You’ve been hearing a lot about oilfield service providers lately, and you’re curious – what exactly do these companies do? First things first, let’s talk about the basics.
At their core, oilfield service providers, or OFSPs, work to support oil and gas drilling, extraction, and production operations. Now this support comes in many forms. Here’s an inside look at the many services an oilfield service provider can offer.
Drilling Services
When an oil company wants to drill a new well, they turn to the experts – the drilling contractors. These specialized service providers bring all the heavy equipment like drill rigs, drilling mud, and tools needed to drill down sometimes miles into the earth. Drilling is intricate work, and it’s the drilling contractors’ job to efficiently and safely bore hole after hole.
Completion Services
After drilling is complete, the well then moves to the completion phase. Completion service providers handle tasks like well casing, cementing, perforating, and fracturing. Casing is installed to protect the wellbore from caving, cement helps secure the casing in place.
Perforating uses shaped explosive charges to pierce the casing and cement to access oil and gas reserves. And hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, utilizes high-pressure fluid to crack open rock and release even more resources.
Production Services
With the well construction finished, it’s time to start pumping! Production service providers maintain equipment and maximize extraction through services like pumping, well testing, artificial lift, and midstream operations.
Pumps are critical for lifting fluids from deep underground to the surface. Well testing helps determine flow rates and reservoir characteristics. And artificial lift methods like rod pumps assist pumping in lower pressure reservoirs. Midstream handles post-production tasks like storage, transportation, processing, and marketing of oilfield production.
Well Intervention Services
Even producing wells require maintenance over their lifespan. Well intervention specialists perform services to improve or restore well performance. Some examples include wireline operations to evaluate reservoirs, coiled tubing work to clean or stimulate, and snubbing units that allow equipment to be installed without a full workover rig. Sand control and remedial cementing are also intervention services that enhance well productivity and integrity.
There’s certainly no shortage of ways for oilfield service providers to support the industry. Whether it’s equipment, expertise or manpower, their services are what allow exploration and production companies to efficiently find and produce the oil and gas that fuels our daily lives.
It is important to note that each and every company is different, and the services offered can vary. Reach out to your preferred provider, such as Renegade Wireline Services, to inquire about the specific services that they offer your business.
