Oil Workover Rigs: Maintaining the Wells That Produce

An oil workover rig is a specialized drilling rig used to service and maintain oil and gas wells. They're not for drilling new wells — they're for fixing and improving existing ones. Workover rigs are the unsung heroes of the oilfield, because without them, most wells would stop producing within a few years. Every well needs regular maintenance, and workover rigs are how you do it.

What Do Workover Rigs Do?

Workover rigs handle all kinds of well maintenance and repair jobs:

- Perforating: Shooting holes in the casing to let oil and gas flow into the well.
- Acidizing: Pumping acid into the formation to dissolve rock and open up flow channels.
- Fishing: Retrieving broken or stuck equipment from downhole — like a lost drill pipe or pump.
- Pulling and replacing pumps: When the downhole pump wears out, you pull it out and install a new one.
- Casing repair: Fixing leaks or damage in the well casing.
- Plugging and abandoning: When a well is done producing, you plug it properly to meet environmental regulations.

Where Workover Rigs Are Used

Workover rigs are used in every oil and field in the world. In mature fields, most of the rigs on location are workover rigs, not new drilling rigs. That's because once a field is developed, most of the work is maintaining existing wells, not drilling new ones.

They're also used for workover operations on offshore wells, although offshore workover rigs are much larger and more specialized. Offshore workover rigs are often mounted on the production platform itself, or they're on a separate vessel that sails out to the platform.

FAQ

Q: How much does a workover rig cost to operate?
A: Onshore workover rigs cost $15,000 to $30,000 per day to operate, including crew, fuel, and equipment. Offshore workover rigs cost $100,000+ per day. It's expensive, but it's cheaper than drilling a new well, and it can restore production from an existing well that's been underperforming.