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A P R I L 2 0 1 7 • VO LU M E 69, N U M B E R 4 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
Land Drilling
Packages
An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Printed in US. Copyright 2017, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
We have the
61 OFFSHORE DRILLING AND COMPLETION
superpower
Martin Rylance, SPE, Senior Adviser, BP
VISURAY ION
X-RAY VIS
The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available
free to SPE members for two months at www.spe.org/jpt.
archerwell.com/point
SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The
Nathan Meehan, Baker Hughes
Salis Aprilian, PT Badak NGL
2018 President
SOUTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Darcy Spady, Broadview Energy
Libby Einhorn, Concho Oil & Gas
missing
Vice President Finance
WESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Roland Moreau, ExxonMobil Annuitant
Andrei Popa, Chevron
REGIONAL DIRECTORS
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
link.
AFRICA
Adeyemi Akinlawon, Adeb Konsult
DRILLING
Jeff Moss, ExxonMobil
CANADIAN
Cam Matthews, C-FER Technologies HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENT,
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Trey Shaffer, ERM
Joe Frantz Jr., Range Resources
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION
GULF COAST NORTH AMERICA
J.C. Cunha
J. Roger Hite, Inwood Solutions
COMPLETIONS
MID-CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA
Jennifer Miskimins, Colorado School of Mines
Chris Jenkins, Independent Energy Standards
Well integrity
Khalid Zainalabedin, Saudi Aramco Hisham Saadawi, Ringstone Petroleum Consultants
WORLD CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION+‡ HENRY HUB GULF COAST NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE‡
THOUSAND BOPD
6
O PEC AUG SEP OCT NOV
5 USD/million Btu
Algeria 1350 1350 1350 1350
Angola 1833 1768 1618 1698 4
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
2017
JAN
FEB
Kuwait1 2960 2960 2960 2970
Libya 250 310 550 580
Nigeria 1913 1943 1988 2023
Qatar 1537 1477 1507 1527
Saudi Arabia1 10640 10600 10590 10640 WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)‡
UAE 3186 3216 3196 3226
Venezuela 2210 2200 2190 2180
2017
TOTAL2 36085 36081 36295 36637 JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
THOUSAND BOPD WTI 44.65 44.72 45.18 49.78 45.71 51.97 52.50 53.47
Africa 81 77 77 79 78 79 77
Asia Pacific 194 190 182 188 192 198 196
INDICES KEY
Numbers revised by EIA are given in italics.
+
Figures do not include natural gas plant liquids. TOTAL 1547 1584 1620 1678 1772 1918 2027
1
Includes approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production.
2
Includes all current OPEC members.
3
Additional annual and monthly international crude oil production statistics
are available at http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/. WORLD OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND‡
† Source: Baker Hughes.
‡ Source: EIA.
MILLION BOPD 2016
Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Guinea, after reaching 7,818 ft without of Bergen, was drilled to a vertical depth
AFRICA
evidence of intersecting the Antelope of 14,229 ft below sea level. The company
Z Aminex reported that the company- reservoir. The proposed total depth of the has a 53.775% interest in the discovery, with
operated Ntorya-2 appraisal well in the well’s appraisal section was approximately Petoro (30%), Centrica (13%), and Shell
Ruvuma Basin of Tanzania encountered a 7,545 ft. Total has a 40.1275% interest in the (3.225%) holding the remaining stakes.
gross gas-bearing reservoir unit of 167 ft. well, with remaining stakes held by InterOil
A comprehensive well testing program (36.5375%), Oil Search (22.835%), and
began in late February. The earlier Ntorya-1 minority parties (0.5%).
MIDDLE EAST
well discovered a net pay of 11.5 ft and Z Lukoil has found oil at the Eridu 1
flow-tested at 20 MMcf/D, with 139 bbl of exploration well in Block 10 of southern
associated condensate. The Ntorya field is
EUROPE Iraq. The well flowed at a rate of more
approximately 25 miles from the Madimba Z Lundin has made a discovery on than 6,290 B/D of oil from the Mishrif
gas processing plant, which connects with production license 533 in the Barents Sea, horizon during testing and has now
the National Gas Pipeline system. Aminex the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has been completed. The discovery confirms
has a 75% working interest in the project announced. Wildcat well 7219/12-1 proved geological expectations of a large
with Solo holding the remaining share. a total oil column of about 196 ft and an hydrocarbon field to be present in the
overlying total gas column of 196 ft, of Block 10 contract area, the company said.
Z Eni has begun production from the East which 180 ft and 147 ft, respectively, were Exploration continues in the block, with
Hub Development Project offshore Angola, in sandstone with good reservoir properties plans to drill and test the Eridu-2 appraisal
5 months ahead of schedule. The startup in the Tubåen formation. Appraisal well well later this year. Lukoil is the operator
of the Cabaça South East field is expected 7219/12-1 A confirmed a mostly equivalent with a 60% interest, and Inpex (40%) holds
to boost production from Block 15/06 to gas and oil column in the Nordmela and the remaining share.
150,000 B/D. East Hub production will Tubåen formations with good reservoir
add to output from the existing West Hub properties. Preliminary estimates of the size
Project in the Sangos, Cinguvu, and Mpungi of the discovery are from 5.5 million std m3
NORTH AMERICA
fields. The company operates Block 15/06 to 16 million std m3 of recoverable oil Z Shell has given the green light to
and holds a 36.84% interest. Sonangol equivalents. The appraisal and wildcat wells develop its Kaikias deepwater field in
(36.84%) and SSI Fifteen (26.32%) are the were drilled to respective depths of 8,120 ft the United States Gulf of Mexico, the first
other participants. and 5,905 ft beneath the seabed. Operator such project the company has approved
Lundin holds a 35% interest in the license. since Appomattox in July 2015. Located
Det norske oljeselskap (35%) and DEA 130 miles offshore Louisiana, Kaikias is
ASIA (30%) hold the remaining stakes. to start production in 2019 and expected
Z PetroChina plans to step up shale gas to be profitable at oil prices lower than
development in Sichuan province with a goal Z Ithaca Energy has started production USD 40/bbl as a result of a simplified
of meeting a third of a 2020 government from the company-operated Stella field design that allowed costs to be slashed
target for the unconventional resource, in the Central Graben area of the United by 50%. The Shell-operated project will
according to state media and a government Kingdom Continental Shelf in the North be tied into the company’s nearby Ursa
official. The Xinhua news agency reported Sea. The field comprises the Stella Andrew production hub. Kaikias is estimated to
that the state oil and gas company will sandstone reservoir, containing light oil and contain more than 100 million BOE of
increase drilling in southern Sichuan, China’s rich gas condensate, and the Stella Ekofisk recoverable resources and in its three-well
top gas-producing region and a key early reservoir, containing volatile oil. Discovered first phase is anticipated to produce a peak
shale development area. PetroChina plans by Shell in 1979, the field encountered gas 40,000 BOE/D. Shell holds an 80% interest
to build 353 Bcf of shale gas production condensate throughout a 25-ft section in the project with the remaining interest
capacity in the province over the next of Paleocene Andrew sand. Oil was also held by Mitsui.
4 years. For 2017, the company plans to observed in the underlying Ekofisk chalk
deploy 19 new rigs to drill 110 wells there, reservoir. Ithaca has a 54.66% interest in
part of a total 600 wells planned in the next the field, with Dyas (25.34%) and Petrofac
SOUTH AMERICA
4 years, Xinhua said. Domestic rival Sinopec (20%) also holding interests. Z Rosneft has started drilling its first
likewise plans to achieve 353 Bcf of shale exploration well in the Solimões Basin
gas output by 2020. Z Statoil has made a new gas discovery of Brazil’s Amazon region. The company
called Valemon West at the Valemon plans to drill at least four wells in its basin
field offshore Norway, 2 years after the exploration campaign, with drilling, testing,
AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA company-operated field began production. and evaluation of the initial well to be
Z Total is drilling ahead to explore a The recent discovery is estimated to completed in the second quarter of the
deeper exploration target at the company- contain between 20 million BOE and year. Rosneft acquired PetroRio’s stake
operated Antelope-7 sidetrack appraisal 50 million BOE, Statoil said. The well, which in the project in 2015 to become its sole
well in the Gulf Province of Papua New lies in the North Sea 100 miles northwest interest owner. JPT
Several years ago, I was at a Texas A&M was the next priority project, but there was jockeying between
University football game in a suite spon- local politicians over who would control the funding and the
sored by the dean of the College of Agri- school. The operations manager was a career expatriate who
culture, so not my usual engineer crowd. knew that cash handed over to the local government would
I introduced myself around, and one of evaporate. The solution: Allow nuns to run the school. In Latin
the other guests said something I still America, everyone could agree on the Catholic Church as hon-
remember, “I work for the Gates Foun- est, professional educators. The operator built a home for six
dation. My job is to give away Bill Gates’ sisters, including the principal, next to the school, and they ran
money.” I remember thinking what a great job! Wouldn’t the school honestly and with the children in mind. Unfortunate-
everyone love to play Santa Claus with Bill Gates’ billions? ly, the story has a sad ending.
