Tenaris, in collaboration with Cenovus Energy and Noetic Engineering, has completed a testing program aimed at advancing thermal well design in Canada. The initiative explored new approaches to shallow well drilling and thermal pad development, focusing on how specific premium connection designs perform in high temperature operating conditions.
Traditionally, shallow well thermal drilling was accomplished using slant well designs, often requiring large surface pad sizes and specialty rigs. As operators assessed alternate thermal well architectures to improve efficiency and cost, a knowledge gap in understanding connection integrity under high bending and fatigue loads was identified. This technical need led to industry collaboration combining Cenovus’s operational insight, Noetic Engineering’s long standing thermal expertise in testing protocols, and Tenaris’s connection technology and physical research capacity, to evaluate these new conditions in a structured, data-driven program.
Testing was agreed upon and executed at Tenaris’s R&D center in Veracruz, Mexico, using the two most common intermediate thermal casing sizes - 9 5/8” and 11 3/4” - with TenarisHydril Blue® connections. The program assessed thermal sealabilty performance under extreme bending loads up to 25 degrees/30 meters and added in high stress low cycle fatigue scenarios. This replicated demanding conditions anticipated for shallow, vertical start thermal well designs, and operations such as rotation during cementing prior to steam application.
“Cenovus approached this initiative as an opportunity to evaluate how connection performance could support new well design concepts,” says Pablo Toy, Commercial Vice-President for Tenaris in Canada. “By working together, we generated data that reflects field conditions and contributes to broader technical discussions on thermal well integrity.”
Findings from the program highlighted the robust design of the TenarisHydril Blue® connection in the thermal space and opened the door for Cenovus to plan a vertical start shallow well pad.
All findings from this joint research and testing project were presented by Cenovus, Noetic Engineering and Tenaris, at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Thermal Well Integrity and Production Symposium in Banff, Alberta, in December 2025. The session highlighted the need for increased collaborative work and the role of structured testing as a key element in engineered cost reduction projects.
With all full-scale testing phases complete as of December 2025, Tenaris now has additional unique data and experience to guide future thermal well designs as part of a commitment to support innovation in Canada’s evolving thermal oil industry.
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