Know-How for the GazProm.

There has been made at the end of previous year in the Belarus city Rechitsa the first test of the unique one of a kind system
which was created by Belarus' and Russia's engineers for the repair and service as well as for the prospective drilling of
petroleum and gas wells. We may say that the production of this new device will strengthen the Belarus position in the relations with Russia and other petroleum and gas producing countries and will open for the Republic new possibilities to develop its own extraction industry.

The traditional technology of drilling is that to make the well many pipes are put one after another in the well for many
kilometres down. To repair the well or change the drilling head the workers should disassemble this chain of pipes and then
make it whole again, which takes a lot of time and money to do.

The new coil-tubing system which was proposed by our developers is based on the original technical decision to make the pipe which is placed into the well one whole piece instead of many parts and to reel it on the special device which is mounted on the heavy truck. Other complicated devices to move the pipe up and down, to reel it in coils, to seal the well's neck, and others are mounted on the this same truck. Most parts of the system are the true know-how and inventions. Nowhere in Europe and Asia are making the systems with these parameters now, especially those which are good for work in the Far North regions.

We shall state some facts to make more clear the meaning of this system's creation for the Russia's petroleum and gas
production industry now. The coil-tubing technology makes it possible to speed up and to make in several times (!) cheaper the well's repair. The process of lifting the pipe and placing it back with the common well's repair is taking one day instead of about ten as was before. This means that about 150-200 mobile coil-tubing systems will bring back to production up to 20 thousands (!) wells in about two years' time, which is more than a half of those which are closed now in Russia due to the shortage of money and machinery.

It is not a surprise that the Russia's party has expressed a big interest to the test run in Rechitsa. There were the people from
GazProm Corporation in Belarus, but not to discuss the payments for petroleum and gas. They have acknowledged the very
high value of Belarus system. V.M.Demin who is the deputy director of GazProm Corporation's Science and Technology
Development Department has congratulated the creators of new device with success and has said: "This was very complicated problem and its solution for the less than one year time from idea to working system is unique case. Many people have tried to make for us far less complicated systems but have not been able to make tests for five or six years..." V.V.Kuprijanov, the head of Russia's Heat and Energy Ministry's Department, has supported him: "I think that at the start of 1999 year this system will be used by petroleum and gas producers already, though some additional work will be necessary to do this."

We should remember also that the production of this effective equipment in Belarus will enable us to make cheaper and more
effective prospecting and production of petroleum and gas on the Belarus' territory. In addition, the mass production of
coil-tubing systems will make at least 900 new jobs and will fill with orders MZKT Minsk Heavy Trailer Trucks Plant and
MAZ Minsk Automobiles Plant. Yet more, the export of this new machinery will bring the hard currency to our Republic.

Who are these people who have made it possible for Belarus machinery production to break into the petroleum and gas
industry? The "father" of this new system is the Belarus FID Foundation for Development and Support of Inventions and
Rationalizations, which has developed original devices, supplied parts and funded all the process. The foundation's engineers
have participated in the all the assembly and development processes as well as in the testing of new system. The parts were
made and the system was assembled in the SEISMOTEKHNIKA Science and Production Amalgamation. Seems that the next series of coil-tubing systems will be assembled there as well, may be yet better and more productive ones because the
technology is developing.

Alexander Malinovsky.
Russian to English translation
CopyRight (C) 1999/01/10 Dmitry Salnikov,
http://www.gis.minsk.by/salnikov/index.htm