Wouldn’t we all love to be able to have Bill Gates’ impact on the Even with a successful partnership for several years, ulti-
world as his foundation invests in global development, health mately, the government became more unstable and failed to
initiatives, and US education? keep up its end of the agreement to both the clinic and the
In a way, we do. Global, multinational companies often make school. The health ministry stopped paying the medical staff
commitments for local infrastructure as a condition to do busi- and providing medical supplies, so the clinic closed.
ness in host countries. These infrastructure projects often re- The high school had become so successful that enrollment
quire companies to build clinics, schools, roads, and power and swelled far above capacity, so the nuns ran two shifts of stu-
water supplies in areas where the local government cannot or dents. Unfortunately, the government stopped paying the lay
does not provide them. Oil and service companies are not dif- teachers, providing books and supplies, maintaining the school,
ferent—we often build community projects, but they don’t al- and it also closed. The perfect “three-legged stool”—partner-
ways last. I have traveled extensively in Africa, and in more ship for implementation and sustainability among industry, an
than one country, I have seen faded USAID signs on dilapidated honest-broker NGO, and a government ministry—failed.
clinics and schools. US tax dollars set up this needed infrastruc- There is certainly a lot of activity worldwide to develop infra-
ture, but the projects are not sustainable because there aren’t structure projects through public-private partnerships (PPP).
local agencies with the ability to run them. These development In Europe and the US, PPPs are used to finance toll roads and
projects are part of the risk our companies take to do business privatize and redevelop utilities and water works. Investors
in developing nations, and we all hope for a reward for the local put up the money in return for a share of the improved proj-
communities with real, sustainable improvements in their lives ect’s revenue stream. This is an investment, not aid. In develop-
because we were there. But these development projects don’t ing nations, PPPs are often funded by wealthy nations via the
always work as planned. World Bank or regional development banks such as the Africa
I first realized the power of oil company cooperation with Development Bank. Projects include power, transportation/
local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) many years ago roads, telecom, water/sanitization, education, and primary
in Latin America. An oil field was located in a rural area about health. World Bank-funded projects have been dominated by
40 km from a large city. The community had a local elemen- relatively low-risk countries: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and
tary school; but for high school, students had to travel into the Turkey. Oil companies often operate in far less developed coun-
big city. As a result, many local kids didn’t attend high school. tries, where the financial risk is simply too high for private in-
Girls were especially likely to drop out because their parents vestors and development banks. Yet, oil companies are usually
were concerned about safety and traveling home often after required to include local development as a component of devel-
dark. There was a real need for a high school in the village near opment projects.
the oil field. I believe there is a great opportunity for us as an industry to
The operator had made a commitment to invest in the local partner more with governmental agencies and NGOs to make
community and had already built a health clinic, which the gov- our community development projects more sustainable. What’s
ernment staffed with local doctors and nurses. The high school different about oil companies?
and recommends it for approval at The contents of the print JPT will remain Marc Kuck, Eni US Operating
the SPE Board’s March meeting. These the same, while the website will con- Jesse C. Lee, Schlumberger
nominees stand as elected unless a valid tain both the print magazine’s contents Douglas Lehr, Baker Hughes
petition for ballot election is received and additional stories not found in the Silviu Livescu, Baker Hughes
by 1 June. print issue.
Shouxiang (Mark) Ma, Saudi Aramco
The names of the nominees will Since JPT was launched in 1949, it has
John Macpherson, Baker Hughes
be published on the JPT website on sought to help achieve SPE’s mission of
3 April. In addition, an article will be Stéphane Menand, DrillScan
disseminating and exchanging the high-
published in the May JPT print edition. est quality upstream technical informa- Graham Mensa-Wilmot, Chevron
Both articles will contain complete Badrul H. Mohamed Jan, University of Malaya
tion valuable to the oil and gas indus-
information on nominees’ backgrounds Zillur Rahim, Saudi Aramco
try and to SPE members. The magazine
and qualifications, with additional details
on the election process.
has gone through several evolutions— Eric Ringle, FMC Technologies
SPE is governed by a Board of from publishing only full-length techni- Martin Rylance, BP plc
Directors comprising 28 member cal papers to covering more than four Robello Samuel, Halliburton
representatives from around the world. dozen technical topics in depth through Otto L. Santos, Retired
Each SPE region and board-endorsed summaries of the best SPE papers and Luigi A. Saputelli, Frontender Corporation
technical discipline is represented by through staff-written feature articles. Sally A. Thomas, Retired
a director. These directors, together The current changes are just another
Win Thornton, BP plc
with two at-large directors, a director step in this evolution.
of academia, the president, president- Xiuli Wang, Baker Hughes
We hope you will take a look at the new
elect, immediate past president, and vice Mike Weatherl, Well Integrity
website and, as always, we welcome your
president of finance, constitute the Board. Scott Wilson, Ryder Scott Company
suggestions and comments. JPT
Jonathan Wylde, Clariant Oil Services
I N D U S T RY L E A D I N G
PERF
E RM ANCE
PERFORM N E &
ER
VE SATIL
ATIL IT Y
R SATILIT
F
FOO R OVE
OV ER
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488 Y
YEA
E A RS
RS
D BUSINESS THE SCIENTIFIC
DO SC C WAY
During my 35 years in the upstream oil vulnerable to the cycles and volatility we hours of downtime and millions, or even
and gas business, I have seen firsthand constantly experience. tens of millions, of dollars per project,
the tremendous gains in efficiency, pro- which could mean the difference between
ductivity, and cost reduction that the The Gaps profitable and uneconomic outcomes at
industry has achieved through innova- To put context around the efficiency and today’s prices.
tion and technology. Drilling and com- productivity gaps that currently exist in Perhaps the most disturbing met-
pletion times have been shortened dra- our industry, we need look no further ric is return on invested capital perfor-
matically, wells perform much better than hydrocarbon recovery factors. There mance (ROIC), which is considered the
than they used to, we are drilling even- are currently 1.5 trillion bbl of proven best measurement of long-term value for
longer laterals, and we are able to operate reserves globally. Yet average recovery commercial entities. Bloomberg’s track-
in increasingly hostile conditions. As we factors are less than 30% across all oper- ing of ROIC across the upstream oil and
have seen during the current downturn, ating environments, and less than 10% in gas industry for the period 2009–2014
these types of gains have been critical to deep water—shocking statistics. We are shows that, even during that growth
survival for many operators. leaving a lot of value in the ground. cycle, integrated companies and national
Despite our progress, we face a press- Equally shocking is that, by some esti- oil companies marginally exceeded their
ing need to close the sizable efficiency mates, the industry is at best 50% effi- return on cost of capital by around 2 to 3
and productivity gaps that continue to cient along the entire spectrum of E&P percentage points, while North American
hinder performance and value creation costs when nonproductive time (NPT) is independent operators actually under-
industrywide. These gaps limit profit- taken into account. NPT continues to be performed by 4 to 5 percentage points.
ability during growth cycles and exac- one of the largest challenges facing oper- So, we can’t blame subpar performance
erbate vulnerability during downturns. ators. Although many gains have been purely on the downturn.
We must fundamentally change the way made in this space, delving into the details
we operate to be sustainably successful reveals that the cumulative NPT, as well as Achieving Radical Efficiencies
going forward. the invisible lost time of all participants in It is my strong belief that efficiency and
The good news is that we have a very a particular project, are significant. This productivity must improve radically for
powerful tool in our arsenal to reset the takes into account the efficiency perfor- the industry to both meet demand and
bar in these areas. That tool is technol- mance of all players involved in the value create value for shareholders. Our com-
ogy. It can lead us to what we at Baker chain. What is more, performance may pany is improving the technical capabil-
Hughes like to call “radical efficiencies” vary at the country or even basin level for ity and performance of existing products
in well construction and oil and gas pro- similar customers or service providers. while investing in research into designer
duction that will create a more profitable All of this unpredictability and ineffi- chemistry and materials science that can
and resilient industry—one that is less ciency often translates into hundreds of change the actual physical properties of
things; digitization, automation, and vir-
tualization leading to tools that can think,
Martin Craighead is chairman and chief executive officer of Baker act, and heal themselves before problems
Hughes Incorporated. He joined Baker Hughes in 1986 and, during arise, without the need for human inter-
his career with the company, he has had various technical and vention; and additive manufacturing,
operational leadership responsibilities throughout the Americas
which can deliver better designs faster
and the Asia Pacific region, including 3 years as group president
of the Drilling and Evaluation business unit. Craighead holds the
and with more flexibility. Early results of
International Executive Master of Business Administration degree this research are very promising.
from Vanderbilt University and earned a BS degree in petroleum For example, our chemists are study-
and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He is the recipient of ing ways to treat hydrocarbons at the
the 2015 Alumni Fellow Award at Penn State and the 2010 C. Drew Stahl Distinguished molecular level before they come out of
Achievement Award at Penn State. the ground through in-situ manipulation
8
6.1 6.3
6
3.4 PPTs
(%)
4
2.2 PPTs
2
0
–2 Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
–4
ROIC less WACC
–4.1 PPTs
–6 –4.8 PPTs
Notes:
(1) Simple average of ROIC and WACC for companies in each operator segment over 2009–2014.
(2) Integrated companies are: ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, Total, Repsol, and ENI. North America Independents—Oil are: Pioneer, Devon, Apache, Whiting, Oxy, Noble, and EOG.
North America Independents—Gas are: Chesapeake, Gulfport, Encana, Southwestern, and Antero. National Oil Companies are: Petrobras, Ecopetrol, YPF, Rosneft, Lukoil,
Gazprom, Statoil, CNOOC, Sinopec, Petrochina, Petronas, and Peramina.
Oil and gas return on invested capital performance, 2009–2014. Source: Bloomberg.
to improve recovery factors and reduce improving the quality of our products and It will be the responsibility of technol-
refining costs. Another exciting area of the reliability of our service while reduc- ogy providers to invest in research and
research is shape-memory alloys, which ing our dependency on human capital. development of new materials, chemis-
can change their shape bi-directionally In the realm of additive manufactur- tries, and processes that will enable the
multiple times, based on external stim- ing, the benefits of 3D printing are well radical efficiencies the industry needs to
uli such as heat or an electrical charge. known: better designs, with fewer com- be more resilient to the inevitable vola-
These materials will have far-reaching ponents to weld together; improved per- tility we face. And, it will be the respon-
implications for drilling and completions formance, longevity, and reliability; faster sibility of E&P companies to aid in the
products that will save time, use fewer time to market; and distributed manu- investment and be open to adopting the
parts, and reduce complexity. facturing nearly anywhere in the world technologies that investment produces.
