Dan Doll, General Director of Trican Well Services, Speaks To ROGTEC Magazine
Dan Doll is the General Director of Trican Well Service in Russia. Mr. Doll joined Trican as Executive Director, Operations in 2011, and is now responsible for Trican’s overall operations in Russia.
Mr. Doll is a professional engineer with 20 years experience in the pressure pumping industry. He began his career as a field engineer, working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in 1991. Since then, he has held various operational, technical and marketing positions and has a strong technical and operational background in cementing, fracturing, sand control and coiled tubing.
In additional to his operational experience, Mr. Doll has a strong background in international business, having worked in the United States, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia.
Opening discussion on the vision you developed for Trican in Russia since taking over the reins of the organization a year ago: new director, new direction?
My vision for Trican in Russia coincides with the global vision. On the Russian market we are positioned as an innovative technological energy service company that hopefully will be the number one choice of employees and customers. Russia oil & gas industry has a unique set of challenges and opportunities for oil field service companies like Trican. The needs of our customers in Russia can best be met by applying innovative engineered solutions that are specific to that region. Success is advanced by utilizing best-of-class equipment and technology, delivered safely by highly trained and reliable staff. This strategy is proving to be very successful for Trican’s expansion in Russia. Trican has expanded its service offering in both Western and Eastern Siberia, opened new operational bases in Nizh, Nefty, Nyagan, Raduzhny, Gubkinsky, Novy Urengoy, Perm, two representative offices in Eastern Siberia. And we just entered the Russian market in 2000.
As for the new direction – I’ve got a new team in place: young but very experienced and enthusiastic that without a doubt will impact our business and bring much value to Trican business and the whole Russian oil & gas industry.
I sincerely believe that any company success begins with its people as the company name and reputation are reflected in the excellence demonstrated by the employees. Human resources are our main asset that impacts our business. In Russia 96% of all our employees are local and local employees have ample opportunities for advancement, with many career path options in Russia and globally.
Russia is looking to maintain it’s production level through greenfield development and enhanced recovery on brownfields: Is there a focus on the demand for fracturing services?
You are absolutely right – the frac market is growing in Russia. The government is challenging the oil & gas industry to maintain oil production at the current level. Almost two thirds of oil production in Russia comes from Western Siberia where many of the largest fields are mature and the production in declining. Fracking has been used for years in Russia’s Siberian oil heartland to stimulate the production and applications of new frac technologies have boosted recovery rates. Many oil & gas companies are applying multi-zone hydraulic fracturing to halt its declining crude oil production and have ambition plans for drilling horizontal wells using multi-zone hydrofracturing as this technology has proved highly effective on the difficult reserves. Drilling of HW with MZHF for gas assets has also obtained positive results among the customers in Russia as the production rates on gas are much higher than for horizontal wells with conventional completion. The companies are also applying multi-stage hydrofracturing on sidetracked wells and offshore, mature fields and greenfields so the demand for fracturing technologies is increasing in Russia. In time, fracking and horizontal drilling in Russia will spread from rejuvenating mature fields to developing unconventional reserves. The Bazhenov shale may hold more oil than Saudi Arabia. The geology is similar to North Dakota’s Bakken shale, where production has more than doubled in two years.Gazprom Neft and partner Shell will spend $200 million over the next three years in the Salym area of the Bazhenov, according to the Russian company. Exxon and Rosneft also plan to explore the area.
Gazprom Neft has begun drilling the first appraisal well to research and assess potential production at the Bazheno-Abalaksky horizon of the Palyanovskaya zone at the Krasnoleninsky deposit. The drilling is part of the company’s programme to develop unconventional and hard to recover oil reserves, according to a company news release. Exploration of the Bazheno-Abalaksky stratum is part of a project to improve tight oil expertise in order to develop hydrocarbons located in the Bazhenov, Abalakskaya and Frolovskaya formations. These formations in Western Siberia have extremely low porosity but high oil content and have not been extensively explored. With all the above we foresee many opportunities in Russia for conventional fracking and for the application of the latest technologies.
There is a competitive landscape within the Russian OFS market, from both international and domestic players: How is Trican positioning itself?
