API Director of Standards David Miller announced today the publication of two new oil and natural gas industry standards for well design and drilling operations.
“Every industry standard we develop shares the goal of safely and responsibly producing more of the energy America needs,” said Miller. “These new guidelines will help the industry to continue operating safely in deeper, higher pressure, and higher temperature environments. As changing technologies provide better opportunities to develop the energy that fuels America, industry standards must adapt as well.”
Deepwater Well Design and Construction, API Recommended Practice (RP) 96, provides engineers a system-wide reference for offshore well design, drilling and completion operations in deep water. It covers the range of considerations that must be taken into account when planning for and undertaking deepwater drilling operations.
Protocol for Verification and Validation of High-Pressure High-Temperature Equipment, API Technical Report 1PER15K-1, establishes a process for evaluating equipment used in high-pressure and/or high-temperature (HPHT) environments both on and offshore. This new standard provides industry with a consistent approach to designing up-to-date drilling and completion equipment that is fit-for-service in deeper, HPHT wells.
The HPHT and deepwater well standards follow the November publication of a related document, API Standard 53, Blowout Prevention Equipment Systems for Drilling Wells. This document updated and strengthened an existing standard for blowout preventers with a focus on standardizing operating requirements and prioritizing preventive maintenance, inspections and testing.
The API Standards Program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the authority on U.S. standards. Every API standard is developed in an open process with public comment period by joint committees of representatives from government regulators, engineering companies, contractors, equipment manufacturers, and the oil and natural gas industry. More than 100 API standards have been incorporated in government regulations, and API undergoes regular third-party audits to ensure its program meets ANSI’s Essential Requirements for openness, balance, consensus and due process. Government-referenced and safety-related standards are freely available online at www.api.org.
“We are the global leaders on setting the industry’s standards, which are developed in accordance with ANSI-approved procedures in a rigorous and open review process,” Miller said. “Every one of our standards is built on expert input from industry and the regulatory agencies.”
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