Operator improves safety and eliminates 165 hours of NPT installing wellhead systems

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Appalachian Basin, United States, North America, Onshore

An operator was experiencing several hours of nonproductive time (NPT) installing the surface casing and wellhead housing. SLB solved this challenge by providing the Cameron Adapt NST™ nested multistage compact wellhead system with a threaded landing mandrel box for the bottom casing connection. To date, more than 40 Adapt NST wellhead systems have been installed on the operator’s pads, reducing NPT by 165 hours through lowered HSE risk and more efficient operations.

An operator developing gas wells in the Appalachian Basin was using containment well cellars to enable production trees to be completely below grade or tubing heads to be just below grade.

The operator experienced several hours of operational NPT when installing the surface casing and wellhead housing. Many of the delays were caused by cellar spacing constraints that restricted access of the third-party welding vendor to critical areas for performing a proper welding job of the surface casing to the wellhead housing connection. In addition to concerns with installation integrity, the safety risk was elevated by the restricted work environment.  

To solve this challenge, SLB provided the operator with the Cameron Adapt NST nested multistage compact wellhead system with a threaded landing mandrel box for the bottom casing connection. The compact design of the Adapt NST system saves operators time and cost, in comparison to using traditional wellheads, by enabling efficiently landing multiple casing strings within one system.

By incorporating the threaded landing mandrel, the operator was able to land the surface casing into the well without the need to perform any welding operations, eliminating the requirement for the third-party vendor operation and the elevated level of HSE risk. The operator also gained additional operational time savings through the ability to install a wellhead housing that had been fully tested and assembled prior to installation.

To date, the operator has installed more than 40 Adapt NST wellhead systems on its unconventional pads in the Appalachian Basin, saving a total of 165 hours of potential NPT and significantly lowering exposure risk for the personnel on location.

Cameron Adapt NST™ nested multistage compact wellhead system and threaded landing mandrel connection.
An operator saved 165 hours of NPT and improved wellsite safety by using the Adapt NST wellhead system with a threaded landing mandrel connection.

“The flexibility of the Cameron Adapt NST wellhead system allowed us to mitigate certain challenges that were contributing to NPT while also eliminating several safety risks associated with the work.”

—Operator
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