8th NOV Fidmash’s Consumer Conference

Another Consumer Conference organized by NOV Fidmash, a leading manufacturer of oil and gas service equipment on the post-Soviet space, took place in Minsk. Such meetings have already become a good tradition. They are held annually, attract interest of many specialists and can be associated with the main platform for exchange of field experience connected with operation and maintenance of equipment manufactured by NOV  Fidmash. The Conference gathers those specialists for whom the equipment manufactured by NOV Fidmash is the main instrument of labor, who use it to master up-to-date effective technologies of well maintenance and successfully apply them. This event is for those people who want to know more about the possibilities of this equipment, about the ways of its modernization, types of service maintenance, forms of constant interaction with manufacturer and plans of NOV Fidmash concerning the development and manufacturing of new products.

Probably there is no need to tell much about NOV Fidmash. Our readers already know a lot about this remarkable company. The Company is well-known since it actually launched Coiled Tubing Times in Russia. Nevertheless let’s present some information. Currently about 75% of coiled tubing units operating on the territory of Russia and CIS countries were manufactured by NOV Fidmash. Similar equipment is produced only in Canada and the USA. Fidmash also manufactures assemblies and separate components for hydraulic fracturing, cementing equipment, pumping units, cryogenic nitrogen units, associated equipment for enhanced oil recovery and directional drilling.

The Company performs full range of equipment manufacturing operations: designing, development, launching into manufacture, production, service maintenance and personnel training. All products of NOV Fidmash are the result of research and development work of its own Engineering Department.

Since the year it was founded more then 150 pieces of high-tech equipment has been developed, produced and put into operation. The number of employees has increased threefold, sales revenue has increased fivefold. Distribution area has increased and new outlets for output products have appeared. Today the Company continues to master new technologies and manufacture innovative equipment. The range of hydraulic fracturing equipment is continuously expanded. Refinement of coiled tubing equipment is also continued. Electronic control and process automation systems are created.

A lot of specialists came to Minsk in order to take part in the 8th Consumer Conference. Among them one could find 42 representatives of 17 companies form central Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and other regions. All these companies utilize equipment manufactured by NOV Fidmash.

While opening the meeting, E.B. Lapatsentava, General Director of NOV  Fidmash, expressed her gratitude to the participants of the Conference for their coming in Minsk despite a large amount of work. E.B. Lapotentova noticed that annual meetings organized by NOV Fidmash were usually attended by the active consumers of Fidmash's equipment. She defined the main goals of the Conference, including generalization of experience in cooperation with different oil and gas service companies, which perform operations in a wide range of geological and climatic conditions, and getting of the corresponding feedback.

«We listen to every our consumer and define their needs. Then we integrate these data, and this integrated product gives us an impetus to further development. From year to year the concept of our manufacturing grows increasingly complex. We succeed in getting impressive results because all employees of our Company are likeminded people, » said Lapotentova.

Yu.V. Belugin, Head of Sales and Promotional Support Department, gave a talk «Latest offers of NOV Fidmash for oil and gas service». The participants of the Conference paid great attention to this report. The speaker provided the information concerning coiled tubing equipment (light, medium and heavy weight) manufactured by NOV  Fidmash, including modular coiled tubing units, which can be used on offshore platforms, in remote or hard-to-reach areas. He also gave detailed information about the most popular product of Fidmash – heavy weight MK30T unit on the semitrailer. This coiled tubing unit is equipped with an injector head, which pulling capacity is 80,000–100,000 lbs, and  ” coiled tubing with lengths between 10,500 and 14,800 ft. The unit can be used for radial and directional drilling. It is compatible with SNB89-76M directional drilling system, which is also manufactured by NOV  Fidmash.

It was mentioned that the design of up-to-date coiled tubing units contains component parts manufactured by top global producers, the design of pulling chains and other key parts was improved, as well as the lifetime and reliability were increased. The design of operator’s cab became more comfortable and ergonomic, while heating and air-conditioning system improved working environment.

The speaker provided detailed information about the specifications of five injector series, including the most popular FM127 injector with pulling capacity of 60,000 lbs and snubbing capacity of 20,000 lbs.
Blowout and auxiliary (coiled tubing spooler units, wellhead modular platforms, etc.) equipment was also described.

N504 pumping unit with compressor system and heater was presented. This unit has already become very popular among oil and gas service companies. A100 nitrogen unit (design of 2012), which was significantly modified in comparison with previous version, received much attention. The above-mentioned nitrogen unit has modular design and is equipped with operator’s cab. Now it can be mounted on any chassis (both all-wheel drive and semitrailer). The speaker also devoted some time to the well-known NS1000-10 cementing unit.

Hydraulic fracturing complexes are crown jewels of the Company. In the current year Fidmash will manufacture two “ready-to-operate” hydraulic fracturing complexes for its customers. The speaker told a lot about the structure of the new 2012 complex paying a special attention to modified features. The productivity of a blender unit was increased. SKU control station now allows to operate eight pumping units, one hydration and one blender units. Hydraulic fracturing complex is now mounted on MAN chassis. Storage bunker of T-40 sand feed unit is now divided into three sections in order to provide transportation and separate feed of three different proppant types (different mesh size). N2501 pumping unit on a semitrailer now features CAT diesel engine with electronic control, new BPW’s suspension and axes, as well as new brake system with ESP stability control system.

NOV Fidmash’s products assurance is confirmed by the Certificates of Conformity of the Company and its Quality Management System with ISO9001 international standard and API standards. But even the most advanced equipment can fail to function if it is operated improperly or under the control of low-skilled personnel. A.G. Reznikov, service engineer of NOV Fidmash, presented a report «Distinctive features of effective operation of NOV Fidmash’s equipment», the topic of which became another important subject for discussions at the 8th Consumer Conference.
The speaker told about the main aspects of coiled tubing unit operation: the quality of hydraulic oil, the main features of coiled tubing welding procedures in the case when the latter is situated on the reel, and the requirements concerning the order and frequency of technical maintenance of individual functional parts and whole units. He also provided some information about the operational specifications of MAZ and MZKT chassis, on which the major part of coiled tubing units is mounted, and gave some trouble shooting tips. The speaker offered advices connected with equipment rig-up and gave detailed information about the main problems arising during equipment (coiled tubing reel, injector, blowout preventer, etc.) operation. The peculiarities of effective utilization of pumping units were considered separately.

The main idea of the report was based on three important principles:
1. Adherence to all maintenance types and observation of the frequency of technical maintenance.
2. Observation of operational requirements presented in Service Manual.
3. It is recommended to perform client’s personnel training so they will be familiar with main features of operation and maintenance of NOV Fidmash’s coiled tubing units.

The Company is ready to assist in organization of training seminars and waits for curious scholars in order to pass on the torch.

The Conference was followed by a discussion, during which all the consumers got comprehensive answers to their questions addressed to representatives of the Company.

Finally a round-table meeting was organized. It was devoted to development problems of the present-day oil and gas service. Detailed report about this meeting will be published in the next issue of Coiled Tubing Times.