Based on Real Events

How a $1.5M Job Became a $75M Disaster

And how the Brahan Engine would have prevented it. This is the story of Well_666 — "The Perfect Storm" — a cascading failure that started with a single tong die and ended with a permanently damaged well.

$74.8M
Total Cost
840 hrs
NPT
5
Critical Failures
1

The Setup

A routine bridge plug retrieval on a high-performing HPHT well

Well_666 was a star performer — 10,500 boepd from the Brahan Alpha Sandstone. In October 2016, the team planned a routine zone isolation job: retrieve a bridge plug at 4,800m to manage increasing water cut.

The AFE was $1.5M. The job was planned for one week.

"Mike, the crew is struggling to get a good latch on the plug. We've been working it for four hours now. The jarring is getting aggressive. I'm concerned about the TRSSV profile. The procedure says to pull, but my gut says we need to stop and run a LIB first. The day-shift guy wants to push on. Advise."
— Night Supervisor email, October 17, 2016, 22:30

The crew was on their 14th consecutive night shift. The fiscal year deadline was approaching. They pushed on.

2

The Disaster Unfolds

Six weeks of cascading failures

What Happened October 18 - November 20, 2016
Oct 18: Bridge plug element stuck

After 4 hours of aggressive jarring, the plug element came free — but snagged the TRSSV protection sleeve on the way out. Pieces fell back into the wellbore.

Oct 19 - Nov 2: Fishing operations

Two weeks of fishing with overshots, spears, grabs. Most tools failed. A simple junk basket worked better than anything else.

Nov 15: The missed clue

A Lead Impression Block showed a clear impression of something metallic. The crew dismissed it as "unclear." It was a 3/4" tong die.

Nov 20: The reveal

After case-hardened pins and extreme jarring forces, the plug finally came free. The tong die — dropped during surface operations — had jammed the mechanism the entire time.

$7.2M
2016 intervention cost (AFE was $1.5M)
The Aftermath 2017 - 2021

The aggressive jarring didn't just retrieve the plug — it deformed the 9-5/8" production casing at 4,500m (>20% ovality) and damaged the TRSSV profile.

A $18.5M workover in 2017 got the well back online at reduced rates. Then in 2021, the TRSSV failed its function test — stuck closed, likely from debris or damage from 2016.

The well has been shut-in ever since.

$140M
Lost production (2016-2021)
3

What Brahan Engine Would Have Done

Five intervention points that would have changed everything

Safety Gateway: Fatigue Flag

The system tracks personnel rotation. At 14 consecutive night shifts, a mandatory fatigue review would have been triggered before the operation continued. The crew's judgment was impaired — the system would have flagged it.

SOP Decision Point: LIB After Failed Latch

The Bridge Plug Retrieval SOP (SOP_003) now includes: "After 3 failed latch attempts → STOP → Run LIB → Send to shore for expert analysis." The Brahan Engine enforces this as a mandatory checkpoint, not a suggestion.

AI Advisor: "This Impression Needs Expert Review"

When the LIB came back on Nov 15, the AI would have analyzed the impression image and flagged: "Foreign object detected - metallic signature inconsistent with plug profile. Recommend shore-based expert review before proceeding."

Jarring Limit Enforcement

SOP_003 now specifies: "Maximum 5 jar strokes without engineering review." The system tracks jarring operations in real-time. Exceeding the limit triggers an automatic stop-work alert and requires engineering sign-off to continue.

Lessons Learned: Automatic Surfacing

For any bridge plug retrieval, the system automatically surfaces relevant lessons: LL-666-001 (FOD prevention), LL-666-003 (LIB analysis), LL-666-005 (barrier awareness). The crew sees exactly what went wrong before — and how to prevent it.

Without Brahan Engine
  • Fatigue undetected — 14 night shifts
  • LIB impression dismissed as "unclear"
  • Aggressive jarring damages casing
  • SCSSV profile compromised
  • $74.8M total cost, well shut-in
With Brahan Engine
  • Fatigue flag at day 10 — fresh crew
  • LIB sent to shore — tong die identified
  • Debris cleared before plug retrieval
  • Plug retrieves cleanly
  • ~$2M total cost, well still producing
$72.8M
Estimated savings if Brahan Engine had been in use
4

Explore the System

See the data, procedures, and tools that would have prevented this

Well_666 Full Case Study

Complete 10-pillar analysis including real-time data, personnel records, correspondence, risk assessments, and economics.

SOP Library

See SOP_003 (Bridge Plug Retrieval) with all the lessons learned from Well_666 built into the decision points.

Equipment Catalog

The toolstring that was used — and the clash detection that validates every tool against tubing restrictions.

All Case Studies

Seven Brahan Field wells — Well_666 is the cautionary tale, the others show normal operations.

See What Others Can't

The Brahan Engine doesn't just store data — it connects the dots that humans miss. Fatigue patterns. Dismissed diagnostics. Procedure violations. The small decisions that cascade into disasters.

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