Technology development company for the global energy sector, Deep Casing Tools (DCT), together with its regional partner for Asia Pac, EFTECH, has successfully ran 3 more of its Turborunner TM tools with Shell Sarawak, despite challenging conditions heightened by COVID-19.

The scope of work, which was awarded to DCT in 2018, required horizontal well completions in six new wells to ensure target depth (TD) could be reached. The work was carried out on the Naga 7 jack-up rig located offshore, Miri, Sarawak, which Shell Sarawak contracted from Velesto Drilling in 2018 to support its offshore oil exploration and production, and offshore gas production in the region.

Despite challenging conditions including tight spots in all six wells, the runs were completed successfully by August 2020 by deploying DCT’s best in class turbine-powered completions tool, Turborunner TM, which allowed the energy major to reach TD.

Turborunner TM was deployed due to its track record of landing completion strings and liners at TD first time, even in complex wells and with challenging open hole conditions. It uses high speed reaming to reduce potential equipment damage, create less downtime, eliminate wiper trips and open hole exposure and enable cost-effective drill through and drill ahead.

In addition to the tight spots, the restrictions on travel for overseas personnel as a result of COVID-19 created further challenges. DCT was able to overcome this as a result of its well-established relationship with EFTECH, the leading provider of process and pipeline services to the offshore industry, which is headquartered in Malaysia.

Together, DCT and EFTECH were able to provide on-the-ground field support to oversee the running of the tools, whilst complying with social distancing requirements set by the local government and the operator. This was bolstered by remote support and monitoring by DCT’s technical operations team based at its headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. Furthermore, the customer benefited from rapid tool mobilisation due to the partnership’s in-region warehouses facilities. 

Neil Hathaway, Regional Manager at DCT, said: 
“The success of this project is testament to our commitment over the last decade to grow our international capabilities through a network of experienced and dedicated partners around the world. By partnering with EFTECH who have amassed nearly two decades of experience of servicing the offshore sector in the Asia Pac region, we were able to deliver an unrivalled level of service to our customer Shell Sarawak.

“It is also another excellent example of our simple innovation which make operations safer and more efficient, even in the most complex and challenging conditions. We are looking forward to building the relationship further with EFTECH and Shell Sarawak, as well as continuing to bring further innovative solutions to the oil and gas downhole market.”

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Deep Casing Tools