JPT 2017 Septiembre
JPT 2017 Septiembre
JPT 2017 Septiembre
Capital-Efficient
Subsea Solutions
Production Tree
Lead time: 12 months Unified Controls
Lead time: 12 months
Pump
Wellhead Lead time: 18 months
Lead time: 6 months
Manifold
Lead time: 18 months
Connection System
Lead time: 6 months
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
�� RESERVOIR PERFORMANCE AND MONITORING
superpower
Silviu Livescu, SPE, Chief Scientist, Baker Hughes, a GE Company
VISURAY ION
X-RAY VIS
The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available
free to SPE members for 2 months at www.spe.org/jpt.
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WORLD CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION+‡ HENRY HUB GULF COAST NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE‡
THOUSAND BOPD
6
2017
O PEC JAN FEB MAR APR 5 USD/million Btu
Algeria 1340 1340 1316 1306 4
Angola 1658 1688 1630 1700
3
Ecuador 536 535 531 528
Gabon 200 185 190 210 2
Iran 4300 4300 4544 4544
1
Iraq 4565 4445 4431 4426
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
2017
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
Kuwait1 2830 2770 2763 2763
Libya 680 690 590 535
Nigeria 1849 1869 1730 1780
Qatar 1487 1467 1507 1512
WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)‡
Saudi Arabia1 10020 10040 9992 10022
UAE 3067 3047 3028 3008
Venezuela 2100 2090 2090 2080 2017
DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL
TOTAL 34632 34466 34342 34414
Brent 53.32 54.58 54.87 51.59 52.31 50.33 46.37 48.48
THOUSAND BOPD WTI 51.97 52.50 53.47 49.33 51.06 48.48 45.18 46.63
2017
NON-OPEC JAN FEB MAR APR
Canada 4097 4128 3607 3443
WORLD ROTARY RIG COUNT†
China 3855 3929 3903 3891
TOTAL 46120 46460 45729 45425 Middle East 382 382 386 389 391 397 397
Africa 79 77 80 89 84 86 89
Total World 80752 80926 80071 79839
Asia Pacific 198 196 198 205 197 194 195
INDICES KEY
TOTAL 1918 2027 1985 1917 1935 2041 2110
Numbers revised by EIA are given in italics.
+
Figures do not include natural gas plant liquids.
1
Includes approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production.
2
Additional annual and monthly international crude oil production statistics WORLD OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND‡
are available at http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/.
† Source: Baker Hughes.
‡ Source: EIA.
MILLION BOPD 2017
Quarter 3rd 4th 1st 2nd
INTER REMOTE
SHATTER VALVE
DHSV
IRSV
YOUR
GLOBAL
PARTNER
http://www.interwell.com/
case-studies/category582.html
a marked improvement over the past quarter and past year. Those same companies A.G. Guzman-Garcia, Retired
reported total losses of $3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2017 and losses of $7.4 billion Greg Horton, Retired
in the second quarter of 2016. The financial improvement in the second quarter came John Hudson, Shell
from more efficient operations, cost cutting, and a rise in oil prices. Morten Iversen, Karachaganak Petroleum
But at what oil price are shale producers profitable? Analysts have thrown around
Leonard Kalfayan, Hess Corporation
figures of as low as $40/bbl, but a detailed study of the issue by consultancy Wood
Thomas Knode, Athlon Solutions
Mackenzie sheds new light on the subject and is examined on page 47 of this issue. The
Sunil Kokal, Saudi Aramco
consensus is that $50/bbl brings most companies closer to profitability than $40/bbl,
but perhaps needs to be over $50/bbl to be sustainable. Marc Kuck, Eni US Operating
Operators are taking the “lower for longer” outlook seriously and are adapting. Jesse C. Lee, Schlumberger
Occidental Petroleum announced that it was tying a company-wide compensation plan Douglas Lehr, Baker Hughes
to the firm being profitable at $40/bbl. Some of the largest majors are beginning to Silviu Livescu, Baker Hughes
sanction projects once again—although cautiously. More new oil and gas fields were Shouxiang (Mark) Ma, Saudi Aramco
given the green light in the first half of this year than in all of last year, including proj-
John Macpherson, Baker Hughes
ects by ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. But about three-fourths of those conventional proj-
Stéphane Menand, DrillScan
ects are expansions of existing fields or satellite developments that tie back to exist-
Graham Mensa-Wilmot, Chevron
ing pipelines and platforms, according to Wood Mackenzie. Shell, for example, is now
tying its Kaikias project in the US Gulf of Mexico to its existing Ursa production hub Badrul H. Mohamed Jan, University of Malaya
to limit costs. When BP reported its earnings, Bob Dudley, the company’s chief execu- Zillur Rahim, Saudi Aramco
tive, said the firm was planning on the basis of oil prices being at current levels for the Eric Ringle, FMC Technologies
next 5 years. Noted oil historian Daniel Yergin agreed, adding, “The industry is in the Martin Rylance, BP plc
middle of re-engineering its processes and its technologies to be a $50/bbl industry, Robello Samuel, Halliburton
not a $100/bbl industry.”
Otto L. Santos, Retired
Major oilfield services companies Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Baker Hughes
Luigi A. Saputelli, Frontender Corporation
reported increased revenue for the second quarter of 2017 compared with the first
Sally A. Thomas, Retired
quarter, with revenue up 15.8% for Halliburton, 8.2% for Schlumberger, and 6.3% for
Baker Hughes. Halliburton earned a slight profit while the two other companies post- Win Thornton, BP plc
ed net losses. Dave Lesar, chairman of Halliburton, sees a bit of a slowdown coming in Xiuli Wang, Baker Hughes
shale, saying that producers were “tapping the brakes” on drilling as oil prices remain Mike Weatherl, Well Integrity
under $50/bbl and the global supply glut appears to have life left in it. JPT Scott Wilson, Ryder Scott Company
NOV’s eVolve™ Service provides significant time savings through tiered access to
our drilling optimization technologies. Our innovative surface data monitoring
is enhanced by downhole memory-acquisition tools to drive performance
improvements in successive wells. With the addition of the NOVOS™ process
automation platform and real-time, closed-loop downhole data via the
IntelliServ™ network, you’ll achieve cutting-edge, automated drilling efficiencies
that can be applied across your entire fleet.
Find out how NOV can reduce your drilling time at nov.com/eVolve.
As we are getting used to the new nor- transferred by training classes? Does activities to improve performance, but
mal of USD 50/bbl oil, buzzwords such the young engineer walking onto an off- are equally important as lag indicators.
as efficiencies, automation, best prac- shore drilling rig immediately notice the Lag indicators enable valid data analyt-
tices, and partnering have become stan- small things that “just don’t seem right” ics, benchmarking, and target metrics
dard in our discussions. This is all well that an “old hand” might? How can we or “par” values for performance. Data
and good but how real are these new leverage communications technolo- analytics provide “calibration points”
processes? Like the cyclical nature of gy to make a sustainable step change to track continuous improvement and
our industry, will these processes also in efficiency and lower costs with- ideas on lead indicators by identify-
become cyclical, soon to be relegated to out compromising quality, safety, and ing processes that consistently give
small incremental change, rather than the environment? good results.
the needed step change as the price An example of KPIs being used to
of oil recovers, or as our experienced Three Critical Areas drive and improve operational efficien-
people ride off into the sunset? What Firstly, we need to consider key per- cy in drilling was presented by Nabors
are the real opportunities for disruptive formance indicators (KPIs). A famous at an industry conference in May. Down-
step change that will help us to catch up quote from Lou Gerstner, IBM’s CEO time is a standard lag indicator and min-
and leapfrog other industries that have from 1993 to 2002, “People don’t do imizing downtime is of course absolute-
given rise to companies such as Ama- what you expect but what you inspect,” ly necessary in any economy. However,
zon, Google, and Apple, and have driv- is often quoted as, “Inspect what you this metric does not in itself indicate
en the renewal of the auto, airline, and expect.” In other words, we need to mea- how efficiency can be improved. The
transportation industries? sure performance. However, the metrics KPI that downtime addresses is non-
Today, companies are patting them- used in tracking KPIs must be directly productive (NPT) time. Digging a little
selves on the back for handling the “great related to the expected outcomes, the deeper, the idea of invisible lost time
crew change,” and rightly so. But is this component data easy to manage, and (ILT) makes NPT more sharply focused
really cause for celebration? Should we the outputs statistically meaningful. and clearly identifies the opportuni-
be celebrating simply for doing our job? KPIs can be divided into two main ty cost of less efficient drilling as lost
Would the great crew change be man- groups. Lag indicators are typically mea- time and a problem to be fixed. The
ageable if activity and the price of oil sures of present or past performance, reduction in ILT then translates direct-
had not crashed? What about the indi- easy to measure but difficult to relate ly into improved efficiency, quantifying
viduals who have lost their jobs in the to future or improved performance. the value of joint teams with the client
downturn and have not been able to Lead indicators are harder to measure to dissect the operations into discrete
recover? Can experience really be fully as they typically relate to processes or steps with the appropriate KPIs. Prag-
matically, to make this work, Nabors
automatically collects all drilling data
C. Andrew Poon, SPE, is a consultant at Chief Outsiders, helping into a central database for analysis.
companies grow their businesses within a market-based Lag KPIs in production might be
framework. He has more than 35 years of oilfield experience, the current ones related to production
starting with Schlumberger as a field engineer, with progressive rates. These are great KPIs and, as with
assignments in operations, sales, and marketing in Latin America, downtime in drilling, have stood the
North America, the Middle East, and Europe. He has also worked test over decades. It is time perhaps that
in acquisitions and divestitures, with an integrated seismic operators more fully quantify the value
company, a microseismic startup, and with Weatherford as a in working with service providers by
subject matter expert on unconventionals and new technology introduction. Poon (a) using focused lead indicators, and
holds BSc and MSc degrees in physics and an MBA, and is a chartered engineer in the
(b) sharing production data with their
UK. He can be reached at apoon@chiefoutsiders.com.
service partner.
Hydrocarbon Recovery
Technology
Improving the ability of well interven- Fig. 2—Operators
tion technologies, such as hydraulic can reset and lock
fracturing and remediation, to stimu- Weatherford’s CLEARMAX MIT
packer in position as many times as needed
late productivity effectively and efficient- to perform multiple operations in a single trip.
ly remains a challenge. Steep produc-
tion declines after high initial production these applications, nanoActiv HRT has cycling mechanism that improves dis-
and less-than-optimal fracturing results significantly reduced decline rates after placement efficiency and reduces the
indicate that significant proppant quan- stimulation while consistently delivering risks associated with ball-activated subs.
tities are not reaching the available higher oil cuts and gas/oil ratios in con- The SRCT/RL is included in the clean-
induced or natural fracture network. Nis- ventional and unconventional reservoirs. up string with the MIT packer and fea-
san Chemical America (NCA) introduced w For additional information, visit tures a clutch assembly to avoid twist-
nanoActiv HRT, a high-efficiency hydro- www.nanoActiv.com. off incidents as friction increases during
carbon recovery technology (HRT) well- drilling-mud displacement. The CLEAR-
intervention additive package, to address Mechanical-Inflow-Test Packer MAX portfolio includes mechanical,
this challenge. NCA’s nanoActiv HRT The CLEARMAX mechanical-inflow-test chemical, and filtration-based tech-
particles penetrate beyond the induced (MIT) packer provides wellbore cleanup nologies for comprehensive wellbore-
fracture network on a nanoscopic scale, and inflow testing in a single trip. Opera- cleaning services for the complete life
rapidly and extensively saturating a sig- tors can reset and lock the packer in posi- cycle of any well. This suite of tech-
nificant portion of the natural fracture tion as many times as needed to perform nologies removes well debris and res-
network. Producing a diffusion-driven multiple operations in a single trip, which idue, leaving a clean, solids-free, and
mechanical process known as “disjoin- reduces rig time and helps to prevent completion-ready wellbore.
ing pressure,” nanoActiv HRT particles unintended release (Fig. 2). The packer w For additional information, visit
deliver long efficacy in the recovery of has been tested to American Petroleum www.weatherford.com.
hydrocarbons, fragmenting them into Institute (API) 11D standards. The pack-
smaller droplets and enabling an effi- er can be run in combination with the Onshore-Rig-Operation
cient backflow to the wellbore (Fig. 1). Weatherford ISO MAX packer to test mul- Utility Winch Series
Over the past 2 years, this new tech- tiple liner laps in a single trip. Functional- Ingersoll Rand introduced the Hydrau-
nology has been applied in more than ity can be further enhanced by adding the lic Force Series, a new portfolio of util-
45 Permian Basin wells in several reser- MIT packer to a wellbore-cleaning string. ity winches for onshore rig manufac-
voirs (Wolfberry, Wolfcamp B, Wolfcamp The string includes the CLEARMAX Selec- turers and operators in North America.
