15 Years of the Wells Expert Committee

Fifteen years ago, the oil and gas industry recognised that preventing high consequence well control events would require more than company-level action. It would require global collaboration, shared learning, and stronger operational consistency across the sector.

Since its inception in May 2011, the Wells Expert Committee (WEC) has played a key role in strengthening well operations across the global oil and gas industry.

The purpose of the Committee is to “Improve well Operators’ effectiveness in the prevention and mitigation of high consequence well control events throughout the well life cycle, particularly during well construction and well work, recognising that such events pose the highest global risk to safety, to the environment, and to the industry’s license to operate”.

Following the prevention recommendations of the Global Industry Response Group (GIRG), the Committee’s work was focused on improving well safety and reducing the likelihood of well incidents. Key focus areas included:

From the outset, the Committee has focused on these core pillars, which have helped drive industry alignment, improve operational standards, and support safer well operations across regions and operators.

Incident Sharing: Learning to Prevent Reoccurrence

One of the WEC’S strengths has been its commitment to incident sharing. A key achievement in this area was the development of the Industry-wide Well Control Incident Database, created to capture, analyse, and share well control incidents across the industry.

This database enables learning from incidents and near misses, helps identify recurring failure patterns, and supports proactive prevention. These lessons have also informed guidance documents, technical recommendations, and operational practices used by industry.

It is one of the Committee’s core functions and remains central to improving well safety across our industry.

Competency and Training: Investing in People

Competency and training is central to the Committee’s mission. A key milestone in this work was IOGP Report 476, which established recommendations for well control training. It helped strengthen competency assurance and consistency in how well control capability is developed and assessed.

Building on this foundation, the WEC continued to advance the industry’s focus on Crew Resource Management (CRM), non-technical skills, and human performance. Leadership, communication, decision-making under pressure, situational awareness, procedural discipline, and weak signal recognition are critical factors in preventing well control incidents.

As operations become increasingly complex, the need for competent personnel becomes even more important. The Committee’s continued focus on competency, CRM, and human performance has been essential in improving safety and supporting stronger operational performance across the industry.

Equipment: Reliability

Well control depends heavily on equipment performance. Over the years, the WEC has provided a forum for discussing equipment reliability, maintenance challenges, testing requirements, and operational expectations. These discussions have helped shape industry guidance and improve understanding of equipment performance in real operating conditions.

Standards: Driving Consistency Across the Industry

Standards are essential for safe and reliable well operations. The WEC monitors the development of well control and well integrity standards that support the Committee’s purpose and overall mission of prevention and has played an important role in supporting the development and alignment of international standards.

By encouraging consistency across operators and regions, the Committee has helped strengthen the industry by reducing variability in well operations.

“Having managed the WEC for almost a decade, I have seen firsthand the energy, and commitment across the industry to prevent and mitigate high consequence well control events. It has been a journey bringing together Operators, experts, and stakeholders who share the same goal of making well operations safer.

Since its inception, the Committee has accomplished a great deal. As our industry continues to evolve, so do the challenges we face, and the need for collaboration remains as important as ever. The progress we have made is significant, but there is still more to do.”

• Diana Khatun, Principal Manager – Well Operations & Regulatory Engagement

Looking Forward

Fifteen years is an important milestone, the WEC has shown that progress happens fastest when the industry works together by sharing, learning continuously, and challenging itself to improve.

During this time, the WEC has evolved alongside the changing needs of the industry. The Committee’s scope has grown to address emerging challenges such as Subsea Well Response, Pore Pressure Fracture Gradient (PPFG), and Wells CCS.

What remains unchanged is the Committee’s remit: improving operators’ effectiveness in preventing and mitigating high consequence well control events

But the work is far from complete. As the Committee looks to the future, its foundation remains strong.