Well Workovers as a Stepping Stone

Guillermo Capacho, Senior Vice-President of International Operations and Technology at Key Energy Services, explains that in complex fields like Chicontepec, workover of wells needs to go hand-inhand with expert analysis. “Chicontepec requires more commitment from service companies,” Capacho explains. “I want Key Energy Services to be known in Mexico as a service company that brings more value to the table than merely a tool and rig rental business. You cannot improve what you cannot track. Key Energy Services is tracking everything in order to keep up productivity through improved effciency. Right now, Key Energy Services is performing twice the amount of interventions per rig per month than anybody else in the Mexican market. Why is this important? Time savings and increased production time. Our effciency lessens our clients’ operational downtime. Oil from these serviced wells will come sooner to the pipeline.”

Capacho took steps to restructure the company since his arrival at Key Energy Services. “As soon as I arrived at Key Energy Services, I assembled an engineering support team. We had the rigs, eciency, real-time monitoring systems, and automation and control systems, but we did not have strong technical support to analyse the collected data, send guidelines back to our clients and execute them. And that is what we are doing right now. Additionally, we are building a consultancy business that is 100% focused on well productivity – not on well construction, not on workover - a service fully dedicated to supporting our client better understand what to do to improve oil productivity.” Capacho is proud of the eort his company is dedicating into recruiting and retaining the top engineers and technicians of the Mexican market. “Without a doubt, their experience, talent, passion, creativity and knowledge of the Chicontepec fields and operations will become a key performance dierentiator.”

Moreover, Key Energy Services is internationally recognized for its compliance with international health, safety and environmental policies. Mr. Capacho explains that Key Energy Services’ commitment to HSEQ further complements their suite of consultancy services. “For us at Key Energy Services, safety is not just statistics; safety is personal. Over the course of the past year Key Energy Services has enacted numerous safety initiatives to raise safety awareness amongst our employees, clients and surrounding communities.” Most recently Key Energy completed a series of eective field safety audits on all the rigs servicing the Chicontepec region, with the intent of eliminating any possible oversights in HSEQ.

Capacho goes on to explain the importance of workover services for technologically demanding fields like Chicontepec, and the role that innovative products can play in helping to increase eciency. “One of the reasons I accepted the position at Key Energy Services is the company’s excellent range of products, which means fast and ecient well interventions through unique technology. All of our rigs are equipped with KeyView technology, a real-time monitoring and control system. Why is that critical for places like Chicontepec? Tracking operations minute by minute ensures the identification of any productivity gaps and provides a real picture of your operation’s eciency. Once initial production levels drop, it becomes a question of whether to drill new wells, or service existing wells to maintain production peaks.”

Pemex recently slowed its drilling programme at Chicontepec and initiated a workover and completion programme at its existing wells to boost productivity. The results were highly positive. For the first time in its history, Chicontepec reached a production peak of 65,000 bbl/d - an important step, growing quarter on quarter towards Pemex’s eventual goal of 363,000 bbl/d by 2021. Capacho continues, “Key Energy Services is fully committed to support this initiative through innovative technology, ecient processes and expert consultancy solutions.”