by Hernández Escalona
The young team of Los Próceres operations base has reduced costs and unproductive times which results in significant savings. The base, which belongs to the PDVSA Servicios Petroleros subsidiary, is located in San Tomé.
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A (PDVSA), through its subsidiary Servicios Petroleros, achieved savings of 2.6 million dollars with the execution of well cementing services with its own personnel and equipment at the Hugo Chávez Orinoco Oil Belt.
Thanks to the acquisition of 27 well cementing equipment in 2014, the oil industry today has up to 200 cementing services in the Orinoco Oil Belt wells, saving an average of 130,000 dollars per well. Thus we advance towards independence and technological sovereignty within the Hydrocarbons Economic Driver (a government economic policy to boost the oil sector). Ernesto Sánchez, manager of Belt Cementation and Pumping, said that the chains to the multinational companies have been broken. PDVSA was tied to those companies for the execution of well cementing services at the Belt.
"President Chávez was a visionary, he ordered the purchase of cementing equipment with the sister nation of the People's Republic of China and today we see its fruits. With the execution of these services we are saving more than 2.6 million dollars to the nation, services that were formerly contracted. It's an achievement for this team”.
Technological training
46 engineers, technicians and operators at Los Próceres operations base for cement operations located in San Tomé, work on primary, secondary, intermediate and surface cementation, liners, plugs, abandonment of wells and gravel packing . These are operations executed with 100% Venezuelan staff.
"We are a 100% Venezuelan team, which has been trained by personnel of the Chinese companies for the operation of equipment, in order to optimize project execution times with the highest standards. The industry has entrusted us with this task and we are committed to our country”, said José Phillips, operations supervisor. Norwin Machado, technical operator, said that despite being a new team with little experience in the field thanks to the training received, today they can achieve a good record for the services provided. This not only reduces operational costs, but also strengthens independence from multinational corporations. "With every foreign currency we can save the country, everybody gains. We are living through difficult times, therefore reducing costs is vital for the nation. We are a young staff, but very eager to serve our homeland and contribute our grain of sand to overcome technological dependence and consolidate our economy”, said Mr. Machado.
Innovation and growth
The packing team of PDVSA Servicios Petroleros at the Orinoco Oil Belt, proposed a novel modification of its own pumping equipment, so that they could carry out packing operations with gravel in producing wells.
"We proposed to make minor modifications to equipment that PDVSA already owned, so that packing tasks could be carried out with gravel in our wells, and thus reduce the unproductive times that were registered waiting for the multinational companies to attend our requests. It has been a resounding success and the savings for the industry are significant”, said Palmenes Rosales, engineer project consultant. Hageo Requena, supervisor of the Packing Office, said that gravel packing is a process used for the control of sands in the wells which is executed in its entirety by PDVSA personnel in the Ayacucho Division. Only in 2016, said Requena, PDVSA has executed seven gravel packing services at the Belt wells, which translates into savings of 100,000 dollars per well for a total of 700,000 dollars. "Each service costs the industry 220,000 dollars and with these modifications in our own equipment, we save the country at least 45% of the costs”, he said.
Committed young professionals
Hector Torrealba, Packing Superintendent
"We have been here for a short time, but we are leaders in the execution of gravel packing services. We evaluated this small project, and we saw that it was feasible. Today we saved foreign currency which is important for the country”.
José Carreras, Plant Superintendent
"We are strongly committed to the country. We execute our operations minding quality and efficiency. We do this because we want to protect the legacy of President Chávez and because the homeland needs us now more than ever”.
Hageo Requena, Packing Office Supervisor
"Through teamwork, we have made progress in modifying and expanding the teams, so that they can service more wells and execute more services at other Divisions of the Belt. There is much to be done in this crude oil reservoir, and we are doing it, not only for our families and our country, but also to consolidate the legacy of President Chávez”.
