Hydraulic workover snubbing accelerates pad development

Overview

A Middle East operator sought to validate a new gas-lift completion design for a set of pad wells and required assurance that the installation could be performed safely on live wells with minimal operational downtime. The wells had to be brought online quickly to evaluate their production behavior ahead of future development planning. Urgency was compounded because the operator requested full project planning, preparation, equipment modification, and mobilization within a compressed two-month window.

The operator required a service provider with proven regional snubbing experience to execute the program safely within the compressed schedule. The project required the conversion of a 460K hydraulic workover (HWO) unit from a workover to a snubbing configuration within a shortened schedule. The operator had no previous experience with HWO snubbing operations, yet needed to deliver four wells in just 45 days with strict schedule adherence and coordination among multiple service providers. Engineering, fabrication, planning, and crew readiness activities advanced in parallel to meet the accelerated execution window. 

Challenge

The operator sought to install gas-lift completions in existing producing wellbores without pumping fluid into the reservoir. It was essential to avoid fluid exposure to prevent skin damage and protect long-term productivity. While the operator had experience with live well coiled tubing interventions, it had never executed snubbing operations using jointed pipe. 

This created a steep learning curve and reinforced the requirement for strong technical support. The intervention also required working in a sour gas reservoir and management of multiple completion assemblies under live well conditions, which added operational risk and complexity.

In addition, delivery of four wells within 45 days demanded seamless coordination between production teams and multiple service providers, most of whom had limited or no snubbing experience. A full unit conversion, operational training, and integrated planning all had to occur within the anticipated project duration. 

Solution

To address the operator’s technical and operational requirements, Halliburton facilitated a series of workshops with the operator and all participating service providers. These sessions established a common understanding of snubbing operations, safety requirements, equipment functionality, and coordination expectations. 

Concurrently, the available 460K HWO unit underwent a complete conversion from workover to snubbing configuration. The unit was upgraded to a trailer-mounted quick rig-up design to accelerate site preparation and minimize rig-up and rig-down time. A large-bore 10M snubbing stack was sourced for the intervention, and the surface equipment package—which featured 13 5/8in. 10K pressure control equipment and eight blowout preventers—was configured to provide full well control capability and barrier redundancy throughout all phases of operation. 

The intervention deployed a 2 7/8‑in. L‑80 13% Cr tubing string as part of the gas‑lift installation to ensure compatibility with reservoir conditions. Six additional completion sub-assemblies were installed in a live‑well environment, which required precise lubrication sequencing and continuous communication among Halliburton crews, the operator, and all support service providers to maintain alignment throughout the program. 

Result

The operator completed all four wells ahead of schedule and confirmed that live well snubbing with jointed pipe could be executed safely within an accelerated development timeline.  All four wells were delivered ahead of schedule, with each well completed in approximately six days, well below the estimated ten-day duration. 

The optimized intervention program produced substantial performance improvements. The first well’s production increased from approximately 300 to 1,275 bbl/d, which established a strong baseline for subsequent wells. Production from all the other wells increased from 300 bbl/d to an average of 1,200 bbl/d. The full four-well program was completed within one month of mobilization with no health, safety, and environment or service quality incidents, which demonstrated that the operator could safely implement snubbing operations despite having no previous experience with this technique.