JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY www.spe.

org/jpt

JUNE 2015

J U N E 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 6 7, N U M B E R 6

EOR OPERATIONS
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

COILED TUBING APPLICATIONS

MATRIX STIMULATION
WELLBORE TUBULARS

FEATURES

Drilling Automation
Industry Adapts to Low Prices
Wellbore Survey Management
Good Reservoir Stewardship

June15_JPT_Cover.indd 1

5/13/15 9:13 AM

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Start producing fullbore. Dissolvable plug and perf.

The Innity* fullbore interventionless stimulation systemthe next step in plug-and-perf operationsuses degradable
frac balls and degradable ball seats that leave absolutely nothing in the well that would impede production.
Fullbore ow helps ensure that production reaches its full potential. Completely eliminating milling interventions and
all wellbore restrictions now makes multistage stimulation many times more efcient and cost-efective.

Find out more at

slb.com/innity

Volume 67 Number 6

18 STRENGTHENING THE BRAND IDENTITY OF SPES

EVENTS

The Society seeks to deliver a consistent experience for attendees and

exhibitors with the definitions of six event formats.

22 GUEST EDITORIAL KEEPING RESERVOIR STEWARDSHIP

ON COURSE

As conventional reservoir evaluation comes under threat in a low oil price

environment, one hopes that operators will resist the temptation to cut
back on essential data acquisition.

50 AUTOMATED DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES SHOWING

PROMISE

Automated drilling systems under development are increasingly being

used as a way to lower costs, but their uptake may be slowed down
during a period of low oil prices.

58 PROFITS POSSIBLE AT LOW OIL PRICES BUT TOUGH

CHANGES REQUIRED
Cover: Curved mirrors focus the suns

light energy to create steam for use

in an enhanced oil recovery project
in Oman. The solar EOR pilot is the
first of its kind in the Middle East.
A synopsis of paper SPE 169745
examines the performance, results,
and learnings from the project
on page 111. Photo courtesy of
GlassPointSolar.

Performance Indices

10

Regional Update

12

Company News

14

Presidents Column

20

Comments

24

Technology Applications

32

Technology Update

42

Young Technology Showcase

46

E&P Notes

123

SPE News

124

People

125

Professional Services

127

Advertisers Index

128

SPE Events

Printed in US. Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

At the IHS CERAWeek conference, speakers said the transition will put
pressure on unconventional oil producers to reduce costs and bring in
new ways of operation.

66 BETTER SURVEY MANAGEMENT MAKES WELLS SAFER

AND MORE PRODUCTIVE

Do you know where your wellbore is? The SPE Wellbore Positioning
Technical Section aims to make drilling safer, optimize production, and
maximize reserves recovery.

70 MINING DAILY DRILLERS REPORTS FOR TELLING

PATTERNS

BP is pushing the envelope with a system that searches written logs to

extract useful patterns and insightful information that could help avert
trouble or improve drilling operations.

72 Q&A AHMAD AL-KHOWAITER, CTO, SAUDI ARAMCO

The chief technology officer says the company believes that being
competitive in technology is essential to the future of the oil and gas
industry.

74 SPE PUBLISHES TECHNICAL REPORT ON WORST-CASE

DISCHARGES
Recording the consensus from a SPE-sponsored summit, the report
focuses on the calculation of discharges rather than well design or
intervention for primary use in the US Gulf of Mexico.

76 OFFSHORE EUROPE TO ADDRESS TALENT SHORTAGE

AND PEOPLE-RELATED CHALLENGES

To be held in Aberdeen under the theme of How to Inspire the Next

Generation, the biennial conference will feature papers on people-related
topics for the first time.

An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THE

INTEGRITY OF YOUR MOST
CHALLENGING WELLS?
Archer Cfex

DELIVERING A NEW ERA IN WELL INTEGRITY

Built to perform secure cementing

operations in any situation, Cflex
uses advanced technology to
improve the annulus seal. Its
been specifically engineered
to meet the highest possible
integrity standard, while providing
the custom-built flexibility to
accommodate any flow rates you
may face. And its gas-tight seal has
Cflex multifunction operating tool
controls Cflex selectively and precisely.

Cflex Dart Catcher

Cflex

earned VO qualification through its

rigorous testing equivalent to the
ISO 14998 (formerly ISO 14310) and
API 11D1 standards. Combined with
a slim design and revolutionary
large flow area ports that boost
operational eficiency and
performance. Cflex is ultimately
able to deliver a multistage
cementing solution to safely fit
any drilling situation.

archerwell.com/qa

TECHNOLOGY

OptiDrill
REAL-TIME DRILLING
INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

78 Coiled Tubing Applications

Alex Crabtree, SPE, Senior Adviser, Hess Corporation

79 Development of Improved High-Strength Coiled Tubing

82 Microbial-Influenced-Corrosion-Related Coiled-Tubing Failures
andEquipment Damage

86 Coiled-Tubing-Deployed Shutoffs in Alaska With a Polymer Gel

andMicrofine Cement

90 Matrix Stimulation
Lee Morgenthaler, SPE, Senior Staff Production Chemist, Shell

91 Visualization of Acid Treatments With 3D Nuclear-MagneticResonance Imaging

94 Monitoring Acid-Stimulation Treatments With Slickline DistributedTemperature Sensing

97 Use of Weak-Acid and Nonacid Alternatives in Acidizing

HorizontalWells

100 Wellbore Tubulars

Pat York, SPE, Global Director, Weatherford

101 Detection of Kicks With Networked Drillstring and Along-String

Pressure Evaluation

104 Development of Drillpipe-Riser-Intervention Systems Offshore

West Africa

107 Reducing Tubing Failures in the Tambaredjo Field, Suriname

110 EOR Operations

Know what is
happening downhole.
Drill with confidence.

Stephen Goodyear, SPE, EOR Deployment Lead, Shell

111 Pilot Steam Generator Uses Solar Energy Successfully for EOR
Operations in Oman

114 Pilot to Full-Field Polymer Application in One of Indias Largest

Onshore Fields

117 Magnus Water-Alternating-Gas-Pattern Optimization Through

DataIntegration

120 Field Pilots Show Effectiveness of Foams in Low-Porosity Naturally

Fractured Reservoir

Find out more at

slb.com/OptiDrill
The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available
free to SPE members for two months at www.spe.org/jpt.

CEMENT & CASING INTEGRITY EVALUATION

THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED

IS REAL
Lets shine a light on
cased-hole well integrity.
His bite can be costly, but addressing him reduces his power.
Our SecureViewSM wireline cased-hole diagnostic service gives
the monster a name, location, and a path to banishment.
We deliver a clear and complete evaluation of your cement and
casing integrity. And should we fnd a problem, our comprehensive
remediation toolbox can fx the issue with a smaller bite of your
budget than you might expect.
Lets put the monster to bed.

2015 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Explore our well-integrity evaluation technology

at weatherford.com/secureview

Drilling & Formation Evaluation

Well Construction

Completion & Stimulation

Production

WIRELINE SERVICES

ACOUSTICS GEOMECHANICS PULSED

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Download PDF versions of 180+ issues dating back to 1997 for reading online
or when an Internet connection is not available.

TECHNICAL PAPER DOWNLOADS

The Journal of Petroleum Technology offers SPE members the opportunity to
download and read the full-length SPE technical papers that are synopsized
in the magazine.

ITS ALL IN THE WAY

WERE
WIRED.

Also Available on

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From comprehensive formation

evaluation to full casing analysis,
our wireline services help you manage
every aspect of your operations
in both openhole and cased-hole wells.
Explore the full breadth of our wireline
services at weatherford.com/wireline

Drilling & Formation Evaluation

____
Well Construction
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Canada Publications Agreement #40612608.

2015 Weatherford. All rights reserved.

Got leaking wells?

MetalPatch it!
MetalPatch restores the integrity of
your well with a single trip solution.
Cement squeezes are now a thing
of the past. MetalPatch seals off the
problem area with minimal loss of
inner diameter, providing maximum
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Some highlighted features:
No shoe drill out
Up to 12,000 psi
Up to 8,000 ft patch
Fracd through in the Permian
Basin, Marcellus & Utica Shale
For inside 4-1/2
, 5 & 5-1/2

PERFORMANCE INDICES
WORLD CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION+
THOUSAND BOPD
OP EC

2014 JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

Algeria

1420

1420

1420

1420

1420

1420

Angola

1740

1813

1823

1848

1813

1733

558

558

551

557

563

561

Iran

3230

3230

3230

3230

3230

3230

Iraq

3195

3225

3515

3465

3425

3775

Kuwait*

2650

2650

2650

2575

2500

2500

435

530

785

950

615

500

Nigeria

2470

2520

2470

2320

2440

2440

Qatar

1553

1553

1513

1513

1503

1503

Saudi Arabia*

9840

9740

9640

9740

9640

9640

UAE

2820

2820

2820

2820

2820

2820

Venezuela

2500

2500

2500

2500

2500

2500

32411

32559

32917

32938

32469

32622

Ecuador

Libya

TOTAL

THOUSAND BOPD
NON-OPEC

Trouble
Zone

Depleted
Zone

MetalPatch
System

Shut Off
Perfs

2014 JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

Argentina

525

529

540

539

534

534

Australia

353

355

362

346

360

354

Azerbaijan

870

912

822

842

792

842

Brazil

2267

2326

2358

2393

2358

2497

Canada

3629

3547

3595

3717

3704

3678

China

4084

4118

4175

4224

4290

4315

Colombia

971

1002

996

1004

1004

1009

Denmark

159

173

165

175

190

182

Egypt

477

474

471

468

465

462

Eq. Guinea

248

248

248

248

248

248

Gabon

240

240

240

240

240

240

India

757

728

757

774

782

773

Indonesia

800

787

786

772

786

778

1641

1646

1559

1578

1716

1778

560

562

577

613

670

671

Mexico

2427

2455

2430

2402

2391

2290

Norway

Kazakhstan

Re-Frac
Zone

Malaysia

1605

1556

1519

1625

1610

1624

Oman

957

953

958

938

921

932

Russia

10003

10056

10079

10176

10173

10197

Sudan

258

257

257

257

257

257

23

23

22

21

21

21

Syria
UK

705

467

747

790

798

842

8716

8757

8923

9060

9039

9226

Vietnam

288

304

285

283

282

291

Yemen

129

128

126

125

125

113

2521

2473

2523

2449

2510

2524

Total

45213

45076

45520

46059

46266

46678

Total World

77624

77635

78437

78997

78735

79300

USA

Other

JPT JUNE 2015

MULTI-STAGE COMPLETIONS

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wellbore with a full inside diameter and requires
no intervention following stimulation.
Contact us today for more information.

DO IT ONCE. DO IT RIGHT.
www.packersplus.com

More oil,
less Cost

PERFORMANCE INDICES
HENRY HUB GULF COAST NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE*
6
5

CnF Foam Conformance Modifer

4
3

Bbls.

CBT Oil Production Daily Total 2012

USD/Mil. BTUs

1200

CnF Foamer Pumped

APR

MAR

FEB

2015
JAN

DEC

NOV

OCT

SEP

AUG

800

JUL

2014
MAY

JUN

1000

WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)

600

400

109.54

200

102.18

111.80

105.79

2014 MAY

JUN

103.59

101.61

JUL

96.54

AUG

1/1
1/8
1/15
1/22
1/29
2/5
2/12
2/19
2/26
3/4
3/11
3/18
3/25
4/1
4/8
4/15
4/22
4/29
5/6
5/13
5/20
5/27
6/3
6/10
6/17
6/24
7/1
7/8

106.77

97.09

the feld in the above

graph was under a Co2
food and the project was
not meeting expectations.
After injecting Cesis CnF
foam conformance modifer,
an incremental increase
of approximately 14,000
barrels of oil was produced at
a total cost of less than $0.60
per barrel this production
increase has persisted for
more than 6 months!

93.21

87.43

84.40

SEP

47.76

79.44

OCT

47.22

58.10

62.34

NOV

50.58

2015 JAN

75.79

55.89

FEB

59.29

DEC

47.82

59.52

MAR

54.45

APR

Brent

WTI

WORLD ROTARY RIG COUNT

R EG I O N

2014
OCT

NOV

DEC

2015
JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

US

1925

1925

1882

1683

1348

1110

976

Canada

424

421

375

368

363

196

90

Latin America

393

375

369

351

355

351

325

Europe

148

149

148

128

133

135

119

Middle East

390

403

403

415

415

407

410

Africa

125

142

138

132

132

125

120

Asia Pacific

252

255

255

232

240

233

228

3657

3670

3570

3309

2986

2557

2268

TOTAL

WORLD OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND 1

MILLION BOPD
Quarter

2014

2015

2nd

3rd

4th

1st

SUPPLY

92.42

93.53

94.62

94.00

DEMAND

91.40

92.86

92.84

92.38

INDICES KEY
+ Figures

For more information contact

cesimkt@fotekind.com
or call
832-308-Cesi (2374)

do not include NGLs and oil from nonconventional sources.

approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production.
Includes crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas plant liquids, other hydrocarbons for refinery feedstocks, refinery
1 
gains, alcohol, and liquids produced from nonconventional sources.
Source: Baker Hughes.
* The US Dept. of Energy/Energy Information Administration discontinued its reporting of US Natural Gas Wellhead
Prices, replacing them with Henry Hub Gulf Coast Natural Gas Spot Prices.
Source: US Dept. of Energy/Energy Information Admin.

Includes
* 

JPT JUNE 2015

SAVINGS THROUGH
CHALLENGING FEET
The AST is being used in an increasing number of applications:

STRINGERS

ENLARGEMENT

ROUGH SEAS

PERFORMANCE INTERVENTION

The patented Anti Stick-slip Tool (AST)

responds to torque spikes or stick-slip
action from polycrystalline diamond cutters
(PDC) by releasing the load, reducing the
depth of cut (DOC) and re-applying load as
needed. This results in a steady torsional load,
reduced vibration and low risk to bottom
hole components. The parameter window is
simultaneously expanded to allow for signifcant
increases in the rate of penetration.
Learn how AST works and how to implement at:
tomax.no

Contact us:
Aberdeen:
Houston:
Stavanger:
Rio de Janeiro:

+44 1224 561313

+1 713 557-7542
+47 51 95 11 70
+21 3497-5083

A North Sea operator

experienced great vibration
challenges in a 16 hole
when ECD limitations
required the addition of
a 17 underreamer. By
implementing AST at the
same time, the vibration
issue was solved and the
achieved savings resulted
in the solution being
nominated for Best Process
Improvement of that year.

Depth TVD (m)

700
900
1100
1300
1500
1700
1900
2100
10

20

Sections using 16 x
17 underreamer,
AST and rotary
steerable system

30
40
Time
Time(days)
(hours)

50

60

Sections drilled
using plain 16 bit
and rotary
steerable system

REGIONAL UPDATE
partners Kansai Electric Power Australia
(5%) and Tokyo Gas Pluto (5%).

SOUTH AMERICA

from the Etame 12-H development well

offshore Gabon. The well was drilled
to ameasured depth of approximately
3450 m and was targeting the recently
discovered lower lobe of the Gamba
reservoir. It was brought on line at a rate
of 2,000BOPD with no indication of
hydrogen sulfide. Vaalco (28.07%) is the
operator with partners Addax Petroleum
(31.63%), Sasol(27.75%), Tullow Oil (7.5%),
Sojitz (2.98%), and PetroEnergy(2.34%).

Santos made a wet gas discovery in

oil-bearing reservoir and a net 55 ft of

gas-bearing reservoir at its Zebedee well,
offshore the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).
The well penetrated multiple targets in
the Cretaceous F2 and F3 formations,
with pay concentrated primarily in the
Hector and Zebedee sands. Premier (36%)
is the operator with partners Falkland
Oil and Gas (40%), and Rockhopper
Exploration(24%).

ASIA

Maersk Oil started oil and gas

AFRICA
Vaalco Energy started oil production

KrisEnergy started drilling the

Rossukon-2 exploration well on Block
G6/48 in the Gulf of Thailand, using
the Key Gibraltar jackup rig. The well
will reacha total depth at 5,462 ft and
will testEarly Miocene stacked fluvial
sandstones on a broad structural high.
The well will also appraise the Rossukon-1
reservoir, which produced 850 BOPD
during tests. KrisEnergy (30%) is
the operator with partners Northern
Gulf Petroleum (40%) and Mubadala
Petroleum (30%).

AUSTRALIA
AWE expanded its oil production in the
Tui area offshore New Zealand by bringing
the Pateke-4H development well on line in
PMP 38158. The tieback project involved
the installation of 1312 m of flexible
flowline, a gas lift umbilical, integrated
controls, and ancillary equipment at water
depths of approximately 124 m. The initial
flow rate was 34,000 BOPD. AWE (57.5%)
is the operator with partners New Zealand
Oil and Gas (27.5%) and Pan Pacific
Petroleum(15%).

10

Cooper basin in Queensland, Australia.

The Emery-1 exploration well was drilled
to a total depth of 3262 m and intersected
gas in the Patchawarra formation, which
contained stacked reservoirs. The well has
been cased and suspended as a future gas
producer. Santos (60%) is the operator
with partner Drillsearch (40%).

EUROPE
production from its unmanned Tyra
Southeast-B platform, which sits 220 km
off Denmarks west coast in the North
Sea. Maersk plans to drill a total of 8 to 12
horizontal wells in the area over the next
2 years. The development is expected
to deliver approximately 50millionBOE
in resources, 20 million bbl of oil and
170Bcf of gas. The field is operated by
the Danish Underground Consortium,
which is madeup of Maersk (31.2%),
Shell (36.8%),Nordsfonden (20%),
andChevron (12%).

MIDDLE EAST
Qatargas sold its first cargo of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan State Oil.
The transaction is the first LNG agreement
between Qatar and Pakistan and the
first LNG import deal for any entity in
Pakistan. The delivery commissioned the
Excelerate Exquiste, which will be used as
a floating storage and regasification unit
when it is moored at Port Qasim, as part
of the Elengy terminal, Pakistans first LNG
importfacility.

NORTH AMERICA

Woodside Burrups Pyxis-1 exploration

ExxonMobil started production

well in offshore production license

WA-34-L intersected approximately
18.5 m of net gas pay within its Jurassic
sandstone target in Western Australia. The
well reached a total depth of 3347 m and
lies 15 km north of Woodsides producing
Pluto gas field. Wireline logging confirmed
the discovery through gas samples, which
were brought to the surface, along with
the detection of a gas pressure gradient.
Woodside (90%) is the operator with

fromthe Hadrian South gas field,

whichislocated 230 miles south of
Louisiana in theUS Gulf of Mexico. The
field sits at a water depth of 7,650ft,
making it the companys deepest
subseatieback. Hadrian South is
expectedto reach a peakproduction of
300 MMcf/Dof naturalgas and 3,000B/D
of liquids. ExxonMobil (46.7%) is the
operator with partners Eni (30%) and
Petrobras (23.3%).

Premier Oil discovered a net 81 ft of

Karoon Gas Australias Echidna-1 well

has intersected an oil-bearing section
of Paleocene sands in Block S-M-1102 of
the Santos basin, offshore Brazil. Mud
logs showed elevated gas readings and
oil florescence in the sandstones. Future
wireline logging will reveal the volume of
gross and net oil and gas pay. Additional
intervals of interest have been identified
in the Maastrichtian section and will be
evaluated during the wireline program.
Karoon (65%) is the operator with partner
Pacific Rubiales Energy (35%).

LGO Energy has spudded GY-672, the

first of seven wells that it plans to drill at
the Goudron field in Trinidad. The well will
be drilled to 3,505 ft measured depth and
is targeting a C-sand reservoir interval,
approximately 420 ft to the east of the
surface location. In total, the program
will involve the perforation of 275 ft of
C-sand reservoirs and 955 ft of Goudron
sandstone reservoirs. LGO is the operator
and holds 100% interest in the field.

Petrobras discovered oil in Amazon

basins Block AM-T-84. The discovery was
made while drilling well 1-BRSA-1293-AM,
which reached a total depth of 2040m.
Preliminary tests have confirmed the
presence of light, 47 API gravity oil in
arenaceous reservoirs, extending from
1350m to 1900 m deep. Petrobras (60%)
is the operator of the concession with
partner Petrogal Brasil (40%).

Petrobras discovered an onshore oil

accumulation in the Esprito Santo basin,
120 km from Vitria, Brazil. The reservoirs
are located at a depth of 711 m and the
well was drilled to a total depth of 1312 m.
Petrobras is the operator and holds 100%
interest in Block ES-T-495. JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Seismic_on_Demand-JPT.pdf

5/11/15

12:58 PM

COMPANY NEWS
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Royal Dutch Shell has offered to
acquire BG Group for approximately
USD70 billion in a deal made up of
common shares and cash. The transaction
will significantly expand Shells liquefied
natural gas (LNG) business and is
expected to close next year.

Sanchez Energy closed a deal with

a subsidiary of Sanchez Production
Partners to sell wellbore and associated
interests in producing oil and gas
wells worth USD 83 million in cash and
approximately 1 million common shares,
valued at USD 2 million. The assets
are located in different parts of Texas,
including Sanchezs nonoperated Palmetto
field in the Eagle Ford Shale, and supply
2% of Sanchezs net production.
Penn West Petroleum has entered
into a USD 321 million agreement with
Freehold Royalties to sell an 8.5% gross
overriding royalty in its working interests
in the Viking oil play in the Dodsland area
of Saskatchewan, Canada. The deal also
includes existing royalties and mineral
title lands in Alberta, Saskatchewan,
andManitoba.

Gulfport Energy entered into an

agreement to acquire Paloma Partners
III for USD 300 million. Paloma holds
approximately 24,000 net nonproducing
acres in a core area of the dry gas
window of the Utica shale in Belmont and
Jefferson counties in Ohio. The transaction
is expected to close in the third quarter of
the year.

Resolute Energy has signed an

agreement with an unnamed buyer to sell
noncore assets in the Midland basin for
approximately USD 42 million. The assets
consist of operated and nonoperated
properties in Howard County in Texas,
and proceeds from the sale will be used to
reduce the companys debt.

COMPANY MOVES

Bonterra Energy has acquired

Peak Well Systems has completed

Cardiumformation-focused assets in the

Pembina area of Alberta, Canada, from
an unnamed oil and gas producer for
USD 138million. With this transaction,
the company has added approximately
1,800 BOEPD of low-decline, conventional
oil and gas liquids to its production. The
property contains 9.9million BOE of
proved reserves.

the construction of its new gas pressure

testing facility in Aberdeen. The facility
will enable the company to conduct
in-house ISO 1431 validation testing of
its product lines up to the highest V0
grade. The facility is equipped to conduct
testing at temperatures of up to 392F
and pressures of up to 15,000 psi for
prolonged periods of time in simulated
gaswells.

Petrobras has sold its assets in

Argentinas Austral basin to Compaia
General de Combustibles for
USD101million. The property includes
26onshore exploration concessions
withanaverage production of
15,000BOEPD, and the infrastructure
required fordistribution, treatment, and
storage. This is the first asset that Petrobras
has sold in its 20152016 divestment plan,
which will see the company sell a total of
USD 13.7 billion inassets.

12

Pemex signed an agreement worth

USD 1 billion with private equity firm
First Reserve to jointly invest in energy
infrastructure in Mexico. The first
investment is the Los Ramones pipeline
system, which is under construction and
will consist of 744 km of natural gas
pipelines. Commercial operations for
the system are expected to begin in the
middle of next year.

Tam International, which provides

inflatable and swellable packers for the oil
and gas industry, has opened a new office
in Stavanger. The office will be run by
Colin Graham, Norway country manager.

CONTRACTS
Hercules Offshore has signed a 5-year
contract with a subsidiary of Eni for the
use of its Hercules 260 jackup rig offshore

West Africa. The day rate will range from

a minimum of USD 75,000 per day when
Brent crude falls below USD 86/bbl to a
maximum of USD 125,000 per day when
Brent crude exceeds USD 125/bbl. The
contract began in April.

Fugro was awarded a 5-year contract

worth USD 100 million by Total Congo
E&P. It will provide remotely operated
vehicle (ROV) services and remote
subseatooling for the Moho Nord field,
which lies 75 km off the Republic of the
Congo. Four ROV systems and blowout
preventer tooling will be installed on
three mobile drilling units and one field
supportvessel.

Harkand has secured a USD 5 million

contract from Swiber Offshore Mexico
toperform saturation diving services
for an offshore pipeline project. It also
entered a joint venture with Mexican
service firm, Arena Servicios de Mexico.
Harkand Arena will complete a wideranging scope of work, including the
installation of risers and expansion spools
at the Ayatsil field, in the waters of the
Campeche Sound.

Two Bumi Armada subsidiary

companies secured USD 300 million
worth of contracts from ElectroGas for
the conversion, supply, operation, and
maintenance of a floating storage unit
(FSU) in Malta. The unit will be used in
the establishment of an LNG receiving
terminal in Delimara. The contract has
a duration of 18 years and 2 months,
and operations are expected to begin
nextyear.

Amec Foster Wheeler has been

awarded a contract by BP worth more
than USD 73 million. The company will
provide operations, maintenance, and
project support for the Forties Pipeline
System and the Central Area Transmission
System terminal in Teesside, United
Kingdom. The FPS connects oil and gas
fields in the North Sea to onshore facilities
in the UK. The contract will create 90 jobs
and two apprenticeships. It will run until
January 2020 and will be managed from
the companys Aberdeenoffices.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

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ENERGY 360

SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS
2015 President
Helge Hove Haldorsen, Statoil

Invited Perspective:
Another Worlds First From The
NCS: Subsea Gas Compression
Is Here
Helge Hove Haldorsen, 2015 SPE President
Questions posed by 2015 SPE President
Helge Hove Haldorsen
Answers provided by Rune Mode
Ramberg, Chief Engineer Subsea
Technology & Operations, Statoil

Steve Thurston, Chevrons vice president of deepwater exploration and projects compares developing US Gulf of Mexico oil fields like Jack and St. Malo in 7,000 ft to the
1969 moon landing: Except we are going to the moon every day! It really is impressive to see how offshore and subsea technology have evolved over the years. Of the
worlds current oil demand of approximately 93 million BOPD, some 27 million BOPD
or 30% comes from offshore fields and the offshore contribution is expected to continue to grow according to Douglas-Westwood World Drilling & Production Market
Forecast 2005-2021.
The Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) is among the front-runners in subsea
technology developments and applications. It is like a giant subsea and offshore 2.0
laboratory for the rest of the offshore world.
According to Statoil, it has more than 500 subsea wells and is the worlds
largest operator in water depths greater than 100 m.
The Troll-Oseberg Gas Injection subsea template installed in 1991 supplies
gas subsea from Troll to Oseberg, 48 km away, making a gravity drainage
recoverymechanism on Oseberg possible, resulting in a very high oil
recoveryfactor.
Through more than 150 multibranched subsea wells (two to six branches per
well), individual Troll oil province development wells can connect with nearly
45,000 ft of productive reservoir.
Subsea water separation and subsea reinjection units have been successfully
used on the Troll oil and Tordis field developments. At the Tyrihans 10%
additional recovery is achieved with injection of raw seawater from pumps on
the seafloor.
Snhvit and Ormen Lange are all-subsea offshore gas developments
and sendunprocessed wellstreams to shore 90 and 75 miles from
shore,respectively.
Efficient subsea gas compression is the next challenge that the industry must face
to continue subsea development. When an offshore gas field is developed 100% by a
subsea development and the pressure falls because of production, compression will
be needed at some point to maintain the production rate. But, there is no platform to

2014 President
Jeff Spath, Schlumberger
2016 President
Nathan Meehan, Baker Hughes
Vice President Finance
Janeen Judah, Chevron

REGIONAL DIRECTORS
AFRICA
Anthony Ogunkoya,
TBFF Upstream Oil and Gas Consulting
CANADIAN
Darcy Spady, Sanjel
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Bob Garland, Tetra Technologies
GULF COAST NORTH AMERICA
Bryant Mueller, Halliburton
MID-CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA
Michael Tunstall, Halliburton
MIDDLE EAST
Fareed Abdulla, Abu Dhabi Co. Onshore Oil Opn
NORTH SEA
Carlos Chalbaud, GDF Suez E&P UK
NORTHERN ASIA PACIFIC
Ron Morris, Roc Oil (Bohai)/Roc Oil (China)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NORTH AMERICA
Mike Eberhard, Anadarko Petroleum
RUSSIA AND THE CASPIAN
Anton Ablaev, Schlumberger
SOUTH AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Anelise Quintao Lara, Petrobras
SOUTH ASIA
John Hoppe, Shell
SOUTH, CENTRAL, AND EAST EUROPE
Matthias Meister, Baker Hughes
SOUTHERN ASIA PACIFIC
Salis Aprilian, PT Pertamina
SOUTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Libby Einhorn, Concho Oil & Gas
WESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Tom Walsh, Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska

TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
DRILLING AND COMPLETIONS
David Curry, Baker Hughes
HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENT,
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Trey Shaffer, Environmental Resources Management
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION
J.C. Cunha, Chevron
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS
Shauna Noonan, ConocoPhillips
PROJECTS, FACILITIES, AND CONSTRUCTION
Howard Duhon, Gibson Applied Tech PF&C
RESERVOIR DESCRIPTION AND DYNAMICS
Olivier Houz, KAPPA Engineering

DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIA

Dan Hill, Texas A&M

AT-LARGE DIRECTORS
Khaled Al-Buraik, Saudi Aramco

To contact the SPE President, email president@spe.org.

14

Liu Zhenwu, China National Petroleum Corporation

JPT JUNE 2015

Statoil is developing a subsea wet gas compression project on the Gullfaks in the North Sea.

put it onunless you build one. What about installing subsea

compression and skipping the platform altogether? Is this even
possible? I posed questions to Statoils chief engineer in subsea
technology, Rune Mode Ramberg, regarding the latest subsea
compression developments on the NCS.
Why is subsea compression a good idea?

Subsea compression is one of the most important contributors to recovering additional oil and gas reserves, and provides
future opportunities for improved recovery from a number of
fields. Compression on the seabed also provides greater effect
than a conventional topside compressor. The closer the compressor is to the well, the more effective it is, making extraction more energy-efficient. In addition, the platform avoids
the extra weight and space required by a topside compression
module, which makes it more cost-effective as we cut capital
and operating costs. A compressor sited on the seabed can be
operated remotely from a land-based facility, also cutting support costs. In addition, a study for sgard subsea compression
shows that the carbon footprint of a subsea compressor is half
that of a platform compressor because a subsea compressor is
unmanned and improves personnel safety.
Why have so many subsea technologies come out of
Norway and the NCS?

Statoil is not afraid to try new things if it makes good business

sense. We have a long-term perspective when we put efforts and
resources into breaking technology barriers. Testing and qualifying new solutions are vital to the success of our technological
developments. In Norway, we have a long and strong tradition
for qualifying new technology at near field conditions before
a new project is making its final concept selection decision. A
purpose-built test facility for subsea gas compressor technol-

JPT JUNE 2015

ogy at Statoils large test center, K-lab, has been instrumental in

order to qualify the new subsea compression technology.
Tell us how we got to where we are today?

Statoils subsea story began when we first put a subsea well

in production on Gullfaks, 22 December 1986. Since then, we
have developed subsea technology systematically and have
taken courageous technology steps in good collaboration with
our partners and the supplier industry. Collaboration is key
as we are better together. Subsea technology has made all our
field developments in greater than 200-m water depth possible, among these: sgard, Norne, Snhvit, Tyrihans, Kristin, Troll oil province, and Aasta Hansteen starting up in 2017.
Future resources are farther from shore, in deeper and colder
waters. Innovative subsea technology is key to developing these
resources commercially. The idea of subsea compression began
30 years agonow it is soon to be realized.
On which fields will it be installed and what is the value
creation potential?

Statoil is currently developing two subsea compression projects together with its partners: subsea dry gas compression on
sgard and subsea wet gas compression on Gullfaks, both vital
technology innovations to increase oil recovery.
At the 15-year-old sgard field on the NCS, we installed two
11.5-MW compressors expected to extend the life of the field by
up to 20 years, increasing the recovery rates by about a third,
and adding approximately 282 million BOE in reserves. That is
the size of a new medium-sized field. This spring, we are installing the compressor trains consisting of 22 modules on the seabed at approximately 300-m water depth.
We are also working on a smaller pair of compressors
(5MW each) to be installed at the same time in a field close to

15

ENERGY 360
the giant Gullfaks field, increasing recovery from the Gullfaks
South Brent reservoir by 22 million BOE. The recovery rate can
be increased from 62% to 74% on Gullfaks C using this solution combined with conventional low-pressure production in a
later phase. This is very good for a subsea field. Realizing subsea
compression is an important milestone to reach in our ambitious technology development strategy. With it, we will be able
to realize the subsea factory.
What were the key technical and other challenges to solve?

It is important to understand that the project is not only a

subsea compressor project, although the compressor is the
heart in the system. A comprehensive technology qualification program has been carried throughout the whole period from 2007 to 2014. Testing and completion of the subsea
modules took place during the last 2 years. Pipeline, pipeline
end manifold, and spool installation were carried out during
the 2013 season. Subsea structures and topside power module heavy lift installations were completed in 2013. Umbilical
and module installation were started in 2014 and will be completed later this year.We also had to build a new onshore base
for storage and maintenance. To be able to install the modules
on sgard, we have upgraded one of the existing offshore construction vessels,Technips North Sea Giant, with a new module handlingsystem.
Are there still residual risks?

The actual compressor for the first compressor train on sgard

is currently being tested as it has been submerged in a big pool
at Statoils test center at Krst, providing operating conditions
that are similar to those awaiting the compressor at thesgard
seabed. The requirements for equipment tobeplaced in 300 m
of water, inaccessible to most, are strict.
The compressor train modules have been tested prior to
installation to ensure that they are compatible and intercommunicate properly. We are also using very strict checklists
andcontrol procedures for this project. For the Gullfaks subsea
wet gas compression, testing has progressed through the final
system integration tests. The results have been very positive.
Will we see subsea compression spread globally in a hurry,
like a subsea revolution?

Natural pressure in large gas fields will become too low over
time to maintain a stable flow and a high production profile.
To compensate for this decline, the operator needs to invest
in a precompression system either on an existing platform, a
new platform, or a subsea compression factory. For the sgard
field, Statoil decided to install seabed compressors near the
wellheads to increase the pressure. At the moment, we are
working on several other business cases for subsea gas compression. It will take some time before we will see subsea compression spreading globally. But the combination of large gas
fields and long tiebacks of subsea wells will create additional
demands for subsea gas compression. So we should not be sur-

16

prised if the next wave of subsea gas compression is in Australia or EastAfrica.

What is the next subsea frontier and are there still many
terra incognitas in subsea in your view?

At the moment, we are very concerned with the large cost

increase the oil industry is facing. Statoil is promoting subsea
industrialization and standardization for more cost-efficient
field development through establishing visions and the steps
to reach these through sharing technical specifications and
participating in joint industry projects. This will create opportunities if we are able to cooperate with the vendor industry to
develop cost-efficient subsea solutions giving us high recovery
rates. At the moment, development of large gas fields in deep
water down to 3,000 m is a new subsea frontier. In a longer
time frame, developing subsea facilities in the Arctic may well
be the next frontier.
Explain this vision of a subsea factory?

A subsea factory is a process plant on the seabed making it

possible to utilize remote-controlled transport of hydrocarbons at any offshore facility. Statoil has gradually matured
anddeveloped the idea of a subsea factory as the resources are
farther from shore, in deeper waters, and in harsher areas. We
believe compact separation facilities on the seabed will be a
key to success in Arctic areas or deepwater areas like the Gulf
of Mexico (US and Mexico) and Brazil. We have already taken
the first technological steps. We have made the worlds first
complete subsea solution for separation and injection of water
and sand from the Tordis wellstream, and developed the first
subsea facility for injection of raw seawater on Tyrihans. Projects such as the oil-dominated multiphase transport on Tyrihans and Snhvits gas condensate transport are at the forefront in the development of multiphase transport over long
distances. Thenext stepis to realize subsea gas compression
later this year.
With subsea compression, we now have all the main elements. We can extract the oil and gas; we can separate oil, gas
and water on the seafloor; inject the water back; and boost the
oil and gas to a nearby facility.
Why has Statoil focused so much on subsea technologies?

The future of the oil and gas industry is out at sea. It is farther from land, at greater depths, and in colder, harsher environments. The subsea factory will be vital to realize businessopportunities for Statoil in these areas. We have been in the
forefront of subsea technology for 25 years. We have the experience and the courage to take more brave steps subsea.
Conclusion

So there you have it. Another worlds subsea first has seen the
light of day on the NCS. And there is no reason why the subsea story should end there. What does it take? Head, heart,
guts,and collaboration! Think about it! JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

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SPE BRAND

Strengthening the Brand Identity of SPEs

Meetings and Events
Shauna Noonan, ConocoPhillips, SPE Technical Director Production and Operations

The most powerful brands

are created and maintained by
deliveringdistinctive and consistent
experiences to the market.*
The way the Marriott Corp.** has branded its hotel chains is a great example.
Each chain is defined according to the
type of experience and amenities offered
to guests and this is consistent for each
one around the world.
After being approved by the many
SPE volunteers who serve on the international Board of Directors, SPE has
embarked to strengthen the brand of its
events by being consistent and clear with
their titles. The SPE volunteers wrote the
new naming convention policy based on
feedback from members that it should
be clear from the event title what the
technical content is and in which format
it will be delivered. You may see some
of your favorite events now advertised
with a slight change in name, but just
changing a word or two to provide clarity will not change the event itself. Being
clear with the title will help to attract
the right attendees, authors, presenters,
andexhibitors.
A major effort with brand identity is ensuring that we are delivering a consistent experience for specific event formats. The following are six
event definitions that are the key to
strengthening the SPE brand identity.
Only the first three definitions are new:

*www.entrepreneur.com
**http://www.marriott.com/marriottbrands.mi

18

conference, symposium, and training

course. The other three (forum, workshop, and summit) were approved by
the Board in 2007, but are included here
for clarity.
SPE Conference: An SPE conference
promotes the exchange of technical
knowledge primarily through technical
paper presentations, which are further
disseminated through publication in the
conference proceedings and later placed
on the OnePetro website. Conferences
typically feature an exhibition and are
managed by SPE staff.

SPE Forum: An SPE forum is an invitation-only event that is developed and

approved by the Forum Series Coordination Committee to explore a specific and emerging industry challenge not
already addressed in existing SPE events.
A written summary may be prepared
and distributed to the participants after
the forum and with unanimous participant agreement at the discretion of the
program committee and SPE approval.
Forums do not offer a call for papers, published presentations, sponsorships, or
exhibitions and are managed by SPEstaff.

SPE Symposium: An SPE symposium

may not be a fully papered program as
the technical program committee can
build the sessions from invited presenters and those selected through the call
for speakers process, if offered. SPE
manuscripts, if any, are disseminated
through OnePetro. In many cases, symposia also feature an exhibition and are
either managed by SPE staff or by a section that has hired SPE staff for some
services, such as call for papers.

SPE Workshop: An SPE workshop,

also referred to as an applied technology workshop (ATW), features a technical program made up of presentations
on a highly focused topic solicited by
the program committee. Presentations
that have been authorized for release are
compiled and released to attendees after
the workshop. SPE staff work with sections and regional advisory committees
to provide the right number of workshops and relevant topics needed for
that particular geographical area.

SPE Training Course: An SPE training

course is one that has been reviewed and
approved for technical quality and relevance by the Global Training Committee (GTC). A training course also may be
approved by a regional advisory committee or a regional conference planning committee when there is insufficient time for GTC review or there is no
intent to offer the course beyond a single
event. Continuing education units are
offered for completed courses.

