Well Control Specialist

Position Overview

The Well Control Specialist provides expert-level guidance on well control prevention, detection, and response across drilling, completion, and intervention operations. This role is responsible for developing well control policies, auditing well control preparedness, conducting incident investigations, and providing emergency support during well control events. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies and wells become more complex, the Well Control Specialist has become an indispensable and critically scarce position.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and audit well control policies, procedures, and standards across the organisation.
• Conduct well control risk assessments for complex wells (deepwater, HPHT, sour, simultaneous operations).
• Review and approve well control aspects of drilling programs, including kick tolerance, BOP specifications, and barrier plans.
• Provide real-time technical support during well control events, including kick handling, well kill, and emergency response.
• Audit rig-site well control equipment, BOP maintenance, and crew competency.
• Lead or participate in well control incident investigations and root cause analyses.
• Design and oversee well control training programmes, ensuring IWCF compliance and crew readiness.
• Evaluate and qualify new well control technologies (MPD, RCD, automated kick detection, BOP monitoring systems).
• Chair well control assurance reviews at key project gates (well design, pre-spud, hazards).
• Interface with regulators on well control compliance, variance requests, and incident reporting.

Qualifications

Required

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Petroleum or Drilling Engineering; advanced well control qualifications essential.
• Certifications: IWCF Level 4 (Supervisor) — mandatory; Well Control Specialist certification; BOSIET/FOET with CA-EBS; Offshore Medical.
• Experience: 12–20+ years in drilling operations with dedicated well control focus for at least 5 years.
• Technical Skills: Expert-level knowledge of well control theory, kick detection, well kill methods (driller's, wait-and-weight, volumetric); deep understanding of BOP systems (surface and subsea); proficiency in well control simulation and modelling.

Preferred

• Experience managing well control incidents (including relief well planning).
• MPD and underbalanced drilling well control expertise.
• BOP stack design and qualification experience for deepwater applications.
• Published papers or industry body involvement on well control topics.