Abstract:
Well interventions offer a significant opportunity to enhance production at low cost, extend field life, and improve recovery, it will be presented that they remain underutilized across much of the oil and gas industry. This lecture explores the reasons behind this gap, focusing on the technical and organizational barriers that prevent operators from fully leveraging intervention opportunities.
Despite the availability of mature technologies and workflows, interventions are often deprioritized due to logistical issues, complex and fragmented planning, misaligned incentives, unpredictable outcomes and a lack of integrated collaboration between stakeholders. The result can result in persistent inertia, where technically viable interventions are missed, delayed or rejected, even when they could deliver material value.
This lecture will examine the root causes of this inertia, including how current workflows, technology and decision-making structures contribute to missed opportunities. It will also highlight how new collaborative approaches, built around aligned outcomes and shared accountability, can help overcome these barriers. By integrating technical planning with operational execution and commercial strategy, organizations can unlock the full potential of well interventions.
Drawing on real-world examples, in collaboration with the UK regulator, and industry data, the lecture will provide a framework for identifying intervention opportunities, assessing feasibility, and implementing workflows that reduce uncertainty and improve execution. Attendees will gain practical insight into how technical teams can drive change within their organizations and contribute to more proactive, value-driven intervention strategies.
Bio:
Matthew Billingham is Technical Director for mechanical intervention at SLB Reservoir Performance, based in Paris, with over 30 years of experience. He provides global technical guidance across service delivery, technology development, and intervention techniques, and leads the SLB Reservoir Performance Intervention Domain community. He has held senior roles in wireline, slickline, coiled tubing, and testing services globally.
Matthew holds a BEng from Leicester University and an MSc with Distinction from Heriot Watt. He has authored multiple papers, holds multiple intervention related patents, and serves in leadership roles within ICoTA and the SPE/ICoTA Well Intervention Conference.