SPE Summit: An SPE summit is a 1- to

3-day invitation-only event with specific,
predefined objectives that are managed
by SPE staff. It is a fast-track response
to emerging issues, problems, technologies, and strategies of broad significance to the industry. Written records
of the discussions and conclusions are
published, with the intent of providing
a deliverable that benefits the industry and has the potential to lead to furtherinitiatives. JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

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COMMENTS

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Syed AliChairperson, Technical Advisor,
Schlumberger

Francisco J. Alhanati, Director, Exploration

& Production, C-FER Technologies

A Pivotal Month
John Donnelly, JPT Editor
This month should offer key clues to the direction of the oil
market over the next several months. OPEC countries will meet
on 5 June in Vienna in a regular meeting to discuss their current supply to the market and production quotas. And government figures released this month should begin to get a better
handle on the decline in US production.
OPECs last meeting, in November, contributed to the
steep drop in oil prices when Saudi Arabia decided it would no
longer play the role of swing producer and would instead defend market share.
Although many took this as provocative, several executives speaking at the recent
IHS CERA conference in Houston noted that OPEC fears prolonged high oil prices
could lead to faster development of alternative energy, and the cartel is engaged
in a price discovery exercise to determine the sustainability of US shale producers. I think its going to be very useful to the industry to have a clear understanding of the resilience of these resources, how robust the resources are, and how they
are able to withstand different price environments, said ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson. Most of the executives at the conference agreed that the
current price downturn would last a while and that the current situation seemed
closer to the downturn that occurred in the mid-1980s, rather than more recent
price downturns.
The OPEC strategy is definitely having an impact on North American production. The US Energy Information Administration last month lowered its 2015 and
2016 crude oil production growth forecasts. Its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook
predicts that US crude production this year will increase 530,000 B/D (revised down
from 550,000 B/D) and that 2016 growth will be 20,000 B/D (revised down from
80,000 B/D). US producers have cut spending, idled more than half of the countrys
drilling rigs, and eliminated thousands of jobs. The number of active rigs working in
the US had fallen for 23 weeks in a row as of mid-May.
US oil production averaged 9.3 million B/D in March but is expected to
begin declining in June. In contrast, Saudi Arabia has been increasing production. It grew oil output to 10.31 million B/D in April, a slight increase from Marchs
total of 10.29 million B/D, the countrys highest oil production in three decades.
Saudi Arabia has increased output by 700,000 B/D since the fourth quarter
of 2014.
The price decline has had other repercussions. In a new industry survey by
Mercer, oil and gas industry employers have shifted from buying talent as their
core strategy to one of building talent instead. In a second survey, titled Inside
Employees Minds: What oil and Gas Employees Value, workers now rank job security and base pay as their top concerns. Compared with previous oil industry surveys
and surveys in other industries, ranking job security over base pay isatypical. JPT

William Bailey, Principal Reservoir Engineer,

Schlumberger
Ian G. Ball, Technical Director, Intecsea (UK) Ltd
Luciane Bonet, Reservoir Engineering Manager,
Petrobras America Inc.
Robert B. Carpenter, Sr. Advisor Cementing,
Chevron ETC
Simon Chipperfield, Team Leader Central Gas Team/
Gas Exploitation, Eastern Australia Development,
Santos
Nicholas J. Clem, Engineering Manager, BakerHughes
Alex Crabtree, Senior Advisor, Hess Corporation
Jose C. Cunha, Technical Training Leader,
Chevron ETC
Alexandre Emerick, Reservoir Engineer,
Petrobras Research Center
Niall Fleming, Leading Advisor Well Productivity
& Stimulation, Statoil
Ted Frankiewicz, Engineering Advisor, SPEC Services
Emmanuel Garland, Special Advisor to the
HSE Vice President, Total
Reid Grigg, Senior Engineer/Section Head, Gas
Flooding Processes and Flow Heterogeneities, New
Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center
Omer M. Gurpinar, Technical Director, Enhanced Oil
Recovery, Schlumberger
A.G. Guzman-Garcia, Engineer Advisor,
ExxonMobil (retired)
Robert Harrison, Global Business Leader,
Reserves & Asset Evaluation, Senergy
Delores J. Hinkle, Director, Corporate Reserves,
Marathon Oil (retired)
John Hudson, Senior Production Engineer, Shell
Morten Iversen, Completion Team Leader, BG Group
Leonard Kalfayan, Global Production Engineering
Advisor, Hess Corporation
Tom Kelly, Systems Engineering, FMC Technologies
Gerd Kleemeyer, Head Integrated Geophysical
Services, Shell Global Solutions International BV
Jesse C. Lee, Chemistry Technology Manager,
Schlumberger
Casey McDonough, Drilling Engineer,
Chesapeake Energy
Cam Matthews, Director, New Technology Ventures,
C-FER Technologies
Badrul H Mohamed Jan, Lecturer/Researcher,
University of Malaya
Lee Morgenthaler, Staff Production Chemist, Shell
Alvaro F. Negrao, Senior Drilling Advisor,
Woodside Energy (USA)
Shauna G. Noonan, Staff Production Engineer,
ConocoPhillips
Karen E. Olson, Completion Expert,
Southwestern Energy
Michael L. Payne, Senior Advisor, BP plc
Mauricio P. Rebelo, Technical Services Manager,
Petrobras America
Jon Ruszka, Drilling Manager, Baker Hughes
(Africa Region)
Martin Rylance, Senior Advisor,
GWO Completions Engineering
Jacques B. Salies, Drilling Manager,
Queiroz Galvo E&P
Otto L. Santos, Snior Consultor, Petrobras
Luigi A. Saputelli, Senior Production Modeling
Advisor, Hess Corporation
Sally A. Thomas, Principal Engineer, Production
Technology, ConocoPhillips
Win Thornton, Global Projects Organization, BP plc
Erik Vikane, Manager Petroleum Technology, Statoil
Xiuli Wang, Director, Minerva Engineering
Mike Weatherl, Deepwater Engineering Consultant,
Well Integrity, LLC
Rodney Wetzel, Team Lead, SandFace Completions,
Chevron ETC
Scott Wilson, Senior Vice President,
Ryder Scott Company
Jonathan Wylde, Global Head Technology,
Clariant Oil Services

To contact JPTs editor, email jdonnelly@spe.org.

20

Pat York, Global Director, Well Engineering & Project

Management, Weatherford International

JPT JUNE 2015

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unconventional plays. The service provides continuous, real-time, ber optic, distributed
thermal and acoustic measurements to help optimize treatments over targeted intervals.
Enabling accurate interpretation of what is happening inside the wellbore and reservoir
in a single trip, the CoilComm SM service increases intervention effectiveness and
reduces nonproductive time and costs.
Whats your intervention challenge? Visit halliburton.com

Solving challenges.

2015 Halliburton. All rights reserved.

H039-15 JPT.indd 1

4/10/15 4:44 PM

GUEST EDITORIAL

Keeping Reservoir Stewardship on Course

Bob Harrison, Technical Authority/Project Director, Reservoir Services, LR Senergy

Bob Harrison, SPE,

is a consultant
petroleum engineer
who worked for
more than 20 years
with British Gas and
Enterprise Oil, and
currently advises
on international project delivery for LR
Senergy. Harrisons major interest is
rapid, accurate screening of oil and gas
assets. Harrison has edited textbooks on
formation evaluation and has published
more than 35 technical papers. He serves
on the SPE London Section Board and
is a Technical Editor for SPE Reservoir
Evaluation & Engineering. In 2014, he
received the SPE North Sea Region
Award for distinguished contribution to
petroleum engineering in Management
and Information. He holds a BS degree
in electrical engineering from the
University of Manchester, an MS degree
in petroleum engineering from Imperial
College, London, and an MBA degree
from Cranfield University.

22

The French term, dj vu, which means literally already seen, is the feeling that you
have previously experienced something you are currently experiencing. Two thirds of
adults claim to have sensed this phenomenon, but this figure rises to 100% when one
considers professionals in the oil and gas industry, which is undergoing yet another
boom-and-bust cycle.
Besides the real concern that the recently announced staff layoffs will only hasten the big crew change (as some golden oldies may decide to call it a day this time
around), one hopes that operators will maintain good stewardship of their wells and
fields and resist the temptation to cut back on essential data acquisition.
Reservoir stewardship, in which operators accept the responsibility to shepherd
and safeguard the assets of a company or a country, involves the periodic review of
asset performance to ensure productivity and recovery targets are met and maintained, and to guide future work plans. Continuous reservoir appraisal and surveillance are essential to minimize production losses from downtime in wells, facilities,
and export systems. Unfortunately, it is evident that some operators (and governments) pay only lip service to good reservoir stewardship, especially when oil and gas
prices are low.
Sometime ago, I read a student thesis that looked at options for reducing costs in
the unconventional factory drilling process. It concluded that significant time and
money could be saved if formation evaluation services were eliminated from the well
program. The project sponsor was happy with the result and the student graduated,
but I was appalled that this suggestion could ever be taken seriously. Unconventional
reservoirs have complex pore systems, very low interparticle permeability, contain
free and adsorbed gas, and exhibit variable water salinity, all of which make their characterization a major challenge for the geoscientist.
Therefore, more core data (not less) are needed to calibrate the responses of
logging suites, which also require enhanced measurement services as opposed to
standard tool strings. The taking of core permits subsequent rock typing to include
dynamic properties and fracturability and allows partitioning of the reservoir into
zones that reflect quartz content and producibility.
Conventional reservoir evaluation also comes under threat in a low oil price environment. The major cost overruns in wells are invariably due to drilling failures, not
data acquisition. Yet on being told to cut costs, the usual reaction of well engineers is
to challenge the need for coring and logging in the formation evaluation program. We
are constantly faced with the dilemma of short-term benefit vs. long-term worth when
acquiring data. However, the latter tends to be more subjective and is therefore harder
to quantify in value of information terms, which leads to myopic operators gathering only data required for the decisions in hand.
At the field level, daily accurate measurement of produced fluid volumes and
surface pressures and regular records of reservoir pressure are vital for sound reservoir management. Without these data, history matching is impossible and uncalibrated simulation models can lead to suboptimal investment decisions and poorer
resource estimates. Operators must regard adequate data acquisition as essential,

JPT JUNE 2015

rather than as an unnecessary overhead,

otherwise the stewardship of their assets
will beimpaired.
It seems incongruous that operators
would rather defer or even cancel the
acquisition of data from their producing
assets, and instead use assumptions, estimates, and analogs (assuming the latter
are available and analogous) to populate
their reservoir models. These dynamic models, which take many months to
build and run, can therefore never be
optimized, yet their outputs are used as
the basis for future reservoir management decisions.
For example, some operators of offshore developments declare their preference for running bottomhole pressure
surveys and production logs in some
wells each year, rather than installing
permanent downhole gauges. My experience suggests that few of these sur-

JPT JUNE 2015

veys are subsequently carried out, which

means that the actual reservoir pressure
and zonal flow contribution, essential
for validating any dynamic model, can go
unchecked year after year.
Production efficiency is a global problem, and one that is particularly
severe in the UK North Sea, where fields
exhibit average annual production losses of almost 40%. Of course, operators
are wary of publishing such data, yet this
metric is at the heart of the asset stewardship strategy in the UK governments
UKCS: Maximising Recovery Review: Final
Report by Ian Wood. This independent
study proposes that operators must be
held to account to ensure [] the proper
stewardship of their assets and infrastructure consistent with their obligations to
maximize economic recovery from the
fields under their licenses and with consideration to adjacent resources.

A Production Efficiency Task Force

of North Sea operators, contractors, and
UK government officials was set up in
2014 to tackle this issue and hopes to
set a common basis of measurement of
production efficiency, with an underlying choke model, this year. Success will
depend on the willingness of companies
to share best operational practices to
help increase economic recovery and to
allow benchmarking of comparable field
performance by regulators.
In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day,
Bill Murray, who is reliving the same day
over and over, asks a restaurant owner,
Do you ever have dj vu, Mrs. Lancaster? She replies, I dont think so, but I
could check with the kitchen. Experienced professionals do not need to check
with the kitchen, but they do hope that the
industry has learned from past mistakes
made in the name of costreduction.JPT

23

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor

Bore-Erosion Measurement
and Inspection System
LaserStream introduced its Bore-Erosion
Measurement and Inspection System (BEMIS) laser scanning technology
through an exclusive relationship with
Laser Techniques Company. The BEMIS
laser sensor rotates at high speed as it
is driven the length of a tubular, typically generating more than 2,500 data
points per revolution (Fig. 1). The result
is a high-resolution 3D map of the component inner surface. The linear resolution

(the tightness of the helix) can be as fine

as .010 in. or as loose as 1 in., depending
on the application. These data provide
information about wall loss (erosion and
corrosion), mechanical wear (wireline
and coiled tubing), eccentricity, and exact
dimensions. Typically, measurements
are accurate to .002 in. or better. Until
recently, this technology has been primarily used by organizations such as the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and
nuclear power companies. LaserStream

Fig. 1BEMIS from LaserStream.

can customize its equipment and software applications to meet specific needs,
varying sizes, or different applications
(risers, tubing, and casing).
For additional information, visit
www.laserstreamlp.com.

Formation-Pressure-Testing
Service
The FTeX advanced formation-pressuretesting service from Baker Hughes uses
downhole automation and real-time control of an intelligent packer-and-pump
configuration to deliver critical formation dataincluding pressure profiles,
fluid contacts, and mobility informationreliably, accurately, and efficiently
(Fig.2). The data offer an earlier and better understanding of the reserves in place
so operators can quickly identify the production potential of a well. Leveraging
adaptive software, the FTeX service automates the operation sequence downhole
to optimize tool controls and test parameters with minimal input from surface personnel, thereby reducing data inconsistencies and inaccuracies that often result
from manual testing. The service adapts
to the formation response encountered
during the initial drawdown to define the
optimal parameters for subsequent drawdowns, in real time, leading to increased
data accuracy and efficiency. Running the
FTeX service with other wireline technologies reduces the number of logging
runs, saving rig time and cost. The services combination of advanced technology, efficient operations, and downhole
automation delivers some of the fastest, most-accurate measurements in the
industry. The FTeX service is the latest
development in Baker Hughes strategy
to improve well efficiency, optimize production, and increase ultimate recovery.
For additional information, visit
www.bakerhughes.com.

Fig. 2The Baker Hughes FTeX advanced formation-pressure-testing service

uses downhole automation and real-time control of an intelligent packerand-pump configuration to deliver critical formation data, offering a better
understanding of the reserves in place.

24

Versatile Cargo Carrier

Deep Blue Engineerings Shuttle Sub is a
versatile cargo carrier based on the concept of a large remotely operated vehicle

JPT JUNE 2015

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
it and make up a connection. The Shuttle Sub can further create new possibilities for lift-and-deployment techniques
that are not available to marine operators because all of these operations are
currently achieved by use of lift lines
from a vessel at surface. Salvage operations will be made significantly safer,
using a fully engineered, controlled, and
robust buoyancy system in conjunction
with multiple lift lines from the Shuttle
Sub to the load.
For additional information, visit
www.deepblueengineering.co.uk.

Ultrahigh-Temperature
Measurement-WhileDrilling Service

Fig. 3Deep Blue Engineerings versatile Shuttle Sub.

(ROV) with payload capacity, deployed

from a support vessel at the surface
(Fig.3). It can be used to conduct a range
of installation, heavy-lift, and deployment
operations. Its versatility is a byproduct of its modular payload cartridge system, making it ideal for pipe installation,
cable deployment, salvage work, and subsea intervention. Installation functions

are conducted by the Shuttle Sub with no

requirement for assistance from a smaller
work-class ROV. The largest Shuttle Sub
will be capable of transporting and laying
approximately 100 tons of pipe during
each trip from the support vessel. Each
pipe is extracted from the hopper by two
manipulators, which can be used to position and align the pipe and then insert

Fig. 4The ultrahigh-temperature-rated electronics in the TeleScope ICE

service were fully functional after 2,000 hours of testing at temperatures
greater than 200C.

26

Schlumberger introduced the TeleScope

ICE ultrahigh-temperature measurementwhile-drilling service. This new technology enables standard drilling operations
in reservoirs with extreme temperatures.
The TeleScope ICE system helps customers eliminate runs, drill wells with precision, and mitigate operational risks to
make previously undrillable wells a possibility. The TeleScope ICE service transmits survey and formation-evaluation
data at high speed, enabling real-time
well placement and risk mitigation in
harsh drilling conditions. It makes use
of integrated ceramic electronics (ICE)
and multichip modules that are specifically designed and ruggedized for hostile downhole environments (Fig. 4). It is
part of a suite of ultrahigh-temperature
technologies that have been field tested
in the Gulf of Mexico, Malaysia, and the
Gulf of Thailand. In the Gulf of Thailand,
PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP)
was operating in a reservoir with maximum temperature of 204C (399F).
PTTEP used the TeleScope ICE service
to obtain real-time downhole measurements and drilled the well to total depth
in one run. The operator also eliminated
the need for a bottomhole-assembly trip
to protect electronics as well as a gyro
run to determine the location of the well,
which saved 12 rig hours and decreased
operational cost by USD300,000.
For additional information, visit
www.slb.com/ultraht.

JPT JUNE 2015

Stuck Pipe?
Chase to the cut.

HyPR HoleSaver
Fast and simple | User operated | Inherently safe | Full strength subs | Benign dormancy

The HyPR Hole Saver is a new method of hydraulic pipe recovery that
makes freeing stuck pipe quicker, easier and safer than ever before.
Just drop the dart and pump.
Churchill is the performance leader in dart activated solutions to downhole
challenges. For more than ten years we have been designing robust, simple tools
that send mechanical darts right where you need them. With no setup or
personnel required, and using no explosives, Churchills HyPR HoleSaver
gives you a low-cost contingency to solve downhole problems, rapidly.
Faster recovery means big savings.

Find out more at CircSub.com

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01/05/2015 10:35

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Asset-Management
Mobile Application

Fig. 5Screenshot from Retriever Communications Barking for Assets assetmanagement mobile application.

Retriever Communications introduced

its new enterprise mobile application,
Barking for Assets, for field force in the
energy sector that is designed to increase
efficiency and reliability of critical asset
management. Barking for Assets is an
advanced field-application technology
that empowers field operations, in coordination with engineering, in the delivery of asset care, offering an alternative
to approaches that focus exclusively on
centralized planning that often does not
reflect on-site realities. It is a mobile
app that integrates directly into multiple enterprise systems, simultaneously
including enterprise-asset-management
systems and engineering-planning systems (Fig. 5). It supports employees
who handle the planning and field operations within a company to reduce unexpected downtime, and serves as a single
solution configurable to field and plant
processes. Retrievers mobile solutions
work in 3G, 4G, and WiFi environments,
as well as in limited and no-wirelesscoverage areas. Many leading assetmanagement companies are investing
in technology to support and automate
reliability-focused maintenance. Barking for Assets uses a multitier task template, providing the flexibility, visibility,
control, and resource management necessary to capture valuable data, improve
operational efficiency, and manage
assets safely and proactively in the field.
For additional information, visit
www.retrieverbarking.com.

Drilling-Riser Elevator

Fig. 6Weatherfords DRE 500 drilling-riser elevator.

28

Weatherfords drilling-riser elevator,

the DRE 500, safely and efficiently runs flanged-connection drillingriser strings in harsh deepwater environments. Compatible with 500- or
750-ton bails, the elevator is designed
for efficient rig up. Rated for drillingriser strings up to 500 tons, the elevator handles stress joints, riser joints
with buoyancy cans, and riser joints
with or without strakes and fairings.
The specially designed indexing dogs
ensure that the riser is gripped proper-

JPT JUNE 2015

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REDUCING
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TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
metal tube over a solid filler to protect
the electrical conductor inside the cable.
In a metal-clad tube with a traditional
solid-core filler, quality testing is limited
to an eddy-current test to check for weld
defects. Though eddy-current testing is
capable of finding defects, this process
is not guaranteed to find all defects. The
PressureTEC cables design incorporates
a welded metal tube to protect the conductor, but the tube is first filled with an
expandable foam material and then is followed by a pressurized-gas test that can
detect a defect in the metal tube or weld.
When the tube passes 100% integrity, the
foam core is then expanded to surround
the conductor and also adhere to the
tube wall to create holding forces. RSCCs
new PressureTEC cables are available in
150 and 200C materials, depending on
operating-temperaturerequirements.

Fig. 7The PressureTEC PDC from RSCC Wire & Cable.

ly, allowing it to be raised and lowered

into the well (Fig. 6). The nonmarking feature on the tool protects against
stress-concentration factors created by
standard dies, which extends the life of
the riser joint. Hydraulic operation of
the spider and elevator eliminates the
time needed to manually bolt standard
lifting gear, ultimately reducing overall run times. Used with Weatherfords
integrated safety-interlock system, the
elevator can be operated remotely to
eliminate manual riser-running tasks
and keep personnel out of hazardous
zones. The interlocking mechanics
also keep the elevator and spider from

opening in the event of hydraulic or

pneumaticfailure.
For additional information, visit
www.weatherford.com/productsservices/well-construction/
tubular-running-services.

Permanent Downhole Cable

RSCC Wire & Cable introduced its new
PressureTEC cable to ensure a higherperforming permanent-downhole-cable
(PDC) installation for oil and gas drilling applications (Fig. 7). Drilling equipment engineers are familiar with
tubing-encapsulated-cable products that
are traditionally made with a welded

For additional information, visit

www.r-scc.com.

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JPT JUNE 2015

Fig. 8Resman systems can be easily integrated with

a variety of completion devices, including screens and
pupjoints.

Intelligent Tracer Technology

Resmans Intelligent Tracer technology accurately quantifies zonal-inflow contribution and detects the location of
water breakthrough. Applications include quantification of
oil inflow contribution, water-breakthrough monitoring, and
inflow-assurance monitoring. The information obtained with
Resman Intelligent Tracer technology provides the equivalent of a production log but without the risk and cost of well
intervention. No cables, connections, intervention, or major
changes to completion design are needed. The oil-targeted
Intelligent Tracers can achieve up to 5 years of life, while the
water-targeted Intelligent Tracers can have longer lifespans
because they are dormant until activated by contact with
water. Resmans chemicals are used in extremely low concentrations (down to parts per trillion) and are compatible for
water discharge. No radiation is used. The Intelligent Tracer
technology can be formed into a variety of shapes to allow it to
be integrated into a wide range of completion designs (Fig.8).
The Intelligent Tracer systems are designed to remain dormant until contacted by the target fluid. When contacted by
the target fluid, tracer molecules are released in very small
quantities. This release is independent of flow conditions and
happens at a laboratory-designed rate. Resman chemists have
developed more than 50 uniquely identifiable chemical signatures for oil and another 50 forwater.JPT
For additional information, visit www.resman.no.

JPT JUNE 2015

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Maximize Recovery by Minimizing

Production Delays and Shut-ins
James Crafton, SPE, Performance Sciences

The greatest challenge facing the oil

and gas industry, particularly in this
low-price environment, is to increase
recovery rates. Experts in multiple disciplines across the industry are focusing on it because even a small improvement in recovery factors can make a
majorimpact.
To meet this challenge, the industry must do more than look to new, stepchange technologies; it must question
current practices. For example, the practice of delaying first production after
the multistage fracture stimulation of
wells is widely seen as a sound operating strategy. Additional shut-ins, whether intentional or unexpected, are a part
of everyday well operations. However, a
growing body of evidence shows a negative effect on wellbore connectivity with
the reservoir.
A recent study examined more than
360 wells in six North American shale
plays to determine the effect of production delay and shut-ins (Crafton and Noe
2013). The analyses showed that delaying production quickly damages wells,
thus affecting wellbore connectivity and
production. A similar result was found
for shut-ins, with a strong correlation
between the number of shut-ins and
incurred damage.
One of the mechanisms causing this
damage is the energy stored in the fluid/
fluid interfaces in the form of a capillary pressure difference. Historically, the
pressure difference has been understood
to be relatively small, but in shale plays,
it can easily be of the same magnitude as
the original reservoir pressure.
The study also examined the potential benefit of using a persistent interfa-

32

cial tension management (pITM) nanofluid to mitigate these negative effects

and found that in cases of production
delay or shut-in, wells treated with pITM
nanofluid showed improved connectivity and production compared with
untreated wells. Therefore, the reduction of interfacial tension has the effect
of reducing the amount of energy, or
pressure drop, needed to allow flow
tobegin.

The Study Methodology

To determine the effect of production
delay and shut-ins, two metrics were
used to compare well performance. The
first was the apparent fracture length,
which describes the degree of connectivity between the wellbore and the reservoir. This value was normalized for
proppant weight placed and determined
based on flowback pressure and production data, using the reciprocal productivity index approach (Crafton 1997).
The second metric was the first 30
days barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) production normalized for reservoir quality (permeabilitythickness), wellhead
pressure drawdown (choke), and stimulation treatment size (proppant weight).

Impact of Delays
Because of the belief that letting a well
rest or soak after stimulation (shaking
and baking) is necessary or beneficial, it
has become a common practice to leave a
well shut in before putting it on production, i.e., to delay first production. This is
distinguished from putting a well immediately on production following stimulation (post-fracturing blowdown) and
then shutting it in.

When first production is delayed,

no predelay metric is available for comparison. Previous studies that showed a
benefit to delaying production used offset wells for comparison, but failed to
account for differing parameters (such as
the reservoir, stimulation, lateral length,
and shut-ins). This study compared the
normalized apparent fracture length
(wellbore connectivity) and 30-day BOE
metrics with the duration of the delay
(Fig. 1a). Both metrics showed that damage occurs very quickly (the time axis
is logarithmic) and most severely in the
best wells (see the steepness of the upper
limit line).
A subset of wells from one basin
is plotted in Fig. 1b, which shows the
positive impact of pITM nanofluid on
the damaging effects of production
delay. As would be expected, a plateau
is reached at which no further damage is incurred with an extended duration of production delay. The benefit
derived from nanofluid use is shown by
the relatively higher position of these
wells on the graph compared with the
untreatedwells.

Impact of Shut-ins
Despite the fact that shut-ins are an
inevitable part of well operations, very
little information is available on the
consequences of a wells subsequent performance. Fig. 2a shows a cumulative
frequency plot for the ratio of apparent
fracture length before and after one shutin. A value of +100% indicates that the
apparent fracture length doubled, 0%
indicates no change, and -100% indicates that a well behaved as if it had never
been stimulated.

JPT JUNE 2015

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Place your annular plug in

a single wireline operation

3D & Layout: Render.no

Zonal isolation

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
12,000
Apparent fracture length
30-day BOE
900

9,000

600

6,000

300

3,000

0
0

10

(a)

100

1,000

Normalized 30-Day Production (BOE)

Normalized Apparent Fracture Length (ft)

1,200

0
10,000

Duration of Delay (days)

Normalized 30-Day Production (BOE)

100,000
Without pITM (54 wells)
With pITM (11 wells)

10,000

1,000
1

10

(b)

100

1,000

10,000

Duration of Delay (days)

Fig. 1(a) The effect of production delay on normalized apparent fracture length and 30-day production is shown. The
heavy lines are the power trend line through all the data points for each metric. The thin lines are the upper limit trends.
(b) The result of persistent interfacial tension management (pITM) nanofluid use on production delay on normalized
30-day production is shown.

Although the graph shows that with

or without pITM nanofluid, some wells
experience a significant improvement
in wellbore connectivity (wells on far
right), the majority of the wells fall under
the 0% line. Overall, the result of using
nanofluid is shown by the 20% increase

34

in wells that performed the same or better with it than without it. Even more telling is the decrease in the number of wells
that behaved as if they had never been
stimulated (wells on the -100% line on
the graphs far left)five wells without
and one with nanofluid.

Fig. 2b is a summary of the cumulative frequency plots of the average ratio

of pre- and post-shut-in apparent fracture lengths for wells experiencing one to
four shut-ins. The zero shut-in values signify the average initial apparent fracture
length with (green) and without (orange)

JPT JUNE 2015

Serving
Intervention Plugs from monobore
Every
through severe restrictions
Well
Barrier Verifcation System (BVS) ...
... P&T reading through well barriers

Memory and/or real-time

Plug w/BVS (transmitter)
Setting Tool w/BVS (receiver)
Downhole wireless communication

Well

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
400

Apparent Fracture Length Ratio (%)

pITM as a ratio of the wells with pITM

(i.e., the average apparent fracture length
of wells with nanofluid is set to 100%).
These results show that there is
a high probability of pITM nanofluid improving well performance in the
first and second shut-ins (average ratios
greater than 1). Overall, the average fracture length loss per shut-in was calculated at more than 30% for wells not treated with nanofluid and just less than 9%
for treated wells.
Additional analyses showed a slight
benefit to extending the time between
start of production to first shut-in, but no
benefit to decreasing the duration of first
shut-in on the damage incurred.

The study makes clear that the industry not only needs to develop new, stepchange technologies such as nanomaterials, but also to question its assumptions
about current operational practices if it is
to meet the challenge of increasing recovery factors.
The best strategy is to minimize
the occurrence and length of production
delays and shut-ins, mitigate their nega-

36

300

200

100

100
0
(a)

Summary

25

50

100

75

Cumulative Frequency (% less than)

120

Apparent Fracture Length Ratio (%)

There are three main conclusions from

the study of more than 360 wells in six
North American shale plays.
1.Delaying production after the
end of stimulation is detrimental,
which strongly contradicts
current practices and beliefs. This
damage occurs quickly, affects
both wellbore connectivity and
production, and is more harmful
to better wells.
2.Shut-ins are also generally
harmful, with damage increasing
with the number of shut-ins.
The longer a well can be on
production before it is shut
in, the less severe the damage.
However, the duration of the
shut-in does not appear to affect
the level of damage.
3.Damage from the delay of
production and shut-ins can be
mitigated by the use of a pITM
nanofluid.

Without pITM (154 wells)Same or better=36.4%

With pITM (123 wells)Same or better=56.7%

Average Fracture Length Loss per Shut-in

Without pITM=31.7%
With pITM=8.7%

100

80

60

40

20

0
(b)

Number of Well Shut-ins

Fig. 2(a) A cumulative frequency plot of the change in apparent fracture

length after the first shut-in. (b) The result of persistent interfacial tension
management (pITM) nanofluid use on the effect of shut-ins on wellbore
connectivity (apparent fracture length). The decrease in the number of wells is
due to the omission of wells with artificial lift or restimulation operations.

tive effects with pITM nanofluids, and

manage well operations with an awareness of the damage caused by delays and
shut-ins so that they can be avoided. JPT

References
Crafton, J.W. and Noe, S.L. 2013. Factors
Affecting Early Well Productivity in
Six Shale Plays. Presented at the SPE
Annual Technical Conference and

Exhibition, New Orleans, 30 September2

October. SPE 166101-MS. http://dx.doi.
org/10.2118/166101-MS
Crafton, J.W. 1997. Oil and Gas Well
Evaluation Using the Reciprocal
Productivity Index Method. Presented
at the SPE Production Operations
Symposium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
USA, 911 March. SPE 37409-MS. http://
dx.doi.org/10.2118/37409-MS

JPT JUNE 2015

V0-Rated Cementing Port Collar

ISO 14998 V0, Annex A and Annex D, Qualied

MTM Design. Integrity, Built In.

Setting a new standard for the industry.
Integrity is never compromised. At TAM, its a principle we build into every
product, and our new Metal-to-Metal Port Collar is an exceptional example of this.
Proven to ensure casing integrity, it meets the industrys latest and most rigorous
standard, ISO 14998 V0, Annex A and Annex D conrmed gas-tight at 300 F
(150 C). Offering life-of-well reliability, it simplies your rig operations as no drill
out is required after cementing. And TAMs Metal-to-Metal Port Collar is customizable
to address your most critical well conditions, including high torque, drilldown, and
deepwater applications. Setting a new standard for the industry with eld-proven
reliability and industry-leading qualication.
Gas-Tight

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WELL INTERVENTION

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Dissolvable Plug and Perf System

Eliminates Mill-Outs in Multistage Stimulations
Isaac Aviles, SPE, Michael Dardis, SPE, and Gregoire Jacob, SPE, Schlumberger

Of all the technologies that have propelled the unconventional boom in the
United States over the past 15 years,
plug and perf (P&P) remains the No. 1
method for stimulating multistage wells,
enabling operators to achieve significant
economic gains in previously inaccessible reservoirs.
Unconventional wells have become
longer, with laterals extending as far as
10,000 ft and beyond. When combined
with tighter spacing between stages,
this growing lateral length has dramatically increased stage counts. In North
American land activity, stages per lateral
have nearly doubled in most basins since
2008, thanks in part to increased efficiencies in P&P operations.
P&P relies on the use of a wireline or
electric line to convey perforating guns
and plugs to isolate sections of a reservoir
for hydraulic fracturing. After the well is
stimulated, the plugs are milled out with
some type of mechanical intervention,
such as the use of coiled tubing (CT).

Over the years, P&P has been

improved with the development of composite plugs, as opposed to permanentstyle plugs, that can be milled out in
a continuous operation, pump-down
operations to replace mechanical conveyance, and toe-initiator valves, which
eliminate the need to mechanically convey perforations for the initial stage of
the P&P operation.
Despite these advances, mechanical intervention remains costly and risky,
and in some instances may damage the
recently placed fractures. In cases of low
reservoir pressure or extended-reach laterals, milling can be especially problematic. Returns do not easily reach the surface,
and friction and helical buckling effects
can often result in CT lockup, preventing
the CT from reaching the required depth
to remove plugs in the toe section of the
well. Debris left behind from milled-out
plugs in the wellbore can result in the CT
becoming stuck, thus driving up costs and
further delaying production.

Fig. 1The seat assembly and ball used in the new plugand-perf system dissolve completely and predictably
in temperatures of as low as 75F (24C), leaving no
diameter restrictions to impede future operations.

38

These limitations signaled the need

for the industry to move a step beyond
conventional P&P technology. A new, dissolvable P&P system eliminates the need
for mechanical intervention to remove
plugs, enabling an unlimited number of
stages to be stimulated. Launched in February, the dissolvable P&P completions
system has been successfully implemented in many of the major unconventional
plays in North America.

Dissolving Seats Replace Plugs

The Infinity dissolvable plug-and-perf
system operates in the same fashion as a
conventional P&P, but uses fully dissolving seats, instead of plugs, for isolation
(Fig. 1). The system was designed for use
in cemented, uncemented, vertical, deviated, and horizontal wells in shale, sandstone, carbonate, and other rock types.
The seat assemblies serve the purpose of
plugs and dissolve in a controlled manner
after the stimulation has been performed,
leaving a full-bore inner diameter.

Fig. 2Because of its reduced diameter in the travel

position, the system moves along the wellbore and passes
through multiple receptacles until approaching the target
interval. Photos courtesy of Schlumberger.

JPT JUNE 2015

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
With no restrictions left in the wellbore, the well can immediately be put
on production with better cleanup and
increased production potential. The process improves extended-reach stimulation and the ability to conduct pre- and
post-stimulation operations throughout
the life of the well.
The new system follows the same
work flow and uses the same setting tool
and gun string as conventional P&P. The
design features a downhole receptacle,
installed as part of the casing string,
which provides an anchoring point
for the dissolvable seat. The same-size
receptacle is used repeatedly, facilitating
an unlimited number of stages.
From the surface, the system pumps
a dynamic dissolvable seat that is small
enough to fit through all the receptacles
(Fig. 2). Once it reaches the desired location for setting, the seat changes size
when actuated with the same setting tool
used for a conventional plug.
Upon actuation, the seat shifts to
form a top ring with an outer diameter
(OD) larger than the upset of the receptacle. Installed during wireline operations, the seat provides the landing point
for the dissolvable ball, which is dropped
after the guns have been pulled out of
the hole. The dissolvable ball and seat
and receptacle form a proppant-tolerant,
metal-on-metal seal, which allows the
casing to support the differential pressures generated during stimulation.
In designing the dissolvable P&P
system, Schlumberger worked from its
Elemental dissolvable alloy technology,
which it uses to design dissolvable fracturing balls. For the seats, the company
developed a next-generation composition, which was needed to address the
added complexities of seats related to
temperature, stress distribution, thermal
stability, and wellbore exposure time.
The industry has a good understanding of the wellbore environment
and length of well exposure time for fracturing balls. If a ball exceeds its operational life, another ball can easily be
dropped. However, there is not a definite
length of time from the point at which the

40

seat is installed to the point at which it is

used. Thus, the device may be exposed
longer than anticipated. Because the
wellbore temperature can increase during this time, a worst-case temperature
scenario was used in designing the alloy.
The result was a stronger, longerlasting, and higher-temperature competent material that provides thermal stability and the capability to withstand the
higher temperatures and stresses distributed across the seats. Users gain more
flexibility with a wider operational window, improved efficiency, reduced risk,
and a greater likelihood of placing successful fractures, without compromising
operational integrity.

Validating the System

The dissolvable P&P system has been
deployed in most of the major unconventional plays in North America. During the early stages of the system validation, Schlumberger collaborated with
several operators in the Eagle Ford Shale
in Texas. Because this play presents highpressure/high-temperature challenges at
bottomhole conditions, it was well suited
for testing the limits of the technology.
Complex well geometries and
extended-reach laterals make milling difficult, particularly in the final 500 ft to
1,000 ft of the lateral. Final plugs sometimes are left in place, obstructing the
wellbore and choking off production.
Field trials, which began in early
2014, were conducted in a tiered manner.
A limited number of stages initially were
completed in the toe of the well, followed
by the expansion to the full wellbores.
For the fully dissolvable P&P operation,
receptacles were installed as part of the
casing string, cemented into place, and
spaced at predetermined intervals based
on the stimulation design.
The tool string for the dissolvable
P&P system, similar to the ones used in
a traditional P&P application, included a
casing collar locator, perforating guns, a
standard plug-setting tool, and the dissolvable P&P seat assembly.
For each stage, a seat was deployed
on a wireline tool string during the per-

forating run in the travel position, which

has a small enough OD to pass through
the upset of the receptacles. The tool
string with the dissolvable seat was
pumped down to the target zone and
stopped above the receptacle so the seat
could be actuated with the standard plugsetting tool. The seat then shifted from
the travel position to the set position to
form the top ring and expand the OD of
the assembly.
The expanded seats OD prevented the tool string from continuing to
pass through the receptacle, forcing the
seat to stop on the upset and match the
geometry of the receptacle to create the
metal-on-metal seal. After normal perforation operations, the tool string was
pulled out of the hole.
At the start of each stimulation
stage, a dissolvable ball was dropped
from the surface to land in the seat and
complete the isolation from the previous zone. After stimulation, the balls and
seats dissolved, enabling immediate production. In the Eagle Ford, a total of 162
well stages in 10 wells were stimulated
using the dissolvable P&P method, with
no milling or mechanical intervention
required for seat removal.

Summary
The dissolvable seat system offers
expanded opportunities for P&P completions, replacing the conventional plug
isolation. The new technology also can
operate in conjunction with other stimulation methods in a single well, integrating with openhole ball drop systems to
stimulate additional stages in the heel,
or with conventional P&P to stimulate
stages in the toe and heel.
Optimizing recovery and reducing
cost and risk remain key objectives in the
unconventional market. The new dissolvable P&P technology expands the capabilities of multistage stimulation, thus
eliminating the need for mechanical
intervention and optimizing production
in cemented and uncemented wellbores.
Wells can now be drilled and completed
with longer laterals with fewer risks and
improved economics.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

YOUNG TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

Turning Weakness Into Strength:

Hydraulic Pipe-Recovery System
Mike Churchill, Churchill Drilling Systems

Introduction
Stuck pipe has traditionally been a challenge for the oil and gas industry; in
recent years, operators have become
even more determined to reduce the
effect of stuck-pipe issues. Even with the
best planning and practice, there is a significant probability in certain wells that
some of the string will not come back out
of the hole. While losing a bottomhole
assembly is never ideal, the time wasted
in trying to free it and in redrillingafterwards can be far worse.

HyPR HoleSaver
The results of Churchill Drilling Systems collaboration with drilling crews
in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and extensive research and development resulted in the creation of the
HyPR HoleSaver, the first hydraulic piperecovery system. In March 2015, the system had its first major deployment, optimizing stuck-pipe contingency in zones
highly vulnerable to differential sticking. Although no stuck-pipe issues arose,
the tool significantly reduced the costoverrun risks. The tool is now being considered for imminent deployment by a
number of other major operators and
leading independents, to reduce costs
and risks in a wide range of upcoming

wells across the globe, particularly in the

Gulf of Mexico.
The tool consists of a full-strength
sub positioned in the drillstring, which is
severed in a couple of hours (Fig. 1). A jetting dart is launched and lands inside the
sub, jetting the internal American Petroleum Institute (API) pin connection.
At the conceptual stage, a number of questions had to be considered.
Could significant time savings actually
be delivered from the point at which
the decision is made to sever the string
until sidetracking or fishing commences? With its expertise in dart-activated
tools, Churchill Drilling Systems decided to determine whether applying dartrelated principles in a new approach
could cut wait times significantly.

The Need for a New Method

A major delay in severance often accompanies the mobilization of specialist
equipment or personnel. This is compounded in remote locations or when
moving restricted equipment, such as
explosives or hazardous chemicals.
Ideally, any new method should be selfoperated by the user, or at least should
allow cutting-and-retrieval operations
to begin while third-party services
aremobilized.

Editors Note: If you have a new

technology introduced fewer than
2 years ago and would like to
highlight it in Young Technology
Showcase, please contact JPT
Technology Editor Chris Carpenter
at ccarpenter@spe.org.

As strings become more sophisticated, each additional element has the

potential to upset others. Not only must
the sub have full structural integrity,
it must also be totally benign as far as
other tools are concerned. In practice,
this means being wider in internal diameter (ID) than any lower component and
with fully compliant and tapered leadins to ensure all activating devices (and
flow) have an unrestricted path through
the tool.
The weakest point in every joint is
normally the pin; if that area were targeted with enough energy, then perhaps it
could be sufficiently weakened, for parting to be achieved by merely pulling and
twisting the pipe. Calculations quickly
confirmed that removing only half the
pin ID would put most connections in

Fig. 1Full-strength and benign subs: full-strength (both in tension and compression) rotary API connections, and no
special weak points, are put into the string. Tool dormancy is also completely benign, with large IDs and fully compliant
and tapered lead-ins.

42

JPT JUNE 2015

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Unpredictable: plug-and-perf

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frac network that delivers maximum reservoir stmulaton. Learn more at
ncsmultstage.com.

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2015, NCS Multistage, LLC. All rights reserved. Multistage Unlimited and The Technology are trademarks of NCS Multistage, LLC.

YOUNG TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

this breakable range. The logical solution was to use a dart to focus energy
from the mud pumps precisely onto the
weak point.

Research and Development

Leads to Proven Performance

Fig. 2A HyPR 6-in. connection after 700800 gal/min at 1,500 psi with a 1%
sand content for 150 minutes. At this flow rate, the diameter cut rate started
at 0.6 in. for the first half hour, falling to 0.4 in. per half hour at the end. The
outer diameter is 5.422 in., with approximately 0.4 in. of the pin remaining
after the test.

Eddy
Cut
(Not to scale)

HyPR Jet

Fig. 3Operation of the HyPR HoleSaver. A high-velocity jet is produced

from the dart by deflecting the flow through a tight ceramic nozzle at the
pins weak spot. The pin weakens rapidly, and what was a full-strength API
connection before is now easily parted with a small loading from above.

