Most photographs of well interventions show the equipment rigged up at the wellsite, or the results of a successful operation. However, a lot of the work that leads a successful operation takes place before the tools leave the workshop.
Checking equipment before loading out is an important part of that preparation. It is an opportunity to look closely at the tools, confirm they are suitable for the planned work, function testing to ensure compatibility and identify anything that needs attention while there is still time to resolve it. This step is also hugely beneficial to perform in a cool workshop environment compared to performing it in the sweltering heat of the Saudi Arabian desert. They will of course still under go further checks before running in the hole.
If this stage is missed, equipment could reach the wellsite with a missing components, damaged connections or incorrect compatibility leading to much larger problems.
Preparing for the planned operation
Tool preparation needs to be considered alongside the intervention programme, and the intervention considered alongside the available tooling. Having a tool available does not mean it is ready or suitable for the job, it still needs thorough checks performed on it.
The equipment selected needs to match the intended application, the relevant well details and the toolstring requirements. Depending on the equipment and scope of work, preparation may include checking condition, dimensions, connections, function and supporting certification records.
For fishing operations, this attention to detail is particularly valuable. Understanding how the tools operate, what they are intended to engage and how they will be recovered forms part of the preparation before mobilisation.
It is also the time to consider contingency equipment. If the operation does not progress as expected, what alternatives might be needed, and will they be available? This is what sets us apart from others, focus on what can occur if the job doesn’t go to plan, but at the same time plan for the best case scenario.
Checking and recording
Tool sizes, serials and certification must be reviewed and recorded before loadout.
Work through each piece of equipment properly, rather than only pulling them off the shelf based on the loadout list. The list confirms what is required; the inspection helps establish the condition and readiness of what is actually being sent and records the assets being sent to location.
Clear records also help with the handover between workshop preparation and the team carrying out the operation. Any outstanding issues should be identified and addressed before mobilisation, with the equipment status understood by those involved.
Giving the operation a better starting point
Workshop preparation cannot remove every uncertainty from a well intervention. Well conditions can change, and fishing operations in particular may require decisions based on what is found downhole and will likely change each run performed.
What good preparation can do is reduce avoidable problems and give the team a better starting point.
Finding an issue in the workshop gives us the opportunity to deal with it before it affects the operation. That is time well spent.
At JARP Well Services, practical preparation is part of the support we provide across slickline and heavy-duty fishing operations. From reviewing the programme to preparing equipment and supporting execution, the aim is to make sure the planned work is backed by equipment and people ready to carry it out.
To discuss well intervention planning, equipment preparation or operational support, contact JARP Well Services through www.jarpwells.com.