Page 12: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Oct/Nov 2014)

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Opinion

ThoughtStream

Umberto Micheli, Baker Hughes

Moving beyond the babble to ensure wellbore integrity in deepwater drilling and cementing operations or all the technological advances in deep- and ultra-deepwater environ- in offshore basins. Another example is a

F that have been made in drilling ments exacerbate the threat of heavy ? uid new lost-circulation material on which and completing wells offshore, wellbore loss, a poor cement job, and jeopardized the company’s drilling and cementing integrity remains the single, most impor- wellbore integrity. groups are collaborating and leveraging tant aspect of well construction. Without Yet, the tide may be turning. Three off of one another’s expertise to deter- it, there is no guarantee of safety, produc- new technologies are representative mine which procedures, materials, and tivity, or return on investment. of breakthroughs in wellbore integrity equipment will provide the best system

Wellbore integrity is too critical for any that can be achieved if communication performance evaluation in a wide variety miscommunication or poorly coordi- and understanding among disparate of applications.

nated efforts. Yet, the fact that it relies groups is improved. Dr. Jonas Salk, developer of a vac-

As is so often the case, the impetus for on technologies and methods from two cine against polio, may have said it best: these technologies came disciplines—drilling (? uids) and comple- “What people think from an operator with a tions (cementing)—poses a challenge. of as the moment of “Speci? c jargon and speci? c challenge. The

Too many wellsite disciplines fail to discovery is really the general di