As the saying goes, “Time is the longest distance between two places.” There is no truer phrase when it comes to the oil field and our offshore drilling and completions operations. While saving seconds adds up to minutes and minutes eventually add up to hours, we need truly innovative thinking to make major changes in the way we execute such operations.
It’s never straightforward to be truly innovative. You need the culture, the company, and the employees to be aligned. That is often easier said than done. When true innovation is achieved, however, the resulting solution/approach often is self-evident and marked by swift adoption by the industry across the globe. Additionally, you need the drive to achieve this, and the industry today needs innovation badly if it is going to continue to operate in some of these traditionally high-cost environments. The papers I selected here represent great examples of such impactful innovation, insight, and opportunity and are aimed at extensive rig-time and trips out of the well, particularly the completion process.
In deepwater, subsea, and extended-reach wells, and any high-cost environment, a measurable reduction of rig time in whatever form will be matched by a substantial economic benefit. Specifically targeting ingrained thinking, the selected papers demonstrate the game-changing results that can be achieved even when targeting long-established norms. They demonstrate everything that our industry should be proud of and what we strive for. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did and see the potential applications in your own business.
This Month's Technical Papers
Multilevel Completions in One Trip: Development and Deployment
Seal Qualification and Single-Trip Lockdown Sleeve Reduce Risk
From Completion to Production Without Intervention in a Subsea Well
Recommended Additional Reading
SPE 196261 Unique Screen and Sleeve Design Allows Selective High-Rate Water Injection in Deepwater Horizontal Openhole Completion by Kenneth Johnson, Halliburton, et al.
SPE 197770 Linerless Casing Design: A Success Story of Synergy, Strong Planning, and Flawless Execution Proving for the First Time That a Significant Reduction in Well Construction Time Is Possible in Nasr Field by Elena Cantarelli, Schlumberger, et al.
SPE 198144 Innovative Milling Technology Enhances Plugging and Abandonment Performance To Save 11 Rig Days by Tomasz Stanko, Schlumberger, et al.
| Martin Rylance, SPE, is senior adviser and engineering manager for the Frac & Stim Group with BP. He has worked with BP and its partners and joint ventures for more than 29 years. Rylance holds a BS degree in pure mathematics. He has been involved in all aspects of pumping operations, well control, well interventions, and pressure service. Rylance has specialized in unconventional resources and fracturing in tectonic and high-pressure/high-temperature environments. During his career, he has been responsible for the implementation of numerous intervention campaigns, pilots, and exploration programs. Having lived in 10 countries and pumped in more than 20, Rylance has created and managed teams that have delivered thousands of fracturing and stimulation treatments around the world. He has numerous papers and publications to his name. Rylance was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2008–09 and in 2013–14 and is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee. He can be reached at martin.rylance@se1.bp.com. |
