Well Cementing Training
Tailored, in-house cementing courses for drilling and well engineering teams, delivered by an independent consultant with more than 35 years of cementing experience in over 60 countries.
Good cementing underpins well integrity, from surface casing to final abandonment. Well Cementing Consultants provides well cementing training built around your wells, your people and your operational challenges, rather than a one-size-fits-all public course. Every course is designed and delivered by Bill Hunter, who has helped construct all types of wells in land, swamp, shelf and deepwater environments, and who also has expertise in geothermal and CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage) wells.
Workshops have been delivered for energy companies and organisations in Italy, Brazil, Romania, Mozambique and Nigeria, with a one-week workshop in Karachi, Pakistan, scheduled for November 2026. Certificates are provided to participants.
Upcoming well cementing training
Karachi, Pakistan – one-week cementing workshop for Obiz/UEPL, November 2026.
Workshops can be arranged at your location on request.
Who the training is for
Courses can be pitched at an introductory, intermediate or advanced level, and are suitable for:
- Drilling and well engineers who design casing and cementing programmes
- Drilling supervisors, wellsite leaders and company representatives who oversee cement jobs at the rig
- Cementing service personnel, including field engineers, laboratory staff and operators
- Graduates and new starters in drilling and well construction
- Completions, production and well integrity engineers who rely on good zonal isolation
- Teams moving into geothermal or CO₂ storage projects who need to understand how cementing requirements differ from conventional oil and gas wells
- Managers and non-specialists who want a practical understanding of cementing risk
What the training can cover
Each course is tailored, so you choose the modules that matter to your team. Typical topics include:
- Cementing fundamentals. Why we cement, cement functions, API/ISO cement classes, cement chemistry and hydration, and basic cementing calculations (volumes, yields, mix water, displacement).
- Slurry design and laboratory testing. Designing to well conditions; thickening time, rheology, fluid loss, free fluid, compressive strength and static gel strength; reading and challenging a lab report.
- Cement additives and special systems. Accelerators, retarders, extenders, weighting agents, fluid-loss and gas-migration control, lost-circulation materials, lightweight and foamed cements, flexible or expanding systems, and salt cement systems.
- Mud removal and displacement. Drilling-fluid conditioning, spacer and wash design, rheological hierarchy, flow regimes and pump rates. These are the practical keys to getting cement where it needs to be.
- Casing hardware and centralisation. Float equipment, plugs and cement heads, centraliser selection and stand-off, and stage, liner and tie-back cementing.
- Job design and simulation. Building a cementing programme, ECD and well-control checks, temperature modelling, and using placement simulations to test the design before the job.
- Execution, QA/QC and supervision. Pre-job checks, bulk and blend sampling, mixing and density control, real-time monitoring, and what a company representative should watch for on the rig.
- Cement evaluation. Interpreting job data, cement bond logs (CBL/VDL) and ultrasonic logs, and knowing when the evidence supports zonal isolation and when it doesn't.
- Remedial cementing. Squeeze cementing techniques, diagnosing the root cause before designing the repair, and balanced cement plugs for kick-off and lost circulation.
- Plug and abandonment. Barrier design and verification, placing and testing abandonment plugs, and current industry guidelines.
- Geothermal and CCUS wells. High-temperature and thermal-cycling challenges, CO₂-resistant cement systems, and designing for long-term isolation over the life of a storage well.
- Case studies and troubleshooting. Lessons from real jobs: lost returns, gas migration, poor bond and what could have been done differently.
Training formats
- In-house courses at your office or training centre, delivered to your team wherever you operate.
- Online live sessions. Interactive virtual classes, split into shorter sessions to fit around shift patterns and time zones.
- Bespoke workshops. Focused sessions on a single topic, such as salt cementing, geothermal cementing, mud removal, cement evaluation or P&A, or a review of your own cementing programmes as a training exercise.
Course length is tailored to your needs, from one-day workshops to one-week courses. Certificates are provided to participants.
