CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
By maintaining rigs for longer periods
of time, drilling contractors can offer
us more attractive rates and we can
maintain the same crew. Longer-term
contracts are good for business part-
ners because they are able to plan ahead
around their resources, equipment and
personnel. How can operators and drilling con-
tractors continue to innovate on tech-
nology while both are maintaining
capital discipline ?
It is a symbiotic relationship. We need
each other. The operator needs the drilling
contractor to support our business, and
vice versa. This is a win-win situation.
Technology is continually evolving, and
we must acknowledge that, as part of this
maturation, there will be a trade-off in
capital investment, given the volatility of
the industry and the shift of fiscal focus
over the last few years.
In the long term, it is crucial for us to
pursue and deliver more innovation in the
technology space. This will give us posi-
tive returns through process optimization,
efficiency improvement and ensuring sus-
tainability, among other things.
Petronas is committed to collaborating
with our business partners to tackle chal-
lenges and advance the industry together.
We believe that sharing resources among
industry stakeholders will allow us to
innovate and push ahead to achieve col-
lective success. This is where advancing
technologies together will help us arrive at
new capabilities and, ultimately, reap the
benefits together. That’s how we are going
to evolve.
We cannot work in isolation. As the
industry strives for cost optimization, con-
tractors would need to adapt by maintain-
ing good service at reasonable pricing and
terms. At the end of the day, we will be at the
losing end if we don’t invest.
NC50 TSC39
If you look specifically at well comple-
tions, what do you see as the biggest
challenges and technology gaps in
the industry today? What is Petronas
focused on?
In Malaysia, we are looking at two areas:
gas and depleted reservoirs. Our produc-
tion is shifting into a more gaseous base.
This means we are facing more challenges
in designing wells with a higher grade of
material for delivering gas .
Since 2017, the contamination reading
of CO 2 and H 2 S in our Malaysian produc-
tion wells has increased from 3% to 10%.
The challenges we face today range from
choosing the right metallurgy, connection
types and completion components.
The other challenge is in the sand pro-
duction operation. We are working with
our partners to optimize our completions
sooner, while keeping well costs at a
level where we can still yield economic
value. DC
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D R I LLI N G CO N T R ACTO R • JAN UARY/FEB RUARY 2023
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