Top Three Methods to Improve Intervention Planning

Updated 28 November 2025. 

Planning a well intervention requires evaluating a wide range of factors — from well integrity and operational risk to available tools, timelines, and cost. Traditionally, this evaluation has been a highly manual process, relying on spreadsheets, emails, and siloed data sources. 

Today, however, digitalization and data-driven workflows are redefining how intervention planning is done. Innovative software platforms enable engineers to automate repetitive work, access trusted data instantly, and collaborate seamlessly across teams and locations.

In this article, we outline three proven methods that can dramatically improve your intervention planning process:

1. Automating processes
2. Leveraging global data
3. Enabling collaboration

Key Takeaways

• Automating processes frees engineers to focus on analysis and optimization.

• Global data sharing ensures consistency and accelerates learning.

• Collaboration tools connect people, data, and decisions across locations.

• Digital planning reduces non-productive time and improves operational reliability.

• Stimline IDEX™ enables true end-to-end digital well planning and execution.

The Process Today

In many organizations, planning an intervention still involves manually gathering information from multiple systems and documents — well history, tool selection, previous reports, and risk assessments.

Each revision triggers new meetings, version updates, and re-approvals. When every adjustment requires manual input, even minor changes can delay progress and create communication gaps between teams.

By introducing automation, data integration, and collaboration tools, companies can transform this process from reactive and time-consuming to proactive and continuous.

Read more: Can Well Intervention Be Digitalized?

1. Automating Processes

It’s estimated that engineers spend up to 50 % of their time performing manual, repetitive tasks — such as collecting data, drafting procedures, and running iterative simulations. These tasks not only slow down progress but also limit the ability to evaluate multiple technical alternatives.

Automation changes that.

By automating data collection, validation, and document generation, engineers can redirect their time to high-value work — assessing risks, optimizing technical design, and improving operational efficiency.

A digital platform like Stimline’s IDEX™ can integrate well data, procedures, and templates, automatically pulling in the correct parameters and ensuring all users access the latest version.

Benefits include:

• Faster planning cycles and shorter lead time to operations

• Reduced human error and improved consistency

• Better resource utilization and higher engineering productivity

Automation not only makes planning more efficient — it helps teams plan smarter, based on complete and up-to-date information.

2. The Power of Global Data

Intervention planning is only as strong as the data behind it. Yet, in many organizations, planning knowledge remains localized — limited to individual engineers or teams. Valuable insights from past operations are often locked in reports, personal drives, or disconnected systems.

A centralized global data environment changes this dynamic.

By capturing, organizing, and sharing well intervention data across projects, assets, and regions, organizations can make decisions based on the combined experience of the entire company — not just the last job.

Digital platforms enable:

• Continuous learning from past operations

• Global access to updated standard operating procedures

• Data-driven risk and performance benchmarking

• Faster and more consistent planning, regardless of location

Read more: Top Five Methods to Avoid Problems During Well Intervention

3. Collaboration

Effective collaboration is critical in well intervention planning — where office teams, vendors, and offshore personnel must work together in real time.

When a key person is unavailable or a handover is incomplete, progress can stall. Having a collaborative software environment ensures that data, documents, and decisions are always accessible, allowing others to pick up exactly where a colleague left off.

A collaborative platform enables:

• Real-time visibility of project progress and open actions

• Transparent communication between onshore and offshore teams

• Stronger alignment with service providers and partners

• Seamless remote work and faster decision-making

The global move toward hybrid and remote work has further emphasized the importance of accessible, cloud-based collaboration.  Platforms such as IDEX™ make remote coordination not just possible, but efficient — ensuring everyone has the same, accurate information at any time.

Conclusion

The well intervention industry is evolving fast, and so must its planning processes. The workflows used for decades are no longer sufficient in an era defined by data, automation, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

By focusing on the three methods outlined here, automation, global data utilization, and collaboration, companies can streamline planning, reduce operational risk, and deliver more efficient and predictable interventions.

In a competitive, high-demand energy landscape, digitalization is not just an advantage — it’s essential for long-term success.