Ozzie Gonzalez and Henry Bernat, Vibration Technology, Inc.
Stuck pipe has been identified as the largest single contributor to non-productive drilling time. The use of resonant vibration as a means of freeing stuck tubulars from a well bore has been demonstrated to be effective in both Drilling and Workover environments and has the potential to provide almost immediate results in many day-to-day applications. The challenge for the future is to further explore both proven and potential applications of this technology in order to evaluate the benefits and reduce the unknown associated with the technology. The long term industry benefit will be a different approach to stuck tubular recovery available in the form of superior technology that addresses real needs while substantially reducing costs. The technology offers the benefits of being quick and easy to apply, operations are conducted from surface with no downhole intervention, and results may be achieved very quickly. Demonstrated successes in both cased and open hole applications has prompted the industry to embrace the technology as a viable and often preferred means of stuck pipe recovery.