerable input into their re-design as the X5 variant. Kevin has led many teams into both new fields and mature field redevelopment. Outside the industry he enjoys skiing and exploring, taking these two activities to the extreme in 2015 when he skied to the South Pole dragging a sledge behind him.
Courses Taught
- N687: Advanced Directional Drilling and Advance Surveying Techniques
- N688: Drillstring Design
- N689: Drilling Fluids
- N690: Stuck Pipe, Design and Operational Practices for Avoidance
- N691: Well Integrity Management & Barrier Verification
- N692: Well Cost Control & Forecasting
- N693: Casing Design & Well Integrity Engineering
- N694: Basic Drilling Technology
- N695: Introduction to Drilling, Completion, and Workover Operations
- N696: Drilling Rig Selection & Inspection for Performance Optimization
- N697: Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) Program
- N698: HPHT Well Engineering
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 3.5 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 35 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.