Blue Fin’s Slot Recovery Services Division primarily provides slot recovery services required to complete the decommissioning of depleted oil and gas wells offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and other locations throughout the world. The term “slot recovery”, albeit a bit of a misnomer, has been adopted throughout our industry to label the service performed to remove old conductor casing located between the wellhead and the below-mudline cut (made before slot recovery services begin). Removal is achieved by drilling through the casing and inner strings, placing a pin in the newly drilled hole to create a temporary lifting point, lifting the casing via rig provided crane to the desired height (dependent upon outermost casing diameter, number of internal strings, grade of metal, etc.) above deck, cutting the predetermined length from the top of the casing / laying it on deck, and then repeating the process until all of the casing has been removed.
The slot recovery service packages offered by Blue Fin Services to offshore operators typically include:
- Custom Casing Clamps - used to mount and center opposing casing drills.
- Casing Drills – hydraulic-driven core drills retrofitted for the application.
- Lifting Pins, Slings, & Shackles – third-party certified to safely lift well beyond weight experienced during application.
- Casing Saws – industry-leading E.H. Wach’s Guillotine Pipe Saws – model / type dependent upon casing diameter.
- Torque Equipment – inline hydraulic torque wrenches, cylinders, and “rack wrenches” needed to remove the wellhead.
- Hydraulic Power Packs – to operate torque wrenches, cylinders, casing drills,and casing saws (some saw models / types / options are pneumatically driven).
- Consumables – saw blades, plate cutters, core bits, and other consumables will initially be stocked on-site in a quantity double that of the job’s projected need. Customers will only be charged for consumables used.
- Backup Equipment – all standard packages include on-site equipment redundancy, repair kits, and parts. Equipment failure requiring backup equipment use which cannot be remedied in the field will be met by replacement to ensure availability of a backup.
- Operators – Blue Fin Services field personnel will be supplied as a two-man crew minimum to perform slot recovery operations.
As an auxiliary service to slot recovery packages, Blue Fin Services offers NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) testing. All casing will be tested for NORM levels as it is brought up to deck. Unless real-time test results suggest health risks, detailed daily reports will simply be given to the customer. Irregular and/or potentially health threatening NORM levels will immediately be reported to the powers that be.
In addition to offering slot recovery services to offshore operators, Blue Fin Services offers a variety of equipment rentals and services to offshore, inland, and land operations within the chemical and oil & gas industries. We are available for torque work, pipe & casing cutting and beveling, and NORM testing.