Example course agenda: 4.5-day Cementing Technology Workshop
This example workshop is aimed at experienced operating company drilling professionals. It helps attendees understand the key aspects of well cementing, how they affect completion effectiveness and cost, and how to apply best practices to achieve zonal isolation objectives. Each day ends with a quiz and review.
Day 1: The foundations of well cementing
- History, development and purpose of well cementing
- Cement manufacture and chemistry
- Cement additives: functions and uses
- Centralisation and drilling fluid displacement best practices
Day 2: Cement job design and preparation
- Primary cement job calculations
- Cement job computer modelling: what to look out for
- Cement laboratory testing and what it means
- Annular fluid migration: causes and prevention
- Lost circulation remedies
Day 3: Cement job execution and evaluation
- Primary cement job execution and evaluation
- Remediation of unsatisfactory primary cement jobs
- Foam cementing and other lightweight systems
- Managed pressure cementing
Day 4: Beyond cement placement, with a P&A focus
- Mechanically modified cements for long-term isolation
- Well P&A barrier philosophies
- Cement plugs: placement and verification
- Coiled tubing cement plug placement
Day 5 (half day): HPHT cementing and other tools in the toolbox
- HPHT cementing considerations
- Casing equipment: float equipment, wiper plugs, stage tools and centralisers
- Downhole tools: packers, bridge plugs and more
- Round-up and workshop takeaways
Agendas are tailored to each client, so modules can be added, removed or expanded.
Recent and upcoming workshops
A selection of workshops delivered by Bill Hunter:
- Upcoming: Obiz/UEPL, Karachi, Pakistan – one-week cementing workshop, November 2026
- WellLynx, Pescara, Italy – one-week cementing workshop, September 2026
- SPDC, Port Harcourt, Nigeria – two-day cementing workshop, October 2013
- ENH, Maputo, Mozambique – Cementing Technology Forum, November 2012
- Atlantic Council, Bucharest, Romania – two-day unconventional gas workshop, October 2012
- Enel, Larderello, Italy – one-day geothermal cementing workshop, October 2010
- Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – one-week salt cementing workshop, November 2008
Why train with Well Cementing Consultants
- 35+ years of hands-on cementing experience. The training is grounded in real operations, not just theory.
- Global perspective. Experience supporting customers in more than 60 countries across land, swamp, shelf and deepwater environments, with workshops delivered from Brazil to Mozambique.
- Technical depth. 16 published papers and patents.
- Independent and impartial. No products to sell, so the course teaches what works, whatever the service company.
- Ready for the energy transition. Expertise in geothermal and CCUS wells as well as conventional oil and gas.
- Tailored to you. Content, examples and exercises are built around your wells and your team's experience level.
Frequently asked questions
Who delivers the training?
All courses are designed and delivered by Bill Hunter, founder of Well Cementing Consultants, who has more than 35 years of well cementing experience in over 60 countries.
Can the course be tailored to our wells?
Yes. Tailoring is the core of the service. Before the course, we agree the objectives, the participants' experience level and the well types involved, and we can build exercises around your own cementing programmes and job data (kept confidential).
Do participants receive a certificate?
Yes. Certificates are provided to participants.
Where can the training be delivered?
Well Cementing Consultants is based in Northampton, United Kingdom, and works worldwide. Workshops have been delivered in Italy, Brazil, Romania, Mozambique and Nigeria, with a workshop in Pakistan scheduled for November 2026. Courses can be delivered at your premises, on site or online.
Do you offer training for geothermal and CCUS wells?
Yes. Cementing for geothermal and CO₂ storage wells can be covered as a dedicated module or a stand-alone workshop, including high-temperature design, thermal cycling and long-term CO₂ resistance.
How long is a course and how much does it cost?
Course length is tailored, from one-day workshops to one-week courses, depending on the number of modules and the format. Pricing is available on request: get in touch with your requirements and we'll send a proposal.
Arrange well cementing training for your team
Tell us about your team, your wells and what you want to achieve, and we'll put together a training proposal.
Phone: +44 7879 667988
Email: bill.hunter@wellcementingconsultants.com