ROGTEC Online Interview with Alex McKay of Welltec
Alex McKay
Alex joined Welltec in 2006 and is currently the Area Vice President for Europe, Russian Federation and CIS, based in Aberdeen Scotland.
He started in the oil industry with Schlumberger in 1979 as a wireline logging engineer after graduating from Aberdeen University where he studied Engineering and Geology. His Schlumberger career spanned 27 years: field operations in Angola, Nigeria, Congo, Holland and the North Sea; petrophysics in the UK, US and Scandinavia; sales and marketing assignments in the 90’s; Country Manager in Azerbaijan and Global Accounts Director in London.
Alex has served on SPE boards in several locations around the world including Norway, Azerbaijan and UK.
Welltec company overview
Welltec is a rapidly growing international oil and gas services company delivering premium quality solutions. Our services address strategic and financially important challenges encountered by oil and gas companies. We have built a premier track record for reliable, high-quality service delivery. We thrive on innovative ideas and develop cutting-edge technologies that will continue to revolutionize oil and gas production.
We provide high-technology services in onshore and offshore wells, including in the most extreme operating conditions (such as deepwater, subsea, extended reach, Arctic, high-yield, heavy oil and unconventional gas environments). We have built a versatile company with multiple services across the different phases of a well’s life including evaluation, drilling & completion, production and intervention.
We provide services primarily by operating proprietary remote-controlled precision robotic equipment designed and manufactured in-house. Our innovative technologies couple unique, patented designs with manufacturing know-how in, among other areas: electric, hydraulic and electronic systems. Our revolutionary services and technologies are broadly accepted by the industry and have changed the way operators manage their wells and reservoirs.
The industry has recognized Welltec’s innovative technologies with several awards. We have won the prestigious Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Innovation Award and the Special Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation several times. Our track record for continuous technological innovation includes awards for the Well Tractor in 1998, the Well Stroker in 2003 and, the Well Miller in 2007, no less than two awards for the Well Miller RCB (Reverse Circulating Bit) in 2008 and in 2009, the Well Cleaner PST (Power Suction Tool) took home the latest award.
How long have you been doing business in the region?
We have been doing business in the CIS since 1998. We did our first jobs in Russia at the beginning of 2009 and have now established ourselves in several regions of the country.
Do you have specific target markets in the region? (i.e. Russia, Kazakhstan, key regions or market sectors offshore, EOR etc?)
We have focused on Russia mainly in 2009 but in 2010, our focus will expand to include more Caspian countries, in particular Kazakhstan. We will work in whatever market brings value to our clients; however, the obvious target is the horizontal wells market.
What are your key products for the region and their benefits?
Our key services are provided with the Well Tractor, Well Miller, Well Cleaner and the Well Stroker. The entire concept of Welltec is to provide a lighter alternative to heavier forms of intervention, such as snubbing and rig units and in particular coiled tubing (CT). Being able to provide our alternative solutions on an electric wireline, as opposed to CT for example, brings obvious benefits. Less logistics issues, less people on the wellsite, no heavy lifts (everything can go on a chopper for example), faster rig up, rig down and operational running speeds, provide obvious HSE benefits. The bottom line is that we offer our clients faster, safer, more cost-effective interventions and thus reduced risk and costs of production.
What potential is there for your products in the market?
The potential for our services in the region is huge. For example, many areas either cannot source CT, or afford it, or perhaps logistically cannot get CT to the wellsite. We provide lighter, safer, more cost-effective and faster alternatives to heavier forms of intervention. That offer can bring real benefits to our clients.
How do you compare and compete with existing Russian Technology?
Our job is not to compete with, but to enhance existing technologies. We are working together with Russian geophysicists on most of our jobs and we appreciate their technologies and they appreciate ours. We work together hand in hand with great results.
How do you see the market developing over the next 5 years in your industry sector?
We see it continuing to expand as we have only exploited a small area of the potential market. For example 2009, was a very difficult year for the service sector of our industry, but even during this depressed year Welltec continued to grow globally as we have every year since we came into existence in 1996.
Do you have any new products being launched?
Yes. We launch several new technologies every year to enhance our portfolio and in response to client requests. We will normally do formal launches of these technologies so watch this site for the next launch.
Do you have any recent regional success stories?
In February 2009, we conducted the first perforating on Well Tractor in Russia. The job was offshore Sakhalin Island. Although this is a standard operation, getting the first Russian job completed safely and successfully was a real achievement.
Any further comments?
We now have offices or operations in Vankor, Sakhalin, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk and Moscow in Russia as well as in Baku, Azerbaijan. We have aggressive expansion plans in the Caspian region in particular in 2010 and have several new projects in Russia starting up during the year also. We plan to establish ourselves further in the region and stay a very long time.
For more information about Welltec please click the link below
https://www.rogtecmagazine.com/blog/welltec.php