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Anyone with an affinity for the old-generation, joystick-controlled video games would feel right at home at Weatherford’s fully automated tubular bucking facility in Port Fourchon, which is designed to handle everything from 26-in. casing to 41/2-in. production tubing with minimal personnel.
In May, the wholly-computerized facility, which offers offline tubular makeup and breakout services up to triple lengths, will celebrate its first year of operation on a 5.5-acre site that Weatherford subleases from Expert Riser Solutions. According to Weatherford, the new-generation plant not only minimizes safety risks, but significantly reduces tubular running time on the rig. Area Manager Rodney Sanders said that with daily spreads running between $700,000 and $1.1 million in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the ability to deliver completely made-up stands to the rig can reduce costs appreciably.
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| The flow of the plant is completely controlled and monitored by a computer operator in the overhead offices. |
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“Anything we can remove off the critical path has a considerable economic impact to our tier one clients, who operate in the deep water. From a safety standpoint, we also need to take any initiatives we can to minimize the hands-on environment, which we have done with this facility,” Sanders said.
Operations Manager Danny Forestier said the plant essentially operates with three permanent employees. An operator above the plant floor uses a joystick to control and monitor the entire bucking and measurement operation through cameras and a touch screen monitor. On the floor, the only direct human involvement is rolling pipe from the rack to the conveyor and vice versa. “The plant operates on five computers that are PLC-controlled (programmable logic controller) and is designed to operate nearly completely hands-free,” he said. “At full capacity, the facility is designed to do 10 stands or joints per hour.”
The heart of the facility is the specially-engineered ComCAM rotational makeup/breakout unit that monitors, in real time, the torque, turns and speed of the bucking system that handles pipe, from 26-in. to 41/2-in. completion tubing, with up to 200,000 lbf-ft of torque. Weatherford said the plant complies with connection makeup parameters of API and premium-thread tubing, casing, production riser and drill pipe in double or triple lengths. Sanders said the facility houses some $8.8 million in equipment that was commissioned last May. “When we first started looking at building this facility, my original budgetary (revenue) forecast was for about $400,000 a month, but in December we ran a little over $700,000 a month,” Sanders said.
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| Weatherford’s fully-automated tubular bucking facility in Port Fourchon offers direct dockside service. |
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According to Forestier, for typical deepwater long-string casing strategies, the bucking process enables full stands to be delivered to the rig and, in some instances, has cut running in half. “We’ve been able to reduce, by at least 24 hr, running time, which could amount to as much as $1 million. We can save up to three-quarters of a million dollars (in running time) for one casing string.”
Sanders added that the capacity to accommodate double- and even triple-length drill pipe is inviting to deepwater operators. “Anytime our major deepwater clients need to send pipe in for routine maintenance or inspection, it is more economically feasible for them to lay down in doubles and send them to this facility. We break it out, send it to their preferred third-party vendor for inspection and repairs, and when it comes back, we buck it up into doubles and, even with drill pipe, that cost savings still resides on the rig,” he said. “In my opinion, this is the only facility along the Gulf of Mexico with this capability, and one that can directly service a boat slip.” 
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