Another step change in efficiency and and closer to the point of use. The prac-
productivity comes from advancements tical implementation of this technology HSE: A Mandate
in data mining and analytics, which in the oil and gas industry is still in the Just as we need to raise the bar for what
are digitizing the oil field. More sen- nascent phase. Bottlenecks today are due is acceptable and what we believe is pos-
sors gather more data from more sourc- to available materials, size of the printing sible for productivity and efficiency, we
es. Through increased computer power, machines, and the ability to produce com- also need to raise the bar for what is
which can cut analysis time dramatically, ponents at scale in a repeatable way. attainable for health, safety, and the envi-
and advanced algorithms, we will be able Nevertheless, the breakthroughs we ronment (HSE). HSE standards and pro-
to conduct more realistic simulations of foresee from our research and work in this cesses, effectively communicated and
the entire reservoir. Imagine the power of area are staggering, and not just in terms universally adopted and applied, actually
having the reservoir in virtual form, with of printing larger components, which we contribute to efficiency and productiv-
the ability to test millions of variables to do expect. In fact, very soon we will be ity by reducing risk, NPT, and deferred
make the best possible decisions, leading able to print drill bits. At the opposite end production. Efficiency can, and should,
to the best outcomes. And then imagine of the spectrum, we expect to print at a be safe. Productivity can, and should, be
if the computers and models made the nano scale at the wellsite. The potential of environmentally benign. When it comes
decisions and changed the behavior— this technology to improve productivity to HSE incidents, we have to expect zero.
without the need for human interven- and efficiency is very exciting. And settle for nothing less.
tion. That is where automation comes in. I am very optimistic about the future
We have made great strides over the Not Science Fiction of our industry, because I believe that
past 20-plus years to automate certain In-situ manipulation and drilling and through technology advancements such
processes, such as drilling systems, which completion systems that can change as those I have mentioned here, we can
have allowed us to drill complex well shape downhole, adaptable drill bits, become more resilient and less vulner-
paths while accessing more of the reser- tools printed on demand, and automated able to the extreme cycles and volatility
voir than ever before, but we have only reservoir modeling and behavior—these that we constantly experience. By work-
scratched the surface of what is possible. may sound like the stuff of science fic- ing with radical efficiency, intelligence,
We are working on technologies that will tion. But, the opportunity is there, and so and safety, we can continue to meet world
enable tools to think, act, and heal them- is most of the technology. It is a matter of energy demand and create value safely
selves, all in the interest of dramatically tying these components together. and sustainably well into the future. JPT
Clutch Brake
The Posidyne Clutch Brake, which can
provide years of service with no adjust-
ment and no maintenance required, is
now available in a piggyback design for
areas where an inline clutch brake is
not suitable because of space constraints
(Fig. 1). The clutch brakes are designed
to provide start/stop indexing for high-
cycle, severe-duty applications in which
high reliability is critical and downtime
costly. Allowing the motor to run con-
tinuously provides high-cycle capability
up to 300 cycles/min, improves efficien-
cy, eliminates in-rush current, reduces
cyclic inertia by not cycling the motor Fig. 2—The TransCoil rigless-deployed ESP system, developed by Baker Hughes
armature, and reduces maintenance in conjunction with Saudi Aramco, reduced ESP installation time and overall
costs. The basic Posidyne is designed workover costs by more than 50% in a Middle East field.
as a foot-mounted clutch brake in an
enclosed cast-iron housing with input ed piston to exert pressure on either the reliability of the deployment string com-
and output shafts. The Posidyne 1.5 is clutch stack or brake stack. pared with coiled-tubing-deployed ESPs
a lightweight C-Face model with a quill ◗ For additional information, visit that simply pull the power cable through
input shaft and standard output shaft, www.forcecontrol.com. the coiled tubing. Extensive fatigue test-
and the Posidyne X Class is a value- ing and thermal growth analysis were
engineered C-Face unit with quill input Rigless-Deployed Electrical- conducted to enhance materials selection
and standard output shaft. All consist Submersible-Pumping System and system design. The TransCoil system
of a clutch stack and brake made up of Saudi Aramco and Baker Hughes intro- cable design also extends the operating
alternating friction discs connected to duced the TransCoil rigless-deployed range to 12,000 ft compared with tradi-
the output shaft, drive plates connected electrical-submersible-pumping (ESP) tional coiled-tubing-deployed ESP sys-
to the input shaft or housing, and a cen- system, which is designed to help oper- tems, which are limited to approximately
trally located air or hydraulically actuat- ators bring wells on production fast- 7,000 ft.
er and lower the costs associated with ◗ For additional information, visit
installing and replacing ESPs. Because www.bakerhughes.com.
they can eliminate the need for a rig
in fields where rig availability is a con- Hammerless Connection
cern or where high intervention costs Hammer unions often pose serious safe-
can limit artificial-lift options, operators ty hazards to facilities personnel. R&H
can minimize deferred production and Manufacturing’s SaferUnion hammerless
lower their overall lifting costs to extend connection eliminates these hazards by
the economic life of their assets (Fig. 2). removing the presence of the hammer,
The system features an inverted ESP sys- thereby eliminating the risk of fragments
tem with the motor connected directly being knocked loose, hammers coming
to a proprietary power-cable configu- into unplanned contact with one another,
ration, eliminating the traditional ESP and the wings/ears being angled in ways
power cable-to-motor connection, which that do not allow safe access (Fig. 3).
improves overall system reliability. Unlike Removal of the hammer also reduces
wireline-deployed ESPs, the fully retriev- the risk of equipment being damaged
able system does not have an in-well wet by overtightening and hammer misuse.
connection, which requires a rig to pull This single-person tool connects to the
Fig. 1—Posidyne’s piggyback clutch and replace if the wet connection fails. SaferUnion by a pin in each hole, locking
brake. The power-cable design enhances the into the keyway in the tool. The tool is
Discover more.
TechnipFMC.com
Visit booth 1039 at OTC Houston.
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
We report a novel type of viscosity modi- The key factor limiting the recom- 1. It allows the increase of viscosity
fier relying on the supramolecular assem- mended range is that for oil viscosities by 12-fold by means of changing pH
blies that have pH-adjustable viscosities greater than 150 cP, the injected-water- from 4 to 8 in a reversible manner.
and robust tolerance against high tem- viscosity values required for a favorable 2. Many oil reservoirs contain connate
peratures and salinities, and are resistant mobility ratio correspond to prohibi- water with high concentrations
to shear-induced degradation. This tech- tively low values of polymer injectivity. of sodium chloride and divalent
nology is developed collaboratively by In addition, pumping high-viscosity dis- ions. Hence, high salt tolerance
Texas A&M University, Incendium Tech- placing fluids tends to lead to clogging is a critical factor in the design
nologies, and VaalbaraSoft. in oil wells, which results in a major eco- of viscosity modifiers. For the
When reservoir oil is displaced by nomic well operating loss. supramolecular solution, there
plain waterflooding, the injected water One potential solution is to use dis- is no significant change (<10%)
fingers through the reservoirs because placement fluids with an adjustable vis- in the viscosity observed up to
of the high mobility ratio (Rachford Jr. cosity, with the fluid having a low vis- 5 wt% salinity at typical shear rates
1964). Water fingers leave most of the cosity at the injection site and a high experienced during the sweeping
oil behind, which leads to inefficient oil viscosity upon reaching the oil phase. processes.
recovery. Hence, the viscosity modifiers Furthermore, having an adjustable- 3. In oil reservoirs, the temperature
are often added in the displacing fluid, viscosity displacement fluid can help increases with depth because of
(i.e., water) to better match the viscos- to reduce pumping-related operational the geothermal gradient. Hence,
ity of reservoir oil and enable a uniform costs because pumping efficacy general- viscosity modifiers should have
advance of the waterfront to effectively ly decreases as fluid viscosity increases. high tolerance and low sensitivity
sweep the reservoir oil. The above-mentioned polymers do not to temperature. The viscosity of
Currently, for oil recovery applica- offer viscosities that can be controlled in a supramolecular solution is less
tions, most commonly used viscosity such a fashion. sensitive (about three times so) to
modifiers are water-soluble polymers It is also well-established that both temperature changes than that of
such as hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, poly- polymer- and biopolymer-based viscos- polyacrylamide solution.
vinyl alcohol, and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) ity modifiers usually degrade under high 4. For a given pH, the viscosity of the
(Taylor and Nasr-El-Din 1998). Like- salinity and high temperatures. Likewise, supramolecular solution can also be
wise, water-soluble biopolymers, in par- high shear rates experienced during the strongly controlled, in the range of
ticular polysaccharides such as xanthan flow of displacement fluids can lead to 100–100,000 cP, with the solution
and guar, are also used in some fields a shear-induced breakage of polymer concentration.
(Alquraishi and Alsewailem 2012). chains. Such chemical fragmentation is 5. Supramolecular assemblies involve
accompanied by the permeant loss of vis- weak intermolecular interactions
Current Technology Limitations cous properties. (“physical bonds”) rather than
While the above-mentioned viscosi- covalent bonds, as in the case of
ty modifiers can satisfy part of the oil Limitations Overcome polymer chains. Hence, while
recovery needs, these polymers still In this work, we describe a novel adjust- polymers permanently degrade
experience some challenges that hinder able viscosity modifier that can over- and break up upon experiencing
their effectiveness. For example, when come the limitations of polymer-based sudden extreme shear stresses
the viscosity of reservoir oil is high, so viscosity modifiers. The technology is and temperatures, supramolecular
should the displacing fluid be to match based on the complexation and supra- solutions merely disassemble and
the mobility ratio. The current heuristics molecular assembly of a long-chain reassemble. For instance, when
suggest that polymer flooding should be amino-amide and a dicarboxylic acid. high-molecular-weight polymer
applied in reservoirs with oil viscosities There are several key advantages of macromolecules are forced to flow
between 10 and 150 cP (Taber et al. 1997). this viscosity modifier. into narrow channels and pores,
0.4
Fraction of Oil Recovered
0.3
Host Supported By
pH 4
0.2 pH 6
pH 8
0.1
2017 CALL FOR PAPERS
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5
NOW OPEN
(a) Injected Volume (ml)
FINAL DATE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS TUESDAY 2 MAY 2017
www.adipec.com/cfp
Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide (0.4 wt%)
0.6
0.5
Fraction of Oil Recovered
0.4
0.3
pH 4
pH 6
0.2 pH 8
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5
(b) Injected Volume (ml)
As the oil and gas industry forges a to widely integrate AI into development in data and provide suggestions based
new landscape in the wake of the finan- projects by the year 2020. on that data.
cial downturn, an expert argued that Machine learning is an AI technique Siddiqui said a major challenge with
artificial intelligence (AI) technolo- that allows computers to handle new any deep learning technique is that it
gies could potentially have a disruptive, situations through analysis, and self- requires significant amounts of data to
valuable impact on operations in the training observation and experience. be effective.
near future. The technique relies on the application “The key is not really who has the bet-
In a webinar hosted by SeeAlgo, an of mathematical concepts, primarily sta- ter algorithm, but it’s who has the better
AI consulting firm, Adnan Siddiqui dis- tistics and linear algebra, to process, data,” Siddiqui said. “That’s something
cussed the ways in which AI and machine analyze, and predict future courses of for those of you who are evaluating and
learning can improve project efficiency. action based on past data. thinking about artificial intelligence. You
Siddiqui, a principal at SeeAlgo, exam- In recent years, various industries need to be careful, as you look to explore
ined AI technology’s potential roles in have built on the algorithms designed for other avenues, that you have enough
several facets of oil and gas operations machine learning to develop a subset of data. If you don’t have enough data, the
including seismic interpretation and deep learning techniques that allow com- models will not really give you the prom-
well control event prediction. puters to make decisions about data in ised performance.”
