Weekly Insights #2 - “My hole is full of debris!”
I was pitching a customer the other day our frac plugs. I wanted to hear what his issues were, so I could get a feel on how to show we could bring value to his business. He started by talking about debris, time taken to mill, and how much it cost him to mill out an entire wellbore. We talked about one specific well he called “A Gift from Drilling” and how he was unable to reach the toe due to doglegs, sleeping drillers, and over-corrections. One round trip for a stalled motor that broke and 80hrs later, coil was rigging out. In that particular well there were 60 plugs, plus a couple failed ones. All plugs were over 18” long with button-type slips. In total, over 90ft of plug material, and 3600+ buttons had to be returned to surface – not mentioning the sand between plugs. Needless to say, he didn’t get all that back.
Debris in a wellbore can cause excessive headache for any operator. Composite materials can breakdown and ball up into a gummy-like mess, or on the opposite side a big rats nest of strands and fibers. Rubber debris can pile up and plug off chokes and flowlines. Slip debris can become stuck in collar connections or in perforations. Every issue creates more friction points for coil, or worst case, damages the coil OD. All these issues create downtime and added costs in getting to bottom. A good debris management system can alleviate issues, but many rely on timed milling, costly gel pills, or pulling sweeps to the heel. Wouldn’t it just be easier to lessen the material you are putting downhole in the first place?
We went on to discuss motor stalls, and how the rubber played a part in that issue. We discussed composites, and which was better to use – a mill or tri-cone bit. It was then that I asked him what he wanted to see in the future of composite frac plugs. He said,
“Smaller, little to no rubber, and slips that actually mill up and come to surface!”
It was at that point I pulled out the Rogue ShortStak plug from the shaving kit bag I had laying on the table. His response -priceless.
…to this day, Production lets him know every time another button comes to surface and plugs off the facilities.