Here’s how Schlumberger’s Glossary defines a “fish”: Anything left in a wellbore. It does not matter whether the fish consists of junk metal, a hand tool, a length of drill pipe or drill collars, or an expensive MWD and directional drilling package. Once the component is lost, it is properly referred to as simply “the […]
More Than Just Pipe Dreams
Market fluctuations are driving OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) companies to diversify. By Paul Wiseman The Oil Patch roller coaster is real for the entire sector; but for companies that rely on steel as a raw material, global politics adds a whole new layer of variables. Such is the case for oil country tubular […]
Spillover
Last month’s issue was called our “Water Issue” (see photo), so we can’t slap that label on this issue, or this coverage, anyway. We’ll just call this “Overflow.” It’s some additional insights we weren’t able to squeeze into the April issue. By Jesse Mullins Some isolated, maybe random, observations about H2O and the tidal […]
Mechanically Adept
By Paul Wiseman With more accurate computer modeling for drill sites connected to long lead times (6-12 months) for procurement of large equipment like gas compressors, long-term planning is both possible and necessary. That plus the emergence of gas lift compression as a preferred artificial lift solution has made compression services companies like CSI Compressco […]
Safe and Sure
By Paul Wiseman “We can dance if we want to… I can act like an imbecile” “Safety Dance,” Men Without Hats, 1982 Those two lines are not consecutive in the song, but for some reason they’re the only ones I remember. They’re pertinent to a story about safety expert Dusty Roach because he’s […]
To Turn Up the Pressure
The year 2019 began with the the frac industry under pressure as a whole, and pressure pumpers were no exception. A sudden oil price drop in December, coupled with downward pricing impetus from backlogged pipelines and year-end budget exhaustion led to a drop in completions—and a freefall in demand for fracturing crews and frac sand. […]
How To Achieve Required Top of Cement in Challenging Permian Basin Wells
Sponsored Post: Well productivity and profitability are influenced by the decisions you make every step of the way—that includes your cementing job. Cement quality is key to well performance and integrity, especially in the Permian, where 80 percent of existing Texas wells show sustained annual pressure and almost always have to pass through severely depleted […]
I.T. is what I.T. is
In the field and in the back office, information technology, and the automation that arises from it, continues to boost efficiency. This is not your father’s automation. By Paul Wiseman For decades, oilfield automation was controlled by devices called Programmable Logic Controllers. A PLC is a small, limited function computer that controls process in […]
Spudding In
Recollections of the old “Fort Worth Spudder” and other early-day portable drilling machines. This photo shows what appears to be a stripped-down framework of an old Fort Worth Spudder. See other photos for comparison. by Bobby Weaver Probably the most recognizable imagery related to the oil field is a towering derrick. That was especially true […]
Gone Fishing
Here’s how Schlumberger’s Glossary defines a “fish”: Anything left in a wellbore. It does not matter whether the fish consists of junk metal, a hand tool, a length of drill pipe or drill collars, or an expensive MWD and directional drilling package. Once the component is lost, it is properly referred to as simply “the […]
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