Siddiqui presented a paper, “Enter- large multilayer neural networks. Exam- Siddiqui argued that machine learning
prise AI Vision 2020 for Oil and Gas ples of deep learning systems include lan- can be utilized throughout the stage gate
Capital Project,” co-authored with Tar- guage translation websites, image search process for oil and gas projects, and that
lan Mammadov, an information manage- engines, and recommender websites many organizations already have some
ment consultant and principal at Deep- like Netflix or Amazon, which use algo- AI technologies in place to integrate into
Knowledge. The paper outlined a plan rithms to discover hidden relationships the project development process.
High-level
goals
Feature Unsupervised Fault detection Interpretation
engineering learning of and correction options
and extraction characteristics models generation
Seismic
record set
Human
interpreter
review and
Fig. 1—A machine learning flow chart illustrates how machine learning systems can process seismic data sets selection
with other models to help streamline the interpretation process. Source: SeeAlgo/DeepKnowledge.
Telling Differences
If the water hammer signal is proven to be a reliable diagnos-
tic tool, engineers would potentially have another justifica-
tion to make on-the-fly adjustments to their hydraulic frac-
turing designs. Additionally, they may be able to use this data
point to help predict a well’s productivity or integrate it with
hydraulic fracturing and reservoir models.
Jessica Iriarte, a petroleum engineer with Well Data Labs,
said the company’s interest in the water hammer signal
was piqued as it began seeing substantial differences in
the strength of the signals between its clients’ data. It
turned out that most of the disparity could be explained by
whether a horizontal well used sliding sleeves or plug-and-
perfs—the two most common completion approaches in the
shale sector.
“That was very interesting to us and is actually how the
whole study started,” said Iriarte, adding that the research
has since revealed there are a number of other determining CUSTOM-DESIGNED
factors beyond downhole mechanisms. “Our aim now is to
identify what is affecting that signal, and we see that some-
SENSOR SOLUTIONS.
times it might be the completion, sometimes it might be the
fractures, or it could be reservoir properties.”
PROVEN RELIABILITY.
Among the study’s findings is that wells using sliding
sleeves have a far more consistent water hammer signal than At Pyromation, we’re dedicated to serving
wells using plug-and-perf, which showed variations for each the Oil & Gas industry with a comprehensive
fracturing stage. In the latter group of wells, the company line of RTDs, thermocouples and thermowell
determined that when no signal was received at the end of assemblies. Our highly engineered,
treating a stage, it meant that the proppant was not success- custom-designed solutions meet industry
fully placed.
certifications and provide superior quality
For certain wells, the company was able to correlate a
higher decay rate and amplitude of the signal to interwell control. Find out how we can meet your
communication, an indicator of a possible frac hit. Thir- temperature sensor needs.
ty-day production rates were also examined and tied to
faster decay rates, which was theorized to be a result of
formation permeability and the size of the fracture net- GET A QUOTE!
work area. pyromation.com/oilandgas
Merritt said that in addition to production data, its clients’
chemical tracer results were also used as validation. “It was
260.209.6341
really neat to see some of those things line up as we put the
data in,” he said.
Since selling its assets in the Marcellus Wells Ranch for 13,500 net acres from gives us great leaps in capital efficiency.
in 2014, PDC Energy has undergone a Noble’s holdings in the Bronco area, We will have longer laterals in our acre-
major strategic shift in its hydraulic frac- south of Wells Ranch. age. Our operating teams have a smaller
turing operations, focusing primarily on Fig. 1 shows a map of PDC’s acreage block where, from an operating efficien-
its acreage in Colorado’s Wattenberg field pre- and post-trade. Brookman said the cy perspective, things are improving.”
while entering the Delaware Basin in west trade allows for more block-like acre- PDC entered the Delaware Basin in
Texas. As the independent exploration age conducive to long-lateral develop- August 2016 by purchasing 57,000 net
and production company enters the third ment—the company had already pro- acres from Kimmeridge Energy Man-
year of this new operational focus, its top duced approximately 685,000 BOE from agement in Reeves and Culberson coun-
executive said there is plenty of reason its 1.5-mile laterals, and it brought on line ties, which are along the Texas-New
for optimism. several 2-mile laterals in 2016. Mexico border, for USD 1.5 billion. Four
Speaking at a luncheon co-hosted by Brookman said the negotiations on the months later, the company paid For-
the Independent Petroleum Association land swap took about 1 year, and that tuna Resources USD 118 million for
of America and the Texas Independent the end result was a “win-win” for PDC an additional 4,500 net acres in the
Producers and Royalty Owners Associa- and Noble. same counties.
tion, PDC President and Chief Executive “The end game is that this is a real posi- PDC divided its Delaware acreage
Officer Bart Brookman gave an overview tive for our reserve report,” he said. “This into three blocks. The eastern block has
of recent developments at the company.
Brookman described the Watten- Pre-Trade Post-Trade
berg as a highly productive region for
PDC, and that the company hopes to
increase efficiency in the operation of its
96,000 acres. PDC utilizes a near-even
split of standard-, mid-, and extended-
reach laterals in the Wattenberg. Brook-
man said the company plans to drill
each new well with monobore technol-
ogy, saving approximately 1 day in spud-
to-release times. It also plans to move
from a 4½-in. liner to a 5½-in. casing
on its laterals, which will allow for larger
completion volumes and higher comple-
tion rates.
Brookman said the acreage swap that
PDC and Noble completed in June 2016
Fig. 1—In June 2016, PDC Energy swapped acreage with Noble Energy in the
should also help bolster its operating Wattenberg Field in northeast Colorado. The swap allowed PDC to consolidate
position. The deal involved PDC swap- its holdings into block-like acreage, which makes it more conducive to long-
ping approximately 11,700 net acres in lateral development. PDC’s acreage is shown in yellow. Source: PDC Energy.
Good housekeeping has proven to be a inactive perforations to be successfully sented in January at the SPE Hydraulic
big difference-maker for Houston-based “pumped to completion” with a full dos- Fracturing Technical Conference in The
Callon Petroleum. age of sand. Woodlands, Texas.
The independent shale producer This work was done through Callon’s Typically done after an individual frac-
recently published a study showing how Spraberry Trend program in the Permian ture stage is stimulated, a clean sweep
it developed a data-driven workflow to Basin in west Texas and involved geome- involves pumping full-wellbore volumes
predict which wells will suffer the most chanical data from the drilling of eight of water downhole to return any loose
screenouts, allowing them to build in wells and pressure data from 145 fracture proppant, or in this case sand, back to
time for a preventive completion practice stages. The project’s details are in a tech- the surface. By comparison, a dirty sweep
known as a clean sweep. nical paper (SPE 184843) that was pre- is when sand concentrations are reduced
“It’s not a new concept. It’s not a
fancy technology,” said Nancy Zakhour, Type 1 Type 2 Type 3
a completions engineer with Callon who High
worked on the study. “It’s just us trying
to better understand which differences
made to our operations are impacting
production and whether or not we can
leverage that to our advantage.”
The company attributes its approach
to clean sweeps to better prop-
pant placement and higher produc-
YM (MPSI)
temporarily before the pumping ramps ing that geology and geomechanics are perforation area before pumping the
back up again. powerful dictators of how a completion larger sand for the rest of the stimulation.
Ironically, dirty sweeps are done to save design performs.
time but Callon’s analysis proved that they “One thing we knew before the com- May Not Apply
were causing too much sand to settle near pletion jobs even began was that these This new workflow may be useful to other
the perforation clusters, leading to a high wells were different in terms of what we Permian operators since so many of them
number of screenouts—a problem that saw when they were drilled,” Olaoye said. have retreated to the Spraberry during
happens when the sand moving into open “Based on that knowledge, we went into the downturn due to it being shallower,
perforations gets jammed up just like a the project thinking we were going to and thus cheaper, to drill than the more
crowd of people would if they tried to pass treat them all the same, even though we well-known and prolific Wolfcamp Shale.
through the same door all at once. knew that they were different, in order However, the study’s authors also cau-
Per industry reports, a single scre- to see the responses on three different tioned that the insights gained during
enout requiring coiled tubing reme- types of wells.” this project are likely area-specific vs.
diation may cost USD 80,000, and it This scientific approach paid off and play-specific.
is not uncommon to suffer several of proved that each well type needed its own They explained that being able to pre-
them in the course of a single horizontal completion strategy with regards to the dict the need for clean sweeps will mat-
well completion. number of clean sweeps, sand grain size, ter most to operators that are using slick-
and acid treatments. water fracturing fluids as opposed to
Working the Data For instance, Type 1 wells had a 74% gel-based fluids. With gel-based fluids a
Callon carried out this research proj- chance of requiring at least one clean clean sweep is less critical since it has a
ect last year with service provider Sanjel sweep while Type 2 wells had only a higher viscosity, which will result in less
Corporation. Engineers from both com- 15% probability. Knowing this gave the leftover sand inside the wellbore.
panies were able to realize the impor- completions team the ability to sched- Secondly, because the Spraberry is a
tance of the clean sweeps, along with ule a sweep into their operations rath- relatively tight formation it requires a
other key learnings, using an in-house- er than stopping work to deal with larger sand size (30/50 mesh) to hold
developed algorithm to quickly analyze it unexpectedly. open the fractures than do other Perm-
the rate of penetration, gamma ray logs Additionally, the engineers looked at ian formations such as the Wolfcamp
taken during drilling, and rock stiffness each well type’s gamma ray resistivity to (100 mesh). The smaller the grain size,
(Young’s modulus). determine the calcium carbonate con- the easier it is for the formation to take
Olubiyi Olaoye, who worked as a com- tent. Olaoye said wells with higher calci- it in, thus also reducing the propensity
pletions engineer with Sanjel until the um carbonate benefited the most from a of screenouts.
