Workover Solutions
Leading oilfield services provider AlMansoori Petroleum Services (MPS) has signed a joint venture agreement with US-based Rodgers Technology, which will see the company’s next generation hydraulic workover “Versa-Rig” introduced to the eastern hemisphere through the newly formed AlMansoori Hydraulic Workover Services division. The versatile rig can be used for a range of workover services including underbalanced and directional drilling, live well intervention, completion and well control services and ESP pump replacements. The flexible unit can work on multi-well pads with mobile capacity, be utilised onshore or offshore and is capable of working at depths up to 25,000ft.
Versa-Rig has multiple lift capacities ranging from 170,000 lbs to 450,000 lbs, to be increased to 750,000 pull by 2011, and snubbing capabilities up to 150,000 psi. It is a self-supporting structure which removes the load from the casing head and requires no guidelines to rig-up. Unlike traditional snubbing units, it can be rigged-up and operated in close proximity to a drilling rig, while its total weight rests off the casing and on the sub-structure. This significantly reduces the likelihood of casing failure, which can cause fatalities on the rig floor and hundreds of thousand of dollars in damage.
Versa-Rig is the brainchild of the entrepreneurial oilfield expert, Troy Rodgers, who developed the workover system and secured its first contract with Williams Company in Piceance Basin of the Rocky Mountains, USA. A total of 39 wells were completed after stimulation with an average of two days per well, including the move from well to well. A 150 snubbing unit would have taken between four and five days to complete each well. Having operated for eight months without a single lost time incident, AlMansoori Hydraulic Workover Services will now offer the rig to operators exclusively across the eastern hemisphere.
Nabil Alalawi, CEO of AlMansoori, said: “Versa-Rig will revolutionise how workovers are carried out. Alternative methods, such as snubbing, have been on the market for decades but the risk of well collapse associated with this has always been an issue. The new rig ensures that the maximum reserves are extracted from the well in the safest and most efficient manner, without damaging the well.
“We are very pleased to be working with Troy and his team and I am confident our partnership will greatly benefit both companies.”
Troy Rodgers said: “Developing the rig from an initial idea to a working model took an incredible level of dedication, technical knowledge and expertise from our team and signing the agreement with a major service company like AlMansoori is a great reward for this. We have proven the benefits of Versa-Rig in our home market and we are now ready to extend the technology uptake to key growth areas such as the Middle East.”