The Last Line of Defence Before You Spud
Well Examination is not a regulatory box to tick. It is the mechanism that catches the assumptions that slipped past the programme engineer, the hazard that was normalised through familiarity, and the design that works on paper but not in the hole.
Superior Performance Design is an independent Well Examiner operating across the full well lifecycle — from concept design through construction, operations and abandonment. We have written Well Examination frameworks from scratch in jurisdictions where none previously existed, and we have issued certificates to wells drilled by some of the most technically demanding operators in the world.
What We Examine
- Well design: casing, cementing, pore pressure and fracture gradient, kick tolerance, BOP configuration
- Drilling programme and operational procedures
- Well control philosophy and emergency response arrangements
- Completion and abandonment designs
- Workover and intervention programmes
What You Get from SPD
Genuine independence. We have no relationship with your drilling contractor, your cementing company, or your directional drilling provider. Our examination reflects what is in the documentation — not what commercial relationships make it convenient to overlook.
Regulatory credibility. Our Well Examination reports are structured to meet regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Where regulations are new or evolving, we work directly with the regulatory authority during the process — not after the fact.
Operational experience behind the review. Our examiners have designed wells and supervised drilling operations. They know what a well programme looks like when it has been through proper peer review, and they know what it looks like when it has not.
Deadlines respected. We understand that the pre-spud notification window is not flexible. SPD’s track record across 500+ examinations globally includes not a single instance of examination causing a drilling delay.
Proven at Scale
When mandatory independent Well Examination was introduced in New Zealand, SPD built the national framework — writing the policies, standards and review templates that became the country’s benchmark. We delivered all 11 certificates for a major onshore campaign without a single delay to drilling operations. That methodology has since been adopted across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
- 500+ examinations completed globally
- 50+ operators served across 30+ countries
- ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 accredited