company’s restructuring, said the algo- pretreatment of acid which increased the And even if all these factors do apply,
rithm categorized the project’s eight flow area around the perforations. water availability could be a hard con-
wells into three types. Above all else, The analysis also showed that the well straint to overcome as some wells will
the most defining factor between the type with the stiffest rock benefited the require two or three clean sweeps, which
well types was the properties of the rock most from using an initial slug of fine- may add up to 20,000 bbl of addition-
in which they were landed, highlight- grain sand (100 mesh) to clear out the al water. JPT
I
n North America’s most active shale efforts after the fact, and lost productiv- porary loss of production, but you will
fields, the drilling and hydraulic frac- ity in the older wells on a pad site. recover to the trend that you had before.
turing of new wells is directly plac- A frac hit is typically described as an The other will be really bad for your
ing older adjacent wells at risk of suf- interwell communication event where an production and reserves.”
fering a premature decline in oil and offset well, often termed a parent well in He is alluding to the fact that some
gas production. this setting, is affected by the pumping of wells impacted by frac hits never fully
The underlying issue has been coined a hydraulic fracturing treatment in a new recover and, in the worst cases, perma-
as a “frac hit.” And though they have well, called the child well. As the name nently stop producing after taking frac
long been a known side effect of hydrau- suggests, frac hits can be a violent affair hits. The frequency of these outcomes
lic fracturing, frac hits have never mat- as they are known to be strong enough to are unknown as there are no publicly
tered or occurred as much as they have damage production tubing, casing, and available statistics. In a small minority
recently, according to several shale even wellheads. of cases, and in select formation types,
experts who say the main culprit is Claudio Virues, a senior reservoir engi- frac hits have been known to increase
infill drilling. neer with CNOOC Nexen, said frac hits production in the impacted well, but this
“It is a very common occurrence— have become a top concern in the shale is unusual.
almost to the point where it is a routine- business because they can affect several
ly expected part of the operations,” said wells on a pad, along with those on near- A Rising Profile
Bob Barree, an industry consultant and by pads too. Based on his experiences in Operators have been meeting behind
president of Colorado-based petroleum Canada and in south Texas, the question closed doors for years to collaborate on
engineering firm Barree & Associates. is no longer if a frac hit will happen, but best practices for dealing with frac hits.
He added that frac hits are also an how bad will it be. One of the first things they agreed upon
expensive problem that involve costly “You usually have two scenarios,” he was to notify other nearby operators of
downtime to prepare for, remediation said. “One may be that you have a tem- an impending hydraulic fracturing oper-
Practicing Self-Defense
Independent oil and gas explorer EP
Energy published a technical paper at
the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technol-
23 45 6 ogy Conference (SPE 184869) this year
detailing its use of an emerging DNA
This diagram shows the location of well #2 in relationship to wells #4, #5, and
diagnostic technology to conduct a frac
#6. Because those wells were completed around the same time, the operator hit post-mortem in its operations in the
was left guessing which one caused a frac hit. Source: EP Energy. Permian Basin of Texas.
Small is Big!
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0.5
keting refracturing as a method of frac
0.4 hit protection.
0.3
Virues said he has observed that refrac-
tured wells tend to experience less severe
Percent Contribution
BARRIER PLUGS
FOR HEAVY MUD
APPLICATIONS
YOUR
GLOBAL
PARTNER
www.interwell.com
Depends on
no longer plans to develop them any
time soon, following a similar move
by ConocoPhillips.
In a world with a surplus of oil pro-
One Thing:
duction options, the oil sands suffers
because the cost of development is high
and the value of ultraheavy crude is
low, with oil sands bitumen selling for
TOTALLY
USD 15/bbl less than the benchmark for
light crude, and these projects require
big financial commitments stretching
out for decades.
“They (oil sands) are the most expen-
RETHINKING
sive kid on the block and that is not a
good place to be,” said Ron Sawatzky, a
principal researcher for InnoTech Alber-
ta, and chair of the SPE Canada Heavy
EVERYTHING
Oil Technical Conference. “US shale pro-
ducers are the biggest competitors for oil
sands. We cannot match the nimbleness
of those guys.”
Among those competitors are Exxon-
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
Mobil and ConocoPhillips, with large
operations in unconventional plays in
the US and Canada and significant oil
sands operations.
“We are seeing the same technologies duction in places too deep to mine, to fundamentally lower the cost, speed
and innovations driving lower costs and known by the acronym for steam assist- up development, and reduce the envi-
greater opportunities,” in the oil sands, ed gravity drainage—SAGD. ronmental impact.
Ryan Lance, chief executive officer at While ExxonMobil’s Imperial Oil In the short run, the focus is on
ConocoPhillips, said during a presenta- unit has backed away from its major reducing aboveground waste with
tion at the March CERAWeek conference expansion schedule, it is working on faster drilling and lower cost comple-
in Houston. But he keeps asking his oil projects to commercialize solvent- tions. For example, some operators
sands team: “How can you do projects assisted production. In a talk to SPE and service companies are rethink-
with a 3–5-year cycle time so you can young professionals about the busi- ing well pad development and eyeing
adapt” to a business with big unexpected ness, Rich Kruger, the CEO of Imperial simplified, standardized designs that
price swings. Oil, advised: “Do not underestimate the limit engineering time and the risk of
Those who work in the oil sands are potential for technology and this indus- cost overruns.
learning how to react faster to prepare try’s ingenuity.” “Now everybody wants something
for when oil may again be in short sup- that is cheaper, benefits production, and
ply. “At Suncor we will spend around The History is standardized,” said Majid Saeedi, a
USD 200 million on technology in 2017 Canadians would not be producing a lot director and reservoir engineering con-
because business as usual does not cut of oil unless they were good at getting sultant for Saman Associates.
it,” said Gary Bunio, general manager, past barriers from tight reservoir rock Longer term, there is talk about
strategic technology for oil sands, at to crude filled with sand. Darcy Spady, a changing the scale of production add-
Suncor. “We are working on things we Canadian and incoming 2018 SPE pres- ons using modular equipment serv-
will put in over a couple years, and things ident, noted at the recent combined ing smaller groups of wells, allowing
that will take a decade.” SPE Canada Heavy Oil and SPE Canada additions of about 10,000 B/D rath-
The payoff for reviving future growth Unconventional Resources conferences er than 30,000 B/D, which would
is huge—oil sands resources are esti- in Calgary, “We were not blessed with reduce the added investment and
mated at 135 billion bbl according to easy rock.” time required.
the US Energy Information Administra- The economic challenges facing the “Everything is shifted down a level and
tion—and there is cash flow to invest oil sands affect both the mines, which you can respond and move more quickly
in technology. Efficient producers such dig up the oil sands from near the sur- when the price changes,” Sawatzky said.
as Suncor have reduced operating costs face, and the pairs of wells used for It is too soon to know how that will look.
to turn a profit with oil prices as low as SAGD. This story focuses on SAGD, “It is very embryonic … nobody has a
USD 35/bbl. which demands skills normally used by picture of it.”
Longer term they are trying to sig- petroleum engineers. Two measures for this effort are
nificantly increase the efficiency of the Now every element of the SAGD pro- the steel and the steam required. “We
method used to produce bitumen pro- cess is being examined in search of ways want to reduce the metal we have in
350
2,500
Total Well Pairs or Infill Wells
300
2,000
1,500 200
150
1,000
100
500
50
0 0
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Total SAGD Well Pairs Total Infill Wells SAGD New Drills Infill New Drills
The growth in the number of SAGD well pairs producing in the oil sands is flattening out as drilling of new and infill
wells has plunged. Source: TOP Analytics.
our facilities,” Bunio said. Greater effi- One project—in which Suncor is col- Recently, an industry group creat-
ciency, simpler designs, and a small- laborating with three other companies ed to share knowledge about ways to
er footprint commonly mean less and a provincial research group—is reduce the environmental impact of the
steel used. known by an acronym (ESEIEH) that oil sands, Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation
A key measure of efficiency for a is pronounced “easy,” representing Alliance (COSIA), eliminated a rule lim-
SAGD producer is the volume of steam the term “enhanced solvent extraction iting its collaboration to projects in the
needed to produce a barrel of oil. The incorporating electromagnetic heating” area of health, safety, and the environ-
less steam per barrel of oil, the better. If process. It could eliminate steam pro- ment, allowing it to try to form projects
it proves possible to drastically reduce duction equipment on the surface alto- that affect production.
the required heat per barrel, the steel gether by deploying an underground “COSIA is an unprecedented col-
for the equipment used to heat, trans- device using electromagnetic energy to laboration in the oil and gas industry.
port, and process the water will also heat the rock, and solvent to mobilize the For an industry that is very close to the
be reduced. oil at about half the normal temperature. chest, it is astounding we are doing it,”
Less steel and steam can reduce both While Imperial Oil has commercial Kruger said.
the cost and the environmental impact. wells using its solvent-assisted SAGD The next step is getting member com-
“I see no conflict in reducing cost, (SA SAGD) process, widespread use is panies to agree to join groups working on
reducing greenhouse gases, and reduc- far off. Most big companies have done specific issues. It is not an easy change,
ing the environmental footprint. With pilot projects on solvent, but cooper- but there is no attractive alternative.
less metal, we use less energy and it ative efforts in that area, or in other “We are not competing with each other,
costs less,” Bunio said. production-related technologies, have we are competing with light tight oil from
The biggest potential savings in been rare. the US and crude from Saudi Arabia,”
the steel and steam needed can be However, with pressure to speed tech- said Bryan Helfenbaum, the technology
found below ground. SAGD produc- nology advances in the oil sands, there development manager for Devon Cana-
ers have worked for years on meth- are signs of companies moving toward da who works with COSIA. He noted that
ods that add solvent to steam, or cooperative efforts. “We have to do it dif- sharing is rewarded. “Collaboration ...
even replace the water completely ferently. Collaboration is one of those dif- is not a zero sum game; both sides have
with solvent. ferences,” Bunio said. something afterward.”
