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Well Integrity
A fighter jet in
tubular form Joost de Bakker, CEO of CRA-Tubulars, outlines his company’s unique solution for combatting corrosion and well integrity issues – Titanium Composite Tubing (TCT) technology.
Image Credit: Adobe Stock
Well integrity issues can cause significant financial problems for operators.
ITH AROUND 32% of wells suffering from well integrity issues globally (according to a previous estimate from the Society of Petroleum Engineers), CRATubulars is preparing to enter the market with its TCT technology to provide a unique, costeffective and reliable solution that will help tackle this constant headache for operators. Joost de Bakker noted that while this issue has consistently been a thorn in the side of operators around the world, it is one that has been somewhat swept under the rug or at least not given the attention and investment it deserves. Traditionally, capital has been spent on short term, cheaper solutions and then the life-cycle is dealt with as it comes – with tubulars often replaced every couple of years. Now, however, this narrative is changing and many large oil companies are starting to change their philosophy to be more prepared early on and spend less on their wells in late life. “Volume-wise, populations are increasing
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and wells are producing less. Because of this, the strategy of working over wells is becoming more unmanageable. In addition, HSE considerations are pushing companies to be more responsible when managing their assets from both a human and environmental perspective,” de Bakker remarked. CRA-Tubulars’ TCT addresses these issues by offering a robust and highly corrosionresistant solution for the global oil country tubular goods (OCTG) market. The product offers corrosion-free completion (titanium) with carbon fibre and aerospace epoxy superior tri-
Essentially we have repurposed aerospace technology and turned it into a tubular form.”
axial strength of the OCTG. It is API-5CT and NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 compliant and has a max. operating temperature of 1400C. It has been tested to 18,000 PSI and 240,000 lbs tensile load for a 4.1/2” tubing, half the weight of an equivalent metal pipe. This cost-effective solution therefore offers advantages of the more traditional duplex or nickel alloy tubulars, which are more susceptible to corrosive elements and Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC).
Meeting market demand Explaining the company’s history, de Bakker said, “We were officially founded in 2019, however, this is a natural succession from a team of inventors and engineers who have been working in this field for more than 20 years. Composite and non-metallic tubulars have been developed a lot over the last 20-25 years, but one area that could never be truly tackled was downhole corrosion due to direct contact with a reservoir and the corrosive
