2020 SPE/ICoTA Curtis Blount Outstanding Paper Award Winner

As ever we had a rich technical program for the 2020 SPE/ICoTA Well Intervention Conference, with over 60 papers selected for the technical sessions. While the conference was cancelled due to Covid-19, all selected papers were published and are available for download on the OnePetro site www.onepetro.org

Irma Galvan old in gray 360x600

The selection of one for the Curtis Blount Outstanding Paper Award was a challenge but we are delighted to announce the winner – “Overcoming the operational challenges of +13,000-ft well laterals with 2.375-in coiled tubing” from Global Tubing LLC and Nine Energy Services.

Lead Author of the Paper, Irma Galvan, Director of Engineering at Global Tubing said “Thank you very much for selecting our paper to receive the Curtis Blount Outstanding Paper Award at the 2020 SPE ICoTA Conference. This is one of the most valuable awards in the industry and we are honored to be recognized for this achievement. Winning this award acknowledges the need for technological advancements of CT suppliers, string design engineers, and service providers’ collaborative efforts to expand coiled tubing (CT) operating capabilities in extreme extended reach wells. Additionally, it underscores the value added by Global Tubing’s Engineered Solutions Services as we continuously strive to deliver cost-effective, reliable, and low-risk solutions for our customers’ most challenging projects. Our work aims to benefit our customer’s unique needs as the market looks to optimize its circumstances to remain competitive at every level. We are very grateful for this essential role to enhance the industry as we work together to show added value through CT operations.”

The abstract from the Paper is as follows:

Well operators continue to push well lateral boundaries from 10,000 ft to 15,000 ft – producing wells with super laterals, which pose challenges for coiled tubing interventions in terms of extended reach. This paper discusses case studies with field results from the Haynesville and Permian Basins, that demonstrate the feasibility of operating in wells with 14,500 ft laterals using highly engineered 2.375-in coiled tubing designs, instead of larger diameter coil tubing or workover rigs. The strings were designed using high strength quench and tempered material, specific wall configurations, and skelp tapers which rapidly transition through four nominal wall thicknesses within a couple of hundred feet. The inclusion of friction reduction tools and chemical additives, along with tailored operating techniques that improve efficiencies were also reviewed and optimized to improve the likelihood of reaching target depths. Further analysis has shown that with future 16,500 ft super laterals where stick pipe was thought to be the only option, interventions with 2.625-in CT are possible with this collaborative design methodology.

The Papers authors are as follows: Irma Galvan, Genesis Mallanao, Garry McClelland and Jessica Perez at Global Tubing. Jason Skufca and Mary Suarez at Nine Energy Service.

We hope to run a webinar on this Paper and will update the website with information on when this is going to be taking place.