Bogdan Kravchuk: At the moment Lukoil wells are served by both corporative and outside services, but the company has set a strategic objective of outsourcing for well service and workover.

 

B.K.: Outsourcing marginal assets is a general trend aimed at reducing oil production costs and capitalization of companies. In the context of the toughening competition, working with contractors is much more efficient than running a service division. Yet, serious preparatory work is necessary to make the outsourced services bring the required economic effect. All the pros and cons should be assessed first, otherwise outsourcing may turn out to be even more expensive.

 

B.K.: Frankly speaking, we are often dissatisfied with the well service quality offered by some independent service companies, which fail to meet our requirements. Many companies, especially the small ones, offer insufficient technical and technological equipment. The qualifications of their personnel are often a source of problems as well. Ultimately, all these factors influence the quality of well service and prompt fair customers' claims. The quality of service brings about either revenues or losses for the customer.

 

B.K.: We order traditional operations, ranging from cleaning out the bottomhole zones of the productive formations to sidetracking, isolation and fishing works, performed during the mitigation of troubles and collapses.

 

B.K.: Yes, the company is really interested in innovations and is trying to launch advanced technological decisions and equipment. For example, we have successfully introduced a technology that is quite new for Russia - radial drilling operations. And of course, sidetracking and casing shoe subdrilling are on the rise today. All these operations are rather promising and give substantial marginal production, that is why the companies are expanding them.

 

B.K.: Good service in sidetracking and subdrilling includes such important elements as drilling, telemetry services, well cementing and development. Service companies should use high quality equipment as well as experienced and qualified specialists.

 

B.K.: There is a the common principle for all oil producers. Lukoil has committees for all tender procedures. Technological intensiveness and staff qualifications of the tendering companies are taken into account. We also estimate their experience in the offered services, procedural nomenclature and company reputation in the service market. Many contractors gave a good account of themselves and have been cooperating with us for many years. We decline the services of notorious companies and the ones that fail to meet our requirements.

 

B.K.: Yes, gaining prestige in the service market isn't easy.

 

B.K.: It is not the brand of the equipment producer that makes the reputation of a service company, but rather its nomenclature and the quality of operations. When the quality satisfies the customer, the origin of the tools is not that important. Another thing matters. When the operations are done with domestic or Belarusian equipment, they turn out to be cheaper. The customer is interested in lower expenses. We always take into account the correlation between price and quality.

 

B.K.: I would dwell mostly on the well service, since I specialize in this field. The well stock is becoming outdated, which causes water cuts and deterioration of the production strings. This concerns such large oil-bearing regions as Western Siberia, Volgograd, Perm and Komi. There are a lot  of new fields that are hard to recover because of the complex geology of the productive reservoirs and high contents of high-viscous oil. I think that in the long view the demand for high quality service work will be growing. At the moment the isolation works are often ineffective. That is why almost  all customers look for technologies and contractors that offer a high level of quality. The void of information about isolation technologies hasn't been filled, which makes these operations demanded and promising. It is important to study the experience of domestic and foreign companies. It is very important to master and develop technologies, providing for effective isolation operations!

 

Another trend is looking for lower operation expenses. Coiled tubing is one of the leading technologies that save resources by reducing well shut-down. Unfortunately, coiled tubes are currently used for rather simple operations like bottom washing or acid treatment. Meanwhile, very complicated, unique operations can be performed!

 

B.K.: We need a great volume of information about the opportunities of the coiled tubing, its technological and economic efficiency, case studies of complicated operations, such as isolation works or retrieving foreign bodies during elimination of breakdowns, and sidetracking. The latter is a very complicated operation in terms of technologies and very few service companies are ready to run it. Clearly, coiled tubing brings about some problems, prompted by limited diameter and strength performance of the coiled tubes. Nevertheless, the CT technologies are very effective and have good avenues in the Russian oil service market.

 

I hope to find my questions answered in the Coiled Tubing Times.