Technology Focus: Coiled-Tubing Applications (June 2015)

Abstract

Technology Focus The oil industry has responded rapidly to the decline in oil prices of these last few months. As in past downturns, the rig count has fallen quickly, with the US land rig count having been particularly hard hit. The Baker Hughes rig count for US land rigs shows a fall from 1,866 at the beginning of June 2014 to 1,028 at the start of April 2015, a decrease of 45%. A large portion of this reduction has occurred in the shale plays. In prior industry cycles, declines in rig activity have not affected the coiled-tubing (CT) market immediately. In fact, an increase in the CT sector has been observed in some past down cycles. CT had been predominantly an intervention method used to aid or maintain existing production. However, the focus in the US CT market has shifted to supporting completion operations in the shale plays. Anecdotal opinion at the Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition in Houston this year suggested that there is a greater and more immediate effect on the CT market in the US. Opinion similarly suggested that activity outside of the US land market is responding as it has in previous cycles. The CT industry, like all other sectors in our industry, will respond to today’s new market conditions. Technical innovation, as evident at the CT conference, will continue. The focus of this innovation may shift toward improving processes and their efficiency—namely, doing more with less. This repurposing brings an opportunity to drive and recognize the value of these innovations. Perhaps this period in the cycle will allow for a consolidation of knowledge and incremental development of today’s technologies. The papers in this year’s feature represent innovation, the adaptation of existing technologies, and overcoming operational problems. They demonstrate the transfer of knowledge from other sectors of our industry. By using that knowledge, each paper shows that technical innovation is still possible in this current climate and continues to move the CT industry forward.