The Pad manual valves slashed from 230 per well job asked users: “What risk was it intend-
Early signs of change in the oil sands can pair to 30. ed to reduce and is it still needed?”
be found on the well pads. For example, This pad is smaller, so fewer trees need While oil sands drilling has slowed as
Suncor’s new Lean Pad design targets to be cut for it, and can be installed in half big projects wind down, pad develop-
unneeded parts that add cost, complex- the time. ment will need to continue to sustain
ity, and the time required to install it all. “We did this by taking apart every sin- production as older wells play out and
The number of premade modules per pad gle system in the pad and asking, what do wells are drilled to tap missed zones. Sev-
is reduced from 3 to 1, and number of we need?” Bunio said. Those doing the eral companies are now selling standard-
CONFERENCE PREVIEW
1 May
◗ Mad Dog Field: A Multi-Disciplinary
Look at the Opportunities,
Technology Breakthroughs,
Challenges, and Learnings of a Giant
Deepwater Field Development
◗ Operators Offshore in Brazil: Under LLOG Exploration’s Delta House project
a Promising and Positive New in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico.
Environment
◗ Offshore Energy Policies:
Harnessing the Full Potential development opportunities in the Caspi- About 150 high school students will
of America’s Offshore an region of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and get a firsthand look at the opportuni-
the Turkish Energy Corridor (2 May) and ties the industry offers. The students will
2 May Mauritania and Senegal (3 May). go on a scavenger hunt of the technolo-
◗ Active Arena: Jointly Leading gy exhibits, take part in hands-on ener-
Towards the Industry Upturn Topical Luncheons—Twelve topical gy lessons led by qualified facilitators,
◗ Libra Project: Reducing Breakeven luncheons are scheduled over the 4 days and meet industry professionals to learn
and Preparing for First Oil of the conference. Subjects include glob- about E&P careers.
◗ Bringing Upstream Projects to Final al projects, deepwater development,
Investment Decision (FID) innovation and technology, regulation, d5: The Next Big Thing—OTC’s d5 event
◗ Safety in the New Offshore World the changing nature of reservoir and at Rice University on 5 May is designed to
resource economics, safety, and offshore inspire leaders and innovators to address
3 May wind energy. current challenges and drive exponential
◗ The Digital Disruption is Here growth in the energy industry. This year’s
◗ Well Abandonment and The Next Wave—This year’s edition will program theme is Innovation Through-
Decommissioning Challenges address issues faced by young profes- out the Economic Cycle.
◗ Big Data and Data Analytics sionals and provide them with a compre- The speakers will include Nina Simos-
◗ Invited Organization: Offshore hensive toolkit of ideas, suggestions, and ko, president and chief executive offi-
Operators Committee—Risk strategies to help build them into well- cer of NTT Innovation Institute, Riaz
Management of Well Intervention rounded and world-class future leaders. Siddiqi, founder and manager partner
in the Gulf of Mexico The keynote speakers are Yuliya D. of Denham Capital, José Olalla Hevia,
Mercer, senior counsel at BP America, head of business development and dig-
4 May Scott Nyquist, senior partner at McKin- ital transformation at BBVA Compass,
◗ Will Mexico Drive a Deepwater sey & Company, and Kristie Hartley, vice and Tony Cucolo, Major General, US
Renaissance? president of finance and chief financial Army (retired), and associate vice chan-
◗ Center for Offshore Safety and officer at Daniel Measurement and Con- cellor for leadership development and
Society of Petroleum Engineers trol. Discussion by a distinguished group veterans affairs at the University of
Panel: Managing the Human Side of panelists is also on the program. Texas System.
of Safety The speakers will also lead group dis-
Teacher and Student Programs—The cussions and join in breakout sessions
Special Events Energy Education teacher workshop with audience members. The intent is
Topical and Industry Breakfasts— welcomes science teachers (grades 9–12) to equip participants with a thoughtful
Nine topical breakfasts will be held to attend a free, 1-day seminar to receive starter kit to lead, develop, and change
throughout the 4-day conference on hands-on training by qualified facilita- the course for the way ahead. A panel of
subjects including offshore operations, tors, hear a presentation from a promi- participating oil and gas executives will
safety, security, cost reduction, decom- nent speaker, and tour the exhibit floor. wrap up the event with a discussion of
missioning, and specific international The teachers will receive a variety of free how to apply what they and others have
project venues. In addition, two indus- instructional materials to take back to learned at d5 to their companies and
try breakfasts will be held, focusing on their classrooms. the industry. JPT
Apply now.
www.aramco.jobs/jpt
OTC SPOTLIGHT
The Offshore Technology Conference the marketplace less than 2 years scale application or successful
(OTC) selected 15 new technologies for before the award application prototype testing.
its 2017 Spotlight on New Technology date. If previously advertised ◗ The technology must be of broad
Awards. The annual awards program rec- at OTC, it must not have been interest and appeal for the industry.
ognizes innovative technologies and allows displayed at more than one ◗ The technology must provide
companies to showcase the latest advances conference. The technology must significant benefits beyond those
in offshore exploration and production. be original and groundbreaking, of existing technologies.
Awards recipients were chosen on the and must not infringe on any OTC also awarded two Spotlight on
basis of the following criteria: known patents. New Technology Small Business Awards
◗ The technology must be less ◗ The technology must be for companies with fewer than 300
than 2 years old and offered to proven, either through full- employees.
Halliburton
EcoStar
The Halliburton EcoStar valve is the
world’s first electric tubing-retrievable
safety valve (e-TRSV). The EcoStar
e-TRSV eliminates hydraulic fluid to
enable a fully electric completion system
without risk of exposing electronics to
produced wellbore fluids while retaining
the same fail-safe mechanism as current
conventional safety valves.
Halliburton
HCS AdvantageOne Offshore
Dril-Quip’s DXe wellhead connector Dril-Quip’s BigBore-IIe provides
features a locking profile and gasket significant drilling cost savings by Cementing System
design providing high structural reducing the number of trips into The HCS AdvantageOne offshore cement-
capacity and high fatigue resistance. the well. ing system addresses the complexities of
SBM Offshore’s Stones FPSO Turret NOTOS® multi screw pump, NEMO® progressing
Samoco Oil Tools’ One-Trip Universal Mooring System is the deepest cavity pump and TORNADO® T2 rotary lobe pump
BOP Testing Tool can conduct mooring system of any floating
required BOP tests in one trip, production unit, and the first
eliminating the need for multiple disconnectable TMS to support
trips along the stack. steel risers.
www.netzsch.com
JPT • APRIL 2017
Schlumberger’s OptiDrill Real-Time Drilling Intelligence Service provides
actionable information to continuously identify hazardous-drilling-dynamics
events and trends.
Schlumberger
Managed Pressure Drilling
Integrated Solution
The Schlumberger managed pressure
drilling (MPD) integrated solution is the
industry’s first complete, all-original-
equipment-manufacturer, reservoir-
to-flare-stack deepwater MPD system. Stress Engineering Services’
When MPD design, engineering, manu- Real-Time Fatigue Monitoring
facturing, system integration, well engi- System ensures that system
neering, and on-site well delivery ser- integrity is not compromised
and protects the environment
vices are provided from one platform
from hydrocarbon discharge.
and from a single supplier, operators
minimize rig footprint while maximiz-
ing drilling efficiency and versatility. time condition monitoring by inte- events and trends, and recommending
grating a comprehensive set of drilling safe operating parameters.
Schlumberger dynamics and mechanical information.
OptiDrill Real-Time Drilling The service mitigates drilling risk and Stress Engineering Services
Intelligence Service improves performance by providing Real-Time Fatigue Monitoring System
The OptiDrill real-time drilling intelli- actionable information to continuous- A Real-Time Fatigue Monitoring System
gence service enables continuous real- ly identify hazardous drilling dynamics (RFMS) has been developed to provide
ronments without the need for hydrau- several options for tool communica- WeST Drilling Products’ Continuous
lic fluids. It meets, or exceeds, API 17TR8 tion that do not rely on control lines or Drilling and Circulation Unit reduces
requirements. Its plug-and-cage design mechanical actuation. the overall time of drilling operations
leverages proprietary HP/HT sealing up to 50%.
technologies and TechnipFMC’s G2i elec- WeST Drilling Products
tric actuator, providing increased con- (a part of WeST Group) removing all personnel from the rig floor
trollability over traditional hydraulic- Continuous Drilling during drilling operations.
actuation technology. and Circulation Unit
The Continuous Drilling and Circu- Wild Well Control
Weatherford lation Unit (CDU) is the heart of con- DeepRange
AutoFrac RFID-Enabled tinuous motion rig (CMR) technology, Plug-and-Abandonment Tool
Stimulation System featuring the world´s first continuous Wild Well’s DeepRange intervention tool
The AutoFrac system enables efficient drilling operation, and the world’s first delivers a groundbreaking plug-and-
stimulation in openhole sections of fully robotized circulation unit. The CDU abandonment solution in a riserless
extended-reach offshore wells where reduces the overall time of drilling oper- package. The robust remotely operated
traditional technologies have often ations substantially (up to 50%) by elim- vehicle (ROV)-driven technology offers
failed to provide adequate reliability. inating downhole problems associated a minimally invasive solution that main-
The system enables remote operation with differential sticking and pressure tains wellbore integrity while providing
of lower completion tools and provides fluctuations, and reduces safety risk by a cost-effective yet high-quality option.
Wild Well Control’s DeepRange Plug-and-Abandonment Tool offers a minimally invasive solution that maintains
wellbore integrity while providing cost-effectiveness.
Maximize
Uptime and
Throughput
OF YOUR PIPELINE
AND PROCESS ASSETS
Our unique diagnostics,
engineered solutions,
and standardized project
management help you
get the most out of your
pipeline and process assets.
Learn how we can help you
minimize downtime and
maximize results.
Fuglesangs Subsea’s Omnirise MiniBooster is the world’s first barrierfluid-less
and sealless pump intended for permanent subsea applications to depths of halliburton.com/production
3000 m.