44

The first objective was to establish the

feasibility of making deep cuts into connections using only hydraulics. Initial
testing confirmed that the first few millimeters of steel could be claimed within
just 10 minutes. Tests were short-lived,
however, because they highlighted the
major design challenge for the system
(Fig. 2).
Depending on gap size, the energy dissipated or produced by the jets at
350 gal/min is approximately 250 hhp.
Therefore, the dart assembly has to sustain very high loads as it deflects the
flow at right angles and accelerates it up
to 300 ft/sec through the nozzle. The jet
and resulting eddies generate harmonic
effects that amplify the stresses on vulnerable zones in the assembly (Fig. 3).
Initial designs were not able to survive
much more than 10 minutes of flow.
In a secondary version, the seat was
relocated from the tail to the nose of the
dart. While this would add complexity,
in terms of the need for bypass channels around the seat region, it would
greatly increase the stability by effectively removing an unsupported cantilever
oscillating in the wake of the jet. At the
same time, priority was given to maximizing the safety factors to remove the
possibility of structural failure. By having the seating below the jet, the dart can
be left behind after cutting, because it is
no longer held in the top half of the sub.
This enables the recovered pipe to be
clear after cutting, enabling cementing of
a sidetrack plug immediately.
As the darts became stronger and
longer tests became possible, patterns of
washing began to be discernible on both
the target pin region and the dart itself.
As expected, there was a dramatic wearing just below the pin in the target region;
however, a smaller secondary eddy also
appeared farther down the wake, as well
as a short eddy zone just in advance of the

JPT JUNE 2015

specific pressure indication for the pin

approaching its yield point. Applying a
small amount of pull during cutting will
part the pipe when the time comes, and
the positive result will be self-evident.

From a Weakness to a Strength

Fig. 4A fluid-velocity profile as the pin is jetted away. Velocities greater

than100 ft/sec cause wear; the red zones illustrate rapid wear at more than
300ft/sec. A secondary-eddy cutting also can be seen clearly below the first
cut. There was a strong correlation between finite-element modeling and the
live rig-test results.

jet (Fig. 4). While immaterial to the cut,

this wear geometry had implications for
the integrity of the dart.
It was clear that the high-velocity
zones on the steel dart were not being
totally defended by their tungsten carbide coatings. The deflection, jet, and
eddy regions on the dart were all showing signs of washing in the coatings. The
materials in these zones were therefore
replaced with solid-ceramic assemblies.
Once it was established that the system was working, attention switched to
establishing the performance envelope.
Variables such as mud type, particle size,
jet size, flow rate, and connection size
have an effect on the load on the dart and
on the speed of the cut. The test program
was performed on a full land-rig setup
with twin 12-in.-stroke triplex pumps
and was designed to model a full range of
scenarios, from slimhole to deep water.
The performance envelope is bounded
first by the circulating-system power and
pressure capability; next by the particle
size, which limits the tightness of the jet
and therefore the jetting velocity; and
then by the the power limits of the dart
in terms of physical integrity. It was clear
from the data that it was not necessary to
push close to the limits of the envelope
because the cutting is very fast, even at
lower flow rates.
Consistent with Churchill Drilling
Systems existing range of choked darts,
the new tools dart is designed for free
fall and for pumping into place, with

JPT JUNE 2015

a pressure increase confirming landing.

As expected, the tests showed that the
user would see falling pressure within a
few minutes of landing as the ID of the
pin started to wash. They also showed
that, once the initial cut is made, pressure falls become less indicative as to the
progression of the cut and there is not a

Since the tools launch, Churchill Drilling Systems has been approached to provide the technology for abandonment
operations, adding preplanned applications to its capabilities alongside contingency roles. The dormancy mode allows
it to turn abandonments into single-trip
operations, providing the potential for
on-demand pipe or casing cutting with
improved cutting performance.
Critical to the effective deployment
of the tool is the common pin, so often
considered to be the weak spot in string
design. Now, the pin has a new and central role to play, proving that innovative
thinking can change a traditionally perceived weak point into an actual strength
in solving stuck-pipeproblems.JPT

Visualize the Possibilities

At Petrolink we see things a little more clearly.

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45

E&P NOTES

Regulatory Compliance Just One Reason

for Groundwater Sampling
Jack Betz, JPT Staff Writer

The US Department of the Interior encourages the practice of baseline groundwater sampling before
drilling, according to its recently
released hydraulic fracturing regulations. Although the practice will not
be legally required across all federal
lands, there are additional reasons to
conduct groundwater sampling, said
Ryan Leatherbury, client service manager at environmental engineering firm
WestonSolutions.
The most obvious reason for sampling is for use as a form of cheap
insurance against water contamination claims, said Leatherbury, who
spoke at a recent SPE Gulf Coast Section Waste Water Management Study
Groupmeeting.
The department started drawing
up regulations in 2010 in response to
public concern, during the same year

that the antifracturing documentary,

Gasland, wasreleased.
If there are no records of groundwater conditions before drilling starts,
companies leave themselves open to
blame for water pollution, regardless of
the actual source. Substances such as
heavy metals or biogenic methane gas
can occur naturally, for example. Previously undetected contamination by past
landowners is another possible source
that can be screened out with preliminary sampling. And sampling can help
prove innocence in court cases, he added.
Companies that conduct voluntary
sampling should plan to store any information they collect in long-term databases. Leatherbury said that test results are
rarely useful in the short term, but can be
critical in the future.
The department mentioned in its
new regulations that it received com-

ments from citizens who support uniform groundwater testing requirements across federal lands, indicating
that voluntary sampling could be a way
for operators to make inroads with a
skepticalpublic.
Sampling can be used as a tool by
landmen to engage private property owners and other stakeholders. Its a great
way to get out in front of the message and
say to landowners that we are going to
try and be protective of the resources we
are exploiting, said Leatherbury.
Even in states that provide little
regulatory incentive, more companies
are developing their own sampling programs. I know of voluntary water sampling programs happening in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and
Utah, said Leatherbury. Here, companies are saying, This is something smart,
lets protect our interests. JPT

Argentina Expands Research on Shale and Mature Fields

Jack Betz, JPT Staff Writer
Although Argentina is home to what is
probably the largest shale formation in
South America, the country remains a net
importer of oil and gas, according to the
US Energy InformationAdministration.
To produce more hydrocarbons
from the Vaca Muerta shale and increase
recovery in other domestic plays, the
countrys majority state-owned oil company YPF, created a separate research
organization called YPF Tecnologia
(Y-TEC) in 2012.
At present, the research companys
main location is in La Plata, Argentina,
70 km south of Buenos Aires. The con-

46

struction of a 129,000-ft2 laboratory

complex in nearby Berisso will be completed before the end of the year, said
Gustavo Galliano, manager of communications and knowledge management
and technology liaison at Y-TEC.
The new facility is part of a larger plan for Argentina to catch up with a
growing energy demand and to attract
international business. Last October, the
countrys Senate passed a bill to increase
foreign oil and gas spending by reducing
minimum investments from USD 1 billion
to USD 250 million and lengthening the
terms of concessions.

The majority of the organizations

shares are owned by YPF and the remainder is owned by the National Scientific and
Technical Research Council (CONICET),
which conducts studies on a wide range of
subjects from engineering tobiology.
Although it employs nearly 300 scientists, Y-TECs partnership with CONICET gives it access to more than 10,000
other researchers, working in various
other fields. So far, the company has filed
10 patent applications as a result of its
research, said Galliano.
Y-TEC has also established working
relationships with multiple national uni-

JPT JUNE 2015

Scientists conduct research on how bacteria interact with soils near oil fields
at Y-TECs Center for Applied Technology, near La Plata, Argentina. Photo
courtesy of Y-TEC.

versities across South America and a few

outside the continent. One such example
is the organizations work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a
new fracture modeling software, which
will aid YPF in designing more effective
fracture treatments for Argentine shale.
Shale, however, is not the organizations only focus. Y-TEC is researching
secondary and tertiary recovery methods to slow the decline of the countrys conventional fields, which provide approximately 90% of its oil and
gasproduction.
Recognizing that its future success
requires an adequate number of skilled
researchers, the organization has also
created what it called a structured mentoring program to prevent loss of knowledge. It has completed a pilot version
of the program and is in the process of
developing specific goals. JPT

A New Map for Composite Design and Testing

Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer
Researchers at Rice University in Houston are hoping their new theory on composite properties may help the oil and gas
industry reduce the time it takes to develop and test new materials.
After 3 years of work, the researchers have created a design map that predicts strength, stiffness, and toughness of different materials when they
are layered onto one another. Applications for this theoretical map may
include pipes, downhole tools, and
marine drilling risers, and especially
those that are exposed to high-pressure/
high-temperatureenvironments.
To develop the map, the research
team looked to nature. Rouzbeh Shahsavari, an assistant professor in the
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Rice, said that designing composites that are strong, tough,
and lightweight is a big challenge for the
materials science world.
Copper, for example, is tough and
hard to break. But copper does not have
the strength of ceramics, which can be

JPT JUNE 2015

engineered to be strong enough to stop

bullets. Conversely, ceramics are not
considered tough because when they are
pushed to their limit, they tend to shatter
or break into pieces. But nature, on the
other hand, has come up with a series of
techniques to overcome these challenges, he said.
Shahsavari said the everyday composites found in nature, such as bones
and seashells, have been optimized
through billions of years worth of evolution. The soft material in bones is responsible for ductility and toughness, while
the harder materials give them strength.
That is why when you touch a bone, it is
quite hard to break it, it is quite light, and
once you break the bone, along the fracture you see several tough fibers coming
out of it, he said.
The trick to applying what nature
has accomplished with something manmade is finding the right composition of
materials and applying them in the right
way. The map seeks to address this problem and can be used to design composite

By comparing properties of
composite structures using a
new design map, Rice University
researchers Rouzbeh Shahsavari, left,
and Navid Sakhavand say engineers
can better predict the strength,
stiffness, and toughness of composite
materials. Photo courtesy of Jeff
Fitlow, Rice University.

47

E&P NOTES
materials of any size, from the nanoscale
to the very large.
The new theory about how to make
composites may also help speed the
development and qualification of new
composite materials. This is something
that has been a challenge for the oil and
gas industry. While testing standards for
steel and other metals exist, it has been
much more difficult to establish them for
composite materials and hybrid composites that incorporate steel.
Rouzbeh said he hopes that engineers can use the map to design a new

material and then make a low-cost sample with a 3D printer. This is a fast
evolving technology sometimes called
additive manufacturing. The advantage of 3D printing is that it has a high
level of accuracy, down to the micrometer, which allows it to make composites in the laboratory. Going this route
provides technology developers with
a shortcut.
Rather than make 10 or more largescale composite systems to find the best
ones, the 3D printer can be used to
select the best two or three candidates

to scale up for further testing. Instead

of doing trial and error strategies to
make composites and test to see if they
are going to fail or resist the load, first
use a handy map to make the right composite for the right strength and right
toughness, Rouzbeh said.
The next step of the work at Rice
is to develop the map for more complex
structures and composite materials. The
research team is also looking to collaborate with different industries, including
oil and gas, to commercialize some of
the technology involved. JPT

Wastewater Recovery a Common Challenge

for Aerospace and Oil Industries
Jack Betz, JPT Staff Writer
While wastewater reuse is an option for
oil and gas operations, it is an imperative
for space travel.
With payload weight at a premium,
recycling is the only way to provide potable water for journeys longer than a few
days, said Mark Jernigan, executive director of Rice Space Institute at Rice University and associate director, exploration
systems development, human health and
performance directorate at NASAs Johnson Space Center (JSC).
The desire for NASA is to reclaim
water so we dont have to bring so much,
said Jernigan, who spoke at a meeting of
the SPE Gulf Coast Sections Waste and
Water Management Study Group.
The space agency has made a great
deal of progress since its first manned

48

spaceflight, which had no water recycling capabilities. The International

Space Station, which has had at least
one astronaut on board at all times since
2000, is now able to recycle 85% of its
waste water.
NASAs next step is to push the recovery rate to 100%, preferably enabled by
a catalyst that could be reused. Improved
water reclamation is one of the many
research goals that will enable manned
missions to Mars.
Just as the growth of hydraulic
fracturing has forced oil and gas operators to deal with greater amounts of
waste water and the economic and environmental issues surrounding it, so
has the expansion of NASAs human
spaceflightprogram.

NASAs Environmental Control and

Life Support System engineers have produced complex filtering systems that
conform to the tight specifications of
the orbital environment. On every
spacecraft, we have to focus on maintaining low mass, volume, and power,
saidJernigan.
These operational constraints have
given NASA extensive practice in wastewater recycling, and now the agency is looking to participate in technology transfer with industries outside
ofaerospace.
We are embarking on a campaign
called JSC 2.0 where we seek to synergize
with other industries, and we realize we
have a lot in common with the oil and gas
industry, Jernigan said.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

2,407 pieces, one goal:

Uptime, all the time.
Thats why we have invested in a dedicated R&D laboratory that is second to none.
Designed to simulate the harshest subsea environments, we hold ourselves to a
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temperatures, subsea pressure, and cycle testing beyond the minimum certification
requirements. Today, every piece of the NXT blowout preventer fuses customer
feedback with world-class R&D. The future of ofshore pressure control starts here.
nov.com/ofshore
To learn more, download GO NOV
from the App Store or Google Play.
2015 | National Oilwell Varco | All Rights Reserved

Automated Drilling
Technologies
Showing
Promise
Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer

50

JPT JUNE 2015

or the past several years, automated drilling has promised to deliver

major improvements in drilling performance. But the technology is facing new
obstacles that might affect its progress
and commercialization. Global oil prices
and an ongoing gas glut have upturned
the economics of automated projects,
while in North America, human-operated drilling has improved substantially.
For Shell, those factors have caused
it to scale back or cancel several projects
in which automated drilling was to play a
key role in the development of thousands
of wells. This comes after years of headway the company was making with automated technology. In 2011, Drilling Contractor reported that the first generation
of Shells automated control system had
already shown a 70% improvement in
rate of penetration (ROP) in areas where
the company was testing the system.
However, that figure is no longer relevant as human drillers in the US have narrowed the gap.
What has happened is instead of
competing against the average driller in
an environment of high activity and scarcity, we are now competing against a
pool of extremely talented and accomplished drillers, said Mark Anderson,
manager of drilling mechanics technologies at Shell. Thus, the bar has
been raised for the adoption of drilling
automation-typetechnologies.
Globally, however, there remains
significant shortcomings in the capabilities and availability of rig crews, which
underpin the need to deliver automation in the near future. Whether the goal
is met rests on the shoulders of a small
group of early adopters and innovators.
If successful, their work will bring about
a major departure from how drilling systems are designed and operated today by
proving that, with data and algorithms

in the drillers seat, drilling can be made

safer, more consistent, and ultimately
cheaper by way of reducing nonproductive time (NPT).
Some experts foresee a generation
of rigs that will operate mostly autonomously. Others predict that in the near
future, it is more likely that rigs will be
remotely controlled by drillers, geologists, and engineers working, not in the
field, but in office buildings and on several wells at once. Some of the systems
evolving now aim to turn drillers and
rigs into something resembling todays
commercial airliners, whereby many
functions of the airplane are automated
with pilots able to take control if they
need to.
The latter premise does not involve
creating new fleets of rigs, but retrofitting them with highly advanced computer programs that use real-time data
coupled with mechanized equipment
to help increase the ROP and maintain wellbore stability. Two of the most
recent examples of commercial technologies were developed by members
of SPEs Drilling Systems Automation
Technical Section (DSATS).
Last year, ConocoPhillips and
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) completed a pilot program in Texas to test a new
automated system, which reduced drilling time by more than 40%. Since the
pilot, the technology has expanded to
North Dakota, and will soon be used in
the North Sea, and may be introduced in
the Middle East by years end.
For Tony Pink, vice president of
NOVs dynamic drilling solutions and
services business, the automated system
is an answer to US shale producers and
other companies that desperately need
to lower their break-even cost of production to cope with low oil prices. This
technology could make some [proj-

ects] that are struggling today become

economic again, he said. If the cost
per barrel is USD 55, we are effectively
knocking USD 8 off that cost per barrel.
Also last year, Norwegian software
firm Sekal installed an automated program called DrillTronics on an offshore
drilling platform operated by Statoil in
the North Sea to speed up tripping and
connection times. The program has been
under development for decades and
works by controlling torque, pump pressure, and hook load.
The basic principle is to have protection of the well, your string, and
downhole equipment using process
models and automation built on top of
that, said Fionn Iversen, chief scientist
at the International Research Institute of
Stavanger (IRIS), who was on the team
that developed DrillTronics.
However, the wider effort to reach
a brave new world of automated drilling
will have to clear many hurdles before it
gains wide acceptance. Skeptics say the
complexities involved with drilling miles
into the subsurface will always necessitate a large degree of human control and
intervention. There are just too many
unforeseen events, they argue, to calculate or predict efficiently.
Even those who wholeheartedly support automated drilling say the
industry is so fragmented that it makes
building the business case harder than
building the technology. And as with
any new technology, crossing the
chasm means automated systems must
first prove that they offer a substantial
benefitwhich has been a tall order
so far.
What is the business value of doing
this? And it is very hard to answer that
question for drilling, said John de
Wardt, president of De Wardt and Company and the manager of the industry

A ConocoPhillips rig operating at dusk in the Eagle Ford Shale of Texas, where the operator completed six wells using
an automated drilling package developed by National Oilwell Varco. By the final well, the system reduced drilling time
by 43% compared with wells drilled without it. Image courtesy of ConocoPhillips.

JPT JUNE 2015

51

DRILLING AUTOMATION

The Critical Perspective

Not everyone believes that automated drilling systems are
going to be good enough to take into account and offset
the myriad of factors that need to be managed to maximize
rate of penetration (ROP) and prevent nonproductive time
or costly stuck-pipe events.
Fred Dupriest, a professor of engineering practice
at Texas A&M University, said there is a chance that the
technology may someday achieve such capability, but is
concerned that the current path that developers are taking
will not work out anytime soon.
My opinion is that there is hope, but there is something
else we need to do, he said. What I am pushing for today,
as opposed to 10 years ago, is that industry needs to be
aware that you cant unilaterally automate one factor, or
what I would call a performance limiter.
Dupriest is referencing current attempts to automate
drilling control systems involving key operations such as
rotary speed, weight on bit, or hydraulics. He said while those
are achievable objectives, the major challenge is that the
majority of footage being drilled today is now constrained by
performance limiters that most automated systems do not
control, such as wellbore instability or hole cleaning.
If automation can solve major drilling problems instead
of just increasing ROP, Dupriest sees more opportunity for
the technology to enjoy successfulcommercialization.

initiative to develop a technology road

map for drilling systems automation.
There are compelling reasons right now
for small segments of automation, but no
one has been able to come out and articulate a compelling value reason, for a
fully automatedsystem.
The most recent challenge is the
global downturn in oil prices that have
resulted in industrywide reductions of
capital spending. Rig contractors have
been hit especially hard after enjoying
several years of strong demand for units
with automation, most of which include
systems on the rig floor and not the
downhole side, for both onshore and offshore drilling.
Andrew Meyers, a manager with
Douglas-Westwood who studies both the
onshore and offshore market, said the
downward pressure on day rates and
a dampened desire from operators to
pay premiums for the latest generation
of rigs is expected to slow automation
uptake. Adding new rigs with automa-

52

Before retiring from ExxonMobil where he worked

for 36years, Dupriest led efforts to improve drilling
performance by monitoring and interpreting something
known as mechanical specific energy. Doing this
gives engineers and drillers the ability to see and
react to bit dysfunction in real time and improve
rock-cuttingperformance.
Using this methodology, ExxonMobil developed
the FastDrill Process that was used to set industry
drillingrecords in distance and speed. Though
he notedthatsuch results are hard for other
companiestoreplicatewith different business
models,Dupriest saidhestill does not foresee
automationtrumping propertraining and education
indrilling physics soon.
While computers are most definitely involved in this
physics-based approach, Dupriest said a driller and
an engineer equipped with the knowledge of drilling
physicswilloutcompete any automation system. That
isbecause human drillers are able to avoid problems
on thefly and then re-engineer the next bit trip or the
next wellbased on their experience. And automation
wont dothat; it will constrain you, he said. It has the
ability to give you average, or slightly above average,
drillingperformance.

tion is not likely here in the next few

years, he said.
Meyers continued, There are more
high-spec rigs available in the onshore
market currently, so the operators should
have access to something more automated, but there is not going to be this
dynamic of encouraging drilling contractors to build more automated rigs in this
environment because there is less value
for them. They are going to be spending little money on their assets in this
downcycle.
Amid the evaporation of US rig
demand, downhole automated systems
continue to improve but remain at the
embryonic stage of the maturity curve,
according to Luca Brutti, a senior consultant at OTM Consulting and an ex-Schlumberger engineer. Based on his observations of industry trends, the technology will achieve critical mass once enough
companies prove it works.
The signs are there, it is just a matter of time. I can see operators taking

interest in what the others are doing,

he said, and added that the shortlist of
companies being watched include Statoil,
Shell, and Saudi Aramco. There is going
to be a moment when the transition happens. Suddenly, everyone is going to start
talking about it and all it needs is a number of success stories to be showcased.

Automated Well Construction

Last August, in the Eagle Ford Shale play
of south Texas, NOV and ConocoPhillips
wrapped up a nearly yearlong automation experiment involving 10 horizontally drilled wells about 12,000 ft deep
with 6,500-ft-long laterals. The work
started by drilling four wells without
using any automation to establish baseline benchmarks. The remaining six wells
were drilled using an automated package
comprising three individual systems that
relied on the integration of high-speed
data by
A surface stick/slip mitigation
device

JPT JUNE 2015

 A downhole weight-on-bit
controller
An autodriller to visualize the
data for humans and minimize
vibrations

JPT JUNE 2015

Measured Depth (ft)

The work was done using one of

ConocoPhillips lower-performing rigs;
with NOVs system, the final well was
drilled to the bottom in just over 4 days.
The average drilling time of the six wells
was about 6 days. Compared with the
four benchmark wells, this translated
into a 37% reduction in drilling time,
and 43% when factoring in a reduction of
NPT since there were no tool failures or
safety incidents involved with the automated drilling.
Serving as the nerve system for the
different components is the wired drillpipe, which sends large amounts of data
from downhole measurement units back
to the rig in real time. Without wired
pipe, this level of automation would not
be possible with mud pulse telemetry
since it is incapable of high-speed data
delivery. One of the major learnings realized by the drillers through the use of
wired pipe was their weight on bit (WOB)
as measured from the surface was off
by50%.
Based on what the downhole
data was telling them, the WOB was
increased far more than what the drillers had previously thought was acceptable and as a result, the operations
saw a much improved ROP. One of the
main objectives of the automated system, as described in the technical paper
that outlined the case study (SPE/IADC
173159), was to drill more aggressively than what conservative safety margins dictated. Typically, drillers err on
the side of caution to prevent damage to
downhole equipment and ensure wellbore stability.
The automated stick/slip mitigation system also provided the drillers
with more energy to apply to the bit by
preventing the drillstring from banging
around in the wellbore. The third component, the visualization and vibration
minimizer, told the driller that the activ-

Days
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
11,000
12,000
13,000
14,000
15,000
16,000
17,000
18,000
19,000
20,000
21,000

Well 1
Well 2
Well 3
Well 6
Well 5
Well 4
Avg.
Composite

Using an automated drilling system for the first time, a ConocoPhillips rig
showed marked improvements in drilling speeds. The sixth well drilled using
the system reached total depth in just over 4 days. Graph courtesy of National
Oilwell Varco.

ity happening thousands of feet downhole was providing a stable downhole

environment. If the drilling is causing a
problem, then the same system provides
immediate notification.
Since the ConocoPhillips pilot, Hess
is now using the NOV system commercially on a rig in North Dakotas Bakken
Shale, Pink said. Total is in the process
of installing the system on one of its offshore rigs operating in the North Sea
and by late this year or early next year,
NOV expects to have the system working in the Middle East for Saudi Aramco. Other operators, including ConocoPhillips, are in the process of analyzing their US unconventional assets to
find areas where the system will deliver
the mostvalue.
The idea of NOVs automated drilling system was sparked at a DSATS workshop in Paris in 2011. Based on the need
expressed by operators, the leadership
at NOV decided to go full steam ahead.
Three-and-a-half years from an idea to
a commercial product is actually pretty fast, Pink said. The challenge now
is how quickly can it go from being run

on two or three rigs, to where it really

delivers value for our industry on 50 or
100rigs?
He estimated that if a rig experiences an average of 30% reduction in
time from spud to total depth using
NOVs system, then the expected savings on overall drilling costs, including completion and hydraulic fracturing,
could be around 15%. Based on early
stage results, Pink said the performance
improvements have proven to be repeatable and should translate to drillers of
any level ofexpertise.
If you look at an average rig crew,
typically, we see the lower performers
are lifted up very quickly to the performance of the best rig crews, he said.
But the top drillers get value tooa rising tide lifts all boats.
Pink noted that in the US and
around the world, many drillers are
about half the age of those working when
he entered the business. But when these
younger drillers use automated downhole tools and visual systems, he said,
They have become much more like a
pilot flying that rig, and are also able

53

DRILLING AUTOMATION

The Statfjord C is one of the oldest producing drilling and production platforms in the North Sea, offshore Norway. Last
year, Statoil installed DrillTronics on the platform in a first step toward intelligent systems to make drilling operations
automated, efficient, and predictable, the company said. Photo courtesy of Harald Pettersen, Statoil.

to learn quickly and perform at a higher standard than they would without
thistechnology.
One important thing that separates
NOVs automated control system from
others is that it was developed using an
open platform that enables clients and
other companies to build apps for it.
This approach takes a page from Apples
iPhone and iPad model, whereby anyone with the smarts to develop an app
that can make use of the drilling data to
interface with a rigs control system is
welcome to do so. The only apps available right now are ones that NOV has
developed, although it is working with

54

operators to explore how they can build

theirown.
Of course, it also requires allowing
people to peer deep inside NOVs proprietary technology. That is not an easy
thing to do, but that is our long-term
strategy, Pink said. If we make sure
the platform is open to anyone out there
writing apps for our system, it inherently
makes the system more valuable.

An Industry First
One of the latest milestones for automation based on modeling comes from
Sekal, which said last October that DrillTronics was the worlds first automated

drilling system used on a commercial

well. The modeling and control system
was installed on Statoils Statfjord C drilling platform in the North Sea, where it
successfully improved connection times
and allowed for more efficient tripping.
DrillTronics achieves speed and
safety by setting thresholds based on the
drillers confidence margin and calculations that continuously update based
on the drilling data sent up the borehole. Iversen of IRIS, also a committee
member of DSATS, hopes that DrillTronics will evolve into a system that operators use to reach reservoirs that otherwise would be impossible or too unsafe

JPT JUNE 2015

to access. That is where the really huge

value is, he said.
When used in the passive mode, the
program is merely advising the driller on
safe limits. In the active mode, or automated mode, if the limits are exceeded, automatic reactions are prompted.
These constraints are enforced physically, so the driller cannot exceed them, he
said. As long as the driller is within those
bounds, he is allowed to do what he likes.
Since the system monitors downhole conditions in real time, it can also
provide advanced warnings of danger
when unexpected events occur that do
not correspond with the drilling model,
such as a buildup in pressure. When such
events take place, DrillTronics can shut
down the drilling operation. This is the
system reacting, taking over for the driller and helping the driller avoid a more
serious situation, Iversen said.
In addition to safety triggers, other
automated sequences may be programmed, such as pump starts and friction
tests. The company is working on automating other sequences, such as hole cleaning
which will help prevent a stuck pipe.
In development since 2001, DrillTronics is one of the most sophisticated automated systems of its kind on the
market; however, it is not a fully automated system. And Iversen said it need
not be. I am not sure we will get to the
stage where all drilling rigs are as automated as technology allows, but definitely there is a demand for a higher level
of automation to achieve the drilling of
more complex wells, he said.
To gain acceptance, Iversen said
keeping humans in the loop will be
important and that when looking at various levels of automation, the key question is what is really needed. I do not
think there is one answer to that, he
said. But if you have a very challenging
well with narrow margins, and you want
to be able to drill it, then perhaps a higher level of automation is required.

Down Prices Affecting Uptake

Shell once had big plans for factory
mode drilling using dozens of auto-

JPT JUNE 2015

Alarms and warnings

Tripping/reaming
velocity control

Pump startup
Stick/slip prevention

Bit-load optimization
Automatic friction
test procedures

With DrillTronics, several drilling functions may be automated, including

drillstring movement, pump startups, and friction tests. Designed for offshore
operations, the system can compensate for rig heave. Image courtesy of Sekal.

mated rigs in unconventional fields in

China, Australia, Canada, and the US.
Today, most of the plans are on hold
indefinitely after Shell sought to cut
capital spending. The companys grand
vision for automation was driven by its
need to drill thousands of wells with
similar designs, and to do so as cheaply
as possible.
The problem was twofold. In some
project areas, Shell foresaw a shortage of
skilled labor. Additionally, the sophisticated directional drilling systems needed were too costly to justify. To design
and build technology that would become
cheaper with economies of scale, Shell
formed a 50/50 joint venture with China
National Petroleum Corp. called Sirius
Well Manufacturing Services.
The plan was for Sirius to develop innovative equipment and new well
designs that lend themselves to automated drilling and other completion
tasks such as cementing. A major component of the Sirius program involved
Shells in-house developed drilling control system known as ScadaDrill.
Described as an intelligent autodriller that takes over the drillers
joysticks, ScadaDrill was introduced in
2009 and has been used to drill selected well sections with the ultimate goal
of expanding its capability to drill entire
wells. Less mature systems are under

development to automate directional drilling, connection operations, and

tripping in and out of the well.
However, in the years since Sirius
brand of automated well manufacturing
was conceived, the emergence of cheap
and abundant supplies of natural gas in
the US, coupled with the more recent
halving of global oil prices, has altered
the destiny of capital-intensive projects
around the world.
While Sirius has provided limited drilling and completion services in
China and Australia, the company has
undertaken its only major well manufacturing at Carmon Creek in Alberta, Canada. Fully operated by Shell, the project
will produce 80,000 B/D of heavy oil
from tightly spaced wells at full capacity.
The first phase of the program got under
way in late 2013 using automated rigs
to drill more than 600 wells on 13 pad
sites. First production is expected this
year and the second phase is expected to
be completed by 2018.
But in January, Shell announced
that it is canceling the final two phases
of the project as part of its 3-year plan to
reduce spending by USD 15 billion. The
company also scrapped its plans to use
Sirius rigs for drilling coalbed methane
wells in Australia for a major liquefied
natural gas project and shale projects
inChina. JPT

55

DRILLING AUTOMATION

The Road Map to Automation

ohn de Wardt, president of De Wardt

& Company and program manager of
the Drilling Systems Automation Roadmap cross-industry initiative, has been
working for the past few years with other
experts to develop a comprehensive technology road map forautomation.
He is also a board member of SPEs
Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS), formed to drive the
development of automated well construction technologies. Based on his work with
these groups, he expects that a series of
breakthroughs in the next few years will
lead to a full embrace of automated drilling systems in the nextdecade.
It is easy to look at it and say it is
a nice pipe dream. But then when I discuss with people what is actually happening out there, I see data pointsthat verify
this is a realistic vision, said de Wardt.
The road map is a guide that companies
in the industry may follow to go from
automated components, or subsystems,
such as bottomhole assemblies or weight
on bit controllers, to a fully automated
drillingsystem.
While it may be a slow piecemeal
approach, de Wardt said such a plan is
needed to coordinate the complex ecosystem of companies involved with well
construction. The industry reality is that
it takes an amalgamation of equipment
manufacturers, rig contractors, and service companies to drill wells for operators. A few majors, such as Shell, national oil companies, and integrated project management companies that own
rigs may have such prowess but they are
theexceptions.
I think it will go both ways because
there will be some integrators that are
going to see the value in doing it from the
top down, he said. But independents
are not going to go out and spend big on
this; they are not going to go out and fund
such a change like that.
One stop on the road map involves
standardization. Using the Internet as an

56

The Drilling Systems Automation Roadmap identifies the critical challenges

thatmust be overcome, the first of which is systems architecture. The framework
will be used to solve the remaining challenges such as communications,
standardization, and human systems integration. Imagecourtesy of
JohndeWardt.

example, de Wardt said different automated systems need a common protocol so they can talk to each other and a
control system, regardless of who made
them. For instance, the work that DSATS
is undertaking and the application developed by NOV using an openplatform.
On how automation creates value,
de Wardt offers an example from the
mining industry. When Rio Tinto, a London-based mining company, sought to
transform one of its largest mines in
Australia into a completely autonomous
operation, it was able to do so relatively
quickly, thanks to some inherent advantages of its businessstructure.
The company owns the mine along
with all of the equipment and vehicles
used to operate it. So it worked with the
equipment manufacturers to automate
each machine, developed a remote control center, and then automated the train
that takes the ore more than 800 miles
to its wharf facility. Trials to autonomous
operations took 5 years and as a result,

some elements of production increased

by 30%.
Another example involved applying
automation and a remote control center to create an autonomous container wharf operation. De Wardt said the
wharf operator saw a reduction of 27%
in maintenance, a decrease of 22% in
fuel consumption, an increase of 18% in
productivity, and a drop of 33% in labor
costs. While not a true apples-to-apples
comparison, de Wardt said such numbers provide a basis for savings, and thus
reveal an idea of the potential value creation that oil and gas companies stand
to realize.
It is not going to make these huge
differences by doubling productivity or
more, because you shouldve done some
of that with your human resources, he
said. But if my downhole system automatically changes itself to get out of
large vibrations and shocks, and into low
vibrations and shocks and did it all the
time, it is going to save youmoney. JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

When Talking Automation, Mind the Algorithms

he word automation is a catchall

for a detailed set of levels of control;
10 in fact. And each will be applied in a
different way. As each system climbs the
scale, one rung at a time, pushing it up
will be increasingly accurate algorithms
and computer models.
According to robotics pioneer
Thomas Sheridans levels of automation,
at the most base level, systems are simply advisers with no control whatsoever.
Toward the middle of the scale, humans
take on more of a supervisory role, or as
some phrase it, are kept in the loop. The
highest level involves automated systems
that ask for no help from humans while
doing their tasks, and actually ignore
them, with the exception of override systems to initiate emergencyshutdowns.
Once we get to the point where
there is full automation, there are
going to be some exciting and radical
new changes that take place, said John
Hedengren, an assistant professor of
chemical engineering at Brigham Young
University, who leads a research team on
drilling automationand works with SPEs
Drilling Systems Automation Technical
Section (DSATS) on data quality assurance for automation.
Hedengren underscores his optimism for what is yet to come by citing
Moores Law, which has astutely predicted the exponential improvements seen
in computer processing over the past
half century. In the last 15 years, Hedengren said computing speed has increased
by 1,000 times, while in the same time
span, some of the algorithms for drilling optimization have also improved
by 1,000 times. If you put those two
together, it is actually a million times
faster to run some of the same problems
that we were running just 15 years ago,
he said.
For automation, it means what
was impossible to do even 5 years ago
is achievable today by the convergence
of advanced computing technology and

JPT JUNE 2015

SHERIDAN AND VERPLANKS 10 LEVELS OF AUTOMATION

Level

Description

The computer offers no assistance; the human must take all decisions
and actions.

The computer offers a complete set of decision/action alternatives, or

narrows the selection down to a few, or

suggests one alternative, and

executes the suggestion if the human approves, or

allows the human a restricted time to veto before automatic

execution, or

executes automatically, then necessarily informs humans, and

informs the humans if asked, or

informs the human only if it, the computer, decides to.

10

The computer decides everything and acts autonomously, ignoring

the human.

advanced measuring devices that feed

drilling information into the models for
constant readjustments.
Hedengren said with this development, the upstream industry is moving closer to on the fly well design.
This will be possible through the use
of improved sensors, wired pipe, and
more sophisticated algorithms that
enable surface drilling equipment to
control stick/slip, whirl,and other issues
that slow down drilling. The critical
thing with modeling and automation is
that we can take that real-time information and then adjust parameters to ultimately complete the well faster and with
more productivity, he said.
As the necessary precursors to automation, the majority of the drilling models and simulations must still be improved
and in a big way. However, the industry
has no benchmark or testing standards
for the algorithms used in the modelsand
simulations available on the market.

Hedengren said that the solution is at

least a couple of years away.
There is a deep divide between
good ideas and actual practice, he said.
To be able to get from one side to the
other, youve got to have these stepping
stones, like bench mark models, data validation, field trials, and maybe a test rig
trial as well.
Bodies such as DSATS will have a
role in defining the standards, Hedengren said. But until they do, companies
are left to their own devices for determining which models and simulations to use
for automated operations.
In one case, Hedengren said, a major
operator spent years evaluating commercially available models and simulations
before choosing a solution to move forward with. This glacial decision making
is just one example of how the automation sector has been held back in years
past because of a lack of standards for
the validation of simulation results. JPT

57

CONFERENCE REVIEW

Profits Possible at Low Oil Prices

But Tough Changes Required
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor

Low oil prices look like something the

industry needs to get used to. This will
be with us for a while, said Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer
(CEO) of ExxonMobil. While prices will
swing up at times, he predicted a difficult price environment for the next couple of years.
The message was repeated over
and over by the speakers at the annual
IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston,
which attracts executives from around
the globe.
You have to prepare for USD 60 and
less, said Stephen Chazen, president and
CEO of Occidental Petroleum. To adapt to
the new environment, we cut costs by a
third. Some projects are going away.
Companies will need to concentrate
on reducing their breakeven costs permanently or you will have tough times,
said Patrick Pouyann, CEO and president of the executive committee for
Total. For many, tough times are already
here, with announced layoffs from the
global oil and gas industry surpassing
100,000 by April, according to The Wall
Street Journal.
The number of drilling rigs working in North America is less than half of
what it was at the peak last year, but that
does not necessarily mean oil production
will decline. Continued low prices led
natural gas producers to sharply increase
their productivity, allowing them to produce far more with a fraction of the rigs
onceneeded.
A significant decline in rig activity
did not diminish the growth in capacity
in natural gas, Tillerson said. Will we
Pictures of speakers taken at 2015
CERAWeek. Courtesy of IHS.

58

This will be with

us for a while.
[It will be a]
difficult price
environment for
the next couple
of years.
Rex Tillerson,
chairman and chief
executive officer,
ExxonMobil

see the same phenomenon in tight oil? I

do not know, but that is why I believe this
is a very resilient industry. I think people
will be surprised.
So far, the measures of drilling efficiency and well productivity in the US
oil plays have improved at a rate that followed the path previously traveled by gas
producers, he said.
Occidentals plans for its key holdings in the Permian Basin in west Texas
suggests as much. Chazen said that
despite the more than 80 years of exploration and production in the enormous
basin, we are on the edge of a revolution
in productivity in the Permian. We will
find better ways to produce them, he
said. Progress over the next decade could
add another 1020 billion barrels we do
not see today in that basin.

New Roles
Following the lead of Saudi Arabia, the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) has abandoned its role

as the swing producer in the oil markets.

Rather than cutting production to limit
price moves, it chose to raise production
to defend its market share.
OPEC is not dead. It will continue to matter, but it is not what it used to
be, said Jim Burkhard, chief researcher,
global oil markets and energy scenarios,
for IHS. It is no longer balancing the oil
market, adjusting the supply as market
conditions change.
That led to a discussion of whether
the US is now the new swing producer
in the global oil market. If so, it is likely
to disappoint anyone hoping it will use
its influence to stabilize the market and
push prices back up. US companies have
slashed drilling by 50%, but producers, who pushed production from 4millionB/D to 9 million B/D in 4 years, are
not talking about cutting output.
Prices now are too low to expect
growth. That led to numerous calls at IHS
CERAWeek to lift the US oil export ban.
This could relieve the current oversupply

JPT JUNE 2015

Inventor Seeking Oil Industry Customers in Search of New Frontiers of Stickiness

Bitumen is so viscous that the ultraheavy crude
oil is often compared to peanut butter. Now
a startup company has found a coating that
prevents even peanut butter from sticking to
the sides of a container, and it hopes to do the
same for similarly sticky problems in the oil and
gasbusiness.
Our mission is to solve the worlds stickiest
problems, said David Smith, the inventor and
chief executive officer of LiquiGlide, during the new
technology showcase held during IHS CERAWeek.
A video of a clear jar filled with crude oil
showed how the viscous fluid quickly slid off
the treated surface, leaving it virtually clear.
The coating could change the industry, he
said. It could be used to ensure that pipes
flow, instruments do not clog, and metals shed
corrosive liquids.
Originally, the researchers were looking for a
way to prevent the buildup of methane hydrates
that clog pipelines. The company is now looking
into problems faced by those in oil transportation
and storage and seeking exploration and
production opportunities. But it has drawn the
most interest from consumer product makers. A
deal with the company that makes Elmers Glue
to keep its sticky product from sticking to bottles
was among the early deals for the company now
employing 20 people.
Attention-grabbing videos, like the one
showing peanut butter rolling around inside
a jar like a dry lump of clay, quickly raised the
companys profile. This coating could allow
something new: a squeeze bottle for peanut butter
that otherwise clogs such containers. When asked
about the price, Smith said it was far less than the
value added by the spray-ontreatment.
There are many potential applications in the
oil and gas business. The sticky problems range
from asphaltenes fouling processing equipment to
sludge building up in pipes.
Applying the method in the oil and gas
business will be a test of how adaptable and
durable these coatings can be. The method
combines textured solid with a liquid to create a
liquid-impregnated surface. The company likens
the solid surface to a microscopic sponge, which
holds the liquid in place by strong capillary forces.
When asked if the coating could be modified
for applications with a longer lifespan than
a bottle of peanut butter, and to stand up to
harsher chemical mixes, Smith said it can be
custom designed drawing from hundreds of
materials to work with almost every liquid, and
also at hightemperatures.

JPT JUNE 2015

While oil coats a sheet of steel, it slides off one treated

with a coating made by LiquiGlide. The startup company is
commercializing a technology developed at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology that can be adapted to provide nonstick
coating for a wide range of sticky substances.

59

CONFERENCE REVIEW

At USD 70 [per
bbl] we can grow.
At USD 80 we
can grow more.
Scott Sheffield,
chairman and chief
executive officer,
Pioneer Natural
Resources

of light US crude, which is more than the

domestic refineries need, and eliminate
the large price gap between the value of
US crude and the international standard,
Brent crude.
The price will not need to rise far
to bring back growth. Scott Sheffield,
chairman and CEO of Pioneer Natural
Resources, said, At USD70 we can grow.
At USD 80 we can growmore.
The breakeven price is falling for
many companies. We have seen 20% to
25% reduction in costs in four and a half
months, said Harold Hamm, chairman
and CEO of Continental Resources. The
company is also producing significantly
more of the oil in the ground. We are
now seeing 16% to 20% recovery in the
Bakken. It used to be 2% of the hydrocarbons in theground.
Another way to reduce costs is to
target drilling in the most productive
spots. This could significantly improve
efficiency because a relatively small
number of wells does the heavy lifting,
said Raoul LeBlanc, managing director
of IHS.
A recent IHS study sees early signs
that oil producers are getting more
selective. In US states with unconventional production, it divided oil-producing counties into three groups based
on average production. LeBlanc said the
study found that drilling declined more
in low-productivity counties. Breakeven
price levels for oil producers could be

60

significantly lowered by targeting the

best reservoir rock, reducing service
company costs, and improving methods for identifying drilling targets and
completingwells.
Drilling fewer wells at carefully
selected spots has been a major reason
for the big productivity gains of natural
gas producers, said Steve Mueller, chairman and CEO of Southwestern Energy,
adding, It is really about the rock.
Southwestern focuses on finding the
best drilling sites and the most productive intervals, targeting layers as narrow
as 20 ft in formations hundreds of feet
thick, said Bill Way, president and chief
operating officer of Southwestern, in a
recent investors meeting.

To Muellers mind, USD 100/bbl

oil was too high. While low gas prices
forced tough decisions, higher oil prices allowed operators to drill in marginal
areas. As for whether oil can follow the
path of gas, Mueller said that is hard to
say if the same production gains can be
achieved in this ultra-tight rock because
oil molecules aredifferent.
As the cost of producing oil falls,
even a modest rise in prices could
quickly increase production by North
American producers holding thousands of wells that have been drilled
but not completed, LeBlanc said. The
companies that drive the US production system are into growth, growth,
growth. The key constraint [on that] is
the amount of cash in their pockets,
he said.
While massive layoffs by US companies have been the clearest indication of the pain inflicted by lower prices, oil-producing countries can expect
demands by international oil companies seeking better terms because they
cannot afford high royalties and fees
when oil prices are down, and operators will be expanding the use of costcutting methods used in unconventionalformations.
We will apply the lean culture we
learned onshore to our offshore business, said John Hess, CEO of Hess
Corp. Low oil prices will impose more
costdiscipline.

We will apply
the lean culture
we learned
onshore to our
offshore business.
Low oil prices will
impose more cost
discipline.
John Hess,
chief executive officer,
Hess Corp.

JPT JUNE 2015

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The diverter system used in the REAL Connect service combines a mixture of specially
sized diverter material that dissolves and strong lightweight proppant that stays in
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+1 713-268-6218
2015 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 42863 05/2015

CONFERENCE REVIEW

Software That Learns To Predict Trouble in Machines

Veros Systems is selling simplicity. The electric machine
monitoring company promises accurate warnings of
problems long before they occur, with a minimum of
monitoring equipment to install.
But that minimal presence on site is built from the
companys analysis programs that use machine learning,
a branch of artificial intelligence, to learn to identify
significant changes in the electrical signature of an
induction motor, called a waveform, which can be used to
predict potential trouble.
We connect to the conductors that power motors, said
Jim Dechman, president and chief executive officer at Veros
Systems. The system picks up subtle changes that can
be used to analyze how efficiently it is running, how fast
a motor is spinning, and the condition of the motor and
equipment it is driving.
During a presentation at an IHS CERAWeek technology
forum, he estimated that the market for equipment
monitoring may include 50 million motors, pumps,
compressors, and fans across many industries. Key early
investor support has come from two oil industry giants,
Shell and Chevron.
The startup company located in Austin, Texas, is based
on the work of Alex Parlos, a professor of mechanical
engineering at Texas A&M University. Its history dates back
to 2006 when Veros licensed the technology from the
university, and its development accelerated in 2013 when
it received venture capital funding from two Austin-based
funds and Chevron Technology Ventures.
Its challenge is to convince users that it is a lower cost
and more reliable option than vibration analysis.
An article written by Parlos points out that tracking and
analyzing small and slowly changing variations in electric
waveformsthe chart of voltage and current over timeis a
reliable indicator of performance. This software can learn to
tell if variations in an engine are due to outside factors, such
as differences in the plants power supply, or an indication

Financial Support
A factor making this downturn different is that investors are more willing to
finance US oil companies, buying billions of dollars of stock and bonds in
recent months, Burkhard said. This will
help keep companies in business as they
work to cut costs and adjust to this
lower-priceenvironment.
In the 1980s, there was a mass failure of energy lending banks, and in
2008 the price crash was triggered by
the global financial meltdown, sharply limiting financial support. The main

62

This screen displays the results of the equipment

monitoring system, Veros ForeSight. The software
analyzes an induction motors waveform, which charts
variation in its voltage and current over time, to
monitor its condition.

of ball bearing wear. It is attached to a motor relay, which

is quicker and less costly than installing vibration sensors
inside a device.
Waveform data is fed into a small monitor on site for
analysis and is then sent to a users computer network.
The results are displayed on a dashboard offering real-time
performance, and the software offers alerts of expected
problems, Dechman said.
A customer testimonial on the companys website
said the system identified a serious problem in a motor
driving a compressor early enough to allow for repairs
during a scheduled shutdown. It also accurately advised
against heeding warnings from vibration analysis on other
machines, which were caused by factors that could be
addressed by adjusting their output.

source of funding now is from financial

firms rather than bankers.
Growing US influence in oil prices
is also expected to mean greater volatility. When Saudi Arabia was committed
to stabilizing the market, traders betting on falling oil prices could lose big
if Saudi Arabia moved to prop up prices.
Now those traders are the ones providing price discipline, and discipline is
not what we think of when we think of
financial markets, said Roger Diwan,
vice president of financial services
at IHS.

The lower-price case is also supported by weak demand from China, which
had been the worlds swing consumer,
absorbing rising oil production in recent
years. Growth has slowed in China. It
has reported its gross domestic product (GDP) is growing 7% a year, which
is down from what it was during booming years and at the minimum that is
required to create the jobs needed by its
growing workforce. But even that number may overstate the real growth rate.
China will be lucky to get to 6%,
said Nariman Behravesh, chief econo-

JPT JUNE 2015

OPEC is not
dead. It will
continue to
matter, but it is
not what it used
to be.
Jim Burkhard,
chief researcher,
global oil markets
and energy scenarios,
IHS

mist at IHS. While China recently moved

to stimulate bank lending, its options are
limited because it has doubled its debt as
a percentage of GDP in recent years to an
unsustainable level.

It will take a long time to unwind

this debt situation, he said, adding, This is a nasty scenario. They can
delay it but I do not see how they can
avoid it.

That scenario anticipates a long

slowdown for China. But predictions of
the future are no more reliable today than
they were a year ago when the consensus
was for oil to remain at USD 100/bbl.
Burkhards job is to consider a range
of possibilities. One such scenario, which
IHS calls vertigo, assumes that a large
developing country, such as China, opts
for a massive economic stimulation program that causes a short-term spike in
oil prices.
A price spike still is possible, because
while oil supplies are now high with a lot of
oil stored in tanks and tankers, the margin
between demand and production is relatively slim, at less than 2 millionB/D. But
based on recent experience, with a continued moderate global GDP growth rate
of 2.5% to 3% and reduced oil production costs, Burkhard said we could stay at
USD50 or so for a longtime. JPT

Program Offers Turn-by-Turn Directions for Drilling in a Horizontal Well

Directional drillers who navigate the drill bit as it turns
from vertical to horizontal are now being offered a
computer software with turn-by-turn recommendations
like a navigation program in a car. But drilling is far more
complicated than just getting from Point A to Point B.
The new offering from Hunt Advanced Drilling
Technologies advises the driller on when to turn or slide
the drillstring, and the force to apply while drilling. It also
is constantly tracking the current position of the drill bit,
whichcan be seen on a 3D display comparing the actual
path of the project with the planned one.
Based on about 50 wells drilled for its corporate
parent,Hunt Oil, and for customers, the drilling navigator
has significantly speeded drilling, said Todd Benson,
a vicepresident for Hunt Advanced Drilling, during a
presentation at a new technology showcase at IHS
CERAWeek in Houston.
In side-by-side tests using the same drilling rig crew
forsimilar wells for Hunt, the advisory system reduced
drilling time by an average of a day-and-a-half, he said.
Just as important, the holes drilled using the advisor
endedcloser to the planned target and with less tortuosity,
which leaves a crooked borehole that can make it difficult
toinstall casing. Ups and downs, known as porpoising, can
also trap fluid over time, reducing a wells output.
It doesnt do you any good to drill really fast if you drill
away from the target, Benson said.
Using the advisor program, 80% of the wells drilled
were within 5 ft of the target vs. 44% for traditional drillers,

JPT JUNE 2015

he said. Located on the wellsite, the computer doing the

calculations is constantly evaluating millions of options.
The program considers the economics of every decision,
balancing whether drilling faster now could result in a well
that will produce less in the long term.
Wells drilled using the tool show it can narrow the
difference in performance of the most skilled and least
skilled directional drillers, he said. Like directional drillers, a
day rate is charged by Hunt Advanced.
The software offers a shared view of the well for anyone
working on the project in the field or in the office.
The dashboard display shows the currentposition of
the drill bit, the angle it is drilling, the mechanical specific
energy applied, and the rate of penetration. On the day he
was showing the hardware, his pad computer displayed
incoming drilling data from westTexas.
Directional drilling efficiency is the product of many
adjustments. A computer keeps a record of each move,
quickly computing how each decision should extend the hole
and comparing how it actually did, and making adjustments
as plans change.
One goal of the program is to limit the number of
eventsthat can destroy a tool. Convincing directional
drillersto try the tool can be hard because they do not
wantto promote a tool that might someday do what they
do. But Benson said that when they find it makes it easier
for them to do the constant calculations needed to more
efficiently drill a horizontal well, they do not want to
goback.

63

CONFERENCE REVIEW

Upbeat Natural Gas Producers

Show Value of Low Expectations
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor

The price declines for oil and natural gas

are equally brutal, with roughly a 50%
decline for both fuels. But the mood
of those working in the gas sector was
upbeat at the recent IHS CERAWeek
conference compared with those in oil.
The difference can be credited to
the differing expectations. On the oil
side, USD 100/bbl crude looked like a
sure thing going forward until the price
slid to around USD 50/bbl. Those on the
gas side experienced a move within a low
price range they have been living with
for years.
That range roughly runs from a high
of USD 5 to a low of USD 2 per MMBtu,
which is near the recent price of about
USD 2.50, said Dave Pursell, managing director, head of securities at Tudor,
Pickering, Holt & Co.
For the last 5 years, gas prices have
been down, said Steven Mueller, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of
Southwestern Energy. While he said he
would like to see prices rise, we designed
our company around low gas prices.
The group has hammered down
the cost of profitably producing gas and
maximized output by targeting the best
reservoir rock, most of which is in the
Marcellus Shale. The same can be said of
the other companies working in formations that mostly produce dry gas.
Production has not only increased,
it has accelerated, Mueller said. He
described the combination of ingredients
that led to the surge as a powerfunction.
The fortunes of oil and gas diverged
in fall 2008. Initially, both oil and gas
exploration plunged after the financial
crisis led to a recession. While oil recovered in late 2009, setting the stage for
the booms in the Bakken, Eagle Ford,

64

For the last 5 years,

gas prices have been
down. Production has
not only increased, it
has accelerated.
Steven Mueller,
chairman and chief executive
officer, Southwestern Energy

and Permian formations, gas prices

stayedlow.
Both oil and gas drilling reached
nearly the same peak when measured
by the number of drilling rigs working.
The top week for gas was 1,606 working rigs in mid-September 2008, while
oil reached 1,601 in September 2014,
according to the Baker Hughes weekly rig count totals. Since they hit their
peaks, the number of rigs drilling for gas
has sunk to 225 in late April while oil has
fallen to 701.
While the spotlight shifted to the oil
boom, a group of efficiency-driven producers focused on driving down the cost
of producing dry gas, particularly in the
Marcellus in Pennsylvania and adjoining
states in the eastern United States.
During that time, production from
these formations played a key role in fueling a national surge in gas demand. Consistently low gas prices have led to chemical plant expansions and to the start of
US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
And growing supplies, matched by equally large demand increases, dampened the

wide price swings that have long been an

argument against gas use.
What made the difference is production. It is still a supply story, said
Mary Lashley Barcella, director of
North American natural gas at IHS. In
the past year, she said gas producers
added 6 Bcf/D in the Lower 48. That
isastonishing.
Gas production needs to continue growing at that pace to meet equally
rapid growth in demand, which she predicted would rise by about 25 Bcf/D by
2020. More than half of that would come
from the rising use of gas in power plants
built to produce more power and replace
aging generators, many of them coalburning. By 2020, gas and coal are both
expected to represent one-third of US
electric generating capacity.
A new group of customers represents nearly one-quarter of expected demand growth: LNG export terminals. The balance of the rising demand
will come from industrial users, exports
to Mexico by pipelines, and natural gas
burned for oil sandsproduction.

JPT JUNE 2015

What made
the difference is
production. It is still
a supply story.
[In the past year]
gas producers
added 6 Bcf/D in the
Lower 48. That is
astonishing.
Mary Lashley Barcella,
director of North American
natural gas, IHS

Southwesterns annual production has

jumped from 195 Bcfe in 2007 to 768 Bcfe
last year, including acquisitions. Its finding and development costs dropped from
USD2.70 to USD 1.29 per Mcf, according to
a recent company presentation.
Southwesterns average drilling time
per well in the Fayetteville Shale has sunk
from 17.6 days to 6.8 days, even though

the average lateral length shown on the

chart more than doubled. The company
owns drilling rigs and can drill the wells it
needs, many with laterals up to 12,000 ft.
The company analyzes a lot of data to find
ways to become more efficient, which
allowed it to rapidly improve its productivity on acreage acquired in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Mueller said.

Those added reserves came with two

ingredients needed for profitable operations: thick, rich reservoir rock and
major markets nearby. Demand in the
US is in the eastern half of the country,
for now, he said. That handicaps those
with gas production in distant markets
such as western Canada or the Rockies.
A growing number of LNG export
terminals concentrated along the US Gulf
Coast will create demand for producers in Texas and nearby states. While the
first LNG export facility has yet to ship
gas, Michael Smith, chairman and CEO
of Freeport LNG Development, said projects likely to actually get built could push
demand for US gas to 12 Bcf/D.
While 30 company groups are seeking permits to export LNG, he said about
seven facilities have a good chance of
getting built. Those projects would be
enough to make the US one of the worlds
leading LNG exporters, and the cost of
expanding established facilities is far less
than building a new export facility. JPT

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JPT JUNE 2015

65

WELLBORE POSITIONING

Better Survey Management Makes

Wells Safer and More Productive
Joel Parshall, JPT Features Editor

Do you know where your wellbore is?

The question is not rhetorical, but
one the SPE Wellbore Positioning Technical Section (WPTS) strives to ensure
that well operators can answer with high
accuracy. The ability to do so is central to safe drilling operations, optimum production, and maximum recovery of reserves. And knowing the answer
depends on good wellbore survey management, a practice that frequently is
deficient among drilling operations managers. It is a problem that the WPTS is
trying to remedy.
Obtained by means of gyroscopic systems or magnetic systems such as
measurement-while-drilling (MWD) and
logging-while-drilling (LWD) tools, a
wellbore survey provides essential depth
and directional data as a well is drilled.
The use of data from properly designed
surveys enables operators to ensure that
a well will have a safe pathway to its target and avoid a collision with another
wellbore. Survey information is also cru-

cial in preparing to drill a relief well,

should it be necessary.
In addition, surveys provide geoscience staff and government regulators
with important data, play a significant
role in forensic investigations, and aid
in estimating reserves. Operators also
sometimes obtain post-drilling surveys
to achieve an enhanced accuracy of wellbore locational data.

Safety and Economic Benefits

Because the highest priority is to drill
wells safely, conducting a wellbore survey is first and foremost a safety practice.
However, the WPTS believes that many
people in the industry fail to recognize
the full economic benefit that good survey practice adds to drilling projects by
reducing the uncertainty of achieving the
intended well path. Thus, they underestimate the economic cost of inadequate
survey practice.
The growth of pad drilling, in which
multiple wells are drilled from the same

Good survey practice helps to ensure optimum reservoir drainage, left, while
poor survey practice increases the likelihood that some reserves, shown by
gray areas, will be stranded between wells. Image courtesy of Angus Jamieson.

66

location and spaced closer together, accentuates the need for good wellbore survey
practice for safety and economicreasons.
If you dont know where your well
is, how do you know what your reserves
are? asked Robert Wylie, product line
director of Dynamic Drilling Solutions at
National Oilwell Varco.
Reflecting this theme, Wylie moderated a WPTS topical luncheon titled
Why Did Your Reservoir Just Move? at
the 2014 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). Good survey
management drives increased value for
wells, reservoirs, and companies, he said.
One size does not fit all in the design
of a well survey. The operator must assess
its reservoir goals, safety needs, and risk
aversion in drilling the well, and the surveys potential for enhancing the well
value, and then design a survey program
to meet those needs, Wylie said.
The problem is that operators conducting MWD surveys often obtain data
only on the inclination, azimuth, and
measured depth of the wellbore. A full
MWD survey should include raw data
from individual sensor readings, from
which important wellbore survey accuracy information is obtained on magnetic field strength, total gravitational
field, and magnetic dip, Wylie said. And
the survey data should be confirmed for
quality control by two independent tool
types in every section of the well as a best
practice, he said.
The reason why some operators conduct an incomplete survey is to save rig
time and expense, Wylie said. Although
MWD tools obtain the needed raw data,
downloading and processing the information takes an additional 90 seconds or

JPT JUNE 2015

so. Repeating that process for each section of the well as it is drilled could add
USD 10,000 to USD 30,000 to the cost.

What the reservoir engineer asked for

Shortcuts Are Shortsighted

Some drilling operations managers view
these savings as a way to beat timetable
and budgetary goals, but this is shortsighted, Wylie said. The risk that poor
surveying poses to well and reservoir
production greatly exceeds the economic
value of the savings, to say nothing of the
risk of a rare but potentially disastrous
wellbore collision.
He stressed the importance of good
survey management for optimal spacing of multiple wellbores. For example,
in a shale project that Wylie cited during
his presentation, an operator who had
planned to drill three wells from a pad
determined that under standard survey
management, the risk of a wellbore collision was high.
The operator had three options,
Wylie explained.
1.Plan the wells farther apart but
not optimally spaced for reservoir
drainage, which would leave
reserves unproduced between
thewells.
2.Shorten the planned middle well
to ensure collision avoidance,
which would reduce reservoir
exposure and leave reserves
unproduced.
3.Spend the additional money for a
better wellbore survey program,
thus reducing the margin of
survey uncertainty and ensuring
safe drilling of all three wells
with optimum spacing for full
oilrecovery.
The operator chose the third
option, improving the well economics by
several million dollars, he said.
Wylie also cited the analyses of North
Sea and West African reservoirs in which
a 1-ft error in the true vertical depth
measurements for specific wells translated into shortfalls of 60,000 bbl to
100,000 bbl in recoverable oil reserves.
In another case involving production by

JPT JUNE 2015

Planned spacing

The spacing of three horizontal wells as planned for reservoir development

could not be ensured by means of a standard measurement-whiledrillingsurvey.

What the well planner saw

Uncertainty of position
with standard MWD
surveys.

The well planner determined that the positional uncertainty of the planned
wells created the risk of a wellbore collision.

What the well planner suggested

Uncertainty of position
with a good survey plan.

The planner recommended spending additional funds for a better survey plan
that would reduce the uncertainty, ensure safe drilling paths, and improve
reservoir drainage. Images courtesy of Performance Drilling Technology.

67

WELLBORE POSITIONING

Wellbore Positioning Workshops To Be Held in Galveston, Texas

The SPE Wellbore Positioning Technical Section (WPTS) has
slated two workshops on wellbore positioning for November
in Galveston, Texas. The Industry Steering Committee on
Wellbore Survey Accuracy (ISCWSA), which is affiliated with
the WPTS, is cosponsoring the events.
A 2-day applied technology workshop (ATW), titled
Well Placement and Intersection Best Practices: Maximizing
Value, Minimizing Risk, Managing Safety, will be held
on 911 November at the San Luis Resort, Spa, and
ConferenceCenter.
John de Wardt, president of De Wardt & Company,
and John Wright, global relief well adviser at Wild Well
Control, are co-chairs of the program, which will include
presentations by industry experts and working sessions to
build expertise in best practices for intercepting geological
targets, avoiding adjacent wells, planning relief well
trajectories, and managing positional uncertainty to improve
subsurface modeling correlations.
Many operators still take their wellbore position accuracy
for granted, Wright said. Only after a major mishap, such as
a well collision or poor production because of misplacement
in the reservoir, do they focus on Why did that happen?
Engineers need to allocate time in their well delivery
process to assess the risk of wellbore position uncertainty
for its potential consequences for health, safety, and
the environment and for production objectives. That
assessment would dictate the survey program and quality
control required to mitigate the risk. The mission of the
WPTS/ISCWSA is to provide those engineers with the training
and resources necessary to make that assessment.
The ATW will also hold a relief well drilling competition
with a simulator that participants will be able to run on
theirlaptops.
This simulation takes the attendee deep into the world
of uncertainty, ranging, and risk, without the need to mop up
a catastrophe afterward, Wright said. You will be surprised

steam-assisted gravity drainage, placing the wellbore 1 m deeper would have

added USD 1.8 million worth in recoverable reserves, he said.

True Along-Hole Well Depth

In another presentation at the ATCE, Ton
Loermans, a former engineer and petrophysicist at Shell and retired petroleum
engineering research consultant at Saudi
Aramco, addressed quality control for
measuring true along-hole well depth.
For giant fields, oil-in-place differences resulting from relatively small depth
errors may become very large. Few peo-

68

just how wrong your assumptions were about the right way
to preplan your contingency wells and the ability of modern
technology to achieve intercept goals when they are used
and applied correctly.
A second ATW, titled Surface and Wellbore Positioning
Errors Impact Subsurface Models and Reserves Estimates
How Much and How Serious? will be held from 9 a.m. to
5p.m. on 12 November at the San Luis conference center.
De Wardt and Jon Stigant, owner of the consultancy Stigant
Enterprises, are co-chairs of the program, which will feature
expert presentations followed by a panel debate.
Subsurface models contain potentially large errors
because of surface and wellbore position uncertainties
resulting from inadequate surveying practices, especially
through the cross correlation between wells, de Wardt said.
Such errors can lead to large impacts on these models
and on reserve estimates, impacts that have never been
fully assessed. The ATW will break new ground by assessing
the scale of the problem and developing cross-disciplinary
initiatives that interested parties can launch to tackle
theseissues.
Both workshops have been designed to accommodate
the itineraries of people visiting clients and head offices in
Houston as well as the convenience of industry professionals
based in the Houston area. Engineers responsible for drilling,
drilling management, and relief well contingency planning;
geoscientists responsible for operations and reservoirs; well
surveying specialists; asset managers; and risk managers
are encouraged to attend the workshops.
Additional program information on the first workshop
isavailable on http://www.spe.org/events/15aga4/
?utm_source=JPT+online+article&utm_medium=EmailLink&utm_content=15AGA4-Email-Link-15AGA4-JPT13APR15&utm_campaign=JPT-well-placement-article.
Additional program information on the second workshop
will be available online at a later date.

ple will believe such variation of oil in

place might be as much as 1 billion bbl per
foot of error, which is an extreme case, but
differences of many, manymore than
just a few scoremillions of barrels of
reserves per foot of depth uncertainty are
not unheard of, Loermans said. Hence,
one of the main objectives is to bring that
uncertainty of depth down and eliminate it
from our risk-in-development planning.
An error of a few feet could mean
the difference between an economic project and a nondevelopment. For example,
such an error in the incremental development of a small block could lead to the

need for two wells instead of one, which

would unacceptably double the cost for a
given level of recovery.
As an extreme case of logging depth
problems, Loermans described a giant
oil field that had to be abandoned some
years ago with 75% of its reserves still
in the ground. The reason for that was
essentially some boo-boos in handling
wireline depth, he said.
The general problem of accurate
logging depth calculation depends on
proper stretch corrections in the wireline cable and drillstring. Wireline logs
are generally corrected for stretch, but

JPT JUNE 2015

The path of a lateral wellbore (red)

drilled with a standard measurementwhile-drilling survey shifts almost
100ft at final depth from its planned
path to target (blue) because of
known local magnetic anomalies.
With better survey practice, which
makes corrections for the anomalies,
the wellbore (green) hits its target.
Image courtesy of Performance
Drilling Technology.

the calculations were developed many

years ago for smooth vertical wellbores
and are inappropriate for the horizontal wells of today, Loermans said. LWD
logs rely on drillers depth measurements
without stretch corrections.
Some people believe that reliance on
drillers depth is not a problem, assuming
the errors are consistent. However, there
is no consistency in the errors of drillers depths, Loermans said, and in many
cases, the failure to make proper stretch
corrections has resulted in wellbores that
are not landed at the supposed depth. The
distance to the reservoir oil/water contact will differ from the planned/optimal
distance, and the wells will become pre-

maturely uneconomic years later because

they water out a few months early.
Best practices in wellbore survey
management have not always taken a high
priority. The troubles with inaccurate
depths only show up long after drilling the
well, Loermans said. So the people in
control of specific drilling operations, the
ones who will have to do the extra work
and spend the extra money to improve the
procedures, probably wont be in control
of those operations to see the benefits.
Still, the corrections are straightforward. We have the mathematical tools;
they go back to [Robert] Hooke, a contemporary of Newton in the 17th century.
Proper correction is a piece of cake really, he said.
Industry performance could improve
through collaboration between operators and service companies to discuss
their problems, write new equations, and
update procedures, but operators must
be willing to share data and information.
Sharing could be a sticking point
because operators are often reluctant
to discuss issues such as mistakes and
near misses even internally. Too many
people dont tell enough about mishaps, Loermans said. Higher management may only half know what the problems are because people dont tell them
enough. They may be discouraged from
doing so by their supervisors, and people
outside the company wont know either.
So nobody learns very much.
Additional regulation that requires
operators to release raw log data, interpreted data, and reports, after a certain
permissible delay, could help, he said.

Wellbore Positioning eBook Is Available

The eBook, Introduction to Wellbore Positioning, published by the Industry
Steering Committee for Wellbore Survey Accuracy (ISCWSA), is available on
http://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/res-themes/energy/
wellbore-positioning-download.
The industry standard publication was written to provide better educational
material to support the understanding of borehole surveying issues. It was
published through the research office of the University of the Highlands and
Islands and may be used for free.
The ISCWSA is a committee of the SPE Wellbore Positioning Technical Section.

JPT JUNE 2015

Put Well in Right Place

Also at the ATCE, Angus Jamieson, professor of offshore engineering at the University of the Highlands and Islands in
the United Kingdom, said that drilling
should not be viewed as though there
were a starting gun. Rather than tell
the contractor, Finish this well as fast
as you possibly can and well pay you a
bonus, he said, how about putting it
in the right place so that we get the production that were looking for. Thats
where the rewards should lie. Because
by the time the well waters out 6 months
early, the contractor who drilled it is
long gone.
Jamieson told of one offshore relief
well project in Asia where the well that
needed to be intercepted had not been
surveyed, which added months to drilling the relief well. They were 9 months
on that well, and the survey company
they could have used on the original well
might have cost them USD 20,000, he
said. Did they save USD 20,000?
For spending such a relatively small
sum, operators can greatly reduce the
uncertainty of wellbore positioning,
Jamieson stressed.
There are four major corrections
that we can apply: stretch corrections,
sag corrections, in-field referencing corrections, and magnetic interference corrections, he said. They are very easy
to fix. We can get marvelous accuracy
out of them. The problem is that the
company thats selling you the service is
also the company thats telling you that
you need it. So its very difficult, a tough
sell. We need to change the mentality in
theindustry.
The small additional spending
should be compared with the much
greater value of the production likely to
be preserved. And a good understanding
between geoscience and drilling staffs of
survey requirements is needed to design
fit-for-purpose programs, he said.
If we dont get the message out that
wellbore positioning is worth spending
money on, Jamieson concluded, we will
continue to waste reserves and occasionally risk lives.JPT

69

DATA MINING

Mining Daily Drillers Reports

Looking for Telling Patterns
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor

There is a lot of information buried in

drilling reports written every day, but little of it appears in computer databases.
Numbers from daily drilling reports
can be added to databases along with
data from sensors on the rig that can
be crunched in seconds by a computer. But the perspective of the drillers is
only available to a person reading the
reports. Turning those sometimes personal, always jargon-filled observations
into a form a computer can analyze is a
challenge the oil industry is beginning
to take on.
BP created a system able to mine
the daily reports filed by drillers, seeking
what a paper on the project (SPE 173429)
describes as insightful.
The project used natural language
processing to seek out key words and
phrases related to drilling, and patternrecognition software to identify common concerns. The paper described it
as an automatic discovery of unobservableevents.

(a)

Time 1

The results were displayed in the

form of word clouds. These graphic displays highlighted the size and prominence of terms related to drilling performance appearing frequently in reports.
The goal is to begin using this unstructured datadocuments not in the form
of a computer databaseto answer a
pressingquestion:
How can we pinpoint the progress
of things that could impact the performance and the cost of the well as it is
being drilled, said Mohamed Sidahmed, a
data analytics scientist at BP, who recently spoke about the three-well project at
the SPE Digital Energy Conference and
Exhibition in The Woodlands, Texas.
You might be able to spot the most
high-frequency events, but most of the
time, there are subtle issues that do not
reveal themselves obviously, Sidahmed
said. For example, during the test, the
analysis highlighted driller comments
about a mud pump 3 weeks before it
broke down.

(b)

Time 2

Language Learning
BP is the first oil company to report using
these data-mining methods for drilling monitoring. Its goal is to increase
safety and efficiency. These techniques
have been previously used for analyzing
trends on the Internet and monitoring by
intelligence agencies.
In the field of business analytics, pulling data from reports, emails,
speeches or anything else that has been
written falls into the realm of natural
language systems. Finding useful information from technical papers, such as
the SPE papers on the OnePetro website,
is an area of interest for Currie Boyle, an
IBM distinguished engineer in business
analytics. In an industry where a new
generation is taking over, he said this
could be used by newcomers for knowledge capture.
How do I get someone new up
to speed? he said. He wants to use
unstructured data searches to teach newcomers faster and more successful-

(c)

Time 3

Words extracted from daily drilling reports were analyzed by BP using a program that identified frequently used
words and usage trends over time. These word clouds show how pump references become more prominent over time,
suggesting driller concerns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

70

JPT JUNE 2015

ly than by relying only on experience

andmentoring.
But developing a program to extract
answers from a technical paper presents problems ranging from programming the machine to learn the meaning
of the evolving language of engineersa
Christmas tree is for valves, not giftsto
finding ways to sort out the best answer
from papers written by experts who
frequently disagree on how to explain
welldata.
Boyle compared this challenge to
another of his interests, autonomous
machines, such as driverless cars, and
noted that open unscripted natural language interfaces are much more difficult
than autonomous control.
But the potential of mining these
documents is huge because there is so
much unstructured information out
there. IBM said in most organizations,
80% to 90% of the information is
unstructured. It is a young field that IBM
traces back to 1997. It has been used to
analyze call center traffic to look for early
signs of product defects based on the
questions asked.
Structured information can give
you answers to questions that you already
know to ask, explains Scott Spangler,
a senior technical staff member in text
mining and software development at
IBM, who was quoted on the company
website. But what unstructured information can tell you is the answer to questions you didnt even know you needed to
worry about. It lets you know what you
dont know.
There is room for growth in all
sorts of data in the oil field. BP is mining the text of daily drilling reports seeking unnoticed problems. Baker Hughes is
pulling the numbers from these reports
to help feed software that it developed
to compare the actual time required
to drill wells with performance benchmarks for each task required to do so.
It produces measures of nonproductive time and what the Baker Hughes
paper (SPE 173413) called invisible lost
time, which is work done slower than on
comparableprojects.

JPT JUNE 2015

Reports on how long it takes to perform each step of the drilling process
plus the time when drilling is not progressing, are compared to performance
indicators from similar wells.
For example, the Baker Hughes
paper found that a crew drilling an offshore well was taking 8 minutes for pipe
connections that normally would take
about 3.5 minutes, which could add more
than 93 hours if that time was the norm
for the project. The goal is to quickly
identify and solve problems before the
time lost grows large.

Tough Test
The Baker Hughes system pulled numbers from drilling reports. Pulling words
from the text of those daily reports is far
harder to do.
While numbers and standard measurement units are strictly defined,
words found in reports written by drillers have specific meanings that cannot
be found in an online search. To fill that
gap, BPs information experts talked with
drilling experts to build a dictionary of
words and acronyms used on the rig
inreports.
BPs test required setting up a program to extract useful text from the daily
drilling reports. The analysis weighted
the terms based on their frequency of use
and their relativeimportance.
The words in the report were analyzed using an algorithm that created a
term frequency matrix to show which
words were becoming more prominent
over time. In other words, those things
were trending. In a diagram showing the
words used, the mud pump grew larger
over time.
The same could be done by a regular reader, but these scattered references would have been easy to miss. Using
digital analysis to change how wells are
drilled requires convincing humans that
the machine is a useful member of a collaborative real-time environment.
A question facing the effort is how
to best present the results to workers in a
way that effectively gets the appropriate
level of attention.

A pattern is not a prediction, but

it can point to areas worthy of further
attention. The pattern showing the mud
pump getting larger suggested that drillers were concerned. Report analysis
could have led to a check of why it was
mentioned and whether other available
data pointed to a problem.
The goal is to get past reacting to things based on real-time data,
Sidahmed said. This is part of a larger
effort to use data-driven learning techniques for decision making to support
drilling deeper, longer, and more challenging wells.JPT

RESOURCES

71

Q&A

Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, CTO, Saudi Aramco

Abdelghani Henni, JPT Middle East Editor

Ahmad Al-Khowaiter
is the chief technology
officer of Saudi
Aramco. He was the
chief engineer from
2011 to 2014 and
executive director
of power systems
in 2014 before assuming his present
role. Al-Khowaiter joined Saudi Aramco
in 1983 and has held technical roles in
oil and gas production organizations,
including design, project management,
commissioning, and operations, and
supervisory, managerial, and general
management positions.
He led the commissioning and
startup of the Hawiyah and Haradh gas
plants, two of the largest natural gas
processing plants in the world, and
the planning and development of the
King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology (KAUST).
Al-Khowaiter holds a BS degree
in chemical engineering from the King
Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals,
an MS degree in chemical engineering
from the University of California at Santa
Barbara, and an MBA degree as a Sloan
Fellow from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.

72

How important is technology to

Saudi Aramcos strategy?

The development and implementation of

a globally competitive technology is very
important to Saudi Aramco. We believe
technology leadership drives continued
and future success in the energy sector
and is essential to achieving our aspirations to help solve global energy challenges and to stimulate the local knowledge economy.
We have laid the groundwork to create a sustainable competitive advantage
through the introduction of a balanced
portfolio of technically feasible and commercially viable technology options.
In upstream, the key research
domains are reservoir engineering, computational modeling, drilling, production, geophysics, and geology. Research
and development activities seek to
increase incremental oil recovery from
major reservoirs and increase the companys resource base. Specific technology
projects are directed toward increasing
exploration probability, reducing finding
costs, increasing production reliability,
and enhancing cost efficiency.
In downstream, by which we mean
everything that takes place above the
ground, the key research domains are oil
and gas treatment, oil upgrading, chemicals, and network integrity. The downstream research domains are all about
maximizing the value from every barrel of oil we produce, which is achieved
though innovation in process improvement and production efficiencies in
downstream businesses such as chemicals and refining.
In addition, our strategic research
domains of carbon management and fuel/

engine technology pursue the long-term

sustainability of crude oil as the preferred
energy source in the globalmarketplace.
What are the new technologies
being pursued?

Our technology portfolio includes a number of cutting-edge innovations across a

range of disciplines, including areas such
as advanced materials, robotics, computational modeling, and others.
For example, researchers at our
upstream research center are at the forefront of leveraging micro- and nanotechnologies to develop breakthrough technologies to increase oil and gasproduction.
Specific areas of interest include
exploration, drilling, reservoir characterization, mapping and detecting various
subsurface fluids, improved/enhanced oil
recovery, andproduction.
Our vision for in-situ reservoir
nano-agents includes multiple technologies such as the following:
Intelligent nano-agents, 1/1,000
the size of a human hair, that are
designed to be injected into the
reservoir, collect data, and then
be retrieved from producing wells
Magnetic nanomappers that can
be used to map the movements
of injected fluids inside
hydrocarbon reservoirs
Nano-agents that can act as
delivery agents for chemicals
targeted for deep release into the
reservoir
Other potential applications include
microsensors and nanosensors for use in
harsh environments during drilling, production, and inside the reservoir.

JPT JUNE 2015

In our efforts to improve seismic

data acquisition, we are developing,
along with partners, a fully automated
marine seismic acquisition system. This
system, based on autonomous underwater vehicles, promises to revolutionize
marine data acquisition, making it more
cost-effective, faster, and with better data
quality than ever before.
Our work also includes industry-leading simulation tools such as our flagship
reservoir simulator GigaPOWERS with its
super-high resolution capabilities, that
allow us to use geoscience and engineering
data to develop high-fidelity models that
enable better placement of wells, improve
sweep efficiency, and optimize field development leading to higher hydrocarbon
recovery. New simulation tools are being
developed that will be many times more
powerful than GigaPOWERS.
In addition, we are working on new
approaches to basin simulation, which
will support the exploration program by
simulating the oil and gas migration over
millions of years from source rock to
potential traps throughout the Arabian
Peninsula. This will help locate new oil
and gas accumulations in the peninsula and the Red Sea, leading to a higher
hydrocarbon resource base.
In other areas such as artificial lift,
we are developing advanced electrical
submersible pumps capable of a 1-day
rigless change-out and with extended
service life.
We are also investigating nextgeneration drilling microchips, which
may present a low-cost and low-risk
downhole data acquisition system that
will help optimize drilling operations.
To enhance well productivity, we
are also investigating in-situ exothermic
chemical reactions as a means to create
fractures around the wellbore.
We are pursuing the development
of a number of technologies to maximize
the conversion of oil into more valuable
products, including special demulsifier
chemicals, natural gas upgrading membranes, and novel catalysts and processes
for refining and petrochemicals.
In support of our companys move
into the chemicals business, we are devel-

JPT JUNE 2015

oping competitive technologies to directly convert crude oil to chemicals via multiple routes to help provide additional
feedstock for petrochemicalexpansion.
Are the technologies being
developed in your research center
open to use or proprietary
technology?

We continuously strive to leverage our

intellectual property (IP) portfolio, practices, and processes to position Saudi
Aramco as a global technology leader.
We pursue patents in areas in which IP
protection provides a competitive advantage, global recognition, strategic positioning, and product differentiation.
In 2014, our IP strategy yielded significant results. We were granted 99 patents by the US Patent and Trademark
Office, the most awarded in a single year
in our history, and 154 new patent applications were filed.
We are open to license certain technologies when it makes business and commercial sense. But we are very selective
about which technologies are included in
our licensing portfolio, as some we see as
offering distinct competitive advantages
and, so, we choose to keep them in-house.
Recently, your company inaugurated
several R&D centers in the US and
around the world. Will the research
conducted in these centers focus on
problems specific to reservoirs in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA),
or will it focus on general industry
problems?

Establishing and sustaining a global research and technology presence is

a key enabler of our drive to achieve
leadership across our technology portfolio. Collaborating on a global scale
with world-class partners in research
domains of strategic importance to us
significantly enhances the quality and
scope of our research and validates
our research directions. This approach
provides access to the diverse pools of
research talent around the world and
allows us to build upon the experience
and knowledge of others. Harnessing
such intellectual and professional diver-

sity is one of the key sources of innovation and competitiveness.

Our global research centers and
technology offices represent strategic
hubs of innovation and research talent
in targeted locations worldwide. In addition to our in-kingdom research center at
the King Abdullah University of Science
and Technology (KAUST), five international research centers and three technology offices continued to grow in scale
and scope, providing support and services to research and technology projects, and enabling innovative research
in high-impact, long-term, value-creating domainsall designed to provide us
with a substantial competitive advantage.
These centers will cover a wide variety of challenges that we face in different domains from exploration to drilling to completion, and will include not
only the challenges we face in KSA, but
also challenges that the industry faces as
a whole.JPT

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73

SPE REPORT

SPE Publishes Technical Report

on Worst-Case Discharges

In March, the SPE Board of Directors

approved the publication of a technical
report on the calculation of worst-case
discharges (WCDs). The report, titled
Calculation of Worst-Case Discharge,
documents the consensus from an
SPE-sponsored summit held in March
last year.
At the summit, 68 subject-matter
experts met in New Orleans with the
goal of improving the methods of calculating and reporting WCD scenarios. The attendeesrepresenting operators, regulators, academia, and service
providersdeveloped the report, which
was made available for comment for 30
days and edited to include comments
before being approved by the Board.
The focus of the technical report is
on the calculation of WCD rather than
well design or intervention. Its primary application is in the US Gulf of Mexico, although the report may be used for
wells elsewhere.
Deterministic methods are proposed because of the wording of regulations and requirements for detailed well
design and response planning. Probabilistic modeling and statistical analysis are
unacceptable. All reservoir properties,
the report says, should be best-estimate,
success-case values based on sound geology, geophysics, and engineering judgment. All calculation parameter values should be explained and justified to
ensure consistency and transparency.

