As I write the introduction to this year’s Coiled Tubing feature, I would like to highlight that Wellvene was the recipient of the 2026 ICoTA Intervention Technology Award for their InterLift Surface Intervention System at the global conference in The Woodlands, Texas, US. Saudi Aramco and SLB won the 2026 Curtis Blount Outstanding Paper Award for paper SPE 231347: “Coiled Tubing Multilateral Extended-Reach Stimulation With Electrical Multilateral Entry Tool, Hydraulic Tractor, and Electrical Circulation Valve,” which was a powerful example of what’s possible when expertise and innovation come together.
Furthermore, I’d like to point out some upcoming well-intervention conferences later this year that provide a great opportunity to meet professionals from operators and service providers. These meetings include the following:
- The 16th ICoTA Scandinavian Well Intervention Conference, focusing on production and recovery optimization, will be held in Stavanger on 17–18 June.
- The ICoTA Brazil Well Intervention Workshop, focusing on similar topics, will be held in Rio de Janeiro on 24th September.
- The SPE/ICoTA Asia Pacific Well Intervention and P&A Conference and Exhibition will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 29–30 September.
- SPE ICoTA 32nd European Well Intervention Conference 2026 will be held in Aberdeen on 11–12 November.
I encourage you to submit your papers to these conferences to highlight our collective progress!
As for this year’s selected papers for the Coiled Tubing feature, one includes a description of successful flexible coiled tubing hydrate remediation on a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel offshore Rio de Janeiro. An FPSO-based flexible coiled tubing (FCT) operation enables interventions in complex riser and flowline geometries in which direct vertical access is not possible, and not much space is available at the production unit for a traditional coiled tubing unit. FCT is composed of materials that guarantee that it can achieve short pipe-bend radius (3–5 times the pipe internal diameter) and facilitate neutral buoyancy in fluids with low density, such as seawater.
The second selected paper enables a step change in extended-reach operations by using split coiled tubing strings, where an extended-reach tool is added between the two strings and activated as it enters the lateral. This generates additional downhole friction reduction, leading to fast intervention and greater depths.
The third paper details a trial of 2⅞-in. coiled tubing for plug drillouts in Texas, outperforming the previous 2⅝-in. cleanouts. This also includes incorporating unit specifications within road-transportation limitations.
I have also selected other papers highly recommended for additional reading. These involve lessons learned from hydrogen embrittlement of high-grade coiled tubing while working in nonhydrogen sulfide wells, progress in applications for coiled tubing in drilling, and deepwater pipeline precommissioning.
Each of these papers presented at SPE conferences exemplifies the continued progress of industry solutions to maximize commercial value of basins within ever-changing oil and gas dynamics.
Summarized Papers in This June 2026 Issue
OTC 35615 Flexible Coiled Tubing Remediates Hydrates in the Campos Basin by Alina F. Rocha, PRIO; Kirk Gardiner, Paradigm Flow Services; and Matheus D. Bezerra, PRIO, et al.
SPE 231394 Split-String Coiled Tubing Field-Validated for Extended-Reach Operations by Patrick Jeschke, SPE, and Brad Watson, SPE, STEP Energy Services
SPE 231322 Field Trial Achieves Post-Frac-Plug Drillout Using 2⅞-in. Coiled Tubing by Jason Burke, SPE, and Kyle J. Baros, ConocoPhillips, and Christopher Schneider, SPE, Cudd Pressure Control
Recommended Additional Reading
SPE 224100 Hydrogen Embrittlement in Coiled Tubing Induced by Chemical Reactions: Lessons From the North Sea by Hans M. Koldal, Equinor, et al.
OTC 35987 Slim Hole Drilling: Bridging the Gap Between Oil and Gas Demand and a Sustainable Energy Future by Daniel Funes, Baker Hughes, et al.
SPE 224029 New Coiled Tubing Open-Sea Technology Reduced Cost in Presalt Deepwater Pipeline Precommissioning in Brazil by Victor Vivas, Halliburton, et al.
Karan Kaul, SPE, is a principal technical professional with Halliburton Energy Services Group based in Aberdeen. He has more than 15 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas and manufacturing industries. He previously worked with a manufacturing company, holding various engineering and leadership posts in research and development, field operations, coiled tubing surface equipment design, and technology implementation. He has worked in south Asia, North America, the Middle East, Europe, and the UK, both onshore and offshore. Kaul holds a BE degree in mechanical engineering, and has been a member of ASME. He has authored several SPE papers and is a past and ongoing program committee member. Kaul serves as a member of the JPT Editorial Review Board. He can be reached at karankaul17@outlook.com.