Drivers to the workover rig problem

When onshore oil wells reduce the production due to a malfunction, workover rigs are used to restore productivity. Given a set of wells needing maintenance and a set of workover rigs, the workover rig problem (WRP) consists of finding rig routes for minimizing the total production loss of the wells within a finite time horizon. The wells have different loss rates and require different services such as cleaning, reinstatement and stimulation. The rigs can be at different positions in the oil field and can have different equipment. This problem shares some of the same characteristics of the vehicle routing problems. Using a literature review, we offer some new ways to consider and approach the problem in its actual context. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.