74

Parametric sensitivity is recommended

for identifying the major variables and
their impact on the WCD calculation.
Topics covered in the technical
report include reservoir properties,
inflow modeling, outflow modeling,
total volume, special cases, and reporting. Future improvements could include
flow correlations for high rates in largediameter pipes, sonic velocity effects,
and probabilistic methods.
The summit focused on defining methods for determining reasonable reservoir properties and fluid analog data to be used as modeling inputs
for both shallow-water and deepwater
wells. Discussions included the interaction of water sands and gas sands interspersed with oil sands, multiple sands
in the same wellbore in various states
of depletion, and the effects of secondary gas caps and water encroachment on
calculated WCDvalues.
According to the report, the flowing scenario should be modeled over
the duration of the spill to determine
when the highest, single-day flow rate
from the well occurs, which may or may
not be the first day. In multiwell situations, the report says, it is important
to remember that the WCD well may or
may not be the first well drilled on the
block or in the field. Each potential well
location must be assessed and the WCD
determined by the planned well that has
the highest WCD flow rate.

The summits organizing committee

consisted of nine members from major
international oil companies, 11 members from independent oil companies,
three members from universities, two
members from national oil companies,
and two members from the US Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management(BOEM).
The summit provided a sound technical venue to explore a variety of challenging issues and opportunities that
face operators in the Gulf of Mexico. It also allowed for discussion and
technical exchange on scenarios that
could be encountered while drilling
offshorewells.
BOEM defines WCD as the single
highest daily flow rate of liquid hydrocarbon during an uncontrolled wellbore flow event, that is, the average
daily flow rate on the day that the highest rate occurs under worst-case conditions (e.g., a blowout). It is neither
the total volume spilled over the duration of the event nor the maximum possible flow rate that would result from
high-side reservoir parameters, nor a
distribution of outcomes. It is a single
value for the expected flow rate calculated under worst-case wellbore
conditions using known (expected)
reservoirproperties.JPT

To read the full report, please go to

www.spe.org/publications/techreports.

JPT JUNE 2015

Society of Petroleum Engineers

Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

Houston, Texas, USA 2830 September 2015 George R. Brown Convention Center

Registration Opens in Mid-June

Be a part of a tradition of
unrivaled technical content, exhibits,
and networking opportunities.
More than 12,000 E&P professionals from 70+ countries are expected to attend ATCE, SPEs
annual meeting of members and the leading event in E&P. Join your colleagues in Houston and
learn about the industrys latest technologies, best practices, and new product launches.

Register by 24 August and receive USD 100 of full-conference registration.

Browse the Conference Preview at www.spe.org/go/atce15j for complete details on ATCE 2015.

Vibrant vision
New perspectives

CONFERENCE PREVIEW

Offshore Europe To Address Next Generation

of Talent, People-Related Challenges
Jack Betz, JPT Staff Writer

The biennial SPE Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition will take place
in Aberdeen under the theme, How to
Inspire the Next Generation, to attract
talent into the industry. For the first
time, the conference will feature papers
on people-related challenges in addition
to technical ones, said Charles Woodburn, conference technical chairman
and chief executive officer of Expro.
To be held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on 811 September, Offshore Europe is the largest
upstream oil and gas conference outside
of North America.

Technical Program
The main categories for the more than
100 technical papers to be presented
during the conference are health, safety,
and environment; more efficient field
development; asset and well integrity;
well abandonment and decommissioning; maximizing recovery; developing
talent to meet demand; subsea operations; and unconventional resources.
Attendees will also have access to
the Deepwater Zone, an area of the exhibition floor devoted to deepwater exploration and production and the specific challenges that operators face in the
harsh environment. Exhibits and demonstrations will feature the latest technologies and updates on ongoing projects, and the Deepwater Zone Theatre
will host topical presentations throughout the conference.

Keynote Sessions
On Tuesday afternoon, Brian Sullivan
of the International Petroleum Industry
Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) will moderate the confer-

76

ences first keynote session on Balancing Security of Energy Supply, Affordability, and Environmental Risk While
Meeting Demand. The panel will examine the role of the oil and gas industry in supplying future energy needs
while meeting high standards of social
and environmental responsibility. Panelists will act as stakeholders and pose
questions to industry members on how
they will uphold these standards. The
second half of the session will be held
onWednesday.
Also on Tuesday, Frano Mika,
health system manager at Eni Saipem,
will moderate a keynote session which
will discuss health management in the
industry, new technologies for remote
medical treatment, management of offshore emergencies, and medical personnel roles and competencies.
Wednesday morning will start with
the second half of Tuesdays panel on
meeting stakeholder expectations in
the areas of social and environmental
responsibility. Industry members will
respond to the issues raised by stakeholders and express ways to meet social
and environmental standards, and community expectations. The discussion
should serve as a call to arms for the
industry to reaffirm its commitment to
stakeholder needs.
A panel session on Security of Personnel and Assets will be moderated
by Jean-Louis Kibort, head of security at
Totals marketing and services segment.
Panelists will debate whether the state
of security offshore has improved and
how operators can better protect their
equipment and personnel.
On Wednesday afternoon, attendees will have a choice of two panel ses-

KIBORT

WOODBURN

sions. The first session is on safety and

will be moderated by Michel Contie, vice
chairman of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP). The
panel will look into statistical trends on
safety incidents, progress made by companies, and human factors, all with a
goal of creating a zero harm industry.
The second session, titled IT &
Cyber Security, will be moderated by
Kibort. It will look at the differences
between information technology and
cybersecurity at a time when the industry is experiencing an increasing number of cyberattacks on its information
andsystems.
Thursday morning will begin with
Securing Energy Supply for Europe,
which will be moderated by Malcolm
Rice-Jones, director of commercial optimization at ConocoPhillips. Speakers
will discuss domestic hydrocarbon production in Europe, the challenges in
supplying the continents future energy
needs, and liquefied natural gas.
Jon Lay, manager of global emergency preparedness and response team
at ExxonMobil, will moderate a panel
session on oil spill response. The central
theme of this afternoon session will be
the work of IPIECA/IOGPs joint industry project on spill response. Panelists
will discuss a range of topics, such as
the use of net environmental benefit

JPT JUNE 2015

analysis, surface and subsea applications of dispersants, and the industrys

newly developed model for tiered spill
responsepreparedness.
Thursday afternoons panel session
on finance will cover the challenges of
funding oil and gas operations during
a time of uncertain commodity prices.
Panelists will discuss new and creative
sources of financing that will ensure that
enough capital is available for future oil
and gas development around the world
to continue. The panel will feature contributions from John Martin, senior vice
president of the World Petroleum Council and a fellow of the Energy Institute.
On Friday morning, the last session of the conference, Is the Oil and
Gas Industry the Right Place to Work
for in the Future? is being organized by
Sabeil Ahmed, a commercial analyst at
GE Oil & Gas. Panelists will explore the
obstacles to attracting and retaining talent in the oil and gas industry, such as
the sometimes negative public perception of the industry and the effects of
low oil prices on hiring. The panel will
seek to understand how the next generation of talent and nonindustry individuals view the oil and gas business in
terms of possibleemployment.JPT
For more information on the
conference, please go to
www.offshore-europe.co.uk.

Dig deeper without

leaving your desk.
Too busy to be away from the ofce?
Take yourself to greater depths right from
your desktop with SPE Web Events.
Join our industry experts as they
explore solutions to real problems and
discuss trending topics.
View a list of available web events
at www.spe.org/events/webevents.

Connect, share with us on

@SPE_Events
#SPEWEBEVENTS

JPT JUNE 2015

77

TECHNOLOGY

Alex Crabtree, SPE,

is senior adviser for
well interventions
and well integrity
with the Hess
Corporation
E&P Technology
department. He has more than 32
years of experience in the upstream
oil and gas industry. Crabtree holds a
BS degree in mechanical engineering.
He has worked in southeast Asia, the
Middle East, Europe, North America,
and South America, both onshore
and offshore. Crabtree previously
worked within the oilfield-servicescompany sector, holding various
engineering and management posts
in research and development, field
operations, downhole-tool design, and
technology implementation. He has
authored several SPE papers and is a
past program-committee chairperson
for various SPE conferences and SPE
Applied Technology Workshops.
Crabtree was an SPE Distinguished
Lecturer in 200102 and is a member
of the JPT Editorial Committee.
Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 170816 How Intelligent-CoiledTubing Technology Combined With
Real-Time Downhole-Camera Visuals
Created a Formula for Success
During a Challenging Through-Tubing
Recompletion Operation in the North Sea
by R.M. de Jonge, Baker Hughes, et al.

COILED TUBING
APPLICATIONS
The oil industry has responded rapidly to the decline in oil prices of these last few
months. As in past downturns, the rig count has fallen quickly, with the US land rig
count having been particularly hard hit. The Baker Hughes rig count for US land rigs
shows a fall from 1,866 at the beginning of June 2014 to 1,028 at the start of April 2015,
a decrease of 45%. A large portion of this reduction has occurred in the shale plays.
In prior industry cycles, declines in rig activity have not affected the coiledtubing (CT) market immediately. In fact, an increase in the CT sector has been
observed in some past down cycles. CT had been predominantly an intervention
method used to aid or maintain existing production. However, the focus in the US CT
market has shifted to supporting completion operations in the shale plays. Anecdotal opinion at the Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition in
Houston this year suggested that there is a greater and more immediate effect on the
CT market in the US. Opinion similarly suggested that activity outside of the US land
market is responding as it has in previous cycles.
The CT industry, like all other sectors in our industry, will respond to todays
new market conditions. Technical innovation, as evident at the CT conference, will
continue. The focus of this innovation may shift toward improving processes and
their efficiencynamely, doing more with less. This repurposing brings an opportunity to drive and recognize the value of these innovations. Perhaps this period in
the cycle will allow for a consolidation of knowledge and incremental development of
todaystechnologies.
The papers in this years feature represent innovation, the adaptation of existing
technologies, and overcoming operational problems. They demonstrate the transfer
of knowledge from other sectors of our industry. By using that knowledge, each paper
shows that technical innovation is still possible in this current climate and continues
to move the CT industry forward.JPT

SPE 173651 Preparing for CTD Success

by M. Ross, BP Exploration Alaska, et al.
SPE 173660 A Field Case History of
Sulfate-Reducing-Bacteria Attack on
Coiled-Tubing Bias WeldsRoot Causes
and Remediation by Clark Seal, Baker
Hughes, et al.

78

JPT JUNE 2015

Development of Improved
High-Strength Coiled Tubing
oday, there is a need for higherstrength coiled-tubing (CT)
grades with better resistance to severe
environments and better fatigue
performance in both the tube body and
the bias weld. A complete redesign of
CT technology and its manufacturing
process has recently been carried out.
Testing has shown that the fatigue life
of the new CT grades exceeds that of
currently available high-strength grades.
Additionally, the bias-weld fatigue life
has improved significantly. Sulfidestress-cracking (SSC) resistance of the
new CT grades is considerably better
than that of conventional CT grades with
the samestrength.

Introduction

Significant changes in CT operating conditions have been driven by the adoption

of multistage fracturing in long horizontal wells for shale oil and gas completions.
In these, CT is used in well-completion
operations, typically perforating the toe
of the well, then milling zonal-isolation
plugs used in fracturing, and then cleaning debris from the wellbore.
Stress and strain levels in the CT
used for well-completion operations are
typically much greater than those experienced in traditional intervention operations. These operating conditions have
identified performance limitations of the
CT as it is currently manufactured. One
limitation is the yield strength of currently available CT grades. Another limitation is the reduced fatigue life of the
bias welds relative to the adjacent base

170

Ultimate Tensile Strength (ksi)

160
150
140

Base Tube

130

Bias Weld
YS:UTS=0.98

120
110

YS:UTS=0.92
100

110

120

130

140

150

160

Yield Strength (ksi)

Fig. 1Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) vs. yield strength (YS) for base-tube and
bias-weld tensile tests.

tube, particularly in high-strength-grade

tubes. A third limitation is the resistance
to SSC, which generally deteriorates
as the strength of the tube increases.
The objective of this new CT-technology
development was to provide a higherstrength tube with better bias-weld performance and improved SSC resistance.
This required a full metallurgical understanding of current CT materials and of
the manufacturing process, in order to
identify improvements. For a discussion
of past and current CT technology, manufacturing, and validation methodology,
please see the completepaper.

Testing Results and Discussion

Mechanical Performance. Fig. 1 shows

a plot of tensile strength vs. yield
strength for base-tube and bias-weld
results from a number of manufactur-

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 173639, The Development of High-Strength Coiled Tubing With Improved
Fatigue Performance and H2S Resistance, by M. Valdez, C. Morales, R. Rolovic,
SPE, and B. Reichert, SPE, Tenaris, prepared for the 2015 SPE Coiled Tubing and Well
Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2425 March.
The paper has not been peer reviewed.

ing trials covering a wide range of tube

strengths. The upper curve is a plot
that marks where the yield-strength/
tensile-strength ratio equals 0.92, and
the lower curve marks where the ratio
is 0.98. Fig. 1 shows that the bias-weld
results fall on the same trend as those
of the base tube, indicating a consistency in yield/tensile ratio between base
tube and bias welds. Also, all results fall
within the upper and lower yield/tensileratio curves. The results all fall within
the upper and lower curvescloser to
0.92 at the lowest yield-strength values
and closer to 0.98 at the highest yieldstrength values. While tube-grade specifications have not all been finalized,
on the basis of analysis of Fig. 1 for the
110-ksi-grade tube, the expected range
of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) would
be from 116 to 136ksi, and the maximum
yield/tensile ratio would be 0.96. For the
125-ksi-grade tube, the expected range
of UTS would be 129 to 149ksi, and the
maximum yield/tensile ratio would be
0.98. For the 140-ksi-grade tube, the
expected range of UTS would be 144 to
163 ksi, and the maximum yield/tensile
ratio would be 0.98.

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

79

Base Tube

Elongation (%)

Bias Weld
API 5ST
Trend Line

Ultimate Tensile Strength (ksi)

Fig. 2Elongation vs. UTS for base-tube and bias-weld tensile tests.

CT Grade

Test Environment

Type

Material

Mild

Intermediate

Severe

HS-80

Passed (5/5)

4/4 with crack-like features

Failed (6/6)

Conventional

HS-90

Failed (2/2)

N/T

Failed (2/2)

HS-110

Failed (2/2)

N/T

Failed (2/2)

HT-80

N/T

N/T

Passed (3/3)

HT-100

N/T

N/T

Passed (6/6)

HT-110

Passed (4/4)

Failed (2/2)

Failed (2/2)

HT-125

Failed (2/3)

N/T

N/T

Heat Treated

N/T=not tested

Table 1Summary of C-ring-test results.

The relationship between elongation and tensile strength is shown in

Fig. 2. The same data population was
used in Figs. 1 and 2. The results show
that there is no difficulty in satisfying
American Petroleum Institute (API) elongation requirements, in both the base
tube and the bias welds.
API 5ST requirements for CT-110
were used to determine the amount of
flattening and expansion achieved in the
flattening and flare tests, regardless of
the actual yield strength of the sample
(from 110 ksi to more than 140 ksi). All
flattening and flare tests meet these requirements. The relationship between
surface hardness and tensile strength
was also explored on the basis of a set
of data in which a surface hardness measurement had been taken adjacent to a
tensile test. Results indicated that the expected maximum surface hardness for
the new tube grades is consistent and on
trend with API 5ST.

80

Environmental Performance. Summarized next are results from SSC C-ring tests
and hydrogen-
induced-cracking (HIC)
tests that show CT performance in sour
(wet H2S) environments under static-load
(C-ring) and no-load (HIC) conditions.
C-Ring-Test Results and SSC Performance. A summary of C-ring-test results for conventional and new CT grades
is shown in Table 1. In the table, N/T indicates material/test conditions that were
not tested because the other tests on that
grade failed at less-severe conditions or
passed at more-severe conditions. A test
is considered passed when no cracks or
crack-like features are observed and this
is verified following the 30-day exposure. The first number in parentheses indicates the number of individual samples
passed or failed, and the second number
is the total number of specimens tested at
that condition. The test results show the
improved SSC performance of new CT
grades in Cringtests.

These results imply that the improved SSC performance of the new CT
grades could allow the use of 20- to
30-ksi higher-strength grades in SSC
environments compared with the conventional CT grades. This observation
applies only to static-loading conditions
because the fatigue-damage mechanism
and CT-fatigue performance after CT exposure to sour environments are different. However, the improved SSC performance of the new CT grades is beneficial
in reducing the risk of catastrophic failures related to that phenomenon, and in
providing robustness to the product by
diminishing the possibility of formation
of small SSC-induced cracks.
HIC-Test Results. No cracks were
observed in the base metal, electric-
resistance weld, or bias weld of any CT
grade after sectioning the specimens and
following the analysis protocol.
Fatigue Performance. Extensive fatigue
testing of new CT grades has been performed in the fatigue machine. On average, the observed HT-110 fatigue life
is approximately 30% longer than the
HS110 fatigue life across the entire pressure range. This shows a clear fatigueperformance advantage of the new-CT
material microstructure for the same
tensile-strength level as the conventional CT. The HT-125 tests showed approximately 90% longer average fatigue life than HS110 across the entire
pressurerange.
Fatigue-test results show that the
bias-weld fatigue performance of the new
CT grades is similar to their base-tube
fatigue performance. The observed similarity of the bias-weld fatigue performance and the base-tube fatigue performance is expected. This is a welcome
departure from the conventional-CT
bias-weld performance, which progressively decreases as the CT yield strength
is increased, limiting the life of the entire
CT string. The new CT grades allow full
use of the entire CT string, in addition to
overall longer fatigue life.
CT undergoes plastic deformation
every time it is bent and straightened
during normal operations, resulting in
fatigue-damage accumulation inside
the CT material. When there is pressure inside CT during these bending and
straightening events, in addition to the

JPT JUNE 2015

fatigue-damage accumulation, the CT diameter tends to increase gradually, a phenomenon called CT ballooning. To determine the ballooning performance of the new CT grades, the
final maximum CT outside diameter (OD) was measured at two
axes 90 from each other at the end of each fatigue test. The
maximum and minimum ODs were averaged, and the average
OD increase was divided by the number of cycles to failure to
determine the average OD growth per CT bend/straighten cycle.
HT-125 clearly showed much lower OD growth rates than the
other two CT grades for midrange and high CT pressures. HT110 showed somewhat lower OD-growth rates than HS-110, but
the difference was not as pronounced as in the case of HT-125.
In all current tests presented here, the sour-fatigue results
suggest nonoccurence of HIC, which is in agreement with what
was observed in the HIC-specific tests presented previously
under the same sour conditions.
Test results show that, for the conventional-CT grades, the
absolute sour-fatigue life decreases as the CT yield strength increases from 90 to 110 ksi, even for the higher pressure where
the higher yield strength is normally beneficial for better handling of the hoop stress. The opposite trend is observed for
the new-CT grades, which show an increase in the absolute
sour-fatigue life as the CT yield strength increases from 110 to
125ksi. The improved microstructure of the new-CT materials
makes possible this favorable reversal in the sour-fatigue trend
related to the yield strength of the CT material.
Another beneficial aspect of the new-CT material technology and manufacturing process is that the bias-weld performance in sour fatigue is very similar to the improved
base-tube performance in sour fatigue for the same conditions. This is not a surprise, considering that, for the new-CT
grades, the bias-weld microstructure is virtually identical to the
base-tubemicrostructure.

Conclusions
Metallurgical analysis of CT made with the new technology
shows a much-more-uniform and -homogeneous microstructure throughout the tube, and particularly in the bias weld, in
which conventional-CT technology and manufacturing are not
able to restore the microstructure after bias welding. Mechanical testing has established consistency between base tube and
bias welds in all tested properties, and, in general, the new CT
falls within current API and industry standards when available
(HT-110), or it is on trend with extensions of current standards
to the new higher-strength grades.
CT manufactured with the new technology showed significant performance improvements in sour environments under
static-load conditions. The results imply that the improved
SSC performance of the new-CT grades could allow the use
of 20- to 30-ksi higher-yield-strength grades in SSC environments compared with the conventional-CT grades. HIC tests
showed that all CT grades have good HIC resistance for the
sour conditions covered by thetests.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Faculty Positions
The Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech
University has three (3) immediate openings.
The successful candidate in Position #3536BR will be expected
to teach graduate and undergraduate courses and manage related
laboratories in Drilling (casing design, drilling fuids, directional/
horizontal, well control and borehole stability). The candidate should
have earned a doctorate in petroleum engineering or closely related
feld by September 1, 2015. This position is for tenure track or
tenured positions at the level of assistant, associate and full professor.
The successful candidate in Position #3537BR will be expected
to teach graduate and undergraduate courses in Production and
manage related laboratories (artifcial lift, completions, stimulation
and workovers.) The candidate should have earned a doctorate in
petroleum engineering or closely related feld by September 1, 2015.
This position is for tenure track or tenured positions at the level of
assistant, associate and full professor.
The successful candidate in Position #3720BR will be expected to
teach graduate and undergraduate courses Production and manage
related laboratories (artifcial lift, completions, stimulation and
workovers.) The candidate should have a minimum of bachelors
degree in petroleum engineering or closely related feld. This position
is for the level of assistant, associate and full professor of practice
and is not a tenure track or tenured position.
Candidates may apply to one, two, or all three positions. Duties include
teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, advising and mentoring
students, supervising graduate student research, developing sponsored
research projects, and actively participating in departmental, university
and professional service activities. Prior academic experience is
considered an asset and a mandatory minimum of 4 years of industry,
including feld experience, is required. The ideal candidates will have
teaching and research interests in either Drilling or Production Operations.
New faculty are expected to be engaged in scholarship or creative activity
that attracts outside funding in the form of fellowships, grants, exhibits,
etc. Candidates who have very strong records of scholarship supported by
extramural funding and who have the proven capacity or clear potential
to bring externally sponsored research to Texas Tech University are
encouraged to apply. Service duties include program-building, as well
as commitment to extra-curricular activities. Service to the department,
college, university, and community is expected.
Texas Tech University is a multipurpose state university with 32,000+
students in a metropolitan area of excess of 230,000 inhabitants. We
offer competitive salaries, a friendly and cooperative work environment
and excellent teaching and research facilities. We are proud of our
42,000 square foot Terry Fuller Petroleum Engineering Research
Building that opened in February, 2014. We have established an 8-acre
Oilfeld Technology Center with one of a kind, 4,000 foot test well.
Qualifed applicants are requested to submit an application letter with
their resume and three references at www.WorkAtTexasTech.com. Click
Faculty, then search for requisition 3536BR, 3537BR, and 3720BR.
As an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affrmative Action employer,
Texas Tech University is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally
diverse faculty committed to teaching and working in a multicultural
environment. We actively encourage applications from all those who
can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the
diversity and excellence of the academic community at Texas Tech
University. The university welcomes applications from minorities,
women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and dual-career couples.

81

Microbial-Influenced-Corrosion-Related
Coiled-Tubing Failures and Equipment Damage

icrobial-influenced corrosion
(MIC) has been implicated in few
corrosion-related challenges in the wellservice industry in the past. Recently,
however, the industry is observing an
increase of MIC-related equipment
damage. This upsurge of MIC coincides
with a switch to unconventional water
sources, including recycled water. This
paper is an overview of premature
coiled-tubing and other-well-servicingequipment failures and pumpingequipment damage related to MIC.

Introduction
Recycled fracturing water has been found
to contain high levels of bacteria, typically
on the order of 106109 colony-forming
units (CFU) per mL. The bacteria can originate from essentially anywhere in the
water-handling system: the water source,
transportation, storage, pumps, or downhole. Tanks and pits used for storage of
flowback water are ideal habitats for bacteria; typically, these are sessile environments; the water temperature is commonly 1535C; and organic compounds
found in the water such as oil carryover, surfactants, or polymers can be
ideal carbon and energy sources for many
microbial species. Higher-than-normal
bacteria populations and clear evidence
of MIC have been identified from flowback water in the Eagle Ford, Marcellus,
Haynesville, and Horne River shaleplays.

MIC
Microbes do not have a significant impact on general metal corrosion. MIC,

on the other hand, is localized. This is

because microbes tend to locate themselves in out-of-the-way locations such
as cracks and pits or under scale or other
deposits, presumably because these places are less affected by the flow of passing fluids. Once one or more species have
attached themselves to a surface, many
more species follow suit. It is through
this process that a biofilm is built. MIC
occurs where the biofilm and the metal
come into contact. Probably the most
notorious and widely studied of the microbes implicit in MIC are sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acid-producing
bacteria, although iron-oxidizing bacteria, sulfate-reducing archaea, thiosulfate-reducing bacteria, nitrate-reducing
bacteria, and methanogenic archaea are
also known to beinvolved.
As the use of the word influence
in microbially influenced corrosion implies, the chemistry of this type of corrosion is not for the most part unique; the
corrosion caused is not significantly different from that caused in the absence of
microbes and can occur in conjunction
with abiotic corrosion. As such, there
is no single conclusive test for MIC. Instead, a series of microbiological, chemical, and metallurgical analyses must be
performed to determine the likelihood
and extent of MIC involvement in a corrosion event. Methods used to prevent
or limit MIC typically include employing
good engineering design and use of antimicrobial alloys; coatings, cathodic protection, and competitive metabolisms;
and biofilm-dispersing chemicals, antimicrobial chemicals, or both. The more

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 173658, Microbial-Influenced-Corrosion-Related Coiled-Tubing Failures
and Equipment Damage, by Scott Sherman, SPE, Duane Brownlee, SPE, and Sarkis
Kakadjian, SPE, Trican Well Service, prepared for the 2014 SPE Coiled Tubing and
Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2425
March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

diverse a biofilm is (such as those that

contain many species of bacteria or even
those that contain microbes from multiple kingdoms), the more resistant it is
toantimicrobials.

Microbial-Control Methods
in Well Servicing
Current methods used to control microbes in the upstream industry are largely ad hoc and often ineffective. It is common for operators to hire third parties
to chemically or physically shock treat
fracturing-water pits with oxidizers such
as chlorine dioxide and sodium hypochlorite (bleach) or with ozone, ultraviolet radiation, or other alternatives and to
then use this water for extended periods.
Where water is stored for extended periods, it is commonplace to conduct bacteria counts (if performed at all) using only
the water and not including biofilm sampling. Resulting biocidal-treatment regimens are likely to have little effect on the
biofilm-based microbes and could possibly contribute to a developed communal
resistance to that biocide.
Of additional concern is that biocides used for fracturing and coiledtubing operations are not all created
equally and are often chosen for inappropriate reasons. Different biocides have,
unsurprisingly, different physical properties and hence behave differently (both
individually and from one another) in
different chemical environments.
Another common mistake is made
in the employment of biocides. Some biocides can easily take 4 or more hours for
an effective kill. Hence, injecting the biocide into the pumping stream on the fly
will serve little to no use in the surfacetreatment of iron or the well tubulars in
most slickwater operations, given that
typical fluid transport time for a molecule of water from the blender to the formation for this type of treatment is normally 30 minutes to 1 hour.

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
82

JPT JUNE 2015

Phased-Array Inspection
Phased-array-inspection techniques can
be used to quantify the effects of pitting. These methods are capable of rapidly scanning an entire length of treating
iron and providing the minimum wall
thickness at the root of the deepest pit.
The advantage of phased-array inspection over the current methods of taking
a single sample every 24 in. is that the
probability of locating a potentially troublesome pit is much greater given that a
larger area of the tubular is sampled in a
single run.
Fig. 1Pitting in 4-in. 1502 iron used in fracturing in the Haynesville shale.

Quantifying MIC Damage

The treating iron used for wellservice operations is inspected annually; fracturing iron is inspected every 6
months. Treating-iron inspection consists of a visual inspection for external
cracks, wall-thickness measurements at
key locations in unions, and random measurements every 24 in. for lengths exceeding 32 in. byuse of ultrasonic thicknessmeasurement techniques. These techniques were very effective when iron-wall

loss was uniform as a result of erosion.

However, MIC is a phenomenon not wellunderstood in the upstream service industry, and appropriate detection methodology has not been developed yet.
Almost all treating iron used for
hydraulic fracturing with recycled fracturing water has heavily pitted internal
surfaces as seen in Fig. 1. Currently, no
standardized inspection methodologies
exist to measure the minimum wall thickness of internally pitted tubulars.

Coiled-Tubing Failures
Associated With MIC
To date, the authors have investigated
only a few failures where definitive evidence exists that MIC played a role in
the failure. This is partly because the authors have increased their efforts to look
for and study MIC only over a period of a
year before writing the paper. They have
looked back at micrographs of previous
failures and, given the pit morphology
and other circumstances surrounding
the failures, believe MIC is likely to have
played a role. (Pumping-equipment fail-

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Director, Energy Resources Institute
Professor, Geology and Geological Engineering
The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering (GGE) at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SD Mines) invites
applications for a nine-month academic tenured/tenure-track position in Geology and Geological Engineering. Possibility of summer
support dependent upon ability to obtain funding. The successful candidate will become the inaugural Director of the newly established
Energy Resources Institute (ERI) within the GGE Department at SD Mines, with an academic rank of Professor. ERIs vision is to develop
a nationally recognized program of basic and applied research and education that covers both upstream and downstream components of
the petroleum industry.
An earned doctorate in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics discipline with an expertise that includes petrophysics,
geomechanics, or a closely related eld is required. This is a senior-level position for a scientist or engineer whose research program
is well regarded by the petroleum industry, and who has either a record of signicant funding and publication or signicant leadership
experience in a petroleum rms research lab. Previous experience working with joint academic/industry consortia or NSF I/UCRC center
development is highly desirable.
The ERI Directors primary duties will be building and directing an interdisciplinary research institute comprised of afliated SD Mines
faculty, as well as externally-supported researchers, technicians, postdocs, and graduate students. The Director, with the aid of the ERI
advisory board and faculty afliated with the institute, will dene scientic projects, form industry/academic alliances, seek funding
for individual and collaborative projects from agencies and industry, and successfully execute funded research. The ERI Director will
also be expected to work closely with the SD Mines Foundation to engage prospective philanthropic supporters of the energy program.
Candidates should demonstrate previous experience in supervising research staff and building effective teams. The Director also will be
expected to generate interest and support for the newly established minor in Petroleum Systems and the graduate certicate in Petroleum
Systems, with teaching duties focused on supporting these programs.
Review of applications will begin July 6, 2015, and will continue until the position is lled. Employment is contingent upon completion
of a satisfactory background investigation. For questions about this position, contact Laurie Anderson, Search Chair, at Laurie.Anderson@
sdsmt.edu. For more information about the School of Mines and Rapid City, visit: www.sdsmt.edu and http://visitrapidcity.com/.
SD Mines is an EEO/AA/ADA employer & provider

JPT JUNE 2015

83

SPE
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SPE Petroleum Engineering

Certification and PE License
Exam Reference Guide
Ali Ghalambor, PhD, PE

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SPE Petroleum Engineering

Certication and PE License
Exam Reference Guide
Ali Ghalambor
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Preview sample pages from this
new book and order your own copy by
visiting our online bookstore at
www.spe.org/go/books.

ures associated with MIC are discussed in

the complete paper.)
Failure Analysis of String 41051. CoiledTubing String 41051 was a 17,000-ft,
2-in. 100-grade tapered string used
only in the Eagle Ford shale for milling
fracturing plugs and for one fishing job.
While pulling out of hole at the conclusion of its eleventh job, the string broke
between the gooseneck and the reel.
There was mechanical damage at the failure and pitting on the internal surface of
the coiled tubing. The failure appeared to
be a brittle fracture. Cumulative fatigue
at the failure point was only 38%. This
string was never used with acids, and all
milling operations were overbalanced, so
any potential sour effects from the wellbore would have been negligible.
Inside the coiled tubing, a lightbrown scale was prevalent. Underneath
the scale, pitting was observed. The combination of a brittle fracture, heavy internal scale, and under-scale pitting corrosion led the authors to suspect that MIC
played a role in the failure. The scale
was removed and used to culture bacteria for metagenomic analysis. Subsequent metallurgical analysis of the internal corrosion and corrosion products
confirmed that SRB played a role in the
pitting corrosion of the internal surface
of this coiled-tubing string.
In most failures, there is rarely one
failure mechanism. In the case of String
41051, the coiled tubing had a plough
mark at the failure that would have resulted in a local stress concentration. The
internal pitting of the coiled tubing at
the location of the external damage combined with hydrogen embrittlement from
the metabolism of SRB led to the premature failure of this string.

Rotating-Joint Corrosion
Pitting corrosion has also been observed in rotating-joint components. No
rotating-joint failures have been attributed to MIC; however, metallurgical analysis of the rotating-joint components has
confirmed that SRB led to accelerated
corrosion of this equipment.

Testing Results
The results of coiled-tubing MICmitigation testing are discussed in detail
in the complete paper.

Coiled Tubing. Five 1,000-ft sections of

coiled tubing were cut from a 17,000-ft
100-grade string known to have failed
because of MIC well in advance of its
anticipated end of service life. Each of
these sections was tested with a different method of limiting MIC and then
left to sit for a 28-day growth period before having fluids collected and coupons
cut from the bottom of a middle wrap
of the coil. The best method of mitigating MIC was found to be a combination
of bleach, other biocides, scraping pigs,
nitrogen purging, and capping the string
with 2atm of nitrogen pressure.
Pumping Equipment. Since the use of
recycled fracturing water started, pumping equipment has shown greater internal pitting corrosion than in the past.
The internal corrosion is most likely
caused by the combined effects of low
pH, high salinity, and the high microbial content found in the recycled fracturing water.

Recommendations

Drain all water from all wellservicing equipment, including

coiled tubing, when not in use for
more than 6 hours.
Where possible, use scraping or
aggressive wiper pigs combined
with bleach (or other quick-kill
chemicals) before purging with
nitrogen and capping with 2 atm
of pressure.
Design biocide treatments on
the basis of the desired end goals
and for the conditions under
which the biocide is expected
to work. Consider pH, salinity,
temperature, and other fluid
chemistry, as well as geological
factors.
Inspect rotating joints for signs
of MIC more frequently than the
manufacturer-recommended
3-year interval.
Minimize jacking of pumping
equipment wherever
possible. Methods to reduce
jacking include matching the
displacement and the type of
pumps (triplex or quintiplex)
on a given job and installing
a pressure-equalizing circuit
between pumps. JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

STAY CONNECTED. STAY INFORMED.

RE M OT E M O NI T O R I N G F O R CO ILE D TU BING O P E RATIO N S
At Cudd Energy Services (CES), we make sure you stay connected with your coiled tubing operations.
Our Coiled Tubing Remote Viewer provides real-time data monitoring to capture and assess data whether
in the ofce or on location.

Integrated with the OrionNet data acquisition software, the viewer streams live well data through a secure
satellite connection. Its diagnostic capabilities allow us to quickly identify and resolve issues. Customized
alarms and warning options on all channels alert operators to sudden changes in pressures or rates.

The Coiled Tubing Remote Viewer also delivers reliable telecommunication connectivity to eld operations,
especially in remote locations.

To learn more about our remote viewing capabilities, visit us at www.cudd.com.

Coiled-Tubing-Deployed Shutoffs in Alaska

With a Polymer Gel and Microfine Cement

common problem in oil and

gas wells is excess free gas or
water production from only certain
portions of the completed interval.
A coiled-tubing-deployed profilemodification technique was developed
primarily to shut off excess free-gas
production from the heel of cased-andperforated horizontal oil wells. The
technique has also been used for water
and gas shutoffin both vertical and
horizontal wells in a variety of lowercompletiontypes.

Introduction
Coiled-tubing work has a well-established
track record in North Slope of Alaska oil
fields involving several thousand interventions of various types. Fig. 1 is a photograph of a typical Arctic-winter coiledtubing operation.
Most of the approximately 1,700
wells in the Prudhoe Bay field penetrate
either an extensive gas cap or the aquifer
in the sandstone reservoir. Mechanisms
for excess free-gas or water production
can be related to poor primary-cement
jobs of production liners, fluid-contact
movements over time, coning, or corroded or damaged liners. In general, any
through-tubing-profile modification that
can be performed to reduce excess freegas and water rates and increase oil rate
or time on production is beneficial to
overall field production. With many candidate wells, there has been a continuous evolution in job design and execution
techniques over the years.

Fig. 1Typical winter coiled-tubing operation, North Slope of Alaska.

The original development wells were

primarily deviated wells with 7- or 9-in.
cemented, perforated production liners
and relatively large tubing and liner diameters. Since the late 1990s, there has been
a shift toward horizontal wells targeting
specific pockets of remaining oil and the
thinning oil column at the base of the reservoir below the gas/oil contact in updip
areas. Through-tubing coiled-tubing sidetracks are often used to access these targets. Because of drill-bit-diameter limitations with coiled-tubing sidetracks,
2- or 2-in. jointed pipe is typically
run as the production liner. In general,
upper-completion tubing has been downsized over the years to 3.5 and 4.5 in., with
some larger tubulars remaining.

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 173655, Coiled-Tubing-Deployed Gas and Water Shutoffs in Alaska
With a Polymer Gel and Microfine Cement, by D.B. Robertson, SPE, BP; M.A.
Brown, Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska; L.H. Duong, SPE, BP; O.V. Ivanova,
Schlumberger; and A. Tambe, SPE, BP, prepared for the 2015 SPE Coiled Tubing and
Well Intervention Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2425
March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Most of the coiled-tubing-deployed

cement squeezes in the past used some
variation of Class G cement. When Class
G cement is used to perform coiledtubing cement squeezes, the particle sizes of the solids are generally too
large to enter the sandstone matrix.
The shutoff mechanism is provided by
cement particles bridging off in the
perforation tunnel against the formation face and building back into the
liner, often leaving a cement node or
obstruction inside the liner. These cement nodes were generally insignificant with the larger-diameter liners of
the past but would have created an impassable obstruction in the newer generation of smaller-diameter liners (see
Fig.2). A method was needed for shutting off several hundred feet of perforated intervals toward the heels of
undulating horizontal wells having
small-diameter liners.

Background Information
The initial objective for the first well or
job attempted was to shut off several

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
86

JPT JUNE 2015

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be supercharged.

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cement with particle sizes designed to

achieve some matrix penetration before
bridging off in the formation. The radius
of penetration of the microfine cement is
a moderate function of permeability or
pore-throat size; the higher the permeability, the deeper the microfine cement
penetrates before it is likely to bridge
offentirely.

Materials and Methods Used

Fig. 2Depiction of perforationshutoff mechanism with Class

G cement. Note scant cement
penetration into the matrix and
restrictions inside the liner because
of cement-node development.

hundred feet of gas-producing perforations toward the heel of a horizontal

well while preserving production from
perforations toward the toe of the well.
The well was completed with a 2-in.
liner and 4-in. tubing. A nonrig technique was preferred because of generally
lower cost, more-readily-available equipment, and tighter control of the treatment method.
The following criteria were established for the profile-modification
intervention-job design:
Several hundred feet of
perforations permanently shut off
No reduction in liner inside
diameter after the job
No extensive milling of hard
cement
Profile modification to be
performed through the existing
tubing with standard wellintervention equipment
The initial candidate well had a liner
inside drift diameter of 2-in. Any reduction in liner diameter prevents future
access for surveillance or interventions
and, in some cases, limits drawdown or
chokes back production.
Eventually, a combination treatment involving a polymer gel and microfine cement was selected to attempt
to perform the shutoff in the sandstone
matrix. The gel would be pumped first
to create a 2-ft radius of damaged formation adjacent to the perforated interval, followed immediately by microfine

88

The polymer gel chosen is from a family

of rigid organic crosslinked gels that use
a low-molecular-weight polymer and a
delayed organic crosslinker. This particular polymer gel has an adhesive nature
and strong intermolecular crosslink
bonds. The polymer coats the matrix
materials and adheres strongly. Subsequent in-situ crosslinking achieves
a rigid, continuous gel phase that effectively damages (or plugs) the nearwellbore matrix. The working time on
the gel was adjusted to allow penetration and crosslinking in the formation.
Because gels have a somewhat limited
resistance to extrusion when high differential pressures are applied, a tail
of microfine-cement slurry was used
to provide a more-rigid near-wellbore
seal less prone to failures related to
differential-pressureextrusion.
Because of the use of coiled tubing
for deployment of the gel and cement
stages, it was critical that laboratory
testing closely represent the actual conditions the gel and cement were likely
to encounter. The laboratory testing sequence is detailed in the complete paper,
as well as the design basis according to
which the polymer-gel and microfinecement volumes were to be pumped.
Many of the initial jobs were performed by pumping the polymer gel
down the coiled tubing and then pumping a small freshwater spacer, followed
by the microfine cement. The frictional
pressure drop related to the gel being
pumped down the coiled tubing resulted in relatively low rates and extended pump times with larger volumes of
gel. The low rates in particular led to
concerns regarding freezing of the gel
inside the coiled tubing during winter
Arctic operations. The treating procedure was later modified to mitigate the
freezing risk by bullheading the polymer gel down the production tubing

after installing the temporary plug back,

then running in with coiled tubing and
pumping the microfine cement down the
coiledtubing.

Results
Coiled-tubing-deployed gas and water
shutoffs using the polymer-gel-andmicrofine-cement technique have been
performed on approximately 30 wells
over the last few years. The majority of
these profile modifications have involved
shutting off gas-producing heel perforations in horizontal wells. Some of the
profile-modification interventions have
involved shutting off water from the heels
of horizontal wells.
The lengths of perforation intervals
squeezed or shut off have ranged from
roughly 25 to 1,790 ft, with an average
of 450 ft of perforations shut off. Six
shots per foot is a common perforation
density, so the average number of perforations shut off was on the order of
2,700 perforations per well. The maximum perforation length squeezed was
1,790 ft, with 6 shots/ft (i.e., 10,740 individual perforations in a single well).
Total cumulative perforation footage
squeezed among all wells is on the order
of 13,000 ft, or approximately 2.5 miles
of perforatedfootage.
Initial success rates on the first few
wells were near 100% at returning uncompetitive wells to sustained production. The good initial success rate was
likely a result, at least in part, of somewhat better candidates being treated
first. More-speculative candidates were
addressed over the next few years. As
anticipated, the success rate decreased
with poorer-quality candidates. Morerecent success rates are on the order of
60 to 70%. Candidate quality is primarily related to the ability to obtain definitive prejob surveillance or diagnostic logs for an accurate understanding of
where the excess gas or water is entering
thewellbore.
One of the more impressive aspects
of the technique is the longevity of the
shutoffs, considering that each job attempts to plug thousands of holes in the
liner in the form of perforations. Post-job
production logs were run on five wells 1
to 3 years after the gas-shutoff treatment.
All have shown little or no flow from
squeezed perforations.

JPT JUNE 2015

Liner-corrosion leaks have historically had a very low probability of successful repair with conventional Class
G cement squeeze techniques used in
the past. With the current generation
of small-diameter liners, mechanicalpatch options are very limited because
of inside-diameter limitations. Two
liner-corrosion-leak repairs have been
performed with the polymer gel and microfine cement, one to shut off gas and
the other to shut off water, both toward
the heels of horizontal wells. Both were
very successful, likely because the fluid
shutoff is performed in the matrix so
liner condition is less critical.

limiting drawdown on the well and potentially reducing the oil rate, so a coiledtubing-conveyed production log was run
to diagnose the water-entry mechanism.
The production log indicated significant
water entry at the heel of the well, both
from the perforations and from unperforated intervals. A caliper survey confirmed liner-wall loss throughout the

heel portion of the liner. A coiled-tubingdeployed heel-water shutoff was performed with the polymer gel and microfine cement. The well was returned
to full-time production at significantly
lower water rates and increased oil rate.
No post-job production log has been run
because production trends indicate a
successful watershutoff. JPT

Case Study of Well A:

Horizontal-Well Heel-Gas
Shutoff
Well A was completed with 4-in. tubing and a 4-in. liner. It was completed
initially with two sets of perforations,
250 ft of perforations nearer the liner
heel and 625 ft of perforations toward
the liner toe. Within several months of
initial production, the gas/oil ratio had
risen to uncompetitive levels. The well
was produced intermittently, when field
gas-handling capacity allowed, over a period of several more months but with diminishing time on production. A coiledtubing-conveyed production log was run
that indicated that all the gas entry was
at the heel of the well and essentially no
flow came from the toe of the well. A
coiled-tubing heel-gas shutoff was performed with the techniques described
herein to shut off flow from the 250 ft of
perforations toward the heel. The well
was returned to full-time production at
competitive gas/oil ratios. A later production log confirmed that the squeezed
perforations were holding back unwanted free gas.

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Case Study of Well B:

Horizontal-Well Heel-Water
Shutoff
Well B was completed with 4-in. tubing and a 2-in. liner. It was initially
completed with four sets of perforations,
25ft of perforations nearer the liner heel
and 60 ft of perforations nearer the liner
toe. The well was producing at elevated
water rates for some time. Solids production was also suspected. It was thought
that the elevated water rate was likely

JPT JUNE 2015

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EXPAND YOUR POSSIBILITIES

89

TECHNOLOGY

Lee Morgenthaler,
SPE, is senior staff
production chemist
at Shell. He has
been with Shell for
34 years, starting
as a research
chemist at the Bellaire Research Center.
Morgenthaler has had assignments as
a production engineer, research-anddevelopment team leader, research
manager, and production chemist on a
wide variety of projects. These include
technology development in completion
and stimulation fluids, flow assurance,
waterflooding, and field support for
completion and stimulation activities in
sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. He
is currently working in Shells Upstream
Americas Deepwater business, with
roles in technology deployment and
production-chemistry leadership.
Morgenthaler holds a BS degree from
Tufts University and a PhD degree
from the University of Florida, both in
chemistry. He is a member of the JPT
Editorial Committee.

Recommended additional reading

at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 171699 NMR as a Characterization
Tool for Wormholes: The Complete
Picture by Yaser Al-Duailej, King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals, et al.
SPE 173686 Optimization of Matrix
Acidizing With Fluids Diversion in
RealTime Using Distributed-Temperature
Sensing and Coiled Tubing by Eber
Medina, Pinnacle, et al.
SPE 171021 First Installation of Efficient
and Accurate Multilaterals-Stimulation
Technology in Carbonate Oil Application
by Kevin Rice, Fishbones, et al.

90

MATRIX STIMULATION
The technical contributions highlighted this year focus on matrix stimulation of carbonate and unconventional reservoirs. Matrix stimulation encompasses pumping processes used to improve the connection between the wellbore and the reservoir. They
are effective in a wide range of lithologies and have been successful in most types of
completionscased and open hole, horizontal and vertical, simple and complex,
injectors and producers. Wells are matrix stimulated during completion and to remove
production- or injection-induced impairment. The defining characteristic of matrix
stimulation is the use of chemical systems to dissolve material in the near-wellbore
region pumped below pressures that propagate reservoir fractures. Three papers are
presented in this feature, and several others are referenced for the interested reader.
One of the papers, SPE 168198, The First Visualization of Acid Treatments on
Carbonates With 3D Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance Imaging, provides a detailed
description of the application of cutting-edge technology to image acid-induced
wormholes in carbonates. While this technology is new, it offers the promise of quantifying the effect of wormholes on near-wellbore flow to a degree that has not been
possible until now. (See also SPE 171699, NMR as a Characterization Tool for Wormholes: The Complete Picture.)
While the industry has focused on fracture stimulation of unconventional reservoirs, SPE 173640, Monitoring Acid-Stimulation Treatments in Naturally Fractured
Reservoirs With Slickline Distributed-Temperature Sensing, demonstrates the value
of matrix stimulation in a shale reservoir. It is a good example with some excellent
data on distributed-temperature-sensing profile monitoring, and it shows how naturally fractured reservoirs, which have generally been a challenge for stimulation, can
be addressed. Distributed-temperature-sensing technology continues to develop, and
a number of papers have been presented in the past year describing new capabilities
and interpretation methods. (See, for example, SPE 173686, Optimization of Matrix
Acidizing With Fluids Diversion in Real Time Using Distributed-Temperature Sensing
and Coiled Tubing; SPE 172546, Setting a New Milestone in Carbonate Matrix Stimulation With Coiled Tubing; and SPE 171021, First Installation of Efficient and Accurate Multilaterals-Stimulation Technology in Carbonate Oil Application.)
The stimulation process can also be improved by applying classical concepts from
reaction engineering and other disciplines. Paper SPE 171766, Challenge of Acidizing Horizontal Wells in Tight Carbonate Reservoirs: Weak Acid and Nonacid Alternatives, is an excellent example. The lesson is to look in both directions, back to the
technical basics and forward to embrace new technologies.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Visualization of Acid Treatments With 3D

Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance Imaging

ore-flow tests are usually

conducted to test and model
stimulation treatments at laboratory
scale, to predict the performance of
such treatments in carbonate reservoirs.
The visualization of wormholes created
within core-flow tests requires novel
technologies for evaluation and pathwayprediction purposes. Unfortunately, past
visualization techniques were always
associated with the destruction of the
core sample. This paper describes the
use of nuclear-magnetic-resonance
imaging (NMRI) as a nondestructive
visualization method in correlation with
3D rock imaging.

Introduction
The experiments described in the complete paper were conducted with different core samples such as Indiana limestone, Silurian dolomite, Winterset
limestone, and carbonate outcrops. The
core samples were selected according to
their properties, which greatly differ for
each type with respect to their origin.
The core-flow tests or acidizing tests performed in this study serve the purpose
of simulating field treatments at laboratory scale.
NMRI applies a gradient static magnetic field such that the strength of the
field decreases with increasing distance
away from the source. The Larmor frequency becomes dependent on the position of the nuclei, which will be associated with a single value of the gradient

magnetic field. Hence, it is possible to locate the nuclei in a region radially around
the source. More specifically, NMRI uses
mostly pulsed gradient magnetic fields
that belong to a group of linear gradient
fields in order to link acquired signals to
a specific volume element. Therefore, it is
possible to locate the nuclei more exactly
in the 3D space instead of only defining
a region. The gradient fields are used for
spatial encoding to acquire a locationdependent signal, and they are the sliceselection gradient, phase-encoding gradient, and frequency-encoding gradient.
X-ray microfocus computed tomography (CT) is another nondestructive
imaging technique based on conventional
X-ray CT technology. Essentially, all X-ray
systems consist of at least one energy
source, one detector, and a manipulation
system for the sample. X-ray CT is able
to distinguish materials by density and
atomic number. In addition, a manipulation system is needed for the sample in
order to visualize the whole object in two
dimensions. The energy source and detector remain in their fixed position, and
the sample will be turned on a central axis
in the middle between them. In the last
step, the detector registers the attenuated
radiation behind the sample and amplifies the X-ray radiation to gain an image.

Experimental Test Procedures

Initial petrophysical data of the studied
core samples such as permeability and
porosity were acquired with the help of
an automated permeameter/porosimeter

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 168198, The First Visualization of Acid Treatments on Carbonates With
3D Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance Imaging, by M. Krebs, SPE, Clausthal University of
Technology; B. Lungwitz, SPE, A. Souza, SPE, A. Ppin, SPE, S. Montoya, P. Schlicht,
and A. Boyd, SPE, Schlumberger; and E. Vidoto, R. Polli, and T. Bonagamba,
University of So Paulo, prepared for the 2014 SPE International Symposium and
Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, 2628 February.
The paper has been peer reviewed and is scheduled to appear in SPE Journal.

for later comparisons. The system offers

the advantage of using nitrogen as the
working fluid, which reduces measurement errors related to irreducible saturations compared with other working fluids; additionally, it offers the possibility
of applying confining pressure to simulate downhole stresseffects.
The nuclear-magnetic-resonance
(NMR) studies were conducted with a
low-field 0.05-T NMR machine that offers the possibility of executing several different radio-frequency pulse
sequences and providing pore-sizedistribution measurements of various
core samples. The core samples were
measured and weighed in advance with
caliper and balance, respectively, to obtain the initial dimensions. Afterward,
the samples were wrapped with synthetic tape to reduce evaporation losses
and were put into a glass core holder,
which was inserted into the magnet. The
relaxation-time decay (T2) was measured, and the T2 distribution curve was
obtained by use of the inverse-Laplacetransformation method that gives the incremental volumes over T2 relaxationtime values. These values are used for the
graphical representation and calculation
of porosity and permeability.
The CT studies were conducted
with an industrial X-ray machine. The
core sample can be moved within the
machine to scan multiple sections in sequence in a way that permits them to be
joined together afterward. All algorithms
of the software are based on the volumetric back-projection algorithm that is used
widely for imaging in CT applications and
with the NMRItechnology.
The NMRI studies were conducted
with a high-field NMRI system (with a
2-T magnet) that is able to load and execute several imaging radio-frequencypulse sequences. In addition, a special
core holder was built that is essentially
a cut tube with a second plastic inlet and

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

91

2.25 cm
144

1.5 cm
96

1.5 cm
96

2.25 cm
144

Fig. 1Acquisition and reconstruction

method for four UTE spheres.

a connected bar to allow a tight fit of the

core sample and to enable changing of
the position of the core samples inside
the machine for several acquisition runs
for different parts of the core.
The NMRI preparation and calibration procedure is similar to the single
steps of the NMR procedure. The core
samples are saturated, placed for at least
4 hours into a vacuum beaker with brine.
Afterward, the first series of experiments
was conducted, with the core samples
wrapped with synthetic tape and positioned within the sample holder. However, this experimental setup led to problems that were related to the massive
heat development of the NMRI machine
during the image acquisition. Hence, the
second series of experiments was optimized and the sample was placed within
a vial of brine equipped with supporting rings.
The calibration of the NMRI procedure begins with the adjustment of
the reflection of the signal circuit, which
needs to have the Larmors frequency to
reach the optimal resonance status, and
the sample needs to be positioned within
the machine. The signal of the sample is
displayed on the screen (when the control software is used) for each of the 3D
directions, which allows manual positioning of the sample in the center of the
signal curve and the magnet. Afterward,
a short spin-echo sequence is run and is
displayed by the control software to visualize the sample and verify the adjusted
calibration for each plane. The procedure
continues with the selection of the main

92

acquisition sequence and the adjustment

of the individual parameters within the
control software. Two sequences, ultrashort echo time (UTE) and fast low-angle
shot (FLASH), were used for imaging the
core samples.
In addition, it is necessary to perform a further manual reconstruction
of the original core sample because the
core samples cannot be scanned completely with the machine and they need
to be moved for every scan of each section. Therefore, open-source software
was used to load the NMRI data and
automatically extract the acquired 2D
image slices. The acquired data look different for the UTE (spherical object) and
FLASH (cylindrical object) sequences
according to the different data-storage
methods. The cylindrical shape of the
FLASH data allowed simply cutting the
single cylinders and adding them together without sacrificing volume elements
of the original core sample. The spherical
shape of the UTE data is more challenging, but it was possible to minimize the
volume losses outside of the field of view
by taking only the inner volume of the
spheres. However, the overlaying technique or an additional scan could not be
applied at either end of the core sample,
and losses occurred there. Fig. 1 illustrates the manual reconstruction of four
spheres acquired with the UTE sequence.
The middle part has a length of 1.5 cm,
which corresponds to 96 single-slice images in the UTE sequence, such that each
sphere has 192 slices in total according
to the respective voxel matrix. Both ends
of the core sample were reconstructed
with the first (or last) 144 single-slice
images of the total number of slices, corresponding to a length of 2.25 cm. The
imaging results are discussed in detail in
the complete paper.

Conclusions
The porosity results of the initially executed NMR measurements showed a very
good agreement with the automated permeameter/porosimeter results, which
verifies the assumption that NMR technology is capable of handling carbonate
core samples. However, the permeability results of the NMR measurements become increasingly inaccurate the bigger
the pores become. Hence, it can be stated
that true NMR permeability calculations

with respect to wormholes are not currently possible.

Several core samples were imaged
with the X-ray CT technology in order
to obtain reference images for the obtained NMRI images. These images show
a very high level of detail and reveal all
pores down to a resolution of 5 m. However, this study shows that the porosity
measurements by the CT technique, as
well as the calculated wormhole volumes,
are inaccurate. This originates predominantly from the CT acquisition method,
which tries to measure and interpolate
the porosity directly in two dimensions
while obtaining only the total porosity. In contrast, the NMRI technology in
this study proved that it is possible to
combine exact porosity measurements
and successful visualizations of acidizing
treatments in sufficient resolution.
The authors draw the following
conclusions:
The transfer of medical NMRI
technology toward visualization
of rock samples containing
wormholes is possible and leads
to very good results, especially
with the FLASH NMRI pulse
sequence.
The visualization of homogeneous
core samples with wormholes
is easier compared with
heterogeneous core samples in
terms of pore-size distributions.
It is very important to have a core
holder that keeps the position
of the core sample centered
during all image-acquisition runs;
otherwise, shifted volumes occur
in the reconstructed image.
NMRI machines are capable of
handling large probes and produce
easily handled digital data.
Artifacts occurred in lower
frequencies than expected.
Carbonates are good candidates
to be investigated with the NMRI
technology because they do
not contain large quantities of
interfering paramagnetic ions.
Visualizations of the effectiveness
of acidizing treatments can
improve returns and increase the
value of a reservoir. Therefore,
the costs of the NMRI analysis are
low in relation to overall project
costs. JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

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16/04/2015 10:44

Monitoring Acid-Stimulation Treatments With

Slickline Distributed-Temperature Sensing

echanical-diversion techniques
can ensure acid injection into the
various intervals of naturally fractured
reservoirs. With these methods, surface
pressure can be monitored to assess fluidplacement effectiveness for each zone
treated, but uncertainty of the friction
pressure in the pipe while pumping can
result in an incorrect interpretation
of fluid entry. A new technique using
fiber-optic distributed-temperaturesensing (DTS) measurements offers a
solution when bullheading by providing
an indication of where the acid has been
injected into the fractured reservoir.

Introduction
The variability of fracture density and
aperture along with fluid conductivity
poses challenges to the goal of achieving
uniformity of acid distribution to all fractures in a well. The optimum technique
would allow effective treatment of all
fractures, be operationally efficient, and
facilitate the determination of treatment
effectiveness in real time.
Diversion of the treatment fluid
helps ensure that the entire interval is
stimulated effectively on the basis of design objectives. When diversion is not
considered, there is a significant reduction in the ensurance of complete zonal
coverage. In the past, the rule of thumb
has been to recommend diversion when
attempting matrix stimulation of more
than 20 ft of zone.
Diverters can be separated into two
broad categories, mechanical and chemical.

Mechanical diversion is the

category that comprises devices
such as staged completion
systems, bridge plugs and
packers, straddle packers, balls
and baffles, and sliding sleeves.
Chemical diversion relies on
the ability to perform an action
to reduce fluid injection into
these zones taking most of the
early-time injection fluid and to
redistribute the injection to other
regions of the formation that also
need to be stimulated.
Mechanical diversion is the most
certain option for ensuring that the treatment fluid is pumped into the intended
zone. This is achieved by positive isolation within the wellbore and the requirement of hydraulic zonal isolation
on the outside of the pipe for cased-andcemented wells. A straddle packer that
can be set and unset multiple times or opposing swab cups are very effective when
run on coiled tubing. They can also be
run on jointed pipe with a workover rig,
but there are significant additional complexity and safety considerations with
this option. Ball sealers have been used
for many years and can be effective under
certainconditions.
Chemical diversion is the most commonly used diverter type. This is mostly because it carries less risk and does
not require having to run packers, plugs,
and other mechanical equipment into the
wellbore that can become stuck or lost in
the wellbore. Chemical diversion can be

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 173640, Monitoring Acid-Stimulation Treatments in Naturally Fractured
Reservoirs With Slickline Distributed-Temperature Sensing, by Stephen Grayson,
SPE, Yosmar Gonzalez, Kevin England, SPE, Ryan Bidyk, and S. Farrell Pitts,
SPE, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2015 SPE Coiled Tubing and Well Intervention
Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2425 March. The paper has
not been peer reviewed.

performed during bullhead treatments

and, therefore, does not require the use
of coiled tubing or a workover rig.

Natural-Fracture Heterogeneity
Natural fractures are created when fracturable rock is stressed past its breaking
point. Variations in stress magnitudes
over time cause natural-fracture occurrences to be difficult to predict. Fracture
density is quite varied in the Miocene
Monterey shale in California. Wireline
resistivity images are typically used
for identification of natural or drillinginduced fractures and their orientation.
Resistivity-imaging tools use arrays of
microresistivity buttons to record the
texture of the rock through the variations
in current flow into the formation. Images are typically color scaled so that open
fractures are dark events compared with
the surrounding brighter-colored matrix. Images are often presented in three
dimensions to aid in the understanding
of fracture orientation and spacing and
fracture relationship to structural geologic events. Fracture intensity is typically higher near folding or faulting, as a
result of the increased stress associated
with these features.
Open fractures provide high-fluidconductivity pathways for petroleum
production under optimum conditions.
However, open fractures are also a source
of fluid loss during the drilling process.
Various techniques have been developed
to control fluid loss successfully in fractured reservoirs, but the typical result is
a reduction in fluid conductivity caused
by a concentration of drilling solids in
the fractures.

The Slickline DTS (SL-DTS)

System
The DTS measurement is built by launching 10-ns bursts of light down the optical
fiber. During the passage of each packet of light, a small amount is backscat-

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
94

JPT JUNE 2015

tered from molecules in the fiber. This

backscattered light can be analyzed to
measure the temperature along the fiber.
Because the speed of light is constant, a
spectrum of the backscattered light can
be generated for each meter of the fiber
by use of time sampling, allowing a continuous log of spectra to be generated
along the fiber (Fig. 1).
A physical property of each spectrum of backscattered light is that the
ratio of the Stokes-Raman bands to the
anti-Stokes-Raman bands is directly
proportional to the temperature of the
length of fiber from which the ratio is
generated. Consequently, a log of temperature can be calculated every meter
along the whole length of the fiber using
only the laser source, analyzer, and a reference temperature in the surface system. There is no need for any calibration points along the fiber or to calibrate
the fiber before installation. Spectrumacquisition times can be varied from as
little as 2 seconds to hours, and this defines the accuracy and resolution of the
measured temperature log.
The SL-DTS system employs a standard mobile slickline unit and drum with

JPT JUNE 2015

DTS Box

Reference Coil
Fiber in Well

Laser

Incident
Raleigh Light

Analyzer

Anti-StokesRaman Band

StokesRaman Band

Wavelength

Backscattered Spectrum
Fig. 1Principle of DTS temperature measurement.

slickline pressure-control equipment.

The fiber itself is a 125-m-diameter
fiber, located in a 0.033-in.-diameter
tube, surrounded by carbon weaves inside a -in.-diameter tube. The slickline
is 18,500 ft long and is resistant to hydrogen sulfide corrosion, with a working
load of 1,000 lbf and a maximum temperature rating of 248F. The line looks
and feels like a regular 0.125-in. slickline
and is deployed in much the same manner, with the exception of running a drum

and sheaves with a 20-in. outside diameter (OD). The tool string consists of slickline weight bars and rollers and possibly
a swab mandrel to get pumped into place.

Field Operations
Running SL-DTS surveys in the California
wells presented operational challenges.
Several of the wells are highly deviated,
and some sections are almost horizontal, making it unfeasible to run the slickline into the well in the traditional man-

95

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ner by use of weight bars to pull the wire

to bottom. Pumping the SL-DTS system
to bottom was the obvious choice to get
the fiber-optic line into the well to the
desired depth. Rollers were used for friction reduction and were selected with a
large enough OD to provide a surface area
that can be pumped against to push the
tool string in but still get back up the well
without becoming hydraulically stuck in
any small restrictions.
For the field case studies discussed
in the complete paper, the SL-DTS system
was pumped in with the cleanout stage
the day before the stimulation-treatment
injection was to begin. The water pushed
slowly, and the acid had insufficient viscosity to push the tools, but the foam
stage with higher viscosity pushed the
tool string in the well at a pace almost
to the maximum running speed of the
SL-DTS line. During pumping of the tool
string in the well, the line tension must
be watched closely and the drum speed
set so there is always tension holding the
line, avoiding any shock loading or overpulling of the line that would cause premature line failure.
Use of high-pressure, hostileenvironment wellhead equipment (WHE)
and a stuffing box is a must for this type
of logging. The WHE wireline-valve blowout preventer must be secured during
acid injection to prevent rotation during nitrogen-foam injection. An injection line on the top of the WHE is also
needed to inject a chemical to cut or dilute the wellbore crude-oil fluids because
they will harden on the line, causing the
slickline stuffing box to plug and tighten
around the line, which can lead to the line
getting stuck in the stuffing box without
the ability to move up or down.
Once the line is on the bottom, the
line must be past the bottommost perforation in the well as far as possible
to be able to monitor the temperature
changes of the fluid entering and reacting
with the formation and the subsequent
warm back overnight. A deep-enough
tool-string depth will also ensure that the
tool-string line will not be affected by, or
affect, the downward flow and injection
of the fluids into the formation. It should
be noted that the line is so small that, as
long as it is held under tension, the pressures and pumping process will not add
tension or stress to the SL-DTS system.

Thermal Behavior
in Acidized Reservoirs
In naturally fractured formations, effective acid stimulation is critical to enhance
well productivity. It is expected that the
acid interactions significantly minimize
the near-wellbore formation skin by removing drilling damage. In addition, the
acid will dissolve carbonate rock, generating wormholes out from the wellbore
to efficiently connect the near-wellbore
region to the completion. During acid injection into the formation, when the acid
is creating the wormholes, exothermal
heat is generated at the tip of the wormhole. During this injection period, the
temperature measured in the borehole
will be the injection temperature of the
acid without exothermal effects. When
the acid injection is stopped, the live acid
remaining in the wormhole system surrounding the borehole will react with the
carbonate rock to create a heated ring
around the wellbore, and this will then
heat the liquid in the wellbore, which can
be observed with SL-DTS.
Understanding the effect of temperature transients during acid spending
provides important insights into stimulation effectiveness during pumping
or post-treatment. Acid spending and
wormhole growth constitute a dynamic process that involves competition between physical and chemical processes,
including acid/mineral reaction and mass
transport. For a given type of carbonate, the acid-reaction rate is a function
of acid concentration and temperature.
Acid mass transport depends on the injection flux and the molecular-diffusion
rate. Rock heterogeneity, including pore
structure and pore-size distribution, can
significantly affect wormhole propagation during carbonate matrix acidizing.
Depending on the reaction kinetics for
a given fluid and formation, the effect of
temperature on acid spending and wormhole formation varies.
The DTS data presented in this
paper show how continuous and accurate temperature measurements along
the wellbore provided a method to qualitatively infer the acid distribution during pumping or post-acid treatment.
For a discussion of case studies with SLDTS in naturally fractured Monterey
shale wells in California, please see the
completepaper.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Use of Weak-Acid and Nonacid Alternatives

in Acidizing Horizontal Wells

n operator developing tight

carbonate reservoirs found that
conventional acid stimulation with 15%
hydrochloric acid (HCl) in horizontal
wells did not provide expected results.
A subsequent study revealed that
permeability and length of treatment
are the main parameters in deciding
the optimal stimulation chemical. A
correlation was developed, on the basis
of the kinetic parameters of various
chemicals and field experience, that can
act as a guide in selecting the proper
acidization formulations.

Introduction
In vertical wells, positive skin pertains
to reduction of effective wellbore radius,
thus sacrificing reservoir contact. It is
very important to note that, in long horizontal wells, wellbore radius does not
represent the reservoir contact; rather,
it is replaced by the horizontal length. It
can be said that the horizontal well itself
represents a limiting case of the finiteconductivity fracture. Thus, in the case
of a homogeneous reservoir, if vertical
permeability is sufficient, the horizontal
well is supposed to drain the reservoir.
The primary aim of stimulation in such
cases becomes removal of near-wellbore
formation damage.
The field development of this operators tight carbonate reservoirs was
envisaged as being performed by drilling 3,000- to 5,000-ft-long horizontal
wells. Although 15% HCl is the conventional acidization formulation for these

fields, a study of conventional acidization jobs carried out in these fields

revealed that HCl stimulation did not
yield the desired results. Selective stimulation in a segmented completion and
by use of diversion also did not change
the situation. The operator therefore
launched an extensive market and literature survey to conduct a root-cause
analysis. The study revealed that weakacid chemicals and nonacid chemicals
(e.g., chelates and nanoemulsions) offer
a viable alternative. On the basis of the
study, using kinetic and transport parameters of different chemical and coreflood studies cited in the literature, a
correlation was developed for formation
permeability and length of treatment
vs. effectiveness of different stimulation
recipes. This correlation was validated
by the results obtained from the acidization review, and a reasonable matching was obtained.

Acid-Stimulation Chemicals
Coreflood studies conducted by many
investigators established that, when
acid is injected into the rock, a breakthrough of acid is observed at the other
end. By manipulation of the injection rate, the pore volume required to
break through can be minimized. Injection rate obtained in such situations
is termed the optimum injection rate.
Computed-tomography scans of the
cores revealed formation of a dominant
flow channel in such situations (i.e., a
wormhole). Wormholing is the most desired mechanism of acid stimulation.

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 171766, Challenge of Acidizing Horizontal Wells in Tight Carbonate
Reservoirs: Weak-Acid and Nonacid Alternatives, by Sameer Punnapala, SPE,
Maryam Abdul Rahman, SPE, and Sanjay Misra, SPE, Abu Dhabi Company for
Onshore Oil Operations, prepared for the 2014 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum
Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 1013 November. The paper has not been
peerreviewed.

HCl shows good solubility of calcium

carbonate, but it can cause excessive corrosion and sludge formation. Weak acids,
chelating agents, and nanoemulsions
offer alternative chemistries. In the case
of acetic acid or formic acid, concentrations up to 13 or 9 wt%, respectively, can
be used; above these concentrations, the
salts produced in the reaction become
insoluble. This limits the dissolution capacity of these weak acids in comparison
with 15% HCl. HCl is a strong acid and
reacts very quickly with carbonate rock.
At elevated temperatures, its reaction is
so fast that wormholing is possible only
at very high pumping rates. In the case
of vertical wells with limited perforation
intervals of few hundred feet, effective
stimulation with HCl is possible. But in
the case of long horizontal wells, effective stimulation with HCl is less likely,
especially in the case of tight formations
with pumping-rate limitations, where it
may become impossible.
Emulsified HCl is widely used in
stimulation. Although stability of acidin-oil emulsion at high temperatures is
claimed to be good with some innovative
formulations, it is still suspect. The other
drawback of such emulsions is that their
viscosity is relatively high, which puts
further limitations on pumping pressure and rates, especially in tight reservoirs. Some claims have been made about
forming aqueous nanoemulsion of acid
to retard acid activity. Nanoemulsion is
claimed to offer retardation without an
adverse increase in viscosity.

Description of Dissolution
Phenomenon
The process of carbonate dissolution
happens in three steps:
1.Transport of reactants to the
carbonate surface
2.Reversible reaction at the surface
3.Transport of reaction products
away from the surface

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

97

100

Permeability (md)

Permeability (md)

HCl

HCl
10
Acetic Acid

4
Acetic Acid

Chelants

Chelants

1
10

Chelants/Nano
With Segmentation
100

1,000

10,000

Chelants/Nano
With Segmentation
0.4
10

100

Fig. 1Comparison of acidization results, with the

envelopes for different formulations in Field A.

Accordingly, the dissolution process

can be limited either by transport (mass
transfer) or by reaction (kinetics). A discussion of this phenomenon, as well as
the authors work based on important
findings in the literature, is provided in
the complete paper.

Optimum Injection Rate

for Carbonate Acidizing

. . .(1)
Solving for qopt gives the optimal injection rate required for creating
wormholes as a function of the diffusion
coefficient:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(2)
Eq. 2 is a very good tool to choose appropriate formulation for a subject-well
stimulation. It requires knowing only the
effective diffusion coefficient of the formulation to calculate the optimum injection rate for a coreflood. Any formulation will be applicable to the subject-well
stimulation only if a pumping rate akin
to optimal injection rate can be attained.
Tables 1 and 2 of the complete paper pro-

98

10,000

Fig. 2Comparison of acidization results, with the

envelopes for different formulations in Field B.

vide optimum injection rate for different chemical formulations by use of this
equation and a summary of choices of
stimulation formulation on the basis of
coreflood injection rate, respectively.
Coreflood results can be upscaled
to field conditions by the following
relationship:
. . . .(3)

Assuming that the chemical reaction of

the stimulating agent and the carbonate
rock is fast enough at reservoir temperatures of 200250F, making the dissolution mass-transfer limited, qopt corresponding to a Damkhler number of 0.29
can be written as

1,000

Treatment Length (ft)

Treatment Length (ft)

Upscaling the qopt (mL/min) results

obtained from 1.5-in.-diameter coreflood studies can help to calculate the
required flow rate for stimulation of a
well, depending on the treatment length.
As an illustration, for a 5,000-ft-long
horizontal well, a qopt of 2 mL/min injection rate in the core translates to a
high flow rate of 8 bbl/min. However,
such high pumping rates can never be
achieved if the well is drilled in a very
tight carbonate formation. This implies
that the injection rate required to create
wormholes is very difficult to achieve
in long horizontal wells drilled in lowpermeability formations.

Evaluating Efficiency of
Stimulation Jobs in Two Fields
Results of acid-stimulation jobs performed in two of the operators fields
were compared with the findings of this
study. Field A is a giant carbonate field
mainly producing from two reservoirs
at a depth of 8,000 ft. The upper, tighter
reservoir is characterized by a fracture

gradient of 0.70.8 psi/ft and permeability of 315 md. The lower, more-prolific
reservoir shows a fracture gradient of
0.60.65 psi/ft and permeability of
1080 md. Field B is a field of moderate size mainly producing from two reservoirs situated at a depth of approximately 9,500 ft. Fracture gradient in the
upper (tight) reservoir ranges from 0.7
to 0.9 psi/ft, while permeability is very
low (0.62 md). The lower reservoir is
the main producer, where fracture gradient is in the range of 0.65 to 0.7 psi/ft and
permeability is 210 md. Both fields are
completed with both vertical and horizontal wells. Horizontal wells are currently the preferred choice for increased
reservoir contact and recovery.
Permeability and treatment length
may vary in a field. On the basis of these
two parameters, qopt was calculated for
a wide range of wells in both fields. The
choice of the optimal formulation for
each kind of well was marked on a log-log
plot of permeability vs. treatment length.
It was observed that wells belonging to
one type of formulation were occupying
certain areas on the plot. Thus, envelopes
pertaining to various formulations were
plotted for the two fields.
A review of the stimulation jobs carried out in the two fields during 2005
2013 was conducted. Overall, 214 jobs
were conducted during the period. Out
of these, 165 jobs were the acid jobs,
which were conducted for post-drilling
acid wash where the history of the wells

JPT JUNE 2015

was not available. The remaining 49 jobs

were analyzed in terms of improvement
in production or injection. It was found
that only 17 jobs yielded good results
post-stimulation. When these wells were
plotted in Figs. 1 and 2 on the basis of
their permeability and treatment length,
a clear pattern emerged. Stimulation
with conventional 15% HCl was effective
in almost all the wells falling within the
HCl envelope (squares). The wells falling
within envelopes pertaining to other formulations did not achieve better results
(crosses). This analysis validates the envelope boundaries set forth in the study.
It is therefore recommended to treat the
well with an appropriate formulation,
depending on its position within the respective envelope.

Conclusions
Wormholing, which is the desired mechanism of stimulation, takes place when a
balance is achieved between the rate of

carbonate dissolution and injection of

chemical into the rock. Many researchers have tried to explain this phenomenon on the basis of a dimensionless
parameter known as the Damkhler
number and have established that ideal
wormholing occurs at a value of 0.29.
An expression was found that can relate optimum injection rate in the 6-in.
cores to the diffusion coefficient from
the literature. On the basis of available
values of diffusion coefficients at the
reservoir temperatures examined by the
authors (250F), optimum injection rates
for various stimulation chemicals were
calculated. The values thus obtained
compared very well with the results of
hundreds of coreflood studies published
in the literature. It was found that highly
reactive HCl requires very high injection
rates to achieve wormholing. But weak
acids (such as acetic acid) and nonacidic
chelating formulations require progressively smaller injection rates for the pur-

pose. Possible injection rates were calculated for vertical and horizontal wells
in the two fields, covering a wide range
of permeability distribution. By means
of upscaling, it was determined which
stimulation chemical would be suitable
for a well. When the permeability and
treatment lengths for these wells were
plotted on a log-log scale, distinct envelopes were obtained for suitability of
differentformulations.

Nomenclature

De =effective length of diffusion

coefficient
L =length of wormhole
Lw =length of horizontal section or
effective length of treatment
NDa =Damkhler number
NDa(mt) =Damkhler number for masstransfer-limited process
qopt =optimum injection rate
rcore =radius of core
rw =radius of wellbore JPT

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Bogot, Colombia

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JPT JUNE 2015

99

TECHNOLOGY

Pat York, SPE, is

global director with
Well Engineering
and Project
Management for
Weatherford. He
has been in the oil
and gas industry for 42 years. York
has been involved in drilling-hazard
management since 2005 and with solidexpandable technology since its initial
global implementation in 1998. Since
2004, he has collaborated with clients
on complex drilling and completion
projects. Throughout his career, York
has served in several management,
business-development, and operational
roles, as well as executive management
in the solid-expandable and drillinghazard-mitigation arenas. Before
joining Weatherford, he was the vice
president of commercialization for
Enventure Global Technology. York has
authored or coauthored more than 30
technical papers and articles and several
chapters in industry technical books
and textbooks. He holds a bachelors
degree in electronic engineering
technology from Northwestern State
University. York is a member of the
JPTEditorial Committee.

Recommended additional reading

at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE/IADC 163420 DrillstringMechanics Model for Surveillance,
Root-Cause Analysis, and Mitigation
ofTorsional and Axial Vibrations
by Deniz Ertas, ExxonMobil, et al.
SPE 171430 Preventing String-Integrity
Failure in Production and Stimulation for
High-Temperature Wells by Gama Hafizh
Aditya, EMP Malacca Strait, et al.
SPE 170961 An Innovative and
Systematic Approach to Delivering a
Multitude of Next-Generation Tubular
Connections Required for Extremely
Complex Design Conditions by Nor Janiah
Japar, Shell, et al.
100

WELLBORE
TUBULARS
The roles of wellbore tubulars in delivering continued well integrity are diverse, critical, and congruent throughout the life of the well.
Well integrity has been defined by the NORSOK Standard document as the application of technical, operational, and organizational solutions to reduce risk of uncontrolled release of formation fluids throughout the life cycle of a well.
Wellbore tubulars are integral to providing these well-integrity barriers, whether
they form the conduit for the primary barrier (the fluid column) within the well, such
as the drillpipe, or comprise a well-barrier element such as casing or other tubulars
associated with drilling, completion, production, intervention, or even abandonment.
During the well-construction phase, the primary well barrier is typically the fluid
column and its tubular conduits. Secondary well-barrier elements can be the in-situ
formation, casing cement, casing, wellhead, high-pressure riser, or drilling blowout
preventer. Subsequently, as the well matures over the next 30 years or more, the elements within the wellbore-tubular realm vary, but each continues to play a significant
role in maintaining well integrity. Therefore, with more-complex high-pressure/hightemperature wells being drilled, the industry is adopting a more life of the well engineered approach in the area of wellbore-tubular design.
The papers summarized within this section are focused on the various roles
tubulars play during the life of the well, beginning with proactive application of innovative well monitoring during drilling operations to provide a dual role of the drillpipe by adding a layer of well-health surveillance during the drilling activities. The
sections focus continues with reviews of case histories outlining the application of
drillpipe intervention systems successfully applied in the offshore west Africa arena
and solutions to large-scale tubular failures within a mature field in Surinames
Tambaredjofield.
The additional-reading titles selected further explore various applications and
evaluation techniques with case-history references to assist in expanding the readers
wellbore-tubular knowledge toolbox.
We all strive to deliver quality well construction, production, intervention, and
abandonment to our industry. While evaluating papers for inclusion in these few short
pages encapsulating the extensive base of information published that surrounds the
application of wellbore tubulars, I was struck by the quality and diversity of information available. Therefore, the reader is encouraged to search further within the
industrys technical-paper and article archives to explore additional aspects of wellbore tubulars and the tools and techniques that are currently available and critique
theirapplicability.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Detection of Kicks With Networked Drillstring

and Along-String Pressure Evaluation

his paper describes efficient

detection of well-control events, in
both underbalanced and overbalanced
conditions. This is especially relevant for
deepwater operations because the reaction
time is significantly less than with surface
blowout preventers (BOPs). A methodology
is offered to detect the annulus-fluid level
in conditions of unknown hydrostaticcolumn height and fluid density through
the use of discrete annular-pressure
acquisition along a networked drillstring.

Downhole-Fluid-Level Analysis
Annular-pressure-while-drilling (PWD)
data are commonly available through
measurement-while-drilling (MWD) services and have the potential for fluid-level
detection. But until recently, mud-pulse
technology could provide data only during dynamic conditions when the circulation rate exceeded a minimum threshold.
Operationally, the pump rate would usually be reduced to below such a threshold in an attempt to reduce the severity of
the losses. Furthermore, PWD data measure pressure at only a single location, so
pressure gradients across particular sections are unknown for detecting the origin of gains or location of losses. Another
practical concern is that an effective fluiddensity estimate is required to compute
hydrostatic-column height if only one pressure measurement is available, and density
is likely unknown because the hole will
be filled with seawater. Finally, negativepulser technology functions in a very limited manner during severe losses, leaving
wellsite personnel deprived of downhole
data and short of meaningful surface data.

Technology Providing
Downhole Information
Along-string temperature and annular
pressure as well as the temperature and
pressure gradients are currently available
through wired or networked drillstrings.
These real-time data improve identification and analysis and, ultimately, the ability to regain well control by supplementing available surface data with downhole
information. The along-string evaluation services provide for pinpointing the
origin of the influx. In some instances,
the same downhole measurements help
identify where hydrocarbons may exit the
wellbore, which reveals the onset and development of an underground blowout.
Three sources of downhole information are described here.
Networked Drillstring for High-Speed
Transmission. Networked drillstrings
are similar to conventional premium
drillstrings in terms of functionality,
handling, and specifications, but their tubulars are outfitted with a stainless-steelarmored coaxial cable connecting the induction coils that are installed at the pin
end and the box end of eachconnection.
Along-String Evaluation of Temperature and Pressure. The 57,600-bps
bandwidth also transmits the alongstring annular-pressure, bore-pressure,
and temperature measurements that are
acquired at the same electronic elements
that provide signal boosting.
Measurement While Tripping (MWT).
Delivery of downhole information is usually achieved by connecting the topdrive.