Sand, Brushy Canyon, Woodford, and San tive Rotation and Circulating Re-Locking The Hydraulic Force Series winches are
Andres) and also in North Dakota (Three Tool (SRCT/RL), which is a weight- built to support material-handling needs,
Forks, Bakken, and Codell-Niobrara). In activated circulating tool with a quick from lifting equipment to racking and
stacking pipe (Fig. 3). The winches save
customers time and resources with sim-
ple plug-and-play installation and come
fully tested as a complete system. They
are currently available in 8,000- and
12,000-lb capacities; 1,000- to 3,000-
and 6,000-lb capacities will be avail-
able in late summer 2017. All models
come equipped with a variety of control
options and a wireless-compatible inter-
face to help maximize performance and
align with advancing technology trends.
The 8,000- and 12,000-lb winches can
Fig. 1—Hele-Shaw time-lapse tests consistently demonstrate that nanoActiv HRT be configured to include texted controls;
(left) delivers higher efficiency, better fragmentation, and more production of oil hydraulic gear motors, which operate
to the surface than other widely used products (center and right). smoothly even in harsh environments;
Saltel ECP Ad for JPT May 2017 17-CO-275548 AD.indd 1 4/12/17 11:26 AM
Fig. 3—Hydraulic Force Series winches Fig. 4—The FutureWaves wave- and ship-motion forecasting system from
from Ingersoll Rand come equipped General Dynamics Applied Physical Sciences provides recommendations for
with a variety of control options and a the best ship heading and speed to minimize ship motions and identifies
wireless-compatible interface. upcoming large-motion events.
rope guides and press rollers; drum waves, using a least-squares inversion electrical submersible pumps, gas-lift
guards, which help protect the opera- technique. This representation of the systems, velocity strings, and chemical-
tor while maintaining visibility of spool- specific waves in the region of the ship is injection systems are common approach-
ing; automatic negative static multidisc then evolved forward in time according es to boosting production, maintaining a
brakes, which ensure safe operation even to wave-propagation physics to produce well barrier during installation and the
if the system were to lose pressure; and forecasts of future waves. An embedded subsequent production phase is complex
pedestal bases. All Hydraulic Force Series simulation tool provides forecasts of the and cost-prohibitive. This is because tra-
winches ship with a test certificate veri- associated ship motions, allowing opera- ditional safety valves with flapper-style
fying operation of the complete system. tors to anticipate and respond to upcom- closure mechanisms require an unob-
w For additional information, visit ing motion events. This capability has structed inside diameter for operation.
www.ingersollrandproducts.com/ been demonstrated at sea on a num- Consequently, a rig has to be mobi-
hydraulicforce. ber of Navy vessels ranging in size from lized to install these valves deeper in
120 to 950 ft. the well below the production enhance-
Wave- and Ship-Motion w For additional information, visit ment equipment, driving up costs and
Forecasting System www.aphysci.com. health, safety, and environmental risks
General Dynamics Applied Physical Sci- and often delaying operations. By use of
ences introduced FutureWaves, a wave- Insert Safety Valve a patented sliding-sleeve design to con-
and ship-motion forecasting system. The Torus insert safety valve enables trol flow instead of a flapper mechanism,
FutureWaves provides a tool that uses single-trip, rigless deployment of the Torus valve maintains functionality
remote measurement of the ocean waves production-enhancement equipment during installation and production while
around a ship to provide a deterministic with an American Petroleum Institute providing a permanent conduit through
forecast of the ship’s motions for minutes (API) 14A-tested safety valve. The valve— its center (Fig. 5). The valve allows oper-
into the future. This technology was orig- which enables passage of through- ators to carry out rigless insert string
inally pursued by the US Navy to support tubing coiled tubing, capillary lines, or installations in wells that require a qual-
seabasing operations involving transfer cables—provides fail-safe protection ified safety valve, reducing operational
of personnel, vehicles, and equipment while allowing faster, more economi- expenses by an average of 50%. JPT
between ships at sea (Fig. 4). The Future- cal operations to extend the productive w For additional information, visit
Waves output provides recommenda- life of existing wells. Although installing www.bhge.com.
tions for the best ship heading and speed
to minimize ship motions and identifies
upcoming large-motion events and qui-
escent periods. At the core of the Future-
Waves system is the remote wave sensor, Fig. 5—
a specialized X-band Doppler radar able The Torus
to measure the orbital motions of ocean insert safety valve
from Baker Hughes,
waves. These measurements are fed to a GE company, uses a patented
a specialized processing chain to gener- sliding-sleeve design to control flow
ate a mathematical representation of the instead of a flapper mechanism.
To optimize the value of surface and To address these shortcomings, an The new system was designed to seam-
downhole drilling data, an operator, a operator has built a system that easi- lessly integrate all forms of data, file
software company, and a service com- ly accommodates back-end engines, types, and communication protocols. A
pany have combined forces to develop a enables rapid prototyping and deploy- modular back-end engine that uses tech-
system to seamlessly integrate all forms ment of new ideas, and separates the nology initially developed at the Univer-
of data, file types, and communication back-end from user interfaces. Unlike sity of Texas at Austin was integrated
protocols. To ensure that people on the traditional systems that use only rig data, for rig state determination, data qual-
rig and in the office are able and willing this new system also uses well informa- ity verification, drilling analytics, and
to act on the data, the system includes tion from other data sources. smart alarms. In addition, the system is
human-factors engineering. The design basis was to provide users designed to integrate data from rig sen-
The upstream oil and gas industry first with higher frequency (up to 100 Hz) sors with the daily drilling-report data-
began to gather and stream data from and higher-quality data than traditional base, real-time visualization, and an
rig sensors in the 1970s and introduced data-aggregation and -distribution sys- open application layer with a human-
real-time data centers in the early 1980s. tems. This allows drillers to access real- machine interface.
Since those early efforts, the industry has time models and algorithms for analy- To facilitate telecommunications for
made only incremental progress in using ses, such as stick/slip mitigation, stuck streaming data to operators’ offices and
available drilling data. These changes pipe avoidance, optimal tripping practic- interoperability between applications,
typically are limited to improving visual es, hole cleaning, geosteering, and other developers divided the system into sub-
displays, upgrading relational databases drilling methods. systems and installed automated moni-
for easier reporting, and providing web toring and diagnostic tools for admin-
services for integration. The Fix istrative support. Each rig application
Today, the widespread use of drilling Researchers evaluated 30 process con- communicates to the office and con-
data remains limited by technology defi- trols and other industry applications nects to the enterprise historian. All data
ciencies in rig sensor measurement qual- before selecting a software solution for interruptions are flagged, investigated,
ity, sensor accuracy and reliability, rig- the data-aggregation and -distribution and resolved.
site aggregation methods, data sampling system that was then prototyped, test- The data acquisition model allows each
rates, and the inability to easily share ed, and deployed on 20 North America rig and each well to have a customized
data between proprietary vendor sys- land rigs over 18 months. The solution data model. The model facilitates the
tems. In addition, drilling electronic data devised by the group, which includ- actual data aggregation by collecting and
recorder (EDR) technology has not kept ed a Houston-based operator, a soft- storing in one database all the various
pace with the technology of other indus- ware company, service industry person- data types, file types, and protocols. All
tries or that of other oil and gas sectors. nel, and research scientists, was built data can then be viewed on customizable
Typical service company aggrega- through an incremental, iterative devel- charts, which allows engineers to easily
tion systems use outmoded software opment method that used empirical compare historical data while drilling the
and hardware. Consequently, these sys- feedback to enable quick deployment of well and afterward, while eliminating the
tems are costly to alter, require long updated versions. need for manual data manipulation.
cycle times to add features, cannot pro- The group employed an enterprise data The new system uses a physics-based
cess the high-frequency data that are historian, typically used for large indus- Bayesian network model to monitor real-
collected by modern sensors, and can- trial plant process controls. A historian time data quality. The model assigns
not easily accommodate different back- collects and stores large volumes of time- a quality value to each data point by
end engines provided by third parties. In series data, which facilitates multiple lay- comparing it to a predicted value that
addition, because they have closed archi- ers of access for faster data archiving, is based on the physics of the sub-
tecture, changing user interfaces is noto- better live data streaming, and reliable system. This process of data cleansing
riously difficult. handling of communication failures. ensures high-quality input data and thus,
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more sand, higher rates—and no runaway fracs.
Multistage Unlimited® pinpoint fracturing delivers maximum SRV with far less risk of frac hits and
well bashing during infill and high-density field development, compared with plug-and-perf. You put
fracs where you want them, and you control how much sand you pump into each one, preventing
“super clusters” that can hurt production from offset wells. With repeatable frac placement from
well to well plus recorded downhole pressure/temperature data, you can truly optimize stage count
and spacing in a given formation with just a few wells.
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©2017, NCS Multistage, LLC. All rights reserved. Multistage Unlimited and Controlled Intensity are trademarks of NCS Multistage, LLC.
higher-quality analyses than would be TABLE 1—THE 5Ws AND 1H of rig data are so large, technical resourc-
otherwise possible. QUESTIONING FRAMEWORK* es at times are constrained for keeping up
What What is the feature? with the task. Addressing this problem,
The Human Factors Why Why is this feature needed?
developers automated the process while
Automated drilling software only adds continuing to present the data in report
Who Who is going to be interacting
value when key individuals on and off forms that are familiar to field personnel.
with this feature?
the rig properly interpret and act on The first report developed was the
How How is the interaction expected
the information provided. Most current “Drilling Parameters Plot,” which con-
to happen?
drilling-data-aggregation systems were sists of a series of vertical charts that
built by engineers at a time when the use When When is the interaction going replicated most EDR screens. The output
to happen?
of data to increase drilling efficiency and includes data plotted by depth and data
safety was mostly an afterthought. In Where Where is this feature available? from an offset well overlaid on the cur-
addition, current systems typically use *From Paper SPE 184743 rent well drilling to allow drilling person-
legacy software that is run on outdated nel to compare parameters and perfor-
hardware, which makes the systems dif- iar to most rig personnel and allows end mance between the two wells. Because
ficult to improve upon and expand. users to customize certain vertical and offset well data are imported into the his-
Developers incorporated human fac- horizontal tracks. Users are able to add torian database, the operator can choose
tors into the new system through a pro- more vertical strips to the display for parameters from different offset wells for
tocol aimed at answering the “who, what, temporary viewing and view them by use comparison to the drilling well.
when, why, where, and how” of dissem- of a slide bar at the bottom of the display. The system generates automated daily
inating results from its real-time data Based on the users’ preference for visuals intelligence reports delivered from the
analysis module (Table 1). Researchers that display numbers indicating rig oper- rig to the office or other locations. All
focused on understanding the human- ation status, without having to look at the data are stored locally at the rig,
computer boundary and on maximiz- detailed strip charts, the designers added and a background process publishes the
ing the probability that the human will editable boxes. data to the system receiver in the office
relate to and take action on computer- Rig and office personnel can edit and at a lower update rate. Some alerts are
generated information. manipulate each track on the display and accompanied by a pdf file that docu-
To achieve this goal, system designers include features such as minimum, maxi- ments the event, which helps receivers
followed a process of first building inter- mum, and average values within the time determine the nature of the alarm and
faces that appear similar to those typical- frame shown. Drillers can change plot- the proper response.
ly seen by end users (drillers, company line thickness and style and, in cases of By creating easily understood real-time
staff, and drilling engineers) and slow- high-frequency data, filter out noise to displays and reports, a properly designed
ly modifying them as user confidence smooth the track for better visualization. data-aggregation and -distribution sys-
in the system increased. This required a To ease data distribution, a feature was tem can add significant value to drilling
platform that accommodated easy dis- added to the display system to allow per- operations. To overcome the shortcom-
play modification and creation. Alerts sonnel to email screenshots. Other fea- ings of current systems, this new system
required designers to consider data over- tures include was designed to be easily adaptable by
load, salience, end-user attention, inter- w The ability to easily reset the view using a modern technology platform. By
ruptibility, and data visualization. immediately to real time if, for placing due emphasis on human-factors
example, a user had scrolled back engineering, the new system also ensures
Displays in time that humans can easily understand and
In developing the main display for the sys- w The ability to easily toggle between act upon the large volumes of data at
tem, designers looked to reduce the men- time and depth views their disposal for optimal impact on drill-
tal workload of the human by creating a w The addition of a directional-driller ing performance. JPT
display that appeared familiar to the end rosebud target plot to facilitate the
user. This included retaining vertical strip visualization of directional-drilling This article contains highlights of paper
charts and the ability to customize the steering in real time SPE/IADC 184741, “Taking a Different
tracks, tabs, and buttons. The main dis- Approach to Drilling Data Aggregation
to Improve Drilling Performance,” by
play also includes default tracks and tabs Reports Michael Behounek, Evan Hofer, and Taylor
that are agreed upon at an organizational To improve drilling performance, the Thetford et al., and paper SPE/IADC
level. This was done to allow all users to operator wanted to deliver real-time 184743, “Human Factors Engineering in the
Design and Deployment of a Novel Data
bring up identical displays and thus cre- daily reports to field personnel. How- Aggregation and Distribution System for
ate a collaborative work environment. ever, this would have required employ- Drilling Operations,” by Michael Behounek,
To further users’ comfort with the dis- ees to download and check the data, run Taylor Thetford, and Lisa Yang et al. Both
papers were prepared for the 2017 SPE/
play, the placement of transitional but- database macros, and format the plot for IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition,
tons mimics the typical layouts famil- interpretation. But because the volumes The Hague, The Netherlands, 14–16 March.
C
The HEAL System™:
M
Y
The Foundation for Efficient
CM
Artificial Lift in Horizontal Wells
MY Horizontal wells are known to have production challenges
CY as a result of inconsistent flow, damaging solids, and gas
CMY interference. Maximizing drawdown through the lifecycle
K of these wells often requires complex and expensive
artificial lift strategies.
www.healsystems.com
Follow us on
info@healsystems.com
E&P NOTES
The role of new technological improve- This strategy, known as “high- can distinguish reliably between the
ments in the increasing productivity of grading,” makes economic sense. How- impacts of changes in technology and
tight oil and shale gas wells is likely ever, industry modeling may prove changes in location on well productivity.
being overestimated because of mod- less successful in the long run as core “There has not been a rigorous
els that inadequately consider the influ- areas become drilled out and improved attempt to disentangle the effects of
ence of drilling in reservoir core areas, a technology fails to yield productivity technology and sweet-spotting,” Mont-
pair of researchers at the Massachusetts benefits at expected levels. The risk of gomery said. “We realized that there was
Institute of Technology Energy Initia- such an outcome highlights the impor- an opportunity to both provide a better
tive (MITEI) have said in a new paper. tance of accurate modeling that can understanding of what this balance has
With the steep fall in oil prices since separate the influence of technology been in a particular tight oil basin and
late 2014, field operators are drilling from that of targeting the best geologi- at the same time present a methodology
fewer wells and have shifted their targets cal locations. that can be used in other basins.”
to only the most prospective acreage. In research supported by MITEI,
The oil industry’s often well-publicized Impact of Technology Montgomery and O’Sullivan ran tests
gains in well productivity significantly vs. Locations on five models that used data obtained
reflect the impact of drilling and hydrau- Montgomery, a graduate student in civil from almost 4,000 wells in the Middle
lic fracturing operations focused on and environmental engineering and Bakken and Three Forks formations in
reservoir “sweet spots,” MITEI’s Justin an MITEI researcher, and O’Sullivan, North Dakota over 42 months.
Montgomery and Francis O’Sullivan research director at MITEI, describe in
write in a paper in Applied Energy. their paper a statistical approach that Models Lack Needed Flexibility
The researchers found that models in
use, including a type of model that the
US Energy Information Administration
49.0
Predicted First uses to develop its Annual Energy Out-
Year Production look, tend to overestimate technological
(MBbl) impact because they lack the flexibility
48.5 (40,70) to account for the data impact of short
(70,100)
distance variations in well locations that
Latitude
(100,130)
48.0 can represent the difference between a
(130,160)
(160,190)
sweet spot and a considerably less pro-
(190,220) spective target.
47.5 (220,250) Montgomery and O’Sullivan found
that half of the Bakken/Three Forks well
productivity gains analyzed resulted
47.0 from where rather than how the wells
were drilled.
–104.0 –103.5 –103.0 –102.5 Seeking ways to separate the techno-
logical influence from that of location,
Longitude the researchers benefited from examin-
ing earth science models for estimating
Expected first-year production of oil wells in North Dakota’s Bakken formation the accumulated snow on a mountain or
is shown by use of regression-kriging—a modeling method that reflects spatial
variability with a high resolution. Drilling activity has shifted toward the core
variations in soil properties by location.
(dark red) areas, an approach known as “sweet-spotting.” Current industry They sought to understand hidden spa-
models are not able to capture spatial variability at this level. Source: MITEI. tial patterns that can influence data and
Growth in the US rig count stalled in mid- The Dallas Fed described second quar- While that number is about half the
July, in what could be a sign of things ter activity as robust for the 3 months level during the drilling boom, gains in
to come. ended 30 June, but the survey com- drilling efficiency over the past 2 years
After doubling over the previous 12 ments section questioned whether it will narrow the actual gap, reducing the
months, the rig count remained flat, slip- be sustainable. breakeven cost.
ping to 949 as of 11 August, according to “Hoping that OPEC will adhere to If companies can produce far more oil
the Baker Hughes Rig Count. their production goals is fantasy,” said per well, that could also improve the eco-
But surveys of industry insiders by one, adding, “Couple that with our nomics. “There have been some remark-
the Federal Reserve banks of Dallas incredible advances technological- able wells that came on line” recent-
and Kansas City see that rally running ly and you have a market ripe for con- ly, said Jozef Lieskovsky, an analyst for
out, with shrinking spending on capital tinued softness.” the US Energy Information Administra-
expenditures (Capex) and drilling. Continued low oil prices due to a global tion. His responsibilities include track-
“We see the expected Capex and supply glut “have increased uncertainty ing the growing number of wells drilled
expected drilling number are still posi- and reduced cash flow. Coupled with cost but uncompleted.
tive. It is a lot less positive than in the first increases for pressure-pumping services,
quarter and certainly in the fourth quar- drilling rigs, tubulars, and other drill- Brutal Margins
ter of last year,” said Chad Wilkerson, the ing and completion services, our rates of For now, service companies are experi-
branch executive and economist at the return are reduced from last quarter and encing a price squeeze.
Kansas City Fed’s Oklahoma City branch, this time last year.” While service companies have been
adding, “Leveling seems to be the story.” The ceiling for rigs working could be able to raise prices this year, after see-
Both surveys were done in May after around 1,000, said Mark Richard, senior ing their rates slashed during the previ-
the price of oil had slumped to around vice president for global business devel- ous 2 years, the Dallas Fed survey showed
USD 45/bbl and natural gas to around opment and marketing for Halliburton, that the cost of providing those services
USD 3.00/MMBtu. If prices fail to rise to according to a Reuters report. has gone up far faster.
well over USD 50/bbl, which those sur- “I think it might level off then. If our Chasing growth opportunities now is a
veyed do not expect this year or next, customers put too much out there, it’s costly proposition. To hold project costs
operators are expected to lose their costing too much and putting too much in line, operators expect performance
appetite for growth because for many it demand on service companies to provide comparable to the highest-specification
will be a money-losing proposition. equipment and people,” he said. rigs. Those bringing back older equip-
Average total crude oil production in above the estimated June level and would West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
the United States is expected to reach a represent almost 30% of total produc- below USD 50 per bbl.
record level of 9.9 million B/D in 2018, tion in 2018. The region predominate- According to the Baker Hughes June
the US Energy Information Administra- ly spans the Permian Basin of western monthly average rig count, 366 of the
tion (EIA) said in its latest forecast. Texas and southeastern New Mexico and 915 onshore rigs in the contiguous 48
The projected output would surpass covers 53 million acres. states are operating within the Permian
the 9.6 million B/D that the US pro- region. EIA estimates that the number
duced in 1970. The forecast said that Historically Prolific Formations will fall slightly in the second half of
total US crude oil production will average Within the Permian Basin are smaller 2017 to 345 at year-end and grow to
9.3 million B/D this year, an increase of subbasins, which include the Midland 370 by the end of 2018.
500,000 B/D from 2016. and Delaware basins. All of them contain
Most of the production growth from historically prolific nontight formations Positive Cash Flow
June through the end of next year is and multiple prolific tight formations, In addition to responding to WTI price
expected to come from tight rock for- such as the Wolfcamp, Spraberry, and changes, rig count increases are relat-
mations in the Permian region of Texas Bone Spring formations. ed to cash flow. Permian operators have
and from the Federal Offshore Gulf of With the large geographic area of the maintained positive cash flow because
Mexico (GOM). Permian region and stacked plays, oper- of lower costs, higher productivity, and
The Permian region is expected to pro- ators can continue to drill through sev- increased hedging activity. Many produc-
duce 2.9 million B/D of crude oil by the eral tight oil layers and increase pro- ers have sold future output at prices high-
end of 2018, which is about 500,000 B/D duction—even with sustained prices for er than USD 50/ bbl. Available cash flows
B:11.125”
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could contribute to regional rig count crude oil price discount to the WTI- Gulf of Mexico Drilling
growth despite relatively flat prices since Cushing [Oklahoma] price since the start The dynamics related to drilling
December 2016. of 2017 suggests that there may be some in the GOM differ from those in the
Based on EIA’s Drilling Productivity minor transportation constraints. The lags contiguous-48-state onshore regions.
Report, Permian region productivity— in completions may also reflect an operat- Because of the time needed to complete
measured by new-well oil production per ing strategy of drilling multiple wells from large offshore projects, GOM oil pro-
rig in bbl per day—is forecast to decrease a single pad and not deploying completion duction is less sensitive to short-term
month-over-month for the 10th consecu- equipment until all wells are drilled. oil price movements than US onshore
tive month in June. The decrease is likely Average output per well shows that production. Eight GOM projects came
because of operators drilling more wells productivity based on initial production on line in 2016, contributing to produc-
than they are completing, i.e., casing, (IP) rates continues to increase in the tion growth. Another seven projects are
cementing, perforating, and hydraulically Permian region. IP based on average out- anticipated to come on line by the end
fracturing wells to prepare for production. put per well year-to-date is higher than of 2018.
These wells reflect drilling activity but not the 2016 annual average. Many operators Based on anticipated production at
additional output until put on production. continue to experiment with completion new and existing fields, GOM crude oil
The trend of drilling but postponing techniques to maximize output per well, production is expected to increase to an
completions does not have a clear cause. which suggests that the 2017 annual aver- average of 1.7 million B/D this year and
However, a widening of the WTI-Midland age IP rate could continue to increase. 1.9 million B/D in 2018.
show if a new carrousel on the underside departures from conventional ground- for an operations center and the sound
of the drone, which carries four DARTS, based, data-acquisition methods. sources, which cannot be dropped
can drop them one at a time at locations To move in heavy loads without a in place. In early testing, the sounds
along its route. road or runway, Total is working with a required will come from buried explo-
They will also see how reliably the French company with an apt name, Fly- sive charges.
DARTS can record and transmit data. ing Whales, to develop a new airship, The third partner in the project, Geo-
This will require landing them in a near- called the HA2t. The name of the 40-ton kinetics, is designing, acquiring, and
ly vertical position for reliable data gath- blimp stands for hybrid air, 2 tons, processing the data in an environment
ering, and then transmitting the infor- which will allow it to bring in buildings where the difficult terrain will define the
mation to a central processing center. for the operations center. It is designed location and number of sound sources
The drone test is the next step in a to be packed inside a standard ship- and receivers.
project that began in 2014 to devel- ping container for rapid delivery around Technically speaking, good imaging
op the multiphysics exploration tech- the world. of complex rock requires high trace den-
nology integrated system (METIS). Before any heavy equipment arrives, sity. That is a measure of the quality of
Total is building toward an “industrial- data from satellite imaging and air- the subsurface illumination, which is a
scale” pilot project, which it hopes will craft surveys using a variety of meth- function of the number of seismic sourc-
be ready in 2021, to deploy 40,000 to ods—hyperspectral, radar, and LiDAR es and receivers. More receivers can
50,000 DARTs over a 100-km2 area, (Light Detection and Ranging)—are compensate for fewer sound sources,
said Bertini. used to create detailed maps of the sur- and vice versa. And they must be even-
The partners need to prove that face and near surface. Those will be ly distributed to ensure the entire area
they can efficiently and safety deliver used to choose the best locations for is covered. Adding receivers is likely
DARTS on the scale required to gath- seismic sound sources and receiv- to be the best option for increasing the
er a large volume of data over a wide ers, and plan how best to manage trace density.
area that is required for the advanced the operation. “By adopting a carpet receiver
image-processing methods. Current Airborne surveys will be used to approach, where receiver stations are
survey methods often result in ambig- determine the height of the tree tops— located on average 50 m in all direc-
uous images for those interpret- drones are generally expected to fly tions, METIS reduces the dense source
ing them. about 20 m above them. They will requirement” by using more receivers,
also be seeking openings in the forest Bertini said.
