There are multiple API Recommended Practices for the care and handling of tubing, sucker rods, and pumps. Additionally, there have been several papers written in support of these practices and documenting how they reduce downhole failures. However, in the past few years the field application of these practices has taken a step backwards for multiple reasons.
This paper will present some care and handling issues that have been observed in the field that often times would not be discovered without a good root cause investigation. Some of these issues are caused by the service rigs, but many are due to a lack of proper equipment and training for not only the rigs but support services as well. Some recommendations to improve compliance of the recommended practices will also be discussed.