SPYDER™ Grease Manifold System

Posted By Allison Meyer

There is a continued shortage of skilled labor across the board in the oil and gas sector and even with frac’s popularity approaching an all-time high, drilling has continued to outpace fracking. Drilled and un-completed wells are currently at historic levels, and forecasts show them to continue to increase until the end of 2019. This is leading energy companies and operators to search for ways to increase their frac efficiencies. This comes in the form of more pumping hours per day and lower cost per well. A major challenge to reaching these goals is Non-Productive Time (NPT).

Case studies have determined that a large percentage of NPT is due to pre-mature valve failure and could be reduced or eliminated simply by performing proper preventive maintenance during the frac process. A survey of service companies found it almost impossible to grease the valves in line with the recommended practice of every two to three stages due to time constraints. Some customers have reported being asked to go three to five times the number of stages between greasing. The most severe case was catastrophic valve failure after just 45 stages due to the lack of proper preventative maintenance. It was clear that several obstacles had to be cleared to achieve the frac efficiencies desired.

Valves had to be able to be greased quicker (higher volumes and reduced rig-up time).
Valves had to be greased regardless of environmental conditions (high winds, bad weather, etc.).
The valves had to be greased even in difficult applications (suspended loads).
The operator needed a reliable way to monitor the amount of grease used.
Valves needed a way to be greased without entering the red zone.

These were the factors that played key roles in the development of The MEYER SPYDER^TM Grease Manifold System (patent pending).

Trials with the SPYDER^TM grease manifold where customers greased every stage have shown a dramatic reduction in failures and repairs. A customer in the Utica performed a partial greasing of each valve at the end of each stage. The total grease required per well declined, and proper greasing led to a substantial decrease in repair cost. At the end of a nine-month trial, over 70 percent of all valves required no major repairs. A similar trail in the Haynesville, where the greasing program was changed to every other stage, led to a reduction from up to three valve failures a month to zero failures over a three-month period on zipper manifolds.

After tremendous success with the initial design for more than four years, MEYER is proud to unveil its new third-generation manifold at OTC. The new 3rd Generation patent-pending SPYDER^TM manifold takes smart greasing technology to the next level. Further addressing all the factors that led to the creation of the first generation. Call your MEYER representative today to be one of the first to have the SPYDER^TM on your side.