Workover Rentals

Rental tools for workover and recompletion

Workover covers the remedial operations that keep an existing well producing: pulling and replacing tubing, repairing or replacing downhole equipment, re-perforating, and recompleting to a different zone. Unlike a new drilling program, a workover works against a well that is already completed and often still live, so the emphasis is on the right tubing string, dependable handling, well-control barriers, and the fishing tools to recover anything that parts or sticks. Drillstrings rents this whole toolkit, inspected and certified, so a remedial job can be mobilized quickly without capital tied up in equipment that only sees occasional use.

What a remedial program calls for

• Workstring tubing provides the string to pull the old completion and run the new one, in sizes and grades matched to the well.
• Handling tools — elevators, slips, tongs and stabbing guides — let the crew run and pull tubing safely and torque connections correctly.
• Pressure control equipment supplies the barriers required while the well is live during the remedial operation.
• Fishing tools — overshots, spears, jars and mills — recover tubing, parted strings or dropped tools so the job can carry on.
• Downhole tools cover the crossovers, subs and fittings a workover string needs.

Being ready for the unexpected

Remedial work often surprises the crew: corroded tubing parts, a packer that will not release, or a tool dropped in the hole. Having fishing and pressure-control tools already on location turns a potential multi-day fishing job into a routine recovery. Our guides to stuck-pipe prevention and recovery and fishing operations 101 explain how to plan for these events, and our rig-floor handling tools guide covers running and pulling tubing safely.

Matching the workstring to the existing completion

The single most important sizing decision in a workover is matching the rental string to what is already in the well. The workstring has to pass through the existing tubing or casing drift, make up cleanly against the downhole connections it engages, and carry the pull loads a stuck or corroded completion can impose. That means confirming size, weight, grade and connection against the original completion tally before mobilizing. Grades run the API range — E-75 through S-135 for drill-pipe-style workstrings, or P-110 tubing — with the grade chosen for the pull and pressure the job demands. Our guide to how to select drilling tubulars covers this matching in detail.

Barriers and overpull margin

A workover typically runs on a live or shut-in well, so the two-barrier philosophy applies just as it does in drilling: two tested, independent barriers between formation and surface at all times. When pulling a stuck completion, the workstring must also have tensile margin above the anticipated overpull — pulling to the string’s yield leaves no reserve for jarring. Size the string so the planned overpull sits comfortably below the connection and body ratings. See well-control barriers for the barrier framework.

Common pitfalls

• Guessing the completion tally — a workstring that will not drift or will not make up costs a trip.
• No overpull reserve — pulling near yield to free stuck tubing risks parting the string and creating a fishing job.
• Skipping fishing tools on location — recovery is far quicker when overshots and jars are already on site.
• Corrosion underestimated — old tubing can be weaker than its nominal grade; inspect and derate.

Inspected, sour-service ready, delivered

Every string and tool we rent is inspected to DS-1 / API RP 7G-2 categories, serialized for traceability and pressure-tested where the application requires. For wells with H2S, we supply tubing and tools in NACE MR0175–compliant material. Occasional remedial work usually favors renting, while a busy workover fleet may justify buying — our rent vs buy guide weighs it. Working from our network of yards, we stage the equipment to your rig schedule. Tell us the well and the scope of the remedial work and we’ll quote the string and tools.