Page 299 - Drilling Technology in Nontechnical Language

290 Drilling Technology in Nontechnical Language Second Edition

manage complete projects. In the highest extreme, an ISP might manage
a field development project from initial surveying, exploration, and

development drilling through production and final abandonment. Several

major international contractors emerged with the capability to offer these
complete services, with Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes
INTEQ among the largest. These multibillion-dollar groups compete for
quite a large business pie. They develop capabilities in drilling engineering
by recruiting experienced drilling engineers and drilling supervisors
(most of whom previously worked for the operators) and by training the
engineers and supervisors of the future.

There is one potential danger for the operators in this development. It is
very important to their future business that they do not lose the capability to
plan and supervise drilling themselves. If the operators lose this capability,
they will also lose the capability to manage the risks involved in drilling
wells. The major risks are those associated with events such as a blowout,
environmental damage, or damage to the reservoir. Whatever type of
contract is in place, the operator cannot delegate those responsibilities.
Unless a core of experienced people is retained, the operator must put
place its future business in the hands of the contractors.

Incentive Schemes

The purpose of an incentive scheme is to somehow change the way
people work so as to meet particular objectives. There are various possible
features to an incentive scheme, such as the following:

1. Safety. It is important that safety is not compromised to
meet operational objectives. Some schemes have the typical
unimaginative approach, something like, “If anybody has an
accident, everybody loses part (or all) of their bonus.” This
does not make people work more safely. All it does is put a lot
of pressure on people to not report accidents. It is, of course,
inherently unfair to all those people who were not in any
position to prevent or mitigate the accident, such as people off
shift or working on a different part of the rig. And once the
earned bonus is taken away, the result is a disincentive to giving
good performance.

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