Fuglesangs Subsea
Omnirise MiniBooster
The Omnirise MiniBooster is the world’s
first barrierfluid-less and sealless pump
intended for permanent subsea applica-
tions to depths of 3000 m. The system
includes a unique subsea electric vari-
able speed drive, and was successfully WiSub’s Torden High Power
qualified as part of National Oilwell Var- Pinless Subsea Connector further
co’s (NOV) Active Subsea Cooler system standardizes autonomous underwater
in partnership with Statoil, Shell, Chev- vehicle and ROV connections.
ron, Total, and General Electric.
between a BOP and the lower marine
WiSub riser package. This innovation further
Torden High Power Pinless standardizes autonomous underwater
Subsea Connector vehicle and ROV connections, combin-
The Torden High Power Pinless Subsea ing patented high-speed data transfer
Connector is WiSub’s next-generation with highly compact resonant power
product developed in collaboration with transfer to improve mating tolerance
NOV to increase connection reliability and reliability. JPT
To enhance its technology management of search, selection, trial, introduction, a consolidated approach to technology
model and planning, the Gazprom Neft and replication of technologies. Current- management and maximizing return on
Company formulated a technology strat- ly, about 80% of the entire project port- investment have now become key to real-
egy, which focuses on moving from a folio involves purchasing and adapting izing the most value from technology. At
“smart buyer” approach to a “strategic ready-made technological solutions. the same time, as noted in the research,
goal-setter” effort that emphasizes tech- there is no direct correlation between
nological development through part- From Production to shareholder return and expenditure on
nerships. The company is now focusing Implementation of Project research and development (R&D). The
on a fast search, adaptation, and adop- Portfolio implication is that a company’s ability
tion of new technology strategy, which Know-how and competencies in technol- to correctly identify priorities and chal-
is a priority of the company. To gain ogy management are the keys to profit- lenges in technological development
that, it was necessary to realize our tech- ability and competitiveness of the indus- is more important than the amount of
nological challenges in order to expand try’s market players. All international investment. In other words, “the way you
resource portfolio access and maximize oil companies (IOCs) have long realized invest is more important than how much
invested assets. the value of technology as key to deter- you invest.”
These efforts are based on the under- mining economic performance and the From our point of view, technology
lying principles of technological devel- degree of access to the resource base. leadership is determined not so much
opment created by the upstream divi- Despite the fact that IOC investments by the size of investment in R&D, but
sion. The technological strategy is a vital in technological development continu- by the ability to apply technology to
element of the Technology Management ously grow and reach billions of dollars, engage a wide range of new reserves
System (TMS), an integrated system used the focus on optimizing the technolo- and reach the technical limit of current
by the company to manage the processes gy projects portfolio increases. Forming recovery targets.
Exploration technology
Fig. 1—The long-term trends of the upstream technology development of Gazprom Neft.
Additional
0 TOE 20+
recoverable reserves 17%
M TOE
by 2025
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fig. 2—Dynamic ranking of technological projects.
The KMS systematizes information Management of External ◗ Pilot operation of tertiary enhanced
on best practices used in Gazprom Neft Partnerships oil recovery (EOR) and pilot
exploration and production (E&P), which External relations development is be- horizontal wells in the Achimov
allows the user to carry out a comparative coming one of the most important ele- formation (Shell)
analysis and select the optimal technical ments of new technology implemen- ◗ Optimization of field development
solutions in accordance with the required tation, allowing the use of unique models by means of data analysis
criteria. It also stores information about knowledge and competencies of E&P and using artificial intelligence tools
all technology trials of new equipment partners. The main resource of Gaz- (IBM)
carried out within the company. prom Neft in this area is the Gazprom ◗ Development of a surfactant with
The KMS is one of the tools designed Neft Scientific and Technical Cen- predetermined properties to
to create an innovative climate within the ter, which is working closely with the increase oil recovery (Norkem,
company. To date, the number of unique world’s technology leaders. The key Tyumen State University)
users of the system is about 2,600 people projects that emerged as a result of ◗ Development of proprietary
in 46 subsidiaries of Gazprom Neft. this partnership include information technology (IT)
Select
Find Technology Implement (Pilot run)
Technology
Ideas
Opportunities
Full-Scale
Appraise Technology Define Implementation
Laboratory tests Field experiments Lessons learned
Math experiment design Consistent improvement of
Integrated evaluation of technology and cost reduction
technology potential
Ê>`ÊÀ
}Êv
and long term. mary source of technology challenges
◗ Technological projects are for updating the Upstream Technological
implemented in accordance with Strategy. To update the upstream tech- ÀÊÀiÊÌ>
Ê>Ê`iV>`iÊÜi
stage gate logic and are formalized nology portfolio, the results of the tech-
>ÛiÊ«ÀÛ`i`ÊÀi>LiÊÀiÃiÀÛÀÊ
in the IT system for monitoring nology sessions with external partners,
V>À>VÌiÀâ>Ì
ÊÃiÀÛViÃÊÌÊi«
their progress and achievement of content from the KMS, as well as visits of
key performance indicators. specialized technology forums and sci- ÕÀÊVi
ÌÃÊÀi>âiÊÃ}
vV>
ÌÊ
◗ Each asset should implement a entific and technical forums and confer- Õ«Ã`iÊ«Ìi
Ì>Ê>
`Ê«ÀÛiÊ
technology development plan that ences can also be applied. ÜiÊ«À`ÕVÌÛÌÞ°
is associated with a complex asset
development plan and a business The Organization of
plan. Technology Development ºÃÊ>ÊÌiV
}ÞÊi>`iÀ]ÊÜiÊ`À
Gazprom Neft created a new role with- LiÌÌiÀÊ«iÀvÀ
}ÊÜiÃÊÌ>
ÊÕÀÊ
Investment Ranking in the framework of implementing its
i}LÀÃÊ>
`Ê>ÝâiÊ
Gazprom Neft Upstream adopted a tech- upstream technology strategy: a technol- Ã>Ài`iÀÊÛ>Õi°»
nology ranking tool using a seven-point ogy leader, whose duty is to ensure com- Ê ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÃÃiÌÊ>>}iÀ]
criteria system (Fig. 2). This transpar- prehensive technological development of Ê ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ`-âi`Ê`i«i`iÌ
ent approach helps identify significant the whole function.
technological projects for acceleration, New specialized corporate bodies
and is automatically updated once new also play an important role: the Steering
Intervention-free wells, intelligent com- Intervention-free wells, engineering processes and the associat-
pletions, automated and selective smart ed full considerations during the deploy-
tools—this veritable buzzword bingo intelligent completions, ment and trial of new technologies and
several years ago offered the real prom- automated and selective techniques. The result of this uptake has
ise of some advancement but, unfortu- been a significant improvement in the
nately, mostly delivered consistent fail-
smart tools—this veritable successful use and broader deployment
ure and disappointment. That was a buzzword bingo several of these automating, enhancing, and
period when the industry was littered years ago offered attractive technology options.
with a swath of great technologies, but This month, I would like to showcase
they were deployed in such a haphaz- the real promise just a handful of the studies that dem-
ard and almost incoherent way that of some advancement onstrate deployment of such solutions
they were surely doomed to failure from within long-established and mature sys-
the offset. Although these technologies but, unfortunately, mostly tems where they have been considered
often were presented as magic-bullet delivered consistent failure in an integrating, sympathetic, and, as a
solutions, few of their trials consid- direct result, highly successful way. This
ered the necessary detail of the great-
and disappointment. overall-system appreciation and consid-
er system within which they were eration has finally allowed these enhance-
deployed and functioned, an approach That has since changed. In the pres- ments and technologies to enjoy their
that ultimately tainted their delivery ent day, the industry has developed a newfound and sustained success. JPT
and results. deep and healthy respect for systems-
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
VALVE
centric mass-balance underreamer ca- facilitates drilling and hole-cleanup op- reverse-cementing tools were developed
pable of enlarging the borehole below erations. The drilling circulation sub to facilitate this unique flow path, as well
casing restrictions. The RFID-controlled uses RFID technology to communicate as a conventional flow path, and to pro-
drilling reamer was designed to be oper- open and close commands. When the vide a means to switch flow directions
ated multiple times on demand without operator needs to move the sub from per operational requirements.
restricting the ID of the tool. The versa- the closed position to either of the two The RFID subsurface reverse-cementing
tile reamer can simultaneously drill and open positions, an RFID tag is deployed tool system includes three tool designs: a
enlarge when used in conjunction with from the surface and circulated internal- circulation tool, a crossover tool, and an
rotary-steerable systems or rotary bot- ly through the sub. The antenna receives RFID-controlled flapper valve.
tomhole assemblies. The reamer can be the RFID signal, and a hydraulic power The RFID-actuated circulation tool
used also to underream existing bore- unit moves the sleeve into the appropri- provides the ability to continue circula-
holes and to open selective zones for ate position. Ports open and allow cir- tion into the work-string annulus selec-
solid-expandable installations. culation directly into the annulus to in- tively without flowing fluid past the de-
The reamer is electronically actuated crease annular velocities to aid cleanup. pleted zone and without displacing the
using RFID technology, which provides Flow also can be split between the annu- cement in place. The circulation tool has
virtually unlimited actuations and deac- lus and drillpipe. two positions: a neutral position for circu-
tuations on demand. A small yet durable lation down the work string and a bypass
RFID tag is deployed at surface into the RFID Reverse-Cementing Tools. A position to circulate into the annulus.
drillpipe ID at surface level and is circu- reverse-circulation placement technique The RFID-actuated crossover tool pro-
lated downhole with the drilling fluid. is an option for cementing when a reduc- vides the ability to switch the flow path
The tag transmits instructions to an elec- tion in equivalent circulating densities is selectively from the tool ID to the annu-
tronic reader on the reamer controller, required downhole. lus above a liner-hanger-running tool and
and the cutter blocks extend fully from To apply reverse cementing in deep to bypass returns from the tool ID to the
the reamer body. Another RFID tag is cir- water, fluids are pumped down a work upper annulus.
culated to retract the cutter blocks. string and diverted into the annu- The RFID-controlled flapper valve has
lus below the riser and blowout pre- a design similar to that of the flapper
RFID-Controlled Circulation Sub. The venter. Returns are taken up the inside used in the RFID-controlled hydraulic-
RFID-controlled circulation sub is a re- of the casing and then diverted back into fracture system, and it operates in a simi-
motely actuated circulation device that the annulus. RFID-actuated, subsurface lar manner. JPT
No boundaries, no borders.
eMentoring makes a world of difference.
SPE eMentoring connects experienced professional members with young professionals and students around the world.
SPE members can contribute to the E&P industry by sharing industry insights and practical career advice with young
professionals, or by helping university students with academic and career direction. Young professionals also have the
unique opportunity to serve as mentors to students. It’s an easy commitment and participants can communicate online, at
their convenience.
