Integrated Fracturing Services Project: A Success Story of Collaboration Between Operator and Service Company

Abstract

An integrated fracturing services (IFS) project between Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and Schlumberger started in November 2009 and spanned a 7-year period until November 2016. It steered the local fracturing industry from standalone operations to an integrated package, offering collaborative services between hydraulic fracturing, coiled tubing, and well testing services. The synergies between the various services allowed for a more streamlined decision-making process between the operator and the service company. Ultimately, this led to faster well delivery times, lower non-productive time, and maximum utilization of personnel. The integrated approach was primarily based on communal resource pooling which was available for any of the services on location at any given time. At its prime, the IFS project comprised of 4 fleets deploying almost 300 employees across the Sultanate of Oman's northern and southern fields. The coordination process was centralized and handled by a dedicated team in charge of logistics, transportation, personnel, and resources. This centralization process was essential for the IFS workflow, and it was primarily managed by the service company in collaboration with the operator's well engineering team. Tangible results were achieved, and the IFS model added a new dimension to the fracturing industry in the Sultanate. It allowed the operator to align its well development operations with its production goals and delivery times. It also provided the service company with an opportunity to bridge operational and communication gaps, which would have been harder to achieve if other vendors were involved. These high-level results were coupled with operational successes by the fracturing, coiled tubing, and well testing crews. The novelty of this project is in the dynamism of all available communication channels, as well as the elimination of operational lag due to the reduced number of vendors in any given location. The success of the IFS program makes it PDO's first-choice fracturing model, especially during the current downturn when lowering operational costs is of utmost importance.