Case study: Trinidad and Tobago

Integrated Well Services delivers
3 deepwater wells ahead of schedule,
under budget with zero HSE incidents
A global operator took up thechallenge of developing three
additional deepwater gas producer
wells in the Caribbean basin to
supplement the shortfall of natural gas
feedstocks required for Trinidad andTobago’s industry and infrastructure.
The project consisted of two new wells
plus a reentry. Full completions for all
three would be required. After the wellconstruction was completed, the threewells would be tied back to an existing
gathering system to maximize
project economics.
Planning for the project began in
Quarter 1 of 2020 but the COVID-19
pandemic struck, bringing with it
additional restrictions like thenecessity to quarantine workers forextended periods based on the various
stakeholder requirements as a matterof routine in all personnel movements.
This added greater complexity to thetypical challenging logistics foroffshore work.
Based on a decades-long relationship,
the operator reached out to Baker
Hughes to become an integral partnerin addition to a local services
company who had a presence incountry. Baker Hughes, drawing on its
extensive well construction portfolio
and expertise, assigned responsibilityof the project to the Baker Hughes
Integrated Well Services (IWS) team.
Combining project management
expertise and superior service delivery
for both Baker Hughes and the services
company, the IWS team was tasked
with optimizing the project
performance and extending the field’s
productive life.

Aligning the well planA crucial component of the project
would be organizing all threecompanies around a common
mindset to make the best decisions in
the 70-day operational window.
Engineers from the operator, BakerHughes, and the service company
developed a collaborative approachto problem solving through rigorous
daily and weekly meetings to discuss
issues and align project goals. In thesemeetings, the IWS team took the leadin developing and communicating theoverall project scope and driving
efficiencies. This vision helped shape
how each stakeholder would shareand apply their best practices. The IWS
management protocols also formed
the framework to address newchallenges as they emerged anddeveloped ways to overcome them.

Designing the solution
The work took place on a semisubmersible, dual-derrick rig. The
service company’s responsibilities
included the provision of drilling andcompletions fluids, waste
management, and cementing
services. Baker Hughes supplied its
field-proven drilling and completions
technologies—including drills bits,
rotary steerable assemblies, and allformation evaluation tools—as well as
underreaming, wellbore cleanout, andfishing tools.

Challenges• Increase the production ofnatural gas to meet country’s
demand requirements• Operate in an economicallyconstrained environment with tightscheduling requirements• Mitigate resourcing and mobilization
risks with respect to personnel andequipment due to COVID-19
pandemic restrictions

Results• Drilled and completed 2 new wells
and reentered the discovery well toallow for use as a producer• Completed the entire operation 27.7
days ahead of the well plan, saving
approximately $16.5 million USD• Maintained strict protocols in
operations to minimize pandemicinduced evacuations of the rig,
keeping the core project scope on
budget and ahead of schedule• Experienced no HSE incidents andnegligible NPT during the entire
campaign which did not significantly
impact the overall critical pathoperating efficiency

Baker Hughes recommended theGaugePro™ Echo on-command digital
reamer. A smarter solution for holeenlargement applications when two ofthese tools were employed in a single
bakerhughes.com

run, the GaugePro reamer added
speed and certainty with real-time,
two-way control and flexible
bottomhole assembly(BHA) placement.
In combination with a drilling fluids
design from the service company,
Baker Hughes Drilling Services
significantly increased on-bottom
drilling performance and optimized
the rate of penetration (ROP) over theestimated critical path time. The
performance of these tools andtechnology in the discovery welldeveloped the KPIs by which the
project would be measured, a rate thejoint effort surpassed.

Executing with predictableperformance
The IWS team also stressed theimportance of remote monitoring andchampioned the installation of digitalequipment on the rig. Engineers tested
a significant number of processes toenable remote operations support not
only to drive efficiency and moreconsistent performance but also in theevent of a COVID-19 breakout, adecision that proved beneficial forthe operation.
Field personnel from all threecompanies began implementing thewell plan in Quarter 3 of 2020 at theheight of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the upgraded restrictions put
in place to mitigate the virus,
personnel on the rig experienced a
COVID-19 incident, the end result being
an evacuation that left a minimal rig
crew to keep the operations running inorder to make the well safe during thatphase. By having the remotemonitoring technology in place, thework continued and kept the well planon schedule and on budget.
Baker Hughes surface logging
technology and expertise proved
indispensable to the success of theoverall project, especially during theCOVID-19 episode. It was the fast
thinking and creative crew schedulingby the surface logging team that
adapted how the information wascollected and maintained consistent
data flow despite not having a fullcrew on board. This proactive initiative
enabled operations to continue
without any operational interruption.
The mud logging team delivered all
the logs with 100% operational
efficiency and data acquisition. The
accurate data recording and reporting
helped communicate wellbore stability
risks and averted multiple loss ofprimary containment (LOPC) incidentsby promptly identifying leaking valvesand gates which could have resulted
in cross contamination of fluids.

Copyright 2021 Baker Hughes Company. All rights reserved. 83563

Among the key metrics to the project’s
success was the team dynamic. A
spirit of transparency existed between
all the partners as they drew on long
relationships to align the commercial
drivers of the well plan. With a focus on
the single team goal—a profitable
operation with minimal nonproductive
time (NPT)—all parties aligned theirbehaviors to achieve success.
The combined effort more than
excelled on the operator’s
expectations, delivering the projectahead of schedule and under budget.
The performance incurred zero
health, safety and environmental(HSE) incidents and minimized NPT
to a degree where it wasdeemed negligible.
Baker Hughes and the service
company completed all aspects of
the well plan in approximately 42 days,a rate 27.7 days faster than theanticipated well construction
window. Given a daily rig rate of$600,000 USD, the Baker Hughes
solution saved the operator
approximately $16.5 million USD.

bakerhughes.com