The History of GD/Supa Slickline

In the early 1900s, slickline was introduced as a means of conveying tools into a production oil well for the purpose of well intervention - a process for controlling production elements in an open-hole or cased-hole oil well, but also used to measure the depth of a well. Early slickline was predominantly low-grade carbon steel wires, but the use of a single wire for this application allowed for greater pressure control during the intervention.

Slickline:
Slickline as briefly mentioned above is used to place and recover wellbore equipment, such as plugs, gauges, and valves. These are single non-electrical wires lowered into oil and gas wells from the surface. Wrapped around a winch drum on the back of a truck, the slickline is hydraulically raised and lowered into the well to carry these various operations. This calls for a very high-quality wire (defect-free) and with a high break load so it can operate heavy equipment.

Sour Service Slickline:
Sour service slickline was introduced in reaction to the change in conditions found in some oil-producing regions, where an element of sour service was encountered such as H2S or CO2 in wet wells. These elements created acidic environments that were detrimental to the carbon steel slicklines that had previously been the mainstay of well intervention. As a result, some manufacturers started to produce stainless steel slicklines to counter this development.

Sour Service Slickline History:
At the forefront of sour service slickline development was the Supa alloy slickline brand, with duplex, and super austenitic lines, allowing intervention services in the most hostile of well conditions. The technical leadership of Supa Slicklines was solidified by established technical credentials and close industry links to oil companies and well intervention companies operating in the North Sea as well as further afield. After many years of proven performance in global oil production, and several changes in ownership, Supa Slicklines has gone from strength to strength with Central Wire now being the world’s leading manufacturer of austenitic/super austenitic and duplex slicklines. With the technical knowledge of our production teams and the applications knowledge of our global partners, CWI GD™ - SUPA® Slicklines offer the highest quality standards in slickline production.

Our Slickline Service:
Today, CWI produces a range of slicklines that cover all sour well conditions. These include GD316 Stainless / GD 22 Duplex (Supa 40) / GD31 (Supa 75) and occasionally GD50 (Mp35). With well depths increasing all the time, lengths supplied vary from 15,000 feet up to 40,000 feet, and depending upon the operation performed, diameters vary from 0.082" to 0.160". All our lines are either used in offshore or onshore applications. The processes we have in place and the level of NDT testing and inspection that we carry out has secured CWI‘s position as the world's leading manufacturer of slicklines.