Lease Operations 103: Three Easy Guidelines For The Successful Lease Operator

I've been in the oil and gas industry for just under 5 years now (not consecutively), which is an incredibly short time compared to that of many veterans. I do not consider myself a veteran but I am a very purposed and active learner with great support from veteran oil-fielders in my family and in my coworkers. I have saved years of time learning for myself because of the counsel of those around me. Today, I hope to share some of that knowledge with you.

1. Your Equipment Demands Your Respect

My dad has forgotten more than I will probably ever know. One nugget of wisdom I will always remember is, "You've got to respect everything around you. You cannot walk around without a care in the world; but on the other hand, you can't be completely afraid of it either." This statement has so much common sense, it speaks for itself. After learning the ropes to become a lease operator and after helping train others, I've started saying, "Treat every valve as if it were a loaded gun. We can help make sure we all go home at the end of the day if we practiced the utmost caution always."

An article published by GunDigest shows adapted data for the pressure curve over time when 180-grain bullet from a .300 Weatherby Magnum exits the muzzle of a 26-inch barrel about 1 1/4 milliseconds after it starts to move, https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/reloading/bullet-ballistics. Spanning just over a tenth of a second, the internal barrel pressure ranges upward to 60,000 psi before quickly equalizing to atmosphere. Though we may rarely see shut in pressures at over 10,000 psi, especially in West Texas, keep in mind that the gun uses this extreme pressure to expel an object for an incredibly short period of time while the stored energy in a well has the potential to continuously discharge for years. From childhood, I was taught proper gun safety because the accidental discharge of my firearm could cost someone their life. I argue the same applies to any valve or piece of pressurized equipment in the oil field. Each valve should be treated like a loaded gun.

Concerning the potential dangers of closed valves, I'd like to reference some rocket science. Not to worry, it's super simple. Think back to middle school when we all learned about rockets. You may have had the awesome teacher that brought out the plastic toy rocket that you pumped up with air and it launched up far into the sky. The should have also taught you to mix in some water with the air which allowed your rocket to force itself higher. The same idea applies with valves holding back a mix of oil, water, and gas. A closed valve with 1,000 psi of mixed product can release a more dangerous kinetic projection than that of pure gas, though still very dangerous.

Before you open any valve to atmosphere or into the next line of pipe or equipment, the best practice is to make sure no one is present where the valve is pointed, make sure you are standing far outside of the cone of projection, check that you and others in the area are wearing the proper safety equipment, use your gauges and your knowledge of your facility to infer what pressures and contents you are releasing into the air, and make sure you follow the rules of your safety department, OSHA, and any laws pertaining to you. When you do open the valve, if it is safe to do so, achieve full open and avoid throttling to preserve the internal structure of the valve. Open the valve slowly and never yank a valve suddenly open.

2. Give Thanks to Your Support

Before I was 100% committed to the oilfield, I was a school teacher. The first person I made sure to make friends with was not my immediate boss, my fellow teachers, nor was it even the head football coach. I made sure to make a good impression firstly with my janitor.

My reasoning was twofold.

1. The janitor had every key to every door in the school.
2. I was told to by other teachers who were much wiser than I was.

I grew to appreciate the help I got from our custodial staff and I made sure to repay them in small ways throughout the year. It paid off for me big time when I showed up for a Saturday function and my students and I were locked out of the gym that the school just changed the locks and did not tell me about it. I called Mrs. Harrison, our head janitor and she drove from her house to let me borrow her key and I can attribute her kind act to us having a positive relationship.

Roustabouts, automation, truck drivers, your foreman, your relief pumper, workover hands, well techs, engineers, the list goes on almost forever. With ever increasingly complex technology, worsening weather conditions when you need an emergency nitrolift, that call out in the middle of the night when you need a new PLC card, it is important for you to remember to give thanks to those who have jobs you must rely on to be successful. Go the extra mile to help a truck driver hoist hoses for skimming oil. Offer some cold water to that 3rd party contractor that is working his tail off for your company in 110 degree weather. If you take care of your service providers you will generate a positive reputation and they will be more encouraged to do a good job for you and with you.

3. Never Stop Learning

The cat was out of the bag when I told you I used to teach. Of course I want you to learn every day. Another nugget of wisdom that I've heard from almost every successful person I look up to in the oilfield sounds like this, "If you haven't learned anything today, you've done something wrong." If you go to any modern super battery, start counting each individual 90, nipple, swage, valve, c-clamp, nut, pump, bolt, etc. You will quickly be overwhelmed how many individual parts go to assemble something that your engineers have designed to be operated so easily (hopefully). There are hundreds of thousands of pieces you should become acquainted with. Its easy to be overwhelmed, sure but everyone started from knowing nothing. By mere exposure walking through the motions, you can learn a great deal every day if you are observant.

Do not ever think there is someone who cannot teach you something. I am going to give you two big quotes and if you remember anything from this article, I hope its these.

"No man ever listened himself out of a job," - Calvin Coolidge

"Assume everyone is an expert in something," - Tai Lopez

There are endless resources online like videos on YouTube, valve diagrams on equipment manufacturers' websites, and more you could take advantage of. Trust me, you don't want to tear into a direct/indirect pressure regulator without some knowledge before hand about how it works. If you are ambitious, there are some great books that can be found in the library about upstream production that you can check out to spark your interest. There is never a convenient time to work on your own education, but the more proactive you are, the better you will become faster.

With every new aspect to your job that comes up, you will go through three phases of learning.

1. Learning the basics and your responsibilities from others.
2. Going through the motions with others and by yourself.
3. Self-perpetuated progression.

If you can strive to accomplish and move on to the next step with each new skill and piece of equipment that you learn, you will start to take ownership with your learning and you will progress faster.

Ending Thoughts

Perhaps one day I will learn enough to publish with authority an expanded rulebook for the oilfield lease operator. Until then, I hope these three short and simple guidelines will propel the budding lease operator into becoming a successful and safe lease operator.