The Russian OFS market is very competitive. Almost all international OFS companies operate in Russia and compete with each other and local companies that are well established on the Russian market. Some international OFS companies were growing inorganically on the Russian market acquiring local independent companies and service assets of oil & gas companies. Trican growth in Russia was only organic. In Russia Trican’s services include fracturing, cementing, coiled tubing, acidizing, nitrogen, reservoir management and completion systems services. We are one of the largest players in hydraulic fracturing segment in Russia. Hydraulic fracturing segment itself is very competitive and frac services are often perceived by customers as conventional and often only pricing influences the bid. However we are optimistic about the emergence of horizontal drilling and the multi-stage fracturing market in Russia as multi stage frac can be attributed to high tech segment of the frac market and only innovative and technical companies will be able to compete in this segment . Approximately 12% of our 2012 Russian fracturing revenue was from work performed on horizontal wells, compared to approximately 3% in 2011. We expect customer interest in horizontal completions and multi-stage fracturing to continue to increase in 2013, and expect it to represent 20% of 2013 Russian fracturing revenue. This is an important development for the pressure pumping industry in Russia, as the shift towards more unconventional drilling and completions is expected to increase the demand for horsepower in the region and place a larger emphasis on technology.
Working with the major Russian oil and gas companies: what makes Trican a partner of Choice?
I would say 4 factors make Trican a partner of choice :
Implementation of innovative engineered solutions that significantly improve production andor reduce overall cost of operations by
– highly trained professional personnel
– equipment reliability
– our health, safety and environmental commitment and performance
Trican has positioned itself as a technological leader in the Russian market by providing customers with innovative fracturing fluids, completion tools, and equipment. We successfully maintain a strong customer base by consistently offering innovative technical solutions and operational excellence.
What is your assessment of your current growth drivers for Trican in Russia?
Expanding the volume of work with the existing customers, add new customers and regions to our portfolio and of course technology upsell. With the shif t towards more multi-stage completions, Trican was able to successfully market its BPS (Burst Port System)® completion tool to the Russian market in 2012 and in 2013 we’ll capitalize on its successful application. BPS® features a casing collar with pre-milled frac ports specifically designed to open at precise pressures, providing operators more control over the diversion of their fracs. BPS® is a patented system that uses Trican’s selective stimulation straddle technology to allow for repeatable, selective isolation of downhole intervals in stimulation treatments.
We designed Polar Frac™ specially for the regions of Russia where downhole temperatures are less than 20°C (68°F). In these lower temperature zones, chemical reaction rates can be slowed resulting in insufficient development of crosslinked gel viscosity, which ultimately leads to higher costs or reduced production of the reservoir. Polar Frac™ allows optimal frac fluid performance, despite the cold reservoir temperatures.
I can talk for hours on the technologies but to sum up technology is crucial for our growth and success in Russia.
What are the advanced technologies and state-of-the-art equipment required to boost production of Western Siberia’s fields?
Historically it has appeared that the Russian market follows with some delay, the trends in North America. It can be explained in similarity of approaches for well production stimulation – that is dominantly hydraulic fracturing – and certain impact of major international oil producing and service companies on technology applications in both regions. The current trend is deployment of horizontal completions for multistage fracturing that has been developed for booming shale gas market in US but successfully implemented in sandstone and carbonate formations. The main principle of technology is to increase and enhance the reservoir contact and get the maximum potential of formation by stimulation techniques – from acidizing to acid and proppant fracturing. The multistage approach is delivered by pumping the balls of various diameters – from smaller to bigger – and thus allowing the opening the valves in completion assembly for stimulation. When all zones are stimulated, i.e. the stages completed, the balls either float to surface with the producing oil or can be drilled out with coiled tubing. These days the valves are designed not only for single opening with the ball but for multiple cycles of opening/closing with coiled tubing shifting tools allowing the intervention on the later stages of well life for isolation of watered out zones or additional selective stimulation like re-fracturing. In this way, the described approach simplifies the decisions on well production enhancement for oil producers by providing the highly efficient completion that maximizes the production from the formation and also gives the flexibility on intervention techniques for correction of inflow profile. Also, it binds together the various services like completion assemblies provision with cementing (as more and more horizontal wells are being cemented and it is another trend is being inherited from North America), stimulation and coiled tubing. The service companies are pushed now to offer the integrated packages of these services that allow the oil companies benefiting from single service provider minimizing the risks of losses due to misalignment and miscommunication between various service contractors. But on the other hand, the integrated multi-technology approach conciliates the interests of both oil producers and service contractors resulting in more efficient operations and higher production in the end of the day.
