For those outside of the oil and gas industry, the term “stabbing guide” sounds a little odd – like some sort of instruction manual for ill-fated activities, or a text book for crime lab technicians. Despite the seemingly exotic terminology, stabbing guides are actually very simple and critical parts of the infrastructure needed to profitably drill for oil and gas.
On a drilling rig, every second of time costs money. Even when business is booming, it makes no sense to squander resources on an expensive outfit and crew unnecessarily. During those periods when the price of oil is depressed, it is even more critical to maximize the equipment one deploys out in the field.
MSI Pipe Protection Technologies knows that one of the best ways of doing this, is to increase the amount of pipe that goes into the ground every hour. This is where the use of stabbing guides become necessary. These handy little inventions were designed to alleviate one of the biggest potential time-wasters on any drilling project: improperly connecting or damaging connections on a drill string. Getting pipe properly aligned with the sections that have already been deployed, while connecting new pipe quickly and straight, is a crucial way in which time on the rig can be reduced to the barest possible minimum.
Each time pipe does not make up properly, an unavoidable halt in operations is experienced, as well as a financial loss to the company by rendering pipe stock unusable, without repair or full replacement. Each individual operation on a drilling rig should go forward like clockwork on a very accelerated schedule. The few extra seconds needed to use a stabbing guide before lining up the next section of pipe, is a small price to pay for a glitchless operation. This also equates to an operation that doesn’t suffer from stop and go problems when there is failure in connecting pipes properly within a short time.
Modern stabbing guides have evolved into a line of purposefully built items designed to fit each individual style of pipe employed in the oil and gas industry. Each type of pipe has its own custom-fitted guides that are designed to go on quickly and can be released just as fast. Current industry standard designs include a high-strength steel core for rigidity, and a durable and slick plastic outer surface that permits pipe to slide easily into position while simultaneously cushioning the crucial threaded ends from incidental damage.
Considering the potential loss of productivity that occurs whenever threads get mangled, a stabbing guide is a very inexpensive, yet vital, insurance that easily pays for itself every single day that a drilling rig is operational. Yet, these tools are subject to the same wear-and-tear as any other piece of equipment. Failure to update the company’s stockpile of these must-have devices, can lead to the very problem they were designed to eliminate in the first place. Skimping on having up-to-date stabbing guides is merely risking avoidable trouble, and increasing exploration and development costs in a time when every dollar needs to be spent wisely.
Ready to get your own stabbing guides? Contact MSI Pipe Protection Technologies today!
