Operational Details
Cementing involves
pumping cement downhole to secure the well casing. After a hole has been
drilled, the hole is seldom used again, and therefore must be closed to meet
environmental standards. Shot hole cementers place a plug down the hole and
fill the hole with cement from the plug to the surface. Abandonment or decommissioning of oil wells involves pumping
cement into the well hole in order to secure the casing after cleaning any
contaminated oil, gas, or water from the well. The final stage known as cut and
cap is when the plugged oil well casing is cut below the surface of the earth.
Abandonment or decommissioning only refers to filling up the unused well and does
not include the reclamation of the oilfield where the earth is put back to its
original state. Tools and equipment used in decommissioning include
earth-moving machines, concrete trucks and mechanical cutters. Acidizing is a well stimulation technique that involves pumping
acid into a drilled well in order to clean out unwanted materials and debris and
improve the productivity of the well. Fracturing is another method of stimulating the well, this
includes pumping fluid into the well at a very high pressure which causes the
rock to fracture. Oil is then extracted from the rock and pumped to the
surface. Wire line services involve lowering special instruments into a well
for testing purposes. A wireline may also be used to pull instruments out of
the well or to remove debris from the wellbore.
A wire line truck is equipped with a winch type cylinder that unrolls and rolls
up cable onto which instruments or cleaning tools can be attached. A worker
drives the wireline truck to the worksite where they assemble or attach the
required equipment or recorders to the drill stem or wireline, they then
conduct the prescribed procedures and finish by retrieve the equipment from the
well. Perforation refers to a hole being punched in the casing or liner
of an oil well to connect it to the reservoir. Perforation is accomplished by
lowering a device called a perforating gun to the desired depth in a well and
firing them to perforate the casing. Perforating guns use electrical signals
from the surface to fire the guns.
Mud logging includes the taking of samples of drill cuttings which are gathered
by a mud technician, who might also be a geologist, who analyzes drill bit
performance and rate of penetration. Equipment used to confirm the information
are chromatographs, total gas analyzers, and ultra-violet boxes, which records
UV light and microscopes.
Well testing includes the testing of production levels, downhole pumps and pump
jack units. Production testing is performed by compressor equipment that introduces
water, nitrogen, or air into the wellbore under pressure and records
information on pressure instruments.
SIC Codes
000000345 - Servicing
oil and gas wells
000000904 - Shot hole cementing, decommissioning oil wells
000000918 - Pump & water well servicing
000000873 - Acidizing & fracturing
000000872 – Wireline service & perforation
NAICS 2007
Code: 21311 - Support Activities for Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction