Well Service / Workover Rigs For Sale

About Well Service & Workover Rigs

A well service or workover rig is a relatively mobile platform that performs operations and maintenance on a gas, water, or oil well, usually multiple times over the life of the well. It may come on a self-propelled carrier truck, trailer, or skid. A rig like this may be responsible for three types of work, the first being well completion, or laying pipe tubing to finish the construction of a newly drilled well. The second type includes minor service or more involved workovers (maintenance and stimulation sessions to restore the well’s efficiency and production). The third type of task these rigs take on is decommissioning a well or plug-and-abandonment to safely end operations from a well at the end of its service life.

Because they can install as well as remove pipe, workover or service rigs are sometimes called a “completion rig” or “pulling unit.” Depending on the manufacturer, they’re rated by their hoist load capacity, their engine power, and their depth capacity for either service or workover tasks. For example, Drillmec makes its MR series with 66- to 276-ton (60- to 250-metric-ton) capacities and 250 to 1000 horsepower, with 353-t (320-mt), 1500-horsepower rigs available upon request.

History

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Drillmec MR Series workover rig

As long as there have been oil wells, there have been tools and rigs to start, stop, and service them. The advent of internal combustion vehicles was closely tied to the evolution of the modern petroleum industry, so it’s hard to say just exactly when drillers started to equip trucks and trailers with portable service and workover equipment. Tiger General says it has been making swab rigs since 1925, whereas well service rig manufacturer Wichtex says that it started to field units in 1930. Stewart & Stevenson designed and built its Fieldmaster self-propelled service rigs in 1960. Taylor Industries started to develop its first model five years later.

Technology & Innovations

Automation is coming to workover rigs, as it has to so many other types of equipment. Increased worker safety and precision are the keys to the move toward robotic rigs, whether autonomous or operated by remote. Advanced sensors and laser technology are making the upgrades possible, as well.

Find The Right Well Service / Workover Rig

OilfieldTrader.com has a variety of new and used well service / workover rigs for sale. Some brands you’ll find on the new or used market include Cooper (Dragon), Crown (Stewart & Stevenson), Drillmec, Franks, Jereh, KSM, NOV Gill, Service King, Taylor Industries, Watson Hopper, Wilson, and Wilson Mogul.