Slickline, wireline, and coiled tubing operations are essential components of well intervention and well maintenance in the oil and gas industry, each with its unique applications and benefits. Historically, these operations have been a labour-intensive activity, involving multiple personnel during the rig up and actual operations, as well as significant HSE risks such as lifting, pinch points, dropped objects and operating in a hazardous environment. In development since the early 2000s, advances in technology have enabled a new wave of autonomous systems to come to market, with key benefits for maximising production, while reducing intervention costs by standardising actions, reducing, or removing human related risks, and limit HSE risks and environmental impacts.
Similar to other industries, advancements in technology have allowed manual task to be roboticized and automated, to improve consistency, delivery, standardisation and reduce risks of human errors creeping into the operation. An early adopter of this technology is automotive manufacturing which has heavily invested in automation.
Let’s delve into how autonomy is being applied individually to slickline, wireline, and coiled tubing operations.
Slickline Autonomous Operations
Slickline operations involve using a thin, non-electric cable to perform basic downhole interventions, such as opening or closing valves, changing flow paths, and deploying or retrieving simple tools within the wellbore. The move towards autonomy in slickline operations involves the use of more intelligent tools that can perform tasks with minimal surface control, relying instead on pre-programmed instructions or responses to well conditions. These autonomous slickline tools and equipment can reduce rig time and thus costs, headcount with reduced personnel required on site, improve safety with less manual tasks, handling and logistics mobilising crews, and result in more efficient operations.
A key enhancement of autonomous slickline operations is allowing real time communication between the downhole tools and the surface control systems, this is enabled by the use of a coated slickline wire:
Slick-E-Line® – Paradigm Group
Digital Slickline Intervention | SLB
An example of autonomous slickline services is the Galea system developed and deployed by Expro: EXPRO LAUNCHES GALEA™ – THE WORLD’S FIRST FULLY AUTONOMOUS WELL INTERVENTION SYSTEM
Wireline Autonomous Operations
Wireline operations, which use an electric cable to lower tools and equipment into the well for purposes such as logging, perforation, and reservoir evaluation, are seeing significant advancements with the incorporation of autonomous technologies. Autonomous wireline systems can make real-time decisions based on the data they collect, adjusting their actions to optimize logging processes or perform complex tasks like setting plugs or packers with high precision. This capability significantly improves the quality of data collected, reduces operational risks, and increases the efficiency of interventions.
Coiled Tubing Autonomous Operations
Coiled tubing operations utilize a continuous length of steel or composite tubing to execute various interventions, including drilling, mechanical repairs, stimulation, and logging, under pressure without the need to kill the well. The integration of autonomous technology in coiled tubing operations allows for precise control over the tubing movement, real-time monitoring of downhole conditions, and on-the-fly adjustments to operational parameters. Autonomous coiled tubing units can perform complex tasks such as navigating horizontal wells, optimizing fluid delivery, and conducting logging operations with minimal human intervention, thereby enhancing operational safety and efficiency.
SLB’s autonomous solutions are deployable on slickline, wireline and coiled tubing: Autonomous Well Intervention | SLB
Key Advantages Across All Operations
- Enhanced Safety: Autonomous operations minimize human exposure to hazardous conditions by reducing the personnel needed on-site and automating potentially dangerous tasks.
- Increased Efficiency and Precision: Real-time data analysis and decision-making capabilities allow autonomous systems to optimize operations, leading to faster and more accurate interventions.
- Reduced Operational Costs: Automation can lead to significant cost savings by minimizing the duration of interventions, reducing manpower requirements, and enhancing the effectiveness of operations.
- Improved Data Collection and Analysis: The use of advanced sensors and analytics in autonomous operations provides high-quality, real-time data, facilitating better decision-making and improving well performance monitoring.
Future Trends and Challenges
The trend towards autonomous operations in slickline, wireline, and coiled tubing is expected to continue, driven by advancements in technology, the increasing complexity of oil and gas operations, and the drive for industry efficiency. However, there are challenges acting as a barrier to using such technology; high initial costs may mean the benefits have to be considered relative to the initial investment, or the need for advanced infrastructure to source, mobilise, install and operate the autonomous systems may mean that the technology is not appropriate for all operations and all locations. Additionally, as a new and evolving technology, guidance, bridging documents and even regulatory requirements to govern autonomous operations must be addressed.
As these challenges are addressed and overcome, the trend towards utilising autonomous interventions will likely continue to increase, and play a pivotal role in enhancing the efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability of oil and gas operations.
Technical Advisory
The implementation of new technology will always bring unforeseen risks, challenges, lessons learned and future optimisations. Additional software and hardware will add complexity to the system, which may increase the probability of equipment failure, or system malfunction. While in development over many years, this is still a new technology being deployed in challenging environments, not all challenges are known and track records are limited.
These concerns highlights the criticality of ensuring that the service limitations and capabilities are known. Detailed technical specifications, installation procedures, and supporting infrastructure must be in place to enable trouble free operations. In addition, full operational and function tests should be carried out to qualify the systems for your operation. The need to perform meticulous planning, ensure equipment preparation is correctly performed and verified, and that the vendor processes are fully implemented and followed will help manage these risks, and enable to full benefit of autonomous Intervention services to benefit your operation.
Closing Remarks
This new technology has been in development for over a decade and it is exciting to see it finally being operational at the wellsite. Today the integration of technologies into these operations is paving the way for more efficient, safe, and precise well servicing.
There will always be early adopters of these new systems which allows for qualification of its capability, to bring it into the mainstream operation. Currently, automation may not be a full substitute or replacement of an experienced crew, however as the technology matures and is proven in the field, there clear benefits allowing safer, faster and greener well interventions should see a gradual increase in automation well interventions.
