Colter Cookson with The American Oil & Gas Reporter interviewed Joseph Huwel, president of U.S. cementing and coiled tubing at Nine Energy Service, and other industry experts for the November 2021 Editor’s Choice on Wellbore Integrity.

Cookson writes that although wellbore integrity failures can be catastrophic for a company, service companies believe the industry is getting better at achieving wellbore integrity, diagnosing issues that occur, and making the necessary repairs. And all companies note that a proper cement job is essential to integrity.

When cement performs poorly, Huwel says the root cause generally falls into one of four categories: improper cement design, improper blending, mechanical error or human error. “The key to preventing design mistakes is strong communication,” he remarks. “If we know what is going on in the well, our engineering team can come up with an effective slurry and test it in the lab to verify it will perform.”