Executive viewpoint
Today, as I reflect on what’s happening in the oil and gas industry, one year after 2020’s pandemic lockdowns, I’m reminded of the industry’s remarkable resiliency. The extraordinary challenges of 2020 have made our industry more nimble and more committed than ever to ensuring a reliable energy supply.
We’ve witnessed oil crossing $80/bbl for the first time since 2014, with current dynamics creating a robust demand for hydrocarbons. For manufacturing and service companies like SPM Oil & Gas, we’re focused on helping our customers be successful. For operators, capital sufficiency and efficiency are today’s fundamentals to thrive.
Systems-based approach. Many are asking operators to increase production, to meet the rising post-pandemic demand, and operators are answering the call. Increased production in today’s climate has become very sophisticated. This reinforces why we’re moving forward with a systems-based approach, a philosophy we’ve advocated the past two years. Holistically optimizing the entire frac site positively impacts product development and other offerings, to help operators realize important gains in the field.
We’ve made a fundamental change in our own business that enables us to not only offer the broadest range of pumps but also enhance the entire frac site, from the engine to the top of the wellhead, to advance this systems-based philosophy while preserving operators’ capex budgets. Optimizing each point of a site produces important synergies that enable the whole to truly be greater than the sum of its parts, even in the most robust basins. Such efforts can make a difference in efficiencies and competitiveness.
Today’s frac site. When modern day fracing began its upswing in the 2000s, the frac site operated much differently than today. Field operations and equipment were based on intermittent use. It was common for operators to run fracing equipment less than 10 hr per day. Heavy-duty, durable equipment wasn’t needed for such light use.
Today’s near-continuous duty requirements and the drive for efficiency improvements have been the impetus for innovation. Fortunately, for operators and oilfield service companies, there are more options than ever to achieve important efficiency gains. Companies that have used the zipper frac technique, an accepted operational approach, are increasingly interested in the simul-frac completion technique. The ability to complete more stages faster by pumping two horizontal wells at the same time—with a single fleet—is very compelling. Employing 5,000-hp e-frac pumps, such as the field-proven SPM QEM 5000 E-Frac pump, in a simul-frac spread, can help boost productivity gains even more by reducing the number of pumps on site.
Operators compete on efficiency, which is impacted by equipment maintenance. This poses a distinct challenge, as operators need to pump more hours than ever before. Yet, stopping equipment to perform maintenance reduces the number of pumping hours.
Other alternative methods. The relentless pursuit of greater efficiencies has prompted the creation of alternative methods beyond pad organization. Equipment and consumables that are engineered specifically to require less maintenance and promote longer component life generate new opportunities to increase productivity by reducing NPT, the enemy of efficiency. Machinery that allows companies to safely run longer cycles, and significantly extend the time between necessary maintenance intervals requiring equipment shutdowns, enables companies to gain valuable pumping hours.
Stronger pump frames, larger bearings, fortified wear parts and more robust welds produce extremely durable equipment that makes this possible. Similarly, seats that promote longer life, such as the SPM EdgeX™ Carbide Seat, which offers six times longer life compared to conventional seats, help companies spend more time pumping and less time pulling seats. Longer equipment and component lifespan positively impacts pumping hours. These advancements are rather remarkable when you consider today’s operators are running near-continuous duty under extremely harsh conditions.
With these marked improvements that extend required maintenance intervals, it remains important to work with experienced and technically skilled service providers to navigate new maintenance schedules and reap the full benefit of lower-maintenance equipment. Partnering with SPM™ Edge Services, for example, provides engineering-driven expertise that guides field crews to gain the full benefit of longer cycle equipment, so they can push harder and make bigger gains.
Bigger and broader. As capacity is needed, and efficiency gains are necessary, ingenuity and innovation will enable new technologies and options beyond the traditional ownership model. Such endeavors may help operators best leverage their resources for new opportunities.
Collectively, these technological advancements promote longer run times in the field, extend equipment life and also reduce maintenance. The resulting reduction in NPT can substantially increase efficiency. Taking a systems point of view helps move the needle more and enables shale companies to thrive. All of us should ask how we can make the entire frac site better.
It’s essential to think bigger and broader to create solutions that drive greater efficiencies while also reducing capex; the two can’t be mutually exclusive. Such innovative thinking will empower operators to provide our current and future energy needs.