Innovation as a competitive advantage: What is the role of the Moscow R&D center?
Trican’s dedication to Research and Development has earned the recognition as an industry leader in providing innovative technical solutions to customers globally and particularly in Russia.
The Trican R&D center in Moscow focuses on optimizing well deliverability through innovation, investigation, development and optimization of new fluid technologies.
The laboratory uses State of the Art Equipment that provide opportunities to study and optimize regain proppant conductivity, reservoir core flow, fluid surface tension, rheological properties, wellbore cement quality and water management.
The facility also provides field support and area specific solutions in an effort to advance Trican as a leader in technology throughout Russia and the surrounding Regions.
Preparing for tomorrow, Partner to a safer environment: Can you explain Trican’s journey to zero harm?
Trican’s Safety program is based on our core value: We won’t put anyone in harm’s way. Trican Safety objectives include the elimination of all accidents at work and the prevention of injury to our employees and others present at our worksites; and the provision of a healthy work environment for our employees and others present at our worksites.
Trican adheres to the highest standards of health and safety for our employees, our customers, contractors and visitors, and rigorously enforces our environmental protection standards and adherence to set guidelines worldwide.
We strive to engage employees in job safety practices, hazard identification and protection of the environment throughout their careers with Trican, while emphasizing the importance of health, safety and sustainability from day one through training, mentoring, assessments, inspection and evaluation.
Trican complies with federal, provincial and state environmental regulations in its operations and emergency preparedness in response to spills, equipment failure, accidents, sabotage or other incidents that could result in environmental damage. Trican recognizes that a responsible environmental program goes beyond what’s regulated and adopts what’s right.
What are your personal ambitions for the future of the Russian affiliate?
Trican is determined to build on its past successes, continue growing in its existing regions, and is actively pursuing additional opportunities in other active oil and gas Russian provinces. The regions of most interest for us are Eastern Siberia, Yamal projects, Timano-Pechora region. With the acquisition of i-TEC Well Solutions, a privately owned company based in Norway that provides completion systems and intervention tools we are evaluating our opportunities to participate in Russian offshore projects. Trican has taken a significant step into the horizontal multi-stage completion market with the acquisition of i-TEC. i-TEC is a technology-focused developer of innovative next generation tools who has built their business by providing solution based service to their customers. The acquisition of i-TEC gives Trican a comprehensive portfolio of field proven advanced completion and intervention technologies which can be used in cemented as well as open hole installations both on the global arena and Russia.
Your final message to the readers
I sincerely believe that the presence of international companies on the Russian oil & gas market is vital for the industry. I support the government initiative to ease foreign access to oil exploration as this initiative will inject capital inflow into the industry, speed up the implementation of strategic projects in exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in Russia and share technology and expertise. International OFS companies also play very important role in the industry as apart from technologies and expertise they bring state-of-the-art safety and environmental protection systems that become a standard for the industry.
I believe that joint efforts ensure the most efficient fields development with application of the latest technologies and adhering to high environmental standards. Moreover, experience acquired by the international companies globally combined with the local knowledge turns out to be the best solution.
Trican Well Services
Trican Well Service Ltd. is an international pressure pumping company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and operating globally on five continents with over 6,000 employees worldwide. Trican is the largest pressure pumping service provider in Canada, the largest fracturing company in Russia, and has growing operations in the United States, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Norway and Australia.
Trican Well Service LLC began operating in Russia in 2000 and has grown into one of the country’s leading fracturing companies. Trican Russian regional head office is located in Nizhnevartovsk, Russia. Trican’s services in Russia also include cementing, coiled tubing, acidizing, nitrogen and completion tools. Russian operations are based predominantly in the Tyumen Region of Western Siberia, but also extend to Eastern Siberian region. Our Russian operations service these regions from bases in Nizhnevartovsk, Nefteyugansk, Raduzhny, Nyagan, Gubkinsky, Novy Urengoy, and Perm. In March 2012 Trican opened a new Research and Development Centre in Moscow in March of 2012.
