Well pads are a consistent construction need for SAGD oil operations, so it made sense for ConocoPhillips and PCL to partner on a program with the goal of refining well pad construction to be more efficient and better produced over a series of projects.

From the start, we engaged with the owner and their engineers on design of the well pad modules to make them more constructible. The goal of the program was to use the learnings from each well pad to improve the next, and we were able to do that through actions such as modifying designs to make them easier to install, and providing feedback on the supply chain to source materials that were cheaper and more readily available while still being compliant with the requirements for the project.

In the first iteration of the well pad modules, the original design was too heavy to be transported to site as completed modules. The PCL assembly team was able to excise carefully selected sections of piping and valves and ship them separately to site as a subassembly. This mitigated the weight issue while minimizing the impact to assembly on site. With our help, the overweight issue was eliminated completely on future iterations of the modules.