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 163417, Detect Kicks Prompted by Losses and Direct-Measurement
Well-Control Method Through Networked Drillstring With Along-String Pressure
Evaluation, by Daan Veeningen, SPE, NOV IntelliServ, prepared for the 2013 SPE/
IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 57 March.

Two devices are in development and testing to provide an alternative means to

connect with the downhole sensors that
are relevant during trippingoperations.
The MWT static device is rigfloor-mounted and connects
to the drillstring while it is
suspended in the rotary-table
slips, for early indication
that conditions are no
longerstationary.
The MWT dynamic device is
mounted on the topdrive bails
and connects to the drillstring
as it is hoisted, providing
early detection of dynamic
downholeevents.

Applications That Benefit

From Additional Downhole
Information
Supplementing existing surface data with
downhole information through highspeed networked-drillstring communication and along-string evaluation has
a number of applications in drilling and
tripping operations. Six applications associated with losses are discussed next, in
the context of improving wellsitesafety.
Detection of Kick Prompted by Vugular Losses. Traditional well-control
methods rely on surface measurements
to identify a kick by measuring an increase in return flow to detect the influx. While most well-control events
occur during underbalanced conditions,
the paradox is that an influx may be
prompted by major vugular losses, typically caused by drilling into a carbonateformation vug. During such incidents,
overbalanced drilling conditions plunge,
the annular-fluid level drops, and a gain
at the surface is never experienced. Even
filling the annulus does not prevent the
decrease in hydrostatic pressure, and a
very large hydrocarbon-influx volume
may enter the wellbore before wellsite

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

101

(a)

(b)

Fig. 1MWT devices that (a) provide connection to the networked drillstring
in static conditions and during connections and (b) provide connection in
dynamic conditions while hoisting the string.

personnel notice the event while relying

on surface data alone.
A scenario in which downhole information is available from three alongstring annular-pressure sensors is described in detail in the complete paper.
Well Control With the DirectMeasurement Method. Direct measurement of bottomhole pressure, the pressure near the casing shoe, and pressure
at discrete points between the two offers

unique benefits compared with the two

widely used constant-bottomhole-pressure
circulating methods. First, with the aid of
direct measurements, drillers can activate
the BOPs without first stopping the pump.
Instead, flow rate could be merely reduced
and ultimately paused, as guided by the directly measured downhole-pressure readings in the minute (or part thereof) that it
takes for the annular preventer to physically close. Second, circulation can commence
as soon as surface equipment is lined up,

similar to the drillers method. One distinction, however, is that kill mud can be introduced once it becomes available, instead
of completing a full circulation as required
by the drillers method. This reduces risks
associated with periods without circulation. Third, kill mud can be circulated at
the density at which it becomes available
by mixing, and a homogeneous mud weight
is not required as it is with the wait-andweight method (also known as the engineers method). The swifter introduction
of heavier mud, and quicker circulation of
the influx, reduces the maximum pressure
at the shoe and BOPs. Fourth, the kill rate is
optimized, benefiting from direct pressure
readings taken near the casing shoe (or, alternatively, at the weakest known formation zone). The kill rate is therefore not necessarily constant (i.e., the rate may increase
as the kill advances and is not automatically equal to an earlier established slowcirculating rate, a measurement that becomes obsolete in deploying this method).
Finally, a major difference compared to the
wait-and-weight method is that no calculations are required because a direct measurement drives the operation of the (automatic) choke for the required backpressure.

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102

JPT JUNE 2015

The direct-measurement method

improves and simplifies kick management along with the analysis of the liquid/gas swapping that occurs with gas migrating toward the surface.
Furthermore, direct-measurement
ability helps to identify gas breaking out
of solution and to track its expansion
through pressure gradients along the
drillstring. The implication during well
control may be a dramatic altering of fluid
friction as the gas breaks out of solution
within the reduced inner diameter of the
chokeline. This sudden change in friction
could effect the bottomhole pressure significantly because this abrupt change will
go unnoticed by surveillance based only
on surface measurements at the choke.
The high-frequency downhole-pressure
measurements can convey these pressure
fluctuations to enable closed-loop control
of the choke, aiding wellsite personnel
during challenging and nonroutine operations with higher levels of automation.
Temperature Anomaly To Identify the
Onset and Location of an Underground
Blowout. Temperature logs are used to
identify the location where an influx enters and exits the wellbore. The latter
helps to identify an underground blowout. Using distributed-temperature measurements on networked drillstrings, the
onset of an underground blowout can be
detected through identification of temperature anomalies.
The temperature gradient is also
useful in tracking the displacement of kill
mud, including bullheading operations.
Trip-Strategy Decisions. Operational
procedures will require fluid levels to be
stabilized before commencement of a trip
out of the hole. The multitude of annularpressure sensors affords fluid-level detection, even for heterogeneous density or
gradients in the annulus. Besides fluidlevel stabilization, this measurement provides insight into whether efforts to top
off have been successful, whether pumping rates must be adjusted, and whether a
wellbore influx is occurring.
MWT can be made available for
Static conditions (Fig. 1a), to
provide decision support by
informing wellsite personnel if
fluid levels have stabilized; most
operating procedures prevent

JPT JUNE 2015

tripping out of the hole during

losses.
Dynamic conditions (Fig. 1b),
to provide wellsite personnel
with insight into dynamic
downhole hydrostatic pressures
with real-time measurements
while the networked drillstring
is hoisted into the hole (while
monitoring surge pressures) and
while hoisting out of the hole
(monitoring swab pressures).

Why Tejas
TTNY?

Obviously, swab pressures can produce an influx and excessive surge pressures during a trip into the hole can
cause formation breakdown, whereby the subsequent losses could trigger
well-controlevents.
Managed-Pressure and Mud-Cap Drilling. Aerated mud and accurate application of the required backpressure are
crucial in managed-pressure drilling,
and downhole measurements allow one
to compensate for pressure fluctuations
caused by heave.
Lost-Circulation Management and
Fluid Placement. Lost-circulation material (LCM) and even cement are installed
routinely to recover from severe fluid
losses. Two challenges are encountered.
First, elevated LCM concentrations have
the potential to plug downhole tools and
drill-bit nozzles, and pumping through
tools is costly. Second, placement of fluids
at different densities leads to U-tubing
and complex computations for displacement volumes at (reduced) fluid density to
counter any increase in hydrostatic head
in the annulus or inside the drillstring.
While drilling engineers generally
prefer having the mud-pulse-telemetry
redundancy, there are applications in
which networked drillstring is the single source for downhole-data communication. In these instances, the tolerance
to LCM concentrations is increased and
limited to the bit nozzles.
Through use of the networks two-way
communication, it will be feasible to operate electromechanical fluid-bypass valves
through network activation. In this situation, the LCM or cement would then bypass
the downhole tools, and flow through the
entire drillstring would be restored once
the slug is positioned in theannulus. JPT

Because the
TTNY
connection:

Is a double start connection

Has been tested gas tight
Has two landing threads
Is a robust thread profile
Has a negative thread flank
to avoid jump out
Features 100% pipe body
internal yield, tensile and
compressive strengths
Is tested under pressure to
20/100 ft deviations at
365F
Has a 20 OD bevel to
provide free downhole
running
Has a near flush ID to
minimize turbulence.

Contact us the next time you

need a true high performance
connection.

e-mail:
sales@tejastubular.com
Web site:
www.tejastubular.com
Phone:1-800-469-7549
Fax: 281-822-3401

103

Development of Drillpipe-Riser-Intervention
Systems Offshore West Africa

his paper details the technical

and economic challenges in west
Africa that have led to the design of
drillpipe-riser-intervention-system
(DPRIS) solutions. Depending upon
the field requirements, two different
types of drillpipe-riser systems using a
proprietary double-shoulder connection
have been used by operators. A first
solution was developed in 1999 featuring
a seal ring close to the external shoulder.
Subsequently, a new solution featuring a
gas-tight metal-to-metal seal on the pin
nose was developed.

Introduction
Well-completion and -intervention operations in offshore environments are
growing in complexity because of increasing water depths and working-pressure
requirements. These environmental factors are having a major effect on tubebody minimum-tensile-load capacity and
gas-tight-connection requirements. As
early as 1996, an operator accelerated
the development of a new type of completion and intervention system when it discovered the Roncador field in 1800 m of
water offshore Brazil. A dedicated project
team was created to develop the DPRIS.
The operator had already identified its
need for a mobile early-production riser
for use with a floating production unit
performing extended flow testing of
production wells. The new DPRIS could
be used for subsea tubing-hanger and
production-tree installations and as an
early-production riser.

DPRIS use has greatly expanded;

more than 50 systems currently operate
in deepwater offshore regions. The first
use of the system in west Africa occurred
in 1999 on the Girassol project. A secondgeneration drillpipe riser has since been
designed featuring new connection designs and hydrogen-sulfide-resistant materials and has been subject to evaluation,
testing, and fieldperformance.
Initial Technical Challenges. When
the development of the DPRIS began
in the 1990s, seven main drivers
wereidentified:
Resistance to load requirements,
mainly tension and bending
associated with internal and
external pressure.
Resistance to fatigue: service
life greater than 20 years with
a design safety factor of 10,
meaning 200 years of theoretical
service life.
Inside-diameter (ID) clearance
greater than 5 in. in order to
install and perform intervention
on 5-in. subsea horizontal trees.
Lower weight than dual-bore
risers.
Seal ability up to 5,000-psi
working pressure for injection
offluids or test production of
thewells.
Fast tripping time, motivated
by the economic aspect of
intervention operations; vessels
used for this type of operation
can have expensive spread rates

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 170308, Drillpipe-Riser-Intervention-System Successful Experience
in Offshore West Africa, by Henri de Fonvielle and Laurent Bordet, Vallourec
Drilling Products; William Campbell and Nenad Susak, Total; and Mitra Marajh,
FMC Kongsberg International, prepared for the 2014 SPE Deepwater Drilling and
Completions Conference, Galveston, Texas, USA, 1011 September. The paper has not
been peer reviewed.

if the operator uses a deepwater

drilling unit.
Multiple make-and-break
capability to ensure proper
durability of the product and
longservice life.
However, a few limitations on the
use of the system were acknowledged at
the time. These included
Restricted ID and flow path for
annulus access or circulation
compared with dual-bore
solutions
Risks of corrosion resistance
The annulus bore not accessible
for wireline operations
These challenges were addressed with
the development of a double-shoulder tool
joint with a seal ring ideal for high-pressure
workover applications. When the secondgeneration riser was developed, a doubleshoulder tool joint with a metal-tometal seal for high-pressure workover applications wasincluded.

Drillpipe-Riser Solutions

First-Generation DPRIS. With standard

drillpipe, the sealing performance of the
shoulder is insufficient to ensure gas tightness to the high pressures encountered in
many wells. Therefore, a groove similar to
the stress-relief contour specified for drillcollar connections has been designed into
the pin to accommodate a resilient sealing ring. This sealing ring is shrunk on. To
obtain an internal flush connection, which
is required to ensure turbulence-free flow,
the pin has a cylindrical extension where
the thread runs out and an internal backup
shoulder machined inside the coupling. The
shape of the ring, as well as the box-counter
bore, has been correspondingly optimized
during an extensive series of tests.
The first-generation drillpipe riser,
which succeeded in meeting all requirements, featured the following:

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
104

JPT JUNE 2015

 A common steel drillpipe

construction with typical
handling features
Large outside-diameter (OD)
and tool joints: 6-in. nominal
OD0.500-in. body wall welded
on 8-in.-OD5.079-in.-ID tool
joints
A special thread design with
adual shoulder along with a
gas-tight seal for service
pressureup to 5,000 psi
(test pressure of greater than
7,500psi)
American Petroleum Institute
(API) steel grades for both pipe
(X95) and tool joints (120 ksi)
Second-Generation High-Pressure
DPRIS. If the seal for the first-generation DPRIS is managed close to the
external shoulder with a sealing ring,
the metal-to-metal seal of the secondgeneration DPRIS is located close to
the internal shoulder. This location allows for reduction of the contact pressures on the sealing surface to avoid
early galling and gives better stability

to the seal contact. It also avoids gaspressure migration from the ID.
To achieve the stable behavior of the
metal-to-metal seal for the range of possible interferences caused by production
tolerances, the design has incorporated a
double radius, or wave effect, in the -in.
taper seal area. With two contact surfaces, the solution offers a better contactpressure distribution and reduces the
risk of galling without reducing the performance of the seal.
Another improvement of the second
generation is a new thread profile that
replaces the API thread form by a triangular thread with a reduced angle on the
loading flank. This leads to less sensitivity of the connection to high axial tension and provides better control of the
sealing zone. The root of the radius was
almost doubled to providebetter fatigue
resistance, and the number of threads
per inch was reduced to obtain a quicker makeup, thus reducing nonproductive
time on the rigfloor.
Other changes include a larger
pitch diameter to obtain a better balance between pin-and-box critical cross

sections, and a stress-relief groove was

added on the box to avoid dope pressure
entrapment for better fatigue behavior.
The first high-pressure DPRIS was
developed in 6-in. X-95 grade. During
the Usan field project offshore Nigeria,
it was suggested that the configuration
be changed in order to have a thick wall
for corrosion allowance and a higher
grade for tensile strength. This led to a
new configuration:
Strengthen the pipe body
(6-in. G-105 grade)
Connection accepting the
5.09-in. drift
A special thread design
including a proprietary thread
profile with a dual shoulder
along with a metal-to-metal
seal located on the pin nose
for service pressure up to
10,000psi (test pressure of
greater than 15,000 psi)

Testing Results
The qualification program carried out
during the Usan project included a
resonant-fatigue test with mean ten-

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maria.barrufet@pe.tamu.edu

JPT JUNE 2015

105

Enhance
Your Career.
Get Certifed.

Petroleum
Engineering
Certifcation
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Certifcation program provides
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Fig. 1Sample preparation for temperature-cycling test.

sion applied by 5,000-psi internal water

pressure and temperature-cycle tests between 121 and -18C.
Fatigue Tests With Mean Tension. All
samples for Usan DPRIS qualification
were extracted from actual production.
Thus, the connection had standard machining tolerances and the material, the
surface treatment, and the welding process were fully representative of the delivered drillpipe risers. A hydraulic proof
test was performed on each sample before fatigue testing to confirm assembly
integrity. A pressure of 7,500psi, representing 1.5 times working pressure, was
applied for 3 minutes and then 15 minutes. No leak wasobserved.
Three DPRISs have been subjectedto
resonant-fatigue tests at three different
stress levels and with 5,000-psiinternal
water pressure. The tests were continued
until a pressure drop of 250psi was detected. All fatigue failures were detected
because of leaks caused by cracks. All failures occurred in the pipe-upset zone and
after a longer cyclic time than the specified minimum. The upset zone is known
as a weak part of the drillpipe in terms of
fatigue and is the location where maximum bending stress is measured during a
resonant-fatigue test. These results were
thereforeconclusive.
Temperature Cycling With PressureCycling Tests. The Usan project needed
a qualification of the connection to Temperature Class U (i.e., between 121 and
18C). It was identified that in some
workover operations with nitrogen injection by coiled tubing inside the riser
string, there may be the opportunity for

low temperatures at the connection level.

A DPRIS from production with standard
dimensions, a standard surface finish,
and friction welding by use of standard
processes was prepared with proprietary
end fixings. This connection was first
subjected to a series of 100 make-andbreak tests (M&Bs). The connection was
inspected and fresh dope reapplied every
two M&Bs. No galling was observed during or after the 100 M&Bs. A leak path
was cut on the external and internal
torque shoulders in a manner that ensured that the metal-to-metal gas-tight
seal was the only effective seal during
the test. Then, the hydraulic proof test
was conducted in the same manner as
for the other fatigue samples. An assembly of cooling copper coil, temperatureinsulation covers, and heating coil was
fitted around the sample before placing it in the 1,350-ton static test frame
(Fig. 1).
Internal gas pressure was applied
with a mixture of 90% nitrogen and 10%
helium. The leak detection was achieved
with a helium spectrometer calibrated to
identify a leak of 104 Ncm3/s. To validate the functionality of the detector
during the test, a measure of the quantity
of helium in the air was performed at the
beginning and at the end of the test. The
level measured needed to fall between
3.106 and 7.106 Ncm3/s. During the
full test, the temperature did not exceed
limits by more than 11C and the pressure remained stable above 5,000 psi
and with variation under 250 psi/hour
during the 1-hr qualification process.
For a discussion of successful operations in west Africa using both DPRIS solutions, please see the completepaper.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Reducing Tubing Failures

in the Tambaredjo Field, Suriname

n the 30 years of operations on

Surinames Tambaredjo field, the
prime mechanism for lifting the
15.6API crude to surface has been that
of progressing cavity pumps (PCPs).
In the period from 2008 to 2012, an
annual average of 580 downhole failures
occurred, 54% of which were caused
by tubing leaks. In an effort to reduce
these tubing failures, a pilot program
was commenced to install rod guides in
wells with the highest failure rate and to
install a 25-ft sucker rod directly above
the pump.

Atlantic Ocean

Tambaredjo North West Field

Tambaredjo Field

Calcutta Field

Introduction
Currently, Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname produces from the Tambaredjo, Calcutta, and Tambaredjo Northwest
fields, as illustrated in Fig. 1. These oil
fields are located in a marshy area on the
coastal plain of Suriname approximately55 km west of Paramaribo.
The crude oil contains low sulfur content (0.65 wt%) and 1 wt% asphaltene and has an average viscosity
of 500 cp at reservoir conditions. The
water/oil ratio is 7 and the gas/oil
ratio is less than 50 scf/bbl as of December 2013. The average daily production from these fields reached
16,700 BOPD from 1,549 active producing wells completed in shallow
unconsolidated-sand reservoirs with
depths ranging from 700 to 1,500 ft.
The Tambaredjo oil field isthe oldest and
largest of these fields, with 1,130 active
producers contributingtwo-thirds of the
overallproduction.

Fig. 1Location map of Staatsolie oil fields.

Mechanical Wear of Tubing

The majority of tubing failures in the
Tambaredjo field are repetitive in nature.
Mechanical wear is the removal of metal
caused by the frictional rubbing of the
sucker-rod string against the inner wall
of the tubing. This frictional rubbing can
be increased by the movement of the rod
string, often characterized as stick/slip.
Stick/slip movement describes the
stick and sudden release of the pump
rotor because of rubber swelling and reduced clearance and resulting interference of the stator with the rotor. The
increased friction from rotor to stator
causes the rotor to occasionally come
to a complete stop, but the drive motor
continues to run so that the top of the
rod string continues to rotate and winds
up like a spring. When the torque builds

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 169978, Case Study for Reducing Tubing Failures in Surinames Tambaredjo
Field, by D. Nurmohamed, SPE, H. Chin A Lien, SPE, and S. Kisoensingh, SPE,
Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname, prepared for the 2014 SPE Trinidad and Tobago
Energy Resources Conference, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 911 June. The
paper has not been peer reviewed.

to a critical value, the rotor slips and the

stored energy in the rod string spins it at
a high speed until the torque value drops.

Investigation of the Causes

of Tubing Failures
Data evaluation revealed that the majority of the tubing leakages occurred immediately above the stator (pump) on these
wells. The tubing-string tally in the Tambaredjo field averages 33 joints per well,
with the stator connected to the last joint.
The pump string is usually landed 10 to
15 ft above the packer. From the 1,359
wells screened with leaking tubing, almost half (49%) of the leakage occurred
at the lower section (between the 23th
and the 36th tubing) of the tubingstring.
Tubing- and rod-string correlation
based on depth calculation showed that
most of the tubing leaks occurred at rodstring couplings. The tubing leakage in
an example case detailed in the complete
paper was at a depth of 1,030.7 ft and
matched with the depth of the 43rd coupling of the rod string. This abrasional
wear is caused by the rubbing of the coupling against the inner wall of the tubing.

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

107

Fig. 2Typical example of the affected area,

corresponding to the length of a rod coupling (4 in.).

Results of simulations of the rod

string in PCP-simulation software
showed the possibility of increased wear
above the pump. The short rods used
were installed directly above the stator.
This resulted in increased abrasional
wear caused by the contact of the coupling with the tubing inner wall, brought
about by the eccentric motion of the rod
string. A best practice is to install a fulllength (25-ft) sucker rod above the stator.
After simulating the recommended full
length of the sucker-rod configuration
with the assumption of a perfectly vertical well, no indications of increased wear
were encountered.
In 12 wells with the highest leakingtubing rate, the tubings were inspected
visually after the leaks were identified
by normal pressure testing. Fig. 2 illustrates a typical example of the affected
area, which resembles the length of a
rod coupling (4 in.); the abrasional wear
is seen only on one side of the inner wall
of the tubing, and on the other side is a
residual deposit. This figure also illustrates pitting corrosion. In another case,
there is also a smooth surface observed
(Fig. 3). This is caused by the velocity of
the fluid passing through and creating an
erosional or abrasional effect on the tub-

108

Fig. 3Smooth surface caused by the erosional effect of

flowing fluid.

ing, where the weakened part of the inner

wall is constantly being removed, creating a new surface. In this new, rough surface, the corrosion weakens the existing
metal, which causes the pitting illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.
Inspection on the inner wall of the
tubing was made possible by cutting open
the smaller sections to identify any additional internal damage. These sections
were between two rod couplings, which
had the length of a sucker rod (25 ft).
No signs of any corrosion, erosion, or
abrasion were detected in the midsection (25ft between the rod couplings). In
the bottom and top parts of the inspected tubing, which had a space of 25 ft between them, a worn pattern was found
equivalent to the size of a rod coupling.

Selection, Application, and

Monitoring of Pilot Wells
On the basis of findings that tubing leaks
occur at the spots where the rod coupling hits against the tubing inner wall,
and on the basis of well-failure histories
and evaluation, eight wells were selected with a high tubing-failure rate. These
wells were located in different areas of
the Tambaredjo field, each with different reservoir characteristics, pressures,

and well histories. The rod centralizer

was chosen on the basis of ease of installation by well-servicing personnel in the
field. In each selected well, new tubings
and rods were installed for better monitoring of the mean time between failures.
The operating conditions on those wells
remained the same in terms of operating
speed, size of installed PCP, drive head,
and applied pressures. Close monitoring of these wells was performed until
the first tubing failure. In Wells 6F07,
6A11.1, and 6F03, there were not enough
rod centralizers available to be installed
on the complete rod string. Nevertheless, there was an improvement in tubing
failures compared with the situation before the rod-guide-installation pilot testing. The first tubing failure occurred after
7 months in Well 6F07, after 4 months
in Well 6A11.1, after 4.5 months in Well
6F03, and after 3 months in Well 3O08.
Well 3U14 is still producing without any
failure after a 6-month period, and the
remaining three wells are also still producing without any failure.
Case 6F03. Well 6F03 had a history of
four failures per year recorded since
2010. In August of 2012, rod guides
were installed during a workover on

JPT JUNE 2015

this well. As a result of insufficient rod

guides in stock, a sequence of installation was simulated and executed. In this
sequence, some of the sucker rods were
run in the hole without rod guides and
were registered. Five months after installation, this well went out of production because of tubing leaks at the 13th
and 20th joints. After checking the rod
tally, it was determined that the sucker
rods did not have rod guides at these
depths of tubing failure. Visual inspection of these sucker rods showed abrasive wear patterns on the rod couplings
at those depths.
Case 6A11.1. Well 6A11.1 also had a history of four failures per year recorded
since 2010. In December of 2012, rod
guides were installed. This well was also
run in with rod guides with a simulated
sequence of guide placement. After 4
months, this well also went out of production, with leaking at the 15th tubing.
Visual inspection of the rod string at the
failed depth showed an abrasive wear
pattern on the sucker rod. No rod guide
was placed at this depth.

Case 6F07. Well 6F07 had a failure history of 6 times per year recorded since
2010. In January of 2013, rod guides
were installed, with some extra guides
on the rod string leaving some sucker rods without any rod guides. After 7
months, this well went out of production, with leaking at the 17th tubing. As
in previous cases, a wear pattern was
observed on the rod coupling at the
depth corresponding to the leak.
The other selected wells were run in
with rod guides on every sucker rod, as
recommended. Since the installation of
these rod centralizers, no failures have
been registered.

Conclusions
The main cause of leaking tubing in the
wells is the rod/tubing abrasional wear
in combination with the corrosiveness of
the produced fluid.
Rod/tubing abrasional
wearis partly caused by
excessive vibration of the
rods, resultingfrom the
improper installation of the
rodconfiguration.

No correlation is observed
between tubing failures and highwater-cut areas.
After installing the recommended
rod string with a full length
of sucker rod above the pump
combined with rod centralizers
on the rod string in the selected
pilot wells with high failure rates,
a reduction of 40% is achieved
for four wells, and the other four
wells are still producing after the
recommended installation.
To minimize these failures, it is recommended to reduce the vibration of the
rod string and prevent rod/tubing contact by taking the following steps:
Install a full length of sucker rod
above the stator on all wells to
prevent increased tubing wear
above the pump.
Install rod centralizers in wells
with repetitive tubing failures to
prevent rod/tubing wear.
In cases where the produced fluids
are also corrosive, corrosion
inhibitors may be applied. JPT

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advance the body of knowledge for the E&P industry.
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JPT JUNE 2015

109

TECHNOLOGY

Stephen Goodyear,
SPE, is EOR
deployment lead
for Shells Upstream
International
region. He has 29
years of experience
as a reservoir engineer, principally
working in EOR. Before joining Shell in
2002, Goodyear worked for an oil and
gas consultancy and, during his career,
has performed a wide variety of roles,
including roles in research and fielddevelopment planning. He is a Shell
subject-matter expert for gas injection
and has a particular interest in nextgeneration carbon dioxide EOR projects
and carbon capture and storage.
Goodyear holds an MMath degree
from Cambridge University and a PhD
degree in physics from the University
ofEdinburgh. He is a member of the
JPT EditorialCommittee.

Recommended additional reading

at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 170052 Solvent-Assisted Startup
of SAGD Wells in Long Lake Project
by F. Ahmadloo, Nexen, et al.
SPE 169080 Right-Sizing the Jay/LEC
FieldCommercial 30-Year EOR Project
by Travis Melster, Quantum Resources
Management, et al.
SPE 169035 Design, Implementation,
and Early Operating Results of Steam
Injection Pilot in Already-CO2-Flooded
Deep Heavy-Oil Fractured Carbonate
Reservoir of Bati Raman Field, Turkey
by Secaeddin Sahin, Turkish Petroleum
Corporation, et al.
SPE 171506 Technical Breakthrough
in Production Engineering Ensures
Economic Development of ASP Flooding
in Daqing Oil Field by Cheng Jiecheng,
Daqing Oilfield Company, et al.

110

EOR OPERATIONS
What a difference a year can make! Back in June 2014, when the EOR Operations feature last appeared in JPT, Brent was trading at more than USD 100/bbl. At the time of
writing this year, the oil price has halved to near USD 50/bbl. However, despite current prices, it is widely believed that the age of easy oil is over and that, as we seek
to replace reserves and meet growing energy demand, we will be driven to develop more-technically-difficult and -capital-intensive volumes. This will be through
exploration in ever-more-remote and -challenging environments, the development
of known but more-difficult reservoirs, or the development of brownfield projects
by applying improved-oil-recovery and enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) techniques to
existingassets.
Worldwide, more oil is left behind in reservoirs than is recovered. The potential
of EOR is significant: A 1% increase in the efficiency of hydrocarbon recovery could
deliver 3 additional years of annual global production at todays level. EOR is about
monetizing known barrels in well-characterized formations through the application
of commercially proven recovery techniques such as miscible-gas and steam injection
and with an eye to the maturation of less-widely-applied or emerging EOR technologies such as alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding or low-salinity flooding.
Developing these EOR plays requires the willingness to step beyond our comfort
zones and the commitment to longer-term project timelines, which may require a
piloting or demonstration phase before large-scale application. That is not very different from opening up a new exploration play, except that we know with certainty that
the hydrocarbons exist.
Successful implementation of more-complex recovery processes benefits from a
systems approach in which every aspect of the project is considered, from the injectant sourcing through to piloting, facilities design, project phasing, surveillance, and
reservoir management. Alongside this there is a need to develop and deepen skills to
move from primary- or secondary-recovery processes to EOR. SPE plays an important
role in this by sharing knowledge and experience of operating projects. The papers
summarized in this section and suggested in the recommended additional reading all
speak to different aspects of the EOR journey. I hope you will enjoy reading them and
be inspired to look for EOR opportunities in your fields.JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Pilot Steam Generator Uses Solar Energy

Successfully for EOR Operations in Oman

his paper presents performance,

results, and learnings from the
first solar enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR)
project in the Middle East/North Africa
region, including the motivation for
solar EOR in Oman, a description of
the enclosed-trough design used in
the Amal field, and operations and
performance data. The key objective for
the pilot was to prove that the system
is able to be deployed practically and
economically at scale in the region.

Introduction
Thermal-EOR projects require a massive long-term thermal energy supply to
heat the reservoir. Concentrating solar
power (CSP) could provide this energy
at a low cost after the initial capital investment; hence, the two processes are
well-matched, especially in locations
with high levels of solar radiation.
The Sultanate of Oman, in common
with many other countries in the region,
has large heavy-oil reserves, which are
best produced with thermal-EOR methods. Natural gas is traditionally used as
the fuel for these projects. However, concerns about future supply, carbon dioxide emissions, and future costs led
Petroleum Development Oman to investigate solar technology to power longterm EOR plans. The result was the
solar-steam-generation pilot (SSGP) built
at the Amal West field in southern Oman.

Potential
One cannot spend time in the deserts of
the Arabian Peninsula without appreci-

ating the potential for solar energy in

the region. The measure of solar radiation used to quantify resources for CSP
is direct normal irradiance (DNI), the
amount of direct-beam (rays that come
in a straight line from the sun) radiation
received per unit area by a surface that is
always held perpendicular (or normal)
to the direction of the sun at its current
position in the sky.
The deserts of Oman receive DNI
of greater than 2000 kW-hr/a in most
locations, with higher altitudes reaching greater than 2500 kW-hr/a (Fig. 1).
For reference, the Amal location receives 2057 kW-hr/a. Because of Omans
low latitude, solar irradiation does not
show large seasonal variations. Petroleum Development Oman selected the Amal field in southern Oman
(Fig.2) as the site for the SSGP using the
enclosed-troughtechnology.

Technology
Enclosed trough represents a new
approach to the design and construction of concentrating solar collectors.
The enclosed-trough system is protected by a glass structure, an agricultural greenhouse (Fig. 3). The SSGP plant
has a solar field footprint of 17 280 m2
with a peak output of more than 7 MW
thermal. Lightweight parabolic mirrors
are hung within the glasshouse. The
glasshouse provides structural support
and isolates the solar collectors from
wind and moisture, substantially reducing the total cost of the solar-energy
system. These greenhouses are similar
to the design deployed at scale glob-

This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE 169745, Construction, Operations, and Performance of the First
Enclosed-Trough Solar-Steam-Generation Pilot for EOR Applications, by Daniel
Palmer, SPE, GlassPoint Solar Muscat, and John ODonnell, GlassPoint Solar,
prepared for the 2014 SPE EOR Conference at OGWA, Muscat, Oman, 31 March
2April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

ally in a wide variety of environmental conditions.

The mirrors are of a low-cost lightweight aluminum honeycomb construction, and the structural design and low
aspect ratio of the greenhouse allows it
to withstand design wind loads at much
lower cost and material usage than conventional CSP designs.
Ambient windborne sand, dust, and
humidity are substantial in many desert
oilfield environments. In many parts of
the Middle East, overnight condensation occurs on dust-laden surfaces, resulting in mud that requires wet washing. The enclosed-trough glasshouse
structure is fitted with an automated
roof-washing system capable of cleaning
the entire roof surface each night while
the collectors are offline. The majority
of wash water is returned in the gutter
system and can be recovered for reuse.
Dust infiltration is minimized by positive pressure from an air-handling unit
(AHU), which provides filtered, dried
air at slight overpressure within the
structure in all conditions. This is designed to cope with intense dust storms
of long duration. These measures have
proved effective in delivering consistent
energy output in oilfield conditions. The
small losses from roof-glass transmission and structural shading are more
than compensated for by the soiling
control and wind protection afforded by
this architecture.
Low system weight allows the entire mirror system to be suspended from
the fixed-receiver system. This fixed receiver eliminates all moving parts from
the high-pressure direct steam receiver
system. This enables the pressures necessary for oilfield steam generation at
low cost and eliminates safety risks and
maintenance requirements associated
with articulated high-pressure receivers. The direct-steam system eliminates
other costs and risks of traditional CSP

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

111

Location of
Amal pilot

Direct Normal Irradiance

2

8 kWh/m 2/day

Fig. 1Solar radiation (DNI) map of Oman showing average

annual DNI per day in KW-h/m2. The location of the SSGP is
marked with a +.

Fig. 2Location of the SSGP at the Amal field.

Fuel for Thought

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Get up-to-date industry knowledge from the people who wrote the
book on E&P. Courses are ofered at multiple locations around the world.
Learn more at www.spe.org/training where you can browse the
schedule and register for courses that meet your interests.

112

systems such as heat exchangers and

flammable heat-transfer oils.
A proprietary solar receiver technology is used, based on a standard
2-in. carbon-steel boiler tube similar
to those used in oilfield boilers. The receiver tube is polished and coated with
selective absorber coating that maximizes the absorption of solar radiation,
while minimizing the losses from the
emission of infrared radiation. Tubular glass shields minimize heat losses
from convection. The glasshouse structure carries the receivers and troughs.
The receivers are suspended from the
structure by steel rods. The troughs are
supported from the receiver tubes by
use of similar rods. These rods are held
in tension and can accommodate the
significant daily thermal expansion and
contraction of the receivers and troughs
while maintaining precision alignment
of the opticalsystem.
Steam quality is controlled through
a separator and remixing system. Steam
is separated in a vessel, and the flow
of steam vapor and liquid is measured.
The two are then remixed at the target
steam quality. Excess liquid can be recy-

JPT JUNE 2015

Moist
Dirty
Air

3
4

Clean Dry Air

Fig. 3Diagram of enclosed-trough
solar system. (1) Roof-washing
system; (2) glasshouse; (3) tubular
glass shields; (4) lightweight
parabolic mirrors; (5)steel rods
suspending receivers; (6) AHU.

cled to the insulated water supply tank

so that energy is not wasted. Generally,
a steam quality of 75% was the target
duringoperations.
The system is connected to the
Amal West main steam header and is designed to deliver 50 t/d of steam on average for the year. This represents a small
percentage of the total steam capacity
of the field and, as such, does not lead to
significant pressure or rate variations in
the steam-distribution network. Future
systems can incorporate turn down of
fuel-fired once-through steam generators and steam-distribution networks
that will allow large fractions of solar
energy to beaccommodated.

Results
Health, Safety, and Environmental
Performance. The project to date has
been executed without a lost-time injury in more than 270,000 man-hours of
construction and operations. This is a
result of eliminating risks through engineering design and a high level of safety
focus at the site. For example, the mirrors can be installed without the use of
cranes and without working at height.
The main maintenance task, the cleaning of the roof, is completed nightly by
automated equipment, eliminating any
requirement for work at height.
System Performance. A model was
built to predict the ideal performance

JPT JUNE 2015

of the system on the basis of incident

solar radiation (DNI) and the position of the sun. This proprietary model
is a combination of an optical model
that calculates ray paths and reflection and focusing of light onto the receiver and a thermal model that calculates heat transfer and losses in the
steam system. In combination, these
two provide a model that translates incoming radiation (DNI) and the suns
position in the sky to the steam output of
the system.
Three performance tests were designed to measure the performance of
the system. The first was to measure instantaneous performance of the system
in full sun (Test A). The second was to
measure cumulative output vs. model
for the first year of operations (Test B)
on the basis of the following ramp up:
Months 13 postcommissioning
80% of model output
Months 45 postcommissioning
90% of model output
Months 612 postcommissioning
95% of model output
The final test (Test C) was to
show that the system could be run autonomously for 3 days (i.e., with no
humaninteraction).

Cumulative-Steam-Output
Results
The goal of the test laid out at the start
of the operations was exceeded by 2%.
Close to 14,000 tons of steam was generated during the first 12 months of operational days.
The solar-steam pilot operated
with extremely high uptime, averaging
98.6% for the full year and more than
99.5% for the final 3-month period. The
solar field uptime significantly exceeded expectations, although a number of
remedial actions were addressed. Most
of these could be addressed at night
when the plant was nonoperational and
cooledoff.JPT

FULL STEAM AHEAD

The patented technology

to meet all requirements of
thermal recovery methods :

PCM VulcainTM
All Metal Progressing Cavity
Pump System for Articial Lift
Boosts temperature limits
up to 350c/660f
Ideally suited for thermal
EOR conditions (SAGD, CSS,
Steam ood)
Stays efcient with any
water cut
No work over before and
after steaming

Pilot to Full-Field Polymer Application

in One of Indias Largest Onshore Fields
normal five-spot polymer-flooding
pilot has been conducted at
the Mangala field, one of the largest
onshore fields in India, and results are
encouraging in terms of additional oil
recovery and reduction of water cut.
Polymer flooding has the potential to
improve sweep efficiency in the field
significantly and to increase expected
ultimate recovery (EUR). The project is
one of the largest in the world in terms
of scale, polymer usage, and related
facility and logistics.

Introduction
The main reservoir unit in Mangala
field is the Fatehgarh group. Five reservoir units (FM1FM5) have been named
from the top down. Mangala contains
waxy sweet crude oil with gravity ranging
from 20API near the oil/water contact to
28API higher in the oil column. The crude
has an in-situ oil viscosity of 922cp, with
live-oil wax-appearance temperature approximately 6C lower than the average
reservoir temperature of 65C. The oil
also has a high pour point of 4045C,
which had a great influence on all aspects
of the project and processdesign.
The development plan involved implementing a hot waterflood from production startup to maintain reservoir
pressure and sweep reserves effectively.
On the basis of appraisal data, it was
realized from the start that Mangala was
a candidate for an enhanced-oil-recovery
(EOR) process. Detailed laboratory evaluations and simulation studies suggested chemical flooding as the appropriate
EOR process for the field.

Base
Waterflood

Polymer
Slug

ASP
Slug

Case
Polymer
Slug

Chase
Waterflood

Fig. 1EOR pilot diagram.

A polymer-flood pilot was conceived

on the basis of laboratory and simulation
results. The pilot has been successful in
terms of reducing water cut and increasing oil rate. Full-field implementation is
now planned for Mangala.

Polymer Pilot Performance

Pilot Design. The pilot consisted of a

normal five-spot pattern and three observation wells (Fig. 1) in a 100100-m
area. The pilot wells will also be used

This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE 169146, Pilot to Full-Field Polymer Application in One of the Largest
Onshore Fields in India, by Dhruva Prasad, Amitabh Pandey, SPE, M. Suresh
Kumar, and Nitish Koduru, SPE, Cairn India, prepared for the 2014 SPE Improved
Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, 1216 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

for an alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP)

-flood trial.
The pilot design allows for independent evaluation of the effectiveness
and estimated incremental recoveries
of the waterflood, polymer flood, and
ASP flood. Logging observation wells
are being used to measure changes in
oil saturation with time as a function
of fluid volume and injected chemicals.
Tracer surveys during the waterflood
and polymer flood have helped in understanding fluid movement in the unconfined pilot pattern. All the data taken
have been used to calibrate the pilot
simulation model, match performance,
and estimate incremental recovery from
a polymer flood at both pilot and fullfield scale.

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
114

JPT JUNE 2015

300
Oil Rate
80

60

40

Water Cut (%)

Start of Polymer Injection

Oil Rate (BOPD)

Water Cut

20

Time

Fig. 2Pilot performance.

Pilot Operation and Result. The base

pilot waterflood was followed by shortterm polymer-injectivity tests and regular polymer injection (2,0002,500ppm)
in all the injectors at approximately
750BWPD. The performance of the polymer flood has been quite encouraging and
has met all expectations. Oil cut increased
from approximately 25% at the end of the
water-injection phase to 70% at its highest during the polymer flood, followed by a
reduction back to 25% and lower (Fig. 2).
Key Lessons. The following important
lessons and conclusions have been incorporated in the development planning for
full-field implementation:
The required viscous-polymer
solution was injected at desired
rates in the wells without
exceeding the formation-parting
pressure. This was important for
the closely spaced pilot because
any induced fracture could have
resulted in a short-circuiting
of the injected polymer-flood
solution. In the field-scale
development, it may be necessary
to exceed fracturing pressures.
Primarily, a loss in viscosity of
approximately 1520% was
observed because of direct heating
of the polymer solution through
heat exchangers (high skin

JPT JUNE 2015

temperature) after making the

solution. Apart from this, some
shear losses in viscosity also were
seen in the injection lines. For the
full-field project, heated water will
be mixed into the polymer source
solution at well pads in order
to reduce degradation losses in
polymer viscosity. Additionally, a
1015% margin will be kept for all
types of losses.
Good vertical-injection
conformance is required for
optimum polymer-flood sweep
efficiency. New injection wells
designed for the full field
are planned with selective
completions to improve
conformance.
The produced-water viscosity
from the pilot production well
is 1.02.0 cp, with a polymer
concentration in the produced
fluid of 1,0001,500 ppm.
The low viscosity is a result of
shearing of the polymer through
the electrical submersible pump.
These data match laboratorymeasured viscosities for sheared
fluid. This important observation
has been considered for
produced-fluid-treatment design.
Quality-control methods for
polymer solution have been

established in the Mangala

laboratory, and personnel have
been trained in laboratory
polymer analysis, which will
be helpful during full-field
implementation. Goodquality polymer solution is
a requirement for optimized
economics.