Airborne Delivery canopy, which Bertini calls “sky holes.” “In foothills environments, current-
Automated drone flights carpeting the These natural openings would reduce ly available source technology is sig-
forest floor are just one of the aerial the cost and impact of creating clearings nificantly more costly, dangerous, and
damaging to the environment than finding ways to mass produce batteries within 15° of true vertical to record good
deploying additional receivers,” he said. and sensors that fade away. quality seismic data. The company is
To verify the system is delivering the Bertini said it has identified likely working on replacing the geophone with
required quality and quantity of data, solutions. Total has made significant multidirectional accelerometers (3-axis
the communication system will provide investment in projects to develop bio- MEMS) that are smaller, lighter, and can
real-time data, which will be analyzed plastics and recently bought a battery record a wider range of data, even if the
to create preliminary images. Those will company called Saft that has expertise DART is not upright.
be used to ensure the quality of the data in that area. Total is also looking for an alternative
and to seek out any gaps, which could There are ways to make a biodegrad- to explosive sound sources that can be
include further DART drops. able circuit board. Bertini said adapting delivered to difficult-to-reach spots. It
those methods to create seismic compo- will also be dealing with a nontechnical
Innovation Required nents will “take significant effort.” And issue—the likely reactions if people liv-
Keeping the work off the ground, and while there are prototype biodegradable ing on the ground begin seeing DARTs
minimizing the impact when it does batteries, more development is needed around them.
touch down, will require signifi- for full-scale field application. “There is clearly a cultural challenge
cant advances. To get more out of each DART, the to be handled at a very early stage of any
For the same reason the compa- company is working to extend the bat- kind of operation (seismic, drilling, etc.)
ny needs to avoid placing receivers, it tery life, with a goal of 21 to 28 days of in any foreign country, more particu-
wants to be able to avoid collecting them recording time. To conserve power, the larly where cultural or education differ-
afterward. Bertini said such an opera- devices can be turned off by a signal ences are high,” Bertini said. “For such
tion would require as many as 1,000 from the central data recorder when specific challenges, we have in Total
people for the 100-km2 pilot test. Their not needed. and in our partners’ teams, some high-
solution is for the DARTs to biodegrade And there is a plan to change the ly skilled professionals used to dealing
after the survey is done. The DART case sensors to eliminate the need to stick with socialization and technical educa-
is already made of biodegradable mate- the landing. For the upcoming test, the tion of local populations” working with
rial, and the company is working on pointed DARTs will need to be standing the staff in those areas. JPT
Since 2009, global spend on cloud technology has outpaced that of conventional IT infrastructure by 4.5 times.
This trend is now becoming clearer to see in the oil and gas business. Source: Getty Images.
Research sponsored by Salesforce shows the anticipated trajectory of public cloud investments. Source: IDC.
built to support intensive 3D visualiza- year all-in cost of USD 50,000 for the closed majors. The two oil companies
tions and virtual reality applications. same services. have partnered with Petrabytes to
These examples all highlight how big Moreover, sophisticated oilfield plug- expand their capabilities in fiber-optic
oil is warming to the biggest players ins are commonly priced a la carte, and analysis, specifically distributed acoustic
in cloud technology. But because the may get more expensive depending on sensing (DAS).
cloud market is growing at a far fast- the client company’s market cap. DAS helps shale companies literal-
er rate than traditional IT spend, more “We are more like the Netflix model ly hear how their hydraulic fracturing
small and medium-sized oil and gas pro- though, where you get all-you-can-eat treatments performed. The problem is
ducers are expected to begin follow- for a single subscription,” Daniel said, that the data generated during a sin-
ing suit. noting that Antaeus is bucking one more gle job are measured in terabytes (TB),
conventional pricing practice by not which makes it impossible for most
Startups Lowering the Barrier charging early termination fees for its operators to use DAS in real time. Their
At least one factor holding back many in services. “This is the way software is alternative is to store the data on a hard
the industry—high costs—appears to going; you will pay as you go.” drive until someone can look at it and see
be eroding thanks to startup companies what happened.
like Antaeus Technologies. Connecting Dots Above “They literally ship those drives—and
The Houston-headquartered soft- and Below for 2 or 3 weeks, there is no analysis,”
ware-as-a-service firm is going up Petrabytes is another Houston-based said Gunturu, who added that the solu-
against tech giants and service com- startup that is targeting the independent tion he is working on involves the devel-
panies by charging an annual fee of upstream sector with half-a-dozen cloud- opment of an edge device. These small
only USD 500 per user for its cloud based analytics and modeling products. computers can be installed at the wellsite
database. The next rung up carries One of the programs aims to make find- to collect only the most critical pieces of
an annual fee of USD 3,000 per user ing sweet spots faster and easier through the DAS data.
which gives users access to custom- an artificial-intelligence-driven approach “You then transmit that knowledge to
developed petrophysics and geome- to seismic survey analysis the cloud” via a network connection or
chanical modeling plugins, with more “It quickly processes through a lot when a field technician returns to an
on the way. of seismic images and then identifies a office, explained Gunturu. At the same
These are prices that Pierre Jean trend, or certain geo-bodies, and also time, other edge devices may be collect-
Daniel, the chief executive officer the specific rock types,” explained Sashi ing and sending data to the cloud plat-
of Antaeus, believes operating com- Gunturu, the chief executive officer form which automatically searches for
panies of any size can afford. “Our idea of Petrabytes. larger patterns in a company’s well stim-
is to democratize more of this cloud Although this product may be more ulation performance.
technology and make it accessible to suited to the mid-sized producer, Petra- Through a new subsidiary, Petrabytes
everyone,” he said, adding that some bytes says such cloud-based tools have has also developed software for emerg-
of his competition charges a first- attracted pilot projects with two undis- ing drone technology, which is finding
a niche market for quick and cheap site collaborations more time-efficient. which Daniel explained will have around
inspections. Some people view drones While working for Schlumberger for 1 TB of storage and can use mobile net-
as flying computers, ones that take mea- much of his upstream career, Daniel works to provide Wi-Fi for a group of
surements with high-definition camer- saw how the simple act of sharing engineers or field techs. “You just put it
as or even lasers, infrared, and various project files via email was leading to on the table and everyone inside a truck
types of scanning radar. big slowdowns. can work from it.”
