Well Location Construction & Rehabilitation

Before a well is drilled, the place where the rig will work has to be built. That place is the location: a leveled and compacted area, with its access road, that carries the weight of the rig and its equipment and that later serves to operate and service the well for its whole life.

The service is part of the optimization of surface infrastructure and has two lines of work:

1. Survey and layout

   Topographic survey, soil study and marking of the platform, the road, the pits and the drainage.

2. Clearing

   Removal of the vegetation and of the topsoil, which is stockpiled separately for the later restoration.

3. Earthworks

   Cut and fill to bring the ground to the design level; unsuitable material is removed.

4. Embankment and compaction

   Selected granular material, spread in thin layers and compacted to the specified density, with laboratory control.

5. Access road

   Grading, culverts and wearing course of the road that reaches the location.

6. Cellar and foundations

   Excavation and reinforced concrete of the cellar and of the bases that the equipment requires.

7. Pits and drainage

   Excavation and lining of the pits; perimeter channels and drainage works.

8. Wearing course and handover

   Surface finish according to the specification, fence, gate and signs; handover with as-built drawings and compaction records.

A location built years ago deteriorates: rain erodes the platform and the road, vegetation takes over and the drains clog. Before a workover, or any service that needs heavy equipment, the location must recover its bearing capacity and its access.

Typical works

• Clearing of vegetation and cleaning of the area
• Regrading, filling and recompaction of the platform
• Replacement of the wearing course
• Repair of the access road: potholes, ditches and culverts
• Cleaning and repair of the drainage channels
• Repair of the cellar and of the concrete bases
• Enlargement of the platform for a larger rig or for new wells on a pad
• Repair of fences, gates and signs

When it is needed

• Before a workover or a rig re-entry
• Before coiled tubing, wireline or well testing jobs that bring units and tanks to the well
• When wells are added to an existing pad
• After the rainy season, when the road or the platform have been damaged

See Well Rehabilitation & Maintenance

A location occupies more ground while the rig is on it than the well needs afterwards. When the drilling or the workover ends, and again when the well is abandoned, the areas that are no longer used are cleaned up and restored.

• Cleanup and closure of pits: removal and treatment of fluids and solids, backfilling and grading
• Reduction of the platform to the area that production needs
• Removal of debris, materials and temporary works
• Regrading of the ground to blend with the surrounding landform
• Replacement of the stockpiled topsoil and revegetation
• Erosion control and follow-up until the vegetation is established

• Environmental permits in place before the area is intervened
• Only the area that the project needs is cleared
• Location of buried lines and overhead power lines before excavating in existing fields
• Traffic plan, signs and spotters for heavy machinery
• Dust and erosion control during the earthworks
• Rainwater kept apart from the effluents of the operation
• Handling and disposal of waste in accordance with the applicable environmental regulations

The location is the first work of a well and connects with other Tanzaca Energy services:

Construction and maintenance of civil works

Heavy transport and lifting equipment

Rig moves and camp services

Flow line laying from the well to the station

Engineering of surface infrastructure

Reference standards commonly applied in the sector. They are listed for orientation and do not replace the specification of each project.

API RP 51R

Environmental protection for onshore oil and gas production operations and leases: lease roads, well sites and reclamation.

ASTM D1557

Laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using modified effort (modified Proctor).

ASTM D1556

Density and unit weight of soil in place by the sand-cone method.

COVENIN 2000-1

Venezuela, construction sector: measurement and coding of work items. Part 1: roads.

Decreto 1.257

Venezuela: rules on the environmental assessment of activities likely to degrade the environment.

Decreto 2.635

Venezuela: rules for the control of the recovery of hazardous materials and the management of hazardous waste.