The fact is, stuff happens. Regardless of how much prevention is taken to safeguard against costly malfunctions like a stuck tool, there is often no easy cure once they are taking place. Fortunately, advancements do not take place in a vacuum. Coiled tubing (CT) technology also has experienced its fair share of innovation.

For any drilling operation, perhaps the most troublesome, annoying problem is tools stuck in hole. Not only does this shut down drilling progress, it can become costly in very rapid succession and can ultimately make a once profitable venture a complete failure or, at a minimum, less commercially viable in the early phase of production.

Well intervention is a crucial step in securing stuck tools and returning a drilling project to its scheduled status. While the potential for coiled tubing to save such a well is limited in certain situations, recent advances are increasing the threshold for fast, simple recovery.

On Jan. 1, 2009, Key Energy Services pulled one operator out of a hole (literally) in the Bakken shale. The drill string was stuck with tools in the horizontal section of the well at a total measured depth of 19,800 ft (6,039 m). After the team selected, modeled, and properly mixed a pipe-on-pipe metal friction reducer that would help reach such a deep target-depth, equipment was rigged up and run in hole within several hours.

At approximately 10,000-ft (3,050-m) depth, the well kicked out to the horizontal. The coiled tubing crew ran 9,800 ft (2,989 m) in the horizontal section to reach the stuck equipment. A sand cutter was used to free the drill tools. The operation managed to recover the entire drill pipe; the tools were saved as well. That entailed a total of US $250,000 in equipment along with a valuable section of the production zone. (The operator took a deep breath.)

So, what is the point of the story? Much of the discourse on drilling operations revolves around how to prevent problems like this through intensive well planning, geologic modeling, and monitoring of the entire process. In recent years, the industry has experienced numerous advances in drilling monitoring of processes. Many engineers believe automation will provide further saving grace in the decades to come. Logging while drilling/measurement while drilling, real-time capacity, and other aspects of gaining knowledge of the drilling process when it counts have alleviated many of the kinks that have plagued drilling operations for decades.

The fact is, stuff happens. Regardless of how much prevention is taken to safeguard against costly malfunctions like a stuck tool, there is often no easy cure once they are taking place. Fortunately, advancements do not take place in a vacuum. Coiled tubing (CT) technology also has experienced its fair share of innovation.

The recent example of CT’s benefits to the Bakken shale well displays that major problems can be overcome, quickly. While it is important to take every step to ensure that costly problems do not disrupt the drilling process, it is good to know that there is a means of lessening the impact when they do occur. CT should continue to alleviate the stigma of not getting it done the first time.