Join the program that is making a difference in the lives of SPE members.
Learn more at www.spe.org/ementoring.
Systems Approach to Product Design
for Ultradeepwater Completion Systems
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Procedure Overview
This completion design had been run con-
Proppant pack
sistently for a number of years in the
consolidation
North Sea, but the operator was looking technology
to save time, reduce cost, and eliminate
risk. Previously, two separate intervention
trips were required to isolate and set in-
flatable annulus barrier packers; however,
with the introduction of the RFID RIV, the Protect
deeper of the two runs can be eliminated.
The RFID RIV is to be run as part of
the lower 4½-in. section, consisting pri-
your
marily of perforated liner, the RFID RIV,
and a liner hanger/packer. This is set in a
integrity
7-in. liner that has a swellable and inflat-
able annulus barrier packer on the an-
nulus to provide isolation from the per-
forated 7-in. liner above. Once the RIV is
at depth, the annulus is flushed to allow
the packer to swell. During the circula-
tion activity, an RFID tag is dropped. It
commands the RFID RIV to close after a
given time period. As a contingency, the
Conventional proppant FUSION technology
RFID RIV can be programmed to close Unconsolidated pack Consolidated pack
on a timer. The liner hanger/packer then
can be set against the RIV without requir-
ing balls to be circulated. Once the valve
is closed, an inflatable isolation plug is Now you can create a bonded, high integrity
run to straddle the upper-most inflatable- proppant pack without closure stress
annulus-barrier-packer setting ports and
FUSION® proppant pack consolidation technology
pressure is applied to set the upper packer. prevents proppant washout from the non-compressive
Once the plug is retrieved, the upper com- annulus and near-wellbore areas to protect critical
pletion is run and landed into the lower- well integrity.
completion liner and a dissolvable ball is
dropped to set the 7-in. isolation packer The technology forms a high-integrity, high-permeability
proppant pack so you can inject and produce at the
and the 10¾-in. production packer. In fur-
ultra-high rates required to improve well economics and
ther instances of this completion, a second increase EUR.
RFID RIV could be used in this role to elim-
inate the need to circulate a ball. At this FUSION technology has been successfully deployed in
point, the lower annulus packer is isolat- GOM deepwater injection wells, and can be applied for
ed by the RFID RIV and the 7-in. isolation frac and pack sand control applications.
packer, pressure is applied, and the annu-
carboceramics.com/fusion
lus packer is set without the requirement
to run any intervention.
Natural gas had a bullish year in 2016 While gas transportation over long distances, cost-effectively mon-
as the average Henry Hub spot price etizing stranded gas is still a challenge,
jumped from USD 2.28/million Btu primarily by pipeline especially in offshore environments.
in January to USD 3.59/million Btu in over land and LNG over A recent absorption-system develop-
December (+58%), “the largest per- ment by ExxonMobil claims to improve
centage increase in price among energy
water remain the most the efficiency of removing water vapor
commodities,” according to the Energy economically attractive from natural gas, in both on- and off-
Information Administration (EIA). means to transport large shore environments, by shrinking the
According to the same source, the US surface footprint by 70%, reducing the
market consumed 75.07 Bcf/D of gas in quantities of gas over long overall weight by half, and, ultimately,
2016, 0.6% more than 2015, while US distances, cost-effectively lowering the total cost. This technology
consumer-grade natural-gas production should enable the development of some
was down 2.4% from 74.14 to 72.36 Bcf/D monetizing stranded gas is otherwise uneconomical fields.
compared with 2015. Coupled with the still a challenge, especially To learn more, attend the SPE
electric-power (+4.2%) and industrial workshop Floating LNG—Weather-
(+1.9%) sectors, this contributed to a
in offshore environments. ing the Challenges, in Kuala Lumpur
noticeable rise in gas prices. Although the on 20–21 March, and the SPE Annu-
US is a net gas importer, 2016 officially While gas transportation primarily by al Technical Conference and Exhibi-
marked the US as an exporter of liquefied pipeline over land and LNG over water tion, on 9–11 October in San Antonio,
natural gas (LNG) (by Cheniere Energy remain the most economically attractive Texas, USA. JPT
from zero in 2015 to 0.5 Bcf/D in 2016). means to transport large quantities of gas
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
nov.com/beyond20k
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
www.wellbarrier.com
JPT • APRIL 2017 post@wellbarrier.com
Phone +47 51 63 08 00
New Steel Plate for
Liquefied-Natural-Gas Storage Tank
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
High-Pressure/High-Temperature Challenges
Robert Ziegler, SPE, Global Director, Well-Control Technology, Weatherford International
As I begin my term as reviewer for the I look forward to reading scenarios, requiring the appropriate con-
High-Pressure/High-Temperature (HP/ tingencies in well planning, and offers
HT) Challenges feature in JPT, I look for- the best work produced an integrated approach to predict and
ward to reading the best work produced by our skilled and dedicated weather these uncertainties. The sec-
by our skilled and dedicated members ond paper reviews best practices in
and to following in the footsteps of the
members and to following managed-pressure-drilling systems for
late Mike Payne, whose excellent work I in the footsteps of the HP/HT wells, with respect to cost sav-
know our readers and members appre- late Mike Payne, whose ings and increased drilling performance
ciated. In my first feature, I elected to in the current low-oil-price scenario. The
focus on selecting papers that offered a excellent work I know final paper discusses completion with
somewhat different theme than is often our readers and members expandable liner hangers in HP/HT envi-
seen in the majority of papers presented ronments, allowing the essential rota-
at HP/HT conferences. Instead of select- appreciated. tion and reciprocation during cementing
ing papers that were dedicated to mate- while establishing an instantaneous seal
rial selection, I considered works that a variety of locations (Malaysia, Viet- at the liner lap after setting.
concentrated upon best practices and nam, and the UAE) and illustrate meth- I hope that you enjoy these impor-
recently developed technologies that ods of ensuring optimal cost savings and tant papers that reflect our members’
make operations in these difficult envi- enhanced safety in HP/HT projects. innovation, dedication, and technical
ronments more efficient and far safer for The first of these papers focuses on expertise. JPT
crews and for the environment itself. The identification of pore-pressure uncer-
three papers I have chosen draw from tainties especially detrimental in HP/HT
Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
Robert Ziegler, SPE, is global director for well-control technol- OTC 26663 Innovative Multitechnologies
ogy at Weatherford International. His career spans 30 years in Collaboration for Ultra-HP/HT Offshore
the industry, mainly with Shell, Chevron, Petronas, and Cairn Fracturing Stimulation by Arya B.
India. Ziegler’s achievements include involvement in the first Christiawan, Schlumberger, et al.
deepwater application of preblowout-preventer riserless mud- IADC/SPE 178857 A Challenging
line pumping and the first application of a commercial deepwa- HP/HT Operation Supported by Dynamic
ter dual-gradient system in the form of post-blowout-preventer Real-Time Simulation, Forecasting, and 3D
controlled mud level. He also has overseen dozens of successful Visualization by Josef Nabavi, eDrilling, et al.
offshore managed-pressure-drilling jobs using rotating control devices for several SPE/IADC 179184 MPD Application for
operators on both jackup rigs and semisubmersible rigs as well as the commercial Ultra-HP/HT Wellbore by Craig Starkey,
use of directional casing drilling offshore, with more than 100 sections drilled. Chevron, et al.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Introduction
The ELH system contains no setting
Stress
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Janeen Judah
2017 SPE President,
Chevron
JPT • APRIL 2017
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
The initial work on computer techniques Regardless of the ognition that it can be formulated as a
for assisted history matching date back Bayesian inference problem. Bayes’ rule
to the 1960s. However, it was a long jour- specific method of your provides an elegant framework to for-
ney between the development of early choice, I believe the main malize the process of learning from data
methods and operational use. Initial- to update our beliefs. The beauty is in
ly, these methods were referred to as
development in history the fact that Bayes’ rule gave to history
“automatic history matching,” giving the matching is the recognition matching the correct meaning. History
wrong impression that it was something that it can be formulated matching is no longer a searching pro-
we could delegate to a computer. Fortu- cess to find the best model. Instead, his-
nately, industry and academia soon real- as a Bayesian inference tory matching is a process of mitigating
ized that “assisted” was a more accurate problem. uncertainty in light of new information.
term than “automatic.” The papers summarized in this fea-
Nowadays, there is an impressive ture and the ones indicated in the
amount of literature and a large number optimization, evolutionary algorithms, additional-reading list are excel-
of assisted-history-matching methods. design of experiments, proxy modeling, lent examples of recent developments
The diversity is so vast that it is challeng- streamline simulation, and Kalman fil- and applications of assisted-history-
ing to divide these methods into catego- ters. This is just to mention a few, and the matching techniques. All are aligned
ries. For example, there are several fla- list is still growing. with the modern Bayesian interpretation.
vors of methods based on sensitivity and Regardless of the specific method of I hope you enjoy the reading. JPT
gradient-optimization algorithms. There your choice, I believe the main devel-
are also methods grounded on stochastic opment in history matching is the rec-
Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
Alexandre Emerick, SPE, is a reservoir engineer at Petrobras
Research Center (CENPES) in Rio de Janeiro. He has 14 years of SPE 179549 Streamline-Based Rapid
experience in applied research in reservoir engineering. Emerick’s History Matching of Bottomhole Pressure
and Three-Phase Production Data by
research interests include reservoir simulation, history matching,
Dongjae Kam, Texas A&M University, et al.
uncertainty quantification, and optimization. At Petrobras, he
has worked as principal researcher and coordinator of projects SPE 182684 Generation of a Proposal
on time-lapse seismic, smart fields, optimal well placement, his- Distribution for Efficient MCMC
Characterization of Uncertainty in Reservoir
tory matching, and closed-loop reservoir management. Emerick
Description and Forecasting by Xin Li, The
holds BS and MS degrees in civil engineering from the University of Brasilia, Brazil, University of Tulsa, et al.
and a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from The University of Tulsa. He is the
author/coauthor of 26 technical papers, most about history matching. Emerick SPE 182693 A Robust Iterative Ensemble-
received the Outstanding Service award as an SPE Journal technical editor in 2013 Smoother Method for Efficient History
Matching and Uncertainty Quantification
and 2014. He is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee and can be reached at by Xiang Ma, ExxonMobil, et al.
emerick@petrobras.com.br.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
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