Before talking about workover operations it is important to remember the life cycle of a well, planning, drilling, completion, production, intervention, workover and abandonment.

According to my experience the workover operations every day it becomes more important within the oil and gas sector isn’t only for its several activities Isn’t also for its economic compared to building a well.

What’s the workover operation?

It consists of carrying out restoration work on oil and Gas wells that have already been drilled and are in production or abandoned. In general, heavy-duty operations requiring the removal of Christmas tree for major repair.

From a view economic point, repairing a well represents a recovery of the investment, which is why this activity is becoming more important every day.

What are the stages of a well after of the drilling?

Completions

Primary Repair

Secondary Repair

Interventions and

Abandonment

What’s the fundamental reason for doing a workover?

Increase or restore hydrocarbon oil and gas production

Decrease water production

Repair mechanical failures

What are the applications more common in the oil and gas wells where intervene the workover operations?

Eliminate excessive water productions

Perforating

Squeeze Cementing

Reservoir Stimulations

Interventions (Well Interventions)

Removing tubing obstructions

Re-Completions

Plug Back

Deeping

Installation of artificial lift

Scale paraffin removal

Well Repair

Sometimes we can confuse the activities of a well intervention with those of a workover, they are undoubtedly very similar but there are also some differences between both. We could say that between the differences more common have: the equipment used, in workover required rig or heavy-duty intervention setup while that well intervention operations require wireline, coiled tubing or snubbing units.

Other difference is cost and complexity, in workover we have higher cost and complexity involving significant well downtime while that in well intervention lower cost and less complex due to nominal downtime

Duration time: In workover days to week depending on the operations scale while that in well intervention hours to days depending on the operational time.

The following example I add the mechanic schematic of a well with temporary abandonment proposal.