A vac truck is dispatched to the lease to pull a load of water off the 3’ valve but upon arrival finds the valve to be frozen. The operator's options are:

(a) Put a pipe wrench on the valve for extra leverage which results in a broken valve.

Valve prices	$450
Crew costs to change it out	$100
Wasted trip for the vac truck of .75 to 1.5 hours at $100.00/hr	$75-$150
Vac truck to suck down tank for valve change (if unable to utilize valve change plug)	$200-$300
With miscellaneous extras added in, this scenario will cost approximately	$825-$1,000

(b) He calls into dispatch to advise them of the frozen valve and requests further instruction. Dispatch takes 10 - 15 minutes tracking down the operator and lining up alternate work for the truck.

Travel and waiting time for the vac truck. Depending on location, .75 - 1.0 hours at $100.00/hr	$75-$100
Dispatch may be advised to line up a steamer to go out and thaw the valve. If a steamer is available right away, it may take 1 - 2 hours for it to travel to location, thaw the valve and return to base at $85.00/hr	$85-$170
Truck time wasted while waiting for steamer 1.0 - 1.5 hours at $85.00/hr	$85-$130
An average cost for a valve thaw	$150

NOTE:

If the above scenario involved a tank cleaning crew of 3 trucks, the wasted time charges could easily triple. If the above scenario happened with a flush by truck attempting to restart a well, lost production is also taken into consideration. For example; a major oilfield service company advised that at 10:00 am., December 12/2000, all flush-by units were flat out, with a list of 30 wells waiting to be done. With these trucks encountering many frozen valves and slowing down an already backed up function, lost production costs were very significant.