Full-Field Polymer-Flood
Concept
On the basis of the successful Mangala EOR polymer-flood pilot, a plan was
made to expand the polymer-flood process to the full-field scale in a staged
manner, starting with the FM1 layer.
The extrapolation of pilot results
from FM1 to the rest of the layers in the
field is based on simulation modeling
and coreflood studies. Polymer physics
is considered relatively simple; a polymer flood is simply a viscous waterflood.
Polymer-flood simulation parameters
derived from corefloods have been validated in the pilot modeling study.
Simulation studies to evaluate
polymer-flood performance have been
performed on the Mangala waterflood
history-matched model. The waterflood
forecast based on the history-matched
model has been in line with the actual
performance of the field. This gives confidence in terms of the capturing of geo-

115

Carbon Dioxide Capture,

Utilization and Storage
(CCUS) Technical Section

Carbon dioxide capture, utilization and

storage (CCUS) involves capturing CO2
emissions from large point sources such
as power plants and either reutilizing or
storing the emissions to keep them from
entering the atmosphere.

Expanded Career Opportunities for

Petroleum Engineers
Possessing the know-how for evaluation,
selection, and monitoring of underground
storage sites garnered through decades
of experience in the elds of CO2enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and gas
storage operations, the E&P segment of
the oil and gas industry is anticipated to
play a major role in the advancement
of CCUS including broader application
of CO2-EOR.
Moreover, lessons learned in the
ongoing commercial activities within
the oil and gas disciplines of underground
gas storage and CO2-EOR are directly
transferrable to CCUS, thus expanding
career opportunities for petroleum
engineers.

Join the CCUS Technical Section

This SPE group seeks to bring the
above-mentioned activities together
in one place for those interested in
this developing subject. You will have
opportunities to deepen your learning
and share your insights through online
discussions, web events, virtual meetings,
forums, and workshops, and enjoy the
benets of at least one face-to-face
meeting a year.

Join now at connect.spe.org/ccusts.

Recovery Factor (%)

SPE has formed a Technical Section to

give members the opportunity to focus on
Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and
Storage (CCUS), an area of interest for
petroleum engineers worldwide. Industry
interest in CCUS as a way to reduce
emissions and for sequestering or storing
carbon dioxide, has increased over the
past decade. In response, SPE has stepped
up programming in this area.

Incremental Recovery 510%

of Stock-Tank Oil Initially in Place

Waterflood
Polymer Flood

Pore Volume Injection

Fig. 3Recovery factor vs. pore volume injected from waterflood and polymer
flood.

logical heterogeneity and dynamic uncertainty in the model. Before studying

polymer injection on full-field models,
studies were performed on small sector
models and cross-sectional models for
all major reservoirs of Mangala to understand the basic displacement mechanism
and evolve an effective EOR development
plan for Mangala. The incremental benefits of polymer injection have been examined vs. the base waterflood case.
Polymer Viscosity. The endpoint waterflood mobility ratio for Mangala is approximately 36 (assuming an average oil
viscosity of 22 cp). On the basis of the
waterflood endpoint mobility, a polymer
viscosity of 14 cp brings the mobility
ratio down to unity. But, at any point during the flood, it is the total fluid (oil and
water) that has to flow together; hence,
total relative mobility should be considered. Minimum total mobility value
for Mangala is approximately 0.03, and,
considering the endpoint permeability
of water/polymer as 0.6 (on the basis of
special-core-analysis data and a historymatched model), the required polymer
viscosity for establishing a stable flood
front is approximately 20 cp. This brings
the endpoint mobility ratio down to 0.7
for the upper part of the oil in the field.
The targeted wellhead polymer-solution
viscosity is slightly higher, to account for
polymer degradation as it moves through
facilities, the well, and perforations and
to allow for in-situ chemical degradation.

Polymer Tapering. A tapered slug has

been used to optimize polymer quantity
and economics. The main goal of this is
to prevent a sharp rise in water cut in the
pattern producers and avoid the subsequent closure of wells because of watercut constraints, which would result in reserves and value losses.
Shear Thinning. Because the polymer
solution is non-Newtonian, the viscosity of the solution is reduced at higher
shear rates. These high shear rates are
observed in regions close to injectors
and producers where the flow velocities are high. This phenomenon improves
injectivity in the injectors and productivity in the producers producing polymer, compared with the case without
shearthinning.

Full-Field-Simulation Results
In the base case, water cut at the start
of the polymer flood was approximately 77%. Because of the polymer injection and the associated improved sweep,
water cut was reduced and production
was increased. A significant water-cut
reduction (down to approximately 67%)
is observed after 1 year of polymer injection in all layers. In the absence of
polymer injection, water cut would
have continued to increase to approximately 85%. Fig. 3 shows the recovery
factor vs. pore volume injected, clearly demonstrating the benefits of polymerinjection. JPT

JPT JUNE 2015

Magnus Water-Alternating-Gas-Pattern
Optimization Through Data Integration

everal studies explored the

possibility of improving both
areal and vertical sweep efficiency in
mature water-alternating-gas (WAG)
patterns in the Magnus oil field. Key
surveillance data, such as 4D seismic,
production-logging-tool (PLT) data,
and well performance and openhole
saturation logs, have been coupled with
simulations to study options for sweep
improvement. Optimizing the WAG
patterns enables a more efficient use
of the available gas, which makes this
a more-commercially-viable and -costeffective tertiary-recovery option.

Introduction
The Magnus oil field was discovered in
1974 and is on the UK continental shelf
of the North Sea. The field started production in 1983 through seven predrilled
subsea wells by use of a fixed, steel-jacket
platform. The first of the 20 platform
well slots was drilled out in 1984, followed by water-injection startup in the
same year to provide pressure support
and sweep. The plateau production was
maintained until 1995 at 150,000 STB/D,
and, after 7 years of decline, miscible-gas
injection through a WAG scheme started
in 2002.
In the WAG enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) scheme, lean hydrocarbon
gas is injected. The minimum miscibility pressure is 5,000 psi, which is the
current target operating pressure. The
average net-gas-use efficiency to date is
3,500 cf/STB. So far, EOR has been implemented in three panelsA3:B3, Central, and South (Fig. 1).

This paper focuses on analyzing

10 years of data from running the WAG
scheme and on investigating how to improve recovery in mature patterns, specifically in the Central panel.

Determining
Remaining Potential
Given the dynamic and complex nature
of the WAG scheme in the Central panel,
it was recognized that no single data
source could be relied upon to inform
on sweep efficiency. Key to understanding further potential would be using all
available data in an integrated manner
to determine the remaining reserves and
how to unlock them. The data and tools
used to review WAG performance were
as follows:
Gas-use efficiencyproduction/
injection allocated volumes
based on well tests; waterflood
decline curves to determine EOR
increment; benchmarking
Sweep efficiency (areal and
vertical)4D seismic; PLT data
from producers and injectors;
production/injection allocated
volumes based on well tests;
repeat-formation-tester data to
check vertical barriers; reservoir
depositional element maps; well
correlations
Pore-scale displacement
corefloods
Remaining-oil habitatbehindwaterflood-front saturation logs
(open hole); surveillance maps
(flood-front/saturation maps)
Remaining-oil volumefullfield model (FFM) simulation

This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE 169167, Magnus WAG-Pattern Optimization Through Data Integration,
by Demet Erbas, SPE, Matthew Dunning, Timothy M. Nash, David Cox, SPE, John
A. Stripe, and Euan Duncan, BP, prepared for the 2014 SPE Improved Oil Recovery
Symposium, Tulsa, 1216 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Conclusions of Analysis. Overall, combining the various analytical techniques,

the following conclusions were reached:
The MSM-G lobe has a gasuse efficiency at the upper
end of industry benchmarks
and comparable to that of the
Magnus A3:B3 panel.
MSM-G is relatively welldeveloped but does contain
some remaining oil potential.
Patterns in MSM-G are relatively
well-established, and further
potential may be gained by
changing the areal sweep pattern
to attempt to sweep different
areas.
The MSM-E lobe displays high
gas-use efficiency comparable
with that of MSM-G and at
the upper end of industry
benchmarks.
However, the MSM-E lobe is
relatively immature in terms
ofoverall WAG flood and
contains the most remaining
potential.
The MSM-A lobe displays poor
gas-use efficiency.

Determining Optimal
Panel-Development Plan
Identifying Options. With the analysis concluding that MSM-E in particular was relatively immature and required
further development to access potential,
study turned to the best way to achieve
this. Given the large existing well count
in the area, analysis centered on whether reconfiguration of existing wells could
increase overall recovery. A number of
potential reconfigurations were considered, including
Shutting off/opening up lobes in
existing producers or injectors
Changing sweep direction by
recompleting producers as
injectors and vice versa

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
JPT JUNE 2015

117

Phase 2 Targets
Producer
Injector
MSM Production
MSM Injection
LKCF Production
LKCF Injection
LKCF MSM Injection
Brant Production
Brant Injection

Fig. 1(a) Magnus-sandstone-member (MSM) map; (b) current and planned WAG EOR patterns. LKCF=lower
Kimmeridge clay formation.

Fifteen reconfiguration scenarios

were studied, in which each scenario represents a combination of opening up new
patterns or changing sweep direction.
Option Evaluation and Ranking. In
order to evaluate the scenarios, a sector
model of the Central panel was extracted
from the Magnus FFM, with the dynamic
properties preserved from the end of the

history period. The model is a coarsescale (100100310 m) compositional model with a six-component equationof-state fluid description.
To arrive at the best development
option, the results from the simulator
were ranked with regard to
Incremental ratehigher value
placed on schemes that deliver
incremental oil earlier

Incremental volumehigher
value placed on highest
incremental schemes
Well-work costhigher value
placed on lower-cost schemes
Chance of well-work
successhigher value placed
on schemesthat are less
complexand have a greater
chance of success

Current
Patterns

Incremental-Oil Rate

Incremental-Oil Profile

Year

Proposed
Reconfiguration

Incremental-Gas Rate

Incremental-Gas Profile

Year
Fig. 2Current patterns, proposed reconfiguration, and incremental-oil and -gas production profiles.

118

JPT JUNE 2015

 Being able to execute in

12 yearsincluded as a
consideration given the need
to see results from this initial
reconfiguration activity for
application in other areas of
thefield
All 15 scenarios were each ranked on
these criteria.
Description of the Proposed Option.
The results suggest that the optimal
strategy for an efficient use of the available gas entails
Opening up new patterns in the
MSM-E lobe complex
Ceasing gas injection into MSM-A
Exploiting remaining potential
in MSM-G through reinstating
production from Well M24(B4)
Open Up New MSM-E Patterns.
Analysis showed by various methods
that MSM-E had the highest remaining
potential. In determining development
schemes, it was concluded that the optimal scheme would entail converting Well
M39z(B6) to MSM-E-only production by
isolating MSM-G perforations and perforating in MSM-E. Because of a current obstruction in the wellbore, this activity would involve coiled tubing but
was viewed as accomplishable in the 1to 2-year time frame. Reinstating Well
M24(B4) in MSM-E was considered unviable because of a leak path from a proximal injector. Similarly, recompleting Well
M43(B7) in MSM-E was considered to require rig intervention, with a low chance
of success even then.
On the injection side, perforating
Well M34(C3) in MSM-E to establish a
diagonal pattern in the panel is proposed, with the log correlation suggesting good continuity of MSM-E between
the two wells. MSM-E is laterally extensive and widely distributed, so there is
a greater chance of it communicating
across the Central panel. Well M48(C4)
perforations in MSM-E will be maintained. While there has been an issue
identified about whether gas injected
to MSM-E in Well M48(C4) will stay in
MSM-E, increasing production from the
MSM-E will lower pressure and increase

JPT JUNE 2015

the chance that gas will stay in MSM-E.

Logs also will be run in Well M48(C4) as
part of the campaign to assess cement
integrity and determine whether any remedial work is needed.
Ceasing Gas Injection Into MSMA. MSM-A has shown much lower gasuse efficiency than MSM-G or MSM-E.
While the reasons for this lower efficiency are not understood, the results suggest that significant gas is being stranded in MSM-A, making this a more costly
lobe complex to develop. With a finite gas
supply for EOR use, focusing this gas into
lobes with higher efficiency is more optimal. As such, it is proposed to cease gas
injection into MSM-A by setting plugs
in two injectors, Well M34(C3) and Well
M48(C4). The MSM-A perforations in
Well M43(B7) will be retained in an effort to recover some of the expended gas
and associated oil in this layer before depletion and abandonment. An option to
open an additional well in the middle of
the flood pattern to recover gas is also
being explored and will be progressed
depending on results of the reconfiguration scheme and the 4D seismic once the
latter is available.
Reinstating Well M24(B4) in
MSM-G. With Well M39z(B6) being converted to MSM-E production, less offtake
will remain in MSM-G. Significant potential remains in MSM-G, though less
than in MSM-E. Well M24(B4) was previously perforated in MSM-G and MSM-E
sands but has been shut-in since April
2010 because of high water cut (close to
100%). Data suggest that the problem
in Well M24(B4) is related to the MSM-E
watering out because of communication
with a nearby water injector that targets a deeper zone. Setting a plug above
MSM-E in Well M24(B4) should allow the
well to be reinstated as MSM-G only, to
replace Well M39z(B6) partially, with the
additional benefit of the changed flood
pattern targeting an area potentially
leftunswept.
The current and revised schemes
are summarized in Fig. 2 together with
expected incremental-oil and -gas profiles based on simulation. Incremental
gas production is initially negative because the injected gas takes longer to return in the new patterns. JPT

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Field Pilots Show Effectiveness of Foams

in Low-Porosity Naturally Fractured Reservoir

oams have proved to be efficient

at temporarily blocking highconductivity layers and improving
gas-injection conformance and sweep
efficiency in predominantly matrix
reservoir systems, at least in laboratory
and field pilot tests. However, their
successful use in naturally fractured
reservoirs has yet to be fully
demonstrated. This paper presents the
evaluation process and the successful
results for two foam-enhanced-oilrecovery (EOR) field pilots.

Introduction
The Recetor area corresponds to the
northern extension of the larger Cupiagua field, which is 115 km northeast
of Bogot in the foothills of the Eastern Mountain chain in Colombia. The
main reservoir is the Mirador formation, a quartzarenite with matrix porosities between 3 and 9% and permeabilities in the range of 0.01 to 10 md,
located below 13,000-ft true vertical
depth subsea.
In the Recetor area, the fracture
corridors are confirmed to play an important role both in well productivity/
injectivity and in interwell connectivity and gas channeling between gas injectors and oil producers. This is confirmed by the high connectivity between
most of the wells and the observed levels
of gas recycling, which could not be ex-

plained by the low matrix permeabilities. Current condensate recovery factor is approximately 34%, and steep
evolution of gas production has been
observed in the wells influenced by the
two main gas injectors (LR YR-7 and LR
YZ-11) during the last 2 years, with gas/
oil ratios (GORs) ranging from 40,000
to 100,000 scf/STB.
The foam-EOR pilot projects in the
Mirador formation of the Recetor area
were aimed at controlling, or at least
mitigating, the high levels of gas recycling between the main gas injectors
and their respective oil producers. They
were engineered to improve both the
vertical conformance of the gas at the
injector wells and the sweep efficiency
deep into the reservoir, by use of limited slugs of liquid foaming solutions followed by gasinjection.

Front-End Loading (FEL)

The evaluation of foams for EOR in the
Recetor area began in 2011 as a continuation of successful pilot results obtained in the nearby Cusiana field. For
these pilots, an FEL program was implemented to guarantee the technical
feasibility and maximize the chance of
success. The lessons learned from the
Cusiana pilot were incorporated, simplifying chemical selection. The emphasis was on testing the effectiveness of
foams in naturally fractured systems
with the fluid systems of the field, in ad-

This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper IPTC 17950, Foams Prove Effectiveness for Gas-Injection Conformance and
Sweep-Efficiency Improvement in a Low-Porosity Fractured ReservoirField Pilots,
by A. Ocampo, SPE, A. Restrepo, N. Rendn, J. Coronado, J. Correa, D. Ramirez,
M. Torres, and R. Sanabria, Equion Energia, and S. Lopera, National University
of Colombia, prepared for the 2014 International Petroleum Technology Conference,
Kuala Lumpur, 1012 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Copyright 2014 International Petroleum Technology Conference. Reproduced by
permission.

dition to an appropriate selection of the

field areas in which to deploy the foams.
Surfactant Selection. Experience from
the previous pilot in the Cusiana field
combined with tests for compatibility
with the Recetor fluids resulted in selection of the same surfactant chemical and
formulation used in the Cusiana pilot,
PetroStep C1, an alpha olefin sulfonate
with a carbon-chain length of C14/C16.
Coreflooding Results. Some specific
coreflooding experiments using a naturally fractured core sample were designed and performed in preparation
for these pilots. The results of the gasflooding experiments showed that the
foam batch could effectively block the
gas flow through the fracture corridors of
the sample, placing incremental condensate/oil recoveries at approximately 15%.
These results are very consistent with experiments conducted on fractured samples from the Cusiana field, where incremental recoveries between 10 and 17%
were obtained for similartests.
Reservoir-Area/Well Selection for Pilots. The selected reservoir areas for the
foam pilots in Recetor correspond to the
areas of influence of the main current
gas injectors (LR YR-7 and LR YZ-11).
The first pilot was in the central part
of the Recetor area, where extremely
high levels of gas recycling were taking
place between the gas injector Well LR
YR-7 and the northern oil producer LR
YR-6, which had a GOR of approximately 100,000 scf/STB while the southern
oil producer had a more moderate GOR
of approximately 40,000 scf/STB. The
most likely explanation for the extremely high GOR of the LR-YR6 well was a
fracture corridor connecting the wells.
The second pilot was in the northern part of the Recetor area, where
more-moderate levels of GOR still exist

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
120

JPT JUNE 2015

LR YR-6Z (PROD)

700

Oil Rate (B/D)

600

Producer Well
LR YR-6

Well-Testing Data

Baseline

500

Foam Behavior

Benefits:
25,00035,000 bbl

400
300
200
100

Injector Well
LR YR-7

0
Dec-11 Mar-12 Jun-12 Sep-12 Dec-12

Producer Well
LR YR-4

Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13 Dec-13

LR YR-4 (PROD)
1,200

Well-Testing Data

Baseline

Foam Behavior

Oil Rate (B/D)

1,100
1,000

Wells Legend
Producer Well
Gas-Injector Well
Suspended
Shut-in Well

2 km

900
800

Benefits:
35,000 bbl

700
600
Dec-11 Mar-12 Jun-12

Sep-12 Dec-12

Mar-13 Jun-13

Sep-13

Dec-13

Fig. 1LR YR-7 foam-pilot area and affected-oil-producers response, first pilot.

between the main gas injector LR YZ-11

and its affected producers LR YT-8 and
LR YZ-10. Nevertheless, gas channeling
was shown by a change in GOR from approximately 20,000 to 40,000 scf/STB
in approximately 1 year.

Field Deployment
Field Operations. The first pilot
was performed in June 2012, when
6,400 bbl of diluted PetroStep C1 was
pumped in the LR YR-7 well followed
by a small batch of nonfoaming lowinterfacial-tension (IFT) solution to guarantee placement of the whole foaming
treatment in the reservoir and to avoid
foam formation in the wellbore. Once the
liquid batch was pumped, the gas injectivity was reduced dramatically and there
was no chance to implement the planned
high-gas-injection-rate stage. The second
pilot was performed in September 2013 by
pumping approximately 8,500bbl of the
same diluted surfactant foamer in the LR
YZ-11 well, again followed by a small batch
of nonfoaming low-IFT solution to guarantee placement of the whole foaming
treatment in the reservoir. This time, the
gas injectivity of the well was not affected
strongly and high gas-injection rates were
possible after the foam treatment.
Monitoring Plan. The intensive monitoring plan included baseline well tests
in the oil producers, continuous well-

JPT JUNE 2015

head pressure and temperature tracking

in both the injectors and the producers,
and monthly well tests after the foam interventions. For the first pilot (LR YR-7),
the monitoring plan included a prejob
baseline injection-log test (ILT) and another ILT 2 to 3 months after the foam injection. For the second pilot (LR YZ-11),
no ILTs were planned, to optimize costs,
but a chemical tracer was injected 2 days
after finishing the foam injection.

Results and Discussion

The evidence of the first pilots success
was observed from Day 1, when a strong
gas-injection blockage was observed
and the well started to gain its injectivity slowly, recovering it completely after
approximately 3 months.
Well tests performed in the oil producers during the 6-month period after
the treatment showed incremental oil
production of 30 and 12% in LR YR-4
and LR YR-6, respectively, along with
evidence of GOR trends decreasing in
LR YR-4 and changing the increasing
slope in LR YR-6 (Fig. 1). The flat GOR
in LR YR-4 lasted for approximately 15
months, indicating a long-lasting effect
of the foam treatment in this well. The
effect in the LR YR-6 GOR was much
more modest, but the total lasting effect could not be confirmed because the
well was shut in 6 months after the treatment because of gas-management issues

in the field. The total estimated benefit

from this pilot was between 60,000 and
70,000 bbl.
Fig. 2 shows the production results
obtained from the foam treatment performed in LR YZ-11 (the second pilot).

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121

Producer Well
LR YZ-10
Oil Rate (BOPD)

LR YZ-10

Injector Well
LR YZ-11

Base Case

Foam Treatment

Benefits:
37,200 bbl
Sep-13
Sep-13
Oct-13
Oct-13
Oct-13
Nov-13
Nov-13
Dec-13
Dec-13
Jan-14
Jan-14
Feb-14
Feb-14
Mar-14
Mar-14
Apr-14
Apr-14
Apr-14
May-14
May-14
Jun-14
Jun-14

Producer Well
LR YT-8Y

1,600
1,500
1,400
1,300
1,200
1,100
1,000
900
800

LR YT-8

Wells Legend
Producer Well
Gas-Injector Well
Suspended
Shut-in Well

2 km

Oil Rate (BOPD)

2,000

Base Case

Foam Treatment

1,800
1,600
1,400

Benefits:
20,700 bbl

1,200

Jun-14

May-14

Apr-14

May-14

Feb-14

Mar-14

Feb-14

Jan-14

Dec-13

Dec-13

Oct-13

Nov-13

Oct-13

Sep-13

Aug-13

Aug-13

1,000

Fig. 2LR YZ-11 foam-pilot area and affected-oil-producers response, second pilot.

Well LR YZ-10, north of the gas injector,

presented a very strong response both in
oil production and in GOR, which stayed
flat for approximately 8 months, while

LR YT-8, to the south and with more evidence of natural fractures, presented
only a temporary flattening of the GOR
and a modest response in oil production

compared with its baseline. Nevertheless, the overall treatment was positive,
giving a current incremental production
of approximately 60,000 bbl. JPT

Call for Papers!

Submission deadline:
22 June 2015

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122

JPT JUNE 2015

SPE NEWS

Sections New Competition Funds Scholarships

The SPE Gulf Coast Section (GCS) held its
first annual OilSim Competition in April
to raise funds for petroleum engineeringscholarships.
At the Frontline Groups office in
Houstons Energy Corridor, eight teams of

professionals and students took part in a

contest to discover, produce, and manage
the best possible virtual oil fields, using
Schlumbergers OilSim training software.
Teams received points not only for
the production and profit their fields gen-

From left to right: Senior reservoir engineer Hamad Behzadi, geologist Jillian
Mallis, and production engineer Alexandra Joven competed on the winning
team at the SPE Gulf Coast Sections first annual OilSim Competition.

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erated, but also for good corporate citizenship. Players had the option of conserving
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PEOPLE

NATHAN G. CLARK, SPE, was named senior vice president of perforating and technology at Geodynamics. He has more than
23 years of experience in the design and development of shaped charges, explosive devices, and completion tools used in the oil
and gas industry. Clark has developed perforating systems for Western Atlas/Baker Atlas, Halliburton,
and Geodynamics. He holds 21 US patents. He has completed
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CAMERON KIRKPATRICK, SPE, was appointed vice president of US sales at Geodynamics. He joined the company as a junior
sales representative and held numerous
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and field operations organizations. He is also responsible for

the overall sales strategy, including partnerships with operating and servicecompanies.
ALAN LINN, SPE, has been appointed chief
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&

CG A
CAWLEY, GILLESPIE & ASSOCIATES, INC.
PETROLEUM CONSULTANTS
SINCE 1960

Fort Worth
(817) 336-2461

Houston
(713) 651-9944

Austin
(512) 249-7000

www.cgaus.com info@cgaus.com

WILLIAM M. COBB
& ASSOCIATES, INC.

WORLDWIDE PETROLEUM CONSULTANTS

NORWAY
PERA
Curtis H. Whitson
& Associates
EOS Fluid Characterization
Design & Analysis of PVT Data
Gas Condensate Specialists
Compositional Simulation Expertise
Pipe-It Integrated-Model Optimization
Gransvei 1, 3rd floor 7048 Trondheim Norway
Phone 47 7384 8080 / Fax 47 7384 8081
whitson@pera.no / www.pera.no

Changing Your Address?

Let SPE know. +1.972.952.9393

Waterflood & EOR Studies

Geological & Petrophysical Analysis
Reservoir Simulation
Unconventional Resource Evaluation
Reserves & Property Valuation
Gas Storage & CO2 Sequestration Analysis
Expert Witness Technical Training
12770 Coit Road, Suite 907, Dallas, TX 75251
Phone (972) 385-0354
www.wmcobb.com
FAX (972) 788-5165
office@wmcobb.com

Oil & Gas Facilities

Magazine
New bimonthly magazine
dedicated to Projects, Facilities,
and Construction professional.
Join and subscribe online today at
www.spe.org/publications/
subscribe.php

To advertise in Professional Services contact ecarthey@spe.org or call +1.713.457.6828.

JPT JUNE 2015

125

COUTRET AND ASSOCIATES, INC.

International Reservoir
Technologies, Inc.

Petroleum Reservoir Engineers

Property Evaluation, Reservoir Engineering
Fluid Injection, Property Management
401 Edwards Street, Suite 810
Shreveport, LA 71101

INTEGRATED RESERVOIR STUDIES

Seismic Interpretation & Modeling
Stratigraphy & Petrophysics
Reservoir Simulation
Enhanced Oil Recovery Studies
Well Test Design & Analysis
Well Completion Optimization

Phone (318) 221-0482

Fax (318) 221-3202

www.coutret.com

M.J. ENGLAND, P.E.

CONSULTING PETROLEUM ENGINEER
Reserve Reports
Fair Market Value

Estate Appraisals
Expert Witness

215 Union Blvd., Suite 350

Lakewood, CO 80228-1840
Telephone: 303/298-0860
Facsimile: 303/298-0861

5310 Harvest Hill Road, Suite 275

Dallas, Texas 75230-5805
Tel: 972-788-1110 Fax: 972-991-3160
Email: forgarb@forgarb.com
Web pages: www.forgarb.com

Frank Givens, CPA

iReservoir.com, Inc.

SERVING THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY FOR

OVER 60 YEARS

Geophysics / Geologic Modeling

Petrophysics / Reservoir Simulation
Unconventional Resources

1490 W. Canal Ct.,

Ste 2000
Littleton, CO 80120

Consulting Petroleum Engineers

Reserv. Eva., Sec. Recovery, Unitiz.
Drilling & Completion Supervision
Property Management
719 Scott Ave., Suite 420
Wichita Falls, TX 76301
940/322-0744

H.J. Gruy and

Associates, Inc.

2435 N. Central Expressway

Suite 1500
Richardson, TX 75080

lenandersen.com

www.hjgruy.com

800-428-4801

HAAS PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

SERVICES, INC.

LONQUIST & CO. LLC

Petroleum Engineers Energy Advisors
www.lonquist.com

Robert W. Haas, P.E., President

Prospect Screening
Property Acquisition
Litigation

505 N. Big Spring, Suite 105

Energy Square Bldg.
Midland, TX 79701
TEL (432) 683-4391
www.tshickman.com
FAX (432) 683-7303
Email: tshickman@tshickman.com

Provider of LYNX, MatchingPro,

PlanningPro and ForecastingPro Software

Reservoir Engineering
Reserve Determinations
Economic Evaluations
Underground Storage
Engineering
Salt Cavern Engineering
Supply Studies
Mining Engineering

Denver, Colorado
475 17th Street, Suite 1400
Ph. (303) 292-9595
www.NITECLLC.com

www.larocheltd.com
Phone: 214-363-3337
Fax: 214-363-1608

Len Andersen

Experienced Throughout U.S.A.

International Petroleum Consultants

Petroleum Engineering, Geological,

and Geophysical Services

Market Valuations
Expert Testimony
Arbitration
Commercial Models
Risk Analysis
Acquisition Screening

Merger & Acquisition Support

Mineral and Royalty
Management
Regulatory Filings and
Testimony
Facilities Engineering
Disposal Well Design
Graphical Information Systems

Austin Houston Wichita Calgary

Huddleston & Co., Inc.

Sharpen your Competitive Edge with SPEs

Domestic and International

Petroleum & Geological Engineers
1221 McKinney, Suite 3700
Houston, TX 77010
Ph: (713) 209-1100 Fax: (713) 209-1104
e-mail: info@HuddlestonCo.com

SPE Training
Courses

LLC

Fractured Reservoir Characterization/Modeling

Gas Storage Unconventional EOR CO2 CCS Black
Oil/Compositional/Thermal Reservoir Simulation

30 Years of Professional Service

Three Allen Center

333 Clay Street, Suite 3850
Houston, Texas 77002
TEL: (713) 739-1000
FAX: (713) 739-6112
hougruy@hjgruy.com

Due Dilligence
Reserve Evaluation
Reservoir Studies

NITEC

LaRoche Petroleum Consultants, Ltd.

Oil and Natural Gas Reserve Advisors

Consulting Petroleum Engineers

Web pages: http://www.millerandlents.com

LANE OPERATING COMPANY

Member FINRA/SIPC

T. Scott Hickman & Associates, Inc.

Two Houston Center

Phone: (713) 651-9455
909 Fannin St., Ste. 1300
Fax: (713) 654-9914
Houston, TX 77010
e-mail: mail@millerandlents.com

LARANCE ENGINEERING COMPANY

LPL FINANCIAL

126

Ph. 303-713-1112
Fax. 303-713-1113
E-Mail: meng@iReservoir.com

Specializing in All Phases of Reserves Evaluations,

Including Petroleum Economics,
Reservoir Engineering, Geology, and Petrophysics

www.iReservoir.com

662-404-3798
frank.givens@lpl.com

2100 Ross Ave., Suite 600

Office (214) 754-7090
Dallas, TX 75201
Fax (214) 754-7092
Email: haas@haasengineering.com
www.haasengineering.com

MILLER AND LENTS, LTD.

INTERNATIONAL OIL AND GAS CONSULTANTS

iReservoir.com provides world class 3D

reservoir characterization and simulation
studies along with secure Web hosting of
results using state-of-the-art geoscience
and engineering technology.

Structured approach to Investment Decisions

Reserve Determinations
Geologic Studies
Petrophysical Analysis
Seismic Interpretation
Reservoir Simulation
Stochastic Evaluations

A client oriented consulting firm

providing practical solutions to reservoir
management problems.
MHA California LLC
4700 Stockdale Hwy, Suite 110
Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 325-0038
Denver: (303) 271-1478

International Petroleum Consultants

Expert Witness
Reservoir Simulation
Due Diligence
Technical Staffing

730, 17th Street, Suite 410

Denver, CO 80202
(303) 277-0270
www.mhausa.com

300 Union Blvd., Suite 400

Lakewood, CO 80228
PH: (303) 279-0877
Fax: (303) 279-0936
www.irt-inc.com
IRT_Information@irt-inc.com

FORREST A. GARB
& ASSOCIATES, INC.
Reservoir Engineering
Economic Evaluation
Geologic Studies
Forensic Engineering

MHA Petroleum
Consultants LLC

PLATT, SPARKS & ASSOCIATES

CONSULTING PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, INC.
www.PlattSparks.com

Reservoir Engineering
Reservoir Simulation
Reservoir Characterization
Oil and Gas Reserves Evaluation
Fair Market Value and Acquisition Valuation
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Economic Evaluation
Oil and Gas Production
Gas Storage Design and Screening
Regulatory Filings and Database Acquisition
Expert Petroleum Engineering Testimony

AUSTIN OFFICE
925-A Capital of Texas Highway S.
Austin, Texas 78746 U.S.A.
Telephone: (512) 327-6930
Facsimile: (512) 327-7069
Experts@PlattSparks.com

MIDLAND OFFICE
800 North Marienfeld, Ste. 100
Midland, Texas 79701 U.S.A.
Telephone: (432) 687-1939
Facsimile: (432) 687-1930
Dsparks@DiscoveryOperating.com

PRA

Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska, LLC

Alaskas Oil and Gas Consultants

Geology, Geophysics, and Engineering
www.Petroak.com
3601 C Street
Suite 1424

(907) 272-1232 voice

(907) 272-1344 fax
Anchorage, AK 99503

Praesagus RTPO
A Sierra Hamilton Company

Register online at www.spe.org/training

Production Optimization Projects & Surveillance Tools

Production Optimization Workshops
Houston, Texas
Claude Thorp +1 713 956 0956
cthorp@sierra-hamilton.com
www.praesagusrtpo.com

JPT JUNE 2015

JAMES E. SMITH & ASSOCIATES, INC.

SPARTAN OPERATING CO., INC.

310 South Vine Avenue, Tyler, TX 75702

903-593-9660 903-593-5527 (FAX) 800-587-9660
smithjames@jes-engineer.com http://www.jes-engineer.com
James E. Smith, P.E., Registered Professional Engineer

SURTEK

Chemical Flooding Technology

35+ Years of Chemical Flood Experience
Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer
Alkaline-Polymer
Surfactant-Polymer
Mobility Control Polymer

Practical CEOR Courses

Laboratory EOR Design
EOR Screening and Field Development
Simulation Field Evaluation
1511 Washington Ave., Golden, CO 80401
(303) 278-0877, Fax (303) 278-2245
www.surtek.com email: surtek@surtek.com

TSA, Inc.
Consulting Petroleum and Environmental Engineers
Fluid Injection/Disposal, CO2-EOR and CO2-GS, FSI/CRI
Wells, Produced Water/Frac Fluid Management, Technical
Training, E&P Operations & Regulatory Compliance
6551 S. Revere Pkwy., Suite 215
Centennial, CO 80111
Talib Syed, P.E.

Tel: 303.969.0685
www.talibsyed-assoc.com
e-mail: talibs@ecentral.com

ULTIMATE EOR
SERVICES
World leader in chemical EOR and tracer
test design, field implementation and
training. Laboratory, reservoir simulation
and field support available.
Contact us for a Free Consultation.
www.ultimateeor.com
info@ultimateeor.com

11412 FM 2244, STE 200

Austin, Texas 78738

ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE

ADIPEC 2015
Page 31
Archer
Page 2
Baker Hughes
Pages 17, 61
CannSeal
Page 33
CESI Chemical
Page 8
CGG
Page 19
Churchill Drilling Tools
Page 27
Cudd Energy Services
Page 85
Dyna-Drill
Page 13
Enhanced Drilling
Page 25
Enventure
Page 89
Fairmount Santrol
Page 29

Global Geophysical
Services, Inc.
Page 11

Rock Flow Dynamics

Page 39
Schlumberger
Cover 2, Page 3, Cover 4

Halliburton
Page 21

Society of Core Analysts

Page 23

Interwell
Page 35

South Dakota School of

Mines and Technology
Page 83

LEUTERT
Page 71
London Business
Conferences Group
Page 41

TAM International
Page 37
Tejas Tubular Products, Inc.
Page 103

Mohawk Energy
Page 6
National Oilwell Varco
Page 49

Texas A&M University at

Qatar
Page 105

NCS Multistage, LLC

Page 43

Texas Tech University

Page 81

Packers Plus
Page 7

Tomax AS
Page 9

PCM Europe S.A.S.

Page 113

University of Oklahoma
MPGE
Pages 65, 95

Petrolink
Page 45

Weatherford
Pages 4, 5

Rheonics, Inc.
Cover 3

W.D. Von Gonten & Co.

Petroleum Engineering
Domestic and International
808 Travis, Suite 1200
Tel: (713) 224-6333
Houston, TX 77002
Fax: (713) 224-6330
info@wdvgco.com www.wdvgco.com

Wallace International, LLC

Unconventional resource studies
Integrated reservoir description projects
Detailed petrophysical analyses
www.wallace-international.com
Office: 972-386-4581

Zaetric
Providing technical document development, business process support and printing/binding services
to the oil & gas industry since 2000.
DOCUMENTATION Drilling & Completion,
Rig Operations, QA/HSE, Equipment, Reports,
Instructions & Procedures
BUSINESS PROCESS Technical Contracts,
RFQs, Process Evaluation, Project & Vendor
Management
PRINTING/BINDING Turnkey, In-House,
Customizable, Quick Turnaround
www.zaetric.com The Woodlands, Texas
281-298-1878 inquiries@zaetric.com

JPT JUNE 2015

JPT ADVERTISING SALES

AMERICAS

CANADA

10777 Westheimer Rd.

Suite 1075
Houston, Texas 77042-3455
Main Tel: +1.713.779.9595
Fax: +1.713.779.4216

Mark Hoekstra
Sales Manager Canada
Tel: +1.403.930.5471 Fax: +1.403.930.5470
mhoekstra@spe.org

Craig W. Moritz
Assistant Director Americas Sales & Exhibits
Tel: +1.713.457.6888
cmoritz@spe.org
Evan Carthey (Companies A-L)
Sales Manager Advertising
Tel: +1.713.457.6828
ecarthey@spe.org
Dana Griffin (Companies M-Z)
Advertising Sales
Tel: +1.713.457.6857
dgriffin@spe.org

EUROPE, RUSSIA, and AFRICA

Rob Tomblin
Advertising Sales Manager
Tel: +44.20.7299.3300
Fax: +44.20.7299.3309
rtomblin@spe.org
MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH ASIA,
and ASIA PACIFIC
Clive Thomas
Advertising Sales Executive
Tel: +971.4.457.5855
cthomas@spe.org

ADDRESS CHANGE: Contact Customer Services at 1.972.952.9393 to notify of address change or make
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to JPT, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836 USA.

127

SPE EVENTS
WORKSHOPS
710 June PenangAdvanced
Completion Technologies for Challenging
Fields
911 June IstanbulSPE Sand Control
New Frontiers and Current Challenges
1112 June BangaloreSPE Young
Professionals Workshop: The Future
isNow
30 June1 July Port of SpainSPE Oil
and Gas Effluent Discharge Management
911 August Kuala LumpurSPE Young
Professionals WorkshopOil and Gas
Digital World: The Rise of Generations
1113 August NapaSPE Distributed
Fiber-Optic Sensing for Well, Reservoir,
and Facilities Management
1314 August Kuala LumpurSPE A Call
to Action: Bringing Gender Diversity to the
Next Level
1619 August PerthIntegrated
Production ModelingMaximizing
AssetValue
1820 August Rio de JaneiroSPE
Managed Pressure Drilling and Well
Control
13 September GalvestonSPE From
Sensors to Solutions
25 September Putrajaya SPE
Reservoir Testing to Add Production Value
34 September LimaSPE Water
Management for Oil and Gas: Best
Practices and New Technologies

CONFERENCES
910 June LondonSPE London
Annual ConferenceMaximizing Value in
Upstream Oil and Gas

911 June CalgarySPE Canada Heavy

Oil Technical Conference
2326 June MacaBrasil Offshore
Conference
78 July BogotSPE Latin
American and Caribbean Health,
Safety, Environment, and Sustainability
Conference
2022 July San AntonioUnconventional
Resources Technology Conference
(URTeC)
46 August LagosSPE Nigeria
Annual International Conference and
Exhibition
1113 August Kuala Lumpur
SPE Asia Pacific Enhanced Oil Recovery
Conference
23 September MidlandSPE
Liquids-Rich Basins Conference
North America

2022 October BaliSPE/IATMI

Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and
Exhibition
2022 October CalgarySPE
Unconventional Resources Conference
2628 October MoscowSPE Russian
Petroleum Technology Conference
2729 October Rio de JaneiroOTC
Brasil
46 November BakuSPE Annual
Caspian Technical Conference and
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911 November BrisbaneSPE Asia
Pacific Unconventional Resources
Conference and Exhibition
912 November Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi
International Petroleum Exhibition and
Conference (ADIPEC)

FORUMS

811 September AberdeenSPE

Offshore Europe Conference and
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1823 October CancunSPE Enhanced

Oil RecoveryThe Future is Now

1416 September CairoSPE North

Africa Technical Conference and
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1821 January DubaiSPE Next

Generation of Smart Reservoir
Management: The Eminent Role of
BigData Analytics

1416 September Abu DhabiSPE

Reservoir Characterization and Simulation
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CALL FOR PAPERS

1516 September Abu DhabiSPE

Middle East Intelligent Oil and Gas
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2830 September HoustonSPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition
1114 October MishrefSPE Kuwait Oil
and Gas Show and Conference
1315 October MorgantownSPE
Eastern Regional Meeting

IADC/SPE Drilling Conference Fort Worth

Deadline: 22 June
SPE International Conference and
Exhibition on HSSE-SR: Sustaining
our Future through Innovation and
Collaboration Stavanger
Deadline: 29 June
SPE International Conference and
Exhibition on Formation Damage Control
Lafayette
Deadline: 10 August

Find complete listings of upcoming SPE workshops, conferences, symposiums, and forums at www.spe.org/events.
128

JPT JUNE 2015

inline process
density and viscosity
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