Unity, an engineering solutions provider for the upstream oil and gas industry, launched a multi-functional, near-surface intervention system following a successful commercial project for a major operator in Northwest Africa
The Surface Intervention System (SIS) was mobilised off the Tunisian coast in its first deployment to set two frac sleeves on two wells. Each sleeve was successfully set in less than three hours, including rig-up and rig-down time – a significant speed compared to conventional intervention methods of c.24-hour schedule.
Gary Smart, Unity CEO, said, “Being simple to operate, compact to ship and fast to deploy, the SIS offers cost savings of up to 75 per cent when used as an alternative to conventional equipment. We believe this is a ground-breaking technology offering rapid and streamlined operations which will open up new doors to improved efficiency gains for operators,” he added.
Wireline or coiled tubing intervention often requires multiple vendors with considerable manpower, heavy well control packages, and a large wellsite footprint resulting in significant operator costs and risks, especially offshore. While this equipment is necessary for deeper well-intervention, the SIS provides a more refined and cost-effective solution for shallow operations.
The SIS can be used across a variety of operations including plug or tubing hanger setting, removal of Xmas Tree, well inspection, milling and well-bore cleanout.
The SIS is fully compatible with industry standard tools. This allows simple switching between functions using sectional hollow rods at the wellsite. It can operate in pressures up to 10,000psi and has a powerful hydraulic motor, driving a push, pull and rotate function that can compete with wireline or coiled tube capability.
According to the Oil and Gas Authority’s ‘Wells Insight Report 2018’, well integrity problems were the single biggest cause of production losses, accounting for 43% of the total 33 million boe loss, of which 10 million boe was due to wellhead, xmas tree and annulus failures.
According to the ‘Wells Insight Report 2018’ of the Oil and Gas Authority, well integrity issues were the single biggest cause of production losses, accounting for 43 per cent of the total 33mn boe loss, of which 10min boe were due to wellhead, xmas tree and annulus failures.
