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Category
Drilling & Well Engineering
Work Pattern
Onshore (with rig visits during completion operations)
Reports To
Senior Completion Engineer / Wells Manager
Position Overview
The Completion Engineer designs and implements well completions that maximise production and enable safe, long-term well operation. This role encompasses sand control, artificial lift, intelligent completions, and lower/upper completion design. As wells become more complex (HPHT, deepwater, multilateral), completion engineering expertise has become increasingly valuable and difficult to source.
Key Responsibilities
- Design upper and lower completion configurations to maximise well productivity and longevity.
- Specify and select completion equipment including packers, screens, safety valves, inflow control devices (ICD/ICV), and artificial lift systems.
- Develop completion programmes, including running procedures, testing protocols, and barrier verification plans.
- Design sand control completions (gravel pack, frac-pack, standalone screens) for unconsolidated formations.
- Prepare material requisitions and coordinate procurement of completion equipment and accessories.
- Support completion operations at the wellsite, including equipment running, setting, and testing.
- Evaluate new completion technologies and qualify equipment for challenging environments (HPHT, sour service, geothermal).
- Interface with drilling, reservoir, and production teams on well design and performance optimisation.
- Conduct post-completion performance reviews and identify improvement opportunities.
- Ensure all completion designs comply with well integrity and barrier standards.
Qualifications
Required
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Petroleum, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering.
- Certifications: IWCF Level 3 minimum; BOSIET/FOET with CA-EBS for offshore; Offshore Medical.
- Experience: 5–10 years in completion engineering with experience across multiple completion types.
- Technical Skills: Knowledge of completion equipment design and selection; proficiency in completion design software; understanding of sand control methods, artificial lift, and intelligent completion systems.
Preferred
- Experience with intelligent completion systems (ICD/ICV, downhole monitoring).
- HPHT completion design experience.
- Familiarity with subsea completion systems and vertical/horizontal tree interfaces.
- Experience with geothermal or CCS well completion design.
Market Intelligence
$680–$1,050/day
Shortage Level: High
Key Skills Gap: Completion engineers with deepwater and intelligent completion experience are scarce; sand control expertise (especially frac-pack) is a persistent gap; the transition from traditional to smart completions requires new competencies.
Regions in Highest Demand: Middle East, West Africa, North Sea, Southeast Asia
Demand Drivers: Increasing well complexity driving demand for specialist completion engineers; intelligent completion uptake creating a new skill requirement; deepwater completion campaigns at decade-high levels.