Have you ever been tasked with explaining the oil and gas industry, or more specifically the completions sector, to a family member or friend? Of course you have. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to explain the complexities of our industry, especially to someone without prior knowledge. What usually happens is you find yourself oversimplifying and understating the importance of what we do on a daily basis. But the fact of the matter is that our industry and the challenges it presents have no easy explanation.
Completions is just one piece in the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle that is the oil and gas industry. From the wellhead to the casing shoe, including everything in between, all components and processes ultimately harmonize into a singular system aimed to provide a safe and efficient conduit for the production of one of Earth’s most valuable natural resources. Whether complementary or enabling, advances in completions technologies continue to push the realm of what is possible and allow the exploitation of assets that were deemed impossible previously.
Whether it is a remotely actuated valve set miles beneath the Earth’s surface, a milling tool with a voracious appetite, or a complementary suite of solutions that ignited a revolution, the end game is the same. It is this end game that leads to economic growth and ultimately an improved quality of life for people all around the globe. Without the continued advancement in technology required to meet the demands of the ever-evolving oil and gas industry, the production of energy would become jeopardized. It is this constant advancement of technology that makes the completions sector so unique and so critical to the process of energy production.
The following papers highlight just a few key technological breakthroughs that are certain to have an effect on how completions are designed and deployed for years to come. Reliability, efficiency, and production optimization are common themes that continue to resonate throughout the sector and are further supported by the papers selected for this feature. I am encouraged by the technologies being developed every day in this industry, but I am most excited about what is yet to come.
This Month's Technical Papers
A High-Pressure/High-Temperature Bridge Plug
A Remotely Controlled Downhole Valve Used for Completion Installation
A Novel Completion Method for Sequenced Fracturing in the Eagle Ford Shale
Radio-Frequency Identification in Intervention-Free Upper-Completion Installation
Recommended Additional Reading
SPE/IADC 166747 Advanced Milling Technology Sets Record for Number of Composite Mill Outs for Plug-and-Perforate Completions in the Williston Basin by Adam Larsen, Baker Hughes, et al.
SPE 169764 Concept, Design, and Implementation of a Halite-Scale-Mitigation Completion in a Gas Well by Doug Maxwell, Axis Well Technology, et al.
SPE 169531 Completion Influence on Production Decline in the Bakken/Three Forks Play by Geoffrey Gullickson, Halliburton, et al.
SPE 166431 Unconventional Completions: Which One Is Right for Your Application? by W. Aaron Burton, Baker Hughes.
Nicholas Clem, SPE, is an engineering manager for new-product development of sand-control completions equipment at Baker Hughes. He holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Clem serves on the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition Well Completions Subcommittee and on the JPT Editorial Committee.