Run A Junk Basket And Save Yourself A Headache

I've run a lot of retrievable bridge plugs in wells and I've learned that if you run them enough you will eventually find yourself in a situation where you can't latch onto the plug. In case you're not familiar with retrievable plugs, they are retrieved by running back into the well and latching onto a "fish neck" which is basically a metal rod that can be latched on to. This is a straight-forward process most of the time, until something falls on top of it (debris, trash, flange bolts, gloves, etc.). When this happens, a very simple process of latching onto a plug can become long and drawn-out, and sometimes requires much more robust and expensive equipment. However, there is a very simple preventative measure - run a junk basket.

A junk basket is a simple tool that sits on top of a plug and catches all of the "junk" so that it doesn't land on your plug. It requires an extra wireline run which will add slightly to the cost. But do you know what's way more expensive than a junk basket run? Getting a stuck plug unstuck because of a silly piece of trash downhole.

As I said, I've run a lot of retrievable plugs and I've never had an issue getting the plug out when a junk basket was run. I have however had issues on occasion when someone wanted to save a buck and not run a junk basket. The moral of the story here is to spend a tiny bit of extra money and run a junk basket. Your future self will thank you for not cutting corners.

Don't Go Cheap On Cement

Engineering Tip: Don't Go Cheap On Cement​
Cementing a well is expensive, but do you know what is more expensive? Fixing bad cement. It's not just a little bit more expensive, it's massively more expensive. Stupid expensive.

In most cases, cementing a well is not rocket science. You mix the cement slurry and pump it down the well and circulate it up the backside. While this is a fairly straight-forward process, you only get one chance to get it right. And if you don't get it right, you will be in a world of financial hurt. You can end up with gas migration issues or a wellbore full of cement that has to be drilled out. This leads to an expensive workover project that will give you all kinds of heartburn.

I once worked for a company that drilled about 100 wells with the same cement design, only to find out that the design was flawed. Each and every cement job had to be repaired at an enormous cost. And do you know what they learned from this process? Don't go cheap on cement.

Take time and think about each cement design before you pump it. Each well should have it's own custom-designed cement, even if it looks a lot like the previous cement design. Don't design cement once and then pump the same design 100 times. And don't hire the redneck down the street to pump the job. Be an adult and hire a proper service company (they can usually help you design your cement if need be). All of this will add to the cost, but I promise you that you will save money in the long run.