“The fundamental thing is that you “Clients were giving me data drop
are imaging the data,” with a drone, said by drop and I couldn’t work,” he said. Laggards May Not Be Ready
Gunturu. This means that drone infor- “Going back and forth like this, we saw Alsubhi started Certis more than a
mation can be integrated with other data how easy it was to lose a week or 2 decade ago and in that time has seen
sets, such as the seismic interpretation of weeks—especially when you throw dif- how oil companies have matured in
a reservoir. ferent time zones on top of it.” their views on data management. Still
“I think that will be the holy grail,” Daniel also knows firsthand the though, the trained petroleum engi-
he said. “You now have the entire site challenges of working with partners neer turned data specialist knows
analyzed—of what’s above and what’s in poorly networked locations where that many in the business are sim-
below—and then you can combine that sharing files can be a hit or miss opera- ply not ready to take full advantage of
as one unified model. That’s where we tion. To overcome connectivity issues cloud technology.
are headed.” in remote areas, he said the company “The systems connected within
has developed a low-bandwidth capa- an organization are often very much
No Wi-Fi, No Problem bility and a portable device that dupli- messy,” she said, explaining that a com-
Another central piece of Antaeus’ cates the most critical aspects of its mon result is that important data some-
big pitch to oil companies is how the cloud platform. times get lost.
easy-to-access nature of the cloud “When you go on location, you can syn- Without clearly defined lines of
will make business and engineering chronize your database onto this box,” where data comes from and where it
OUR PROVEN
Gulf Coast Section event held in Houston earlier
this summer.
Styled as a faux shark tank, the event allowed each of
the firms to pitch their unique business models before a
panel of industry experts and observers who delivered RELIABILITY.
YOUR
candid feedback. No actual investors were involved, and
in full disclosure, this writer sat on that panel which was
selected by members of the Entrepreneurship Cell, an
SPE-sanctioned subcommittee.
Moji Karimi, a co-founder of the Entrepreneurship Cell
and the business development manager for the DNA
SPECIFICATIONS.
reservoir diagnostics startup Biota, said the firms show
that using data to create value is a real and growing
industry trend.
The technology areas they specialize in will,
according to Karimi, open doors to real-time and
automated decision making, increase field efficiency,
and improve safety—all while reducing costs. “The
industry has no choice but to adapt,” he said, adding At Pyromation, we’re dedicated
that because of this digital revolution “an oil company to serving the Oil & Gas industry
in 2020 will be radically different than an oil company
from 2010.”
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Such poorly structured data workflows may lead to hours of
how we can meet your temperature
work duplication.
All of this is to say that when a company is ready to make sensor needs.
the leap, its first step may not be to call on the cloud service
vendors but rather a data management firm that can do the
required housekeeping. The pitfall of investing in cloud plat- GET A QUOTE !
forms while importing clumsy workflows or without estab- pyromation.com/oilandgas
lishing good data governance is that a company may not see
efficiency gains.
260.209.6341
Alsubhi gave a real-world example from one of the largest
oil companies in the US, name withheld, that involved sim-
plifying its overly complex seismic analysis workflow. “When
we mapped it out and put it in front of them, they saw if they
just did step No. 12 first, then they didn’t need all the steps in
between,” she said.
Her simplest advice to oil and gas companies is to be specific
about why they want to improve how they use data and stored
files, and not simply view it as something that must be done in
order to join the cloud.
“They need to do [information management] with a vision in
mind and one that adds real impact to the business itself, not
just pockets of unconnected projects,” she said. “So if the goal
of a company is to find new prospects or improve its comple- NEC Rated · FM/CSA Approved
tions, then it needs to do data management projects that help
that goal.” JPT
and this year’s figure is on track to be ‘All Predictable’ Permian Basin Shaking?
about 300. One of the positive developments to While not all faults can be seen by seis-
Since the vast majority of these earth- come from this problem is the actionable mic, many of them have been detect-
quakes are linked to produced water research that has been produced by peo- ed but nevertheless remain invisible to
injections, the trend line is welcome ple like Mark Zoback, a renowned profes- researchers and regulators alike. This
news to the state’s oil and gas industry. sor of geophysics at Stanford University is particularly the case in the Permian
However, for Jeremy Boak, director of in California and one of the leading voic- Basin region of Texas where Zoback said
the Oklahoma Geological Survey, 300 of es on induced earthquakes. induced earthquakes may be on the rise.
these generally small earthquakes is still During his turn behind the lectern, Due to the recent surge in drilling and
too many. Zoback explained how new models that he completion activity there, he said some
“We are seeing seismicity decline,” he has helped create are painting a “robust operators are seeking alternative injec-
said. “But I’m a little uneasy that it’s flat- picture” of the seismic situation in north- tion formations that can handle excess
tening out at a rate that I have a hard time central Oklahoma, home to about 95% of volumes of produced water. But because
believing will be acceptable in Oklahoma.” the state’s most recent spate of quakes. the existing fault maps are “extraordi-
Boak offered his thoughts on the topic “If you know about the stress state narily inadequate,” Zoback said that
of induced earthquakes while speaking and the fault, you can calculate what per- modeling the Permian’s risk zones for
on an expert panel at the Unconventional turbation of pore pressure might make induced earthquakes cannot move for-
Resources Technology Conference. Strict- a fault slip,” Zoback said. “It’s all pretty ward until more data are obtained.
er wastewater injection limits and low oil straightforward, but there’s uncertainty And while praising industry partners
prices are driving the drop in Oklahoma’s in all the parameters involved.” in Texas for sharing stress-state data, he
earthquake frequency, but Boak said it is One of those uncertainties is the fault said oil and gas producers should now
not known why that drop is “stalling out” lines themselves. Zoback said that the oil hand over the other half of the earth-
instead of continuing, and for that reason industry has handed over data that have quake equation: the fault maps. “There
he stressed that the issue continues to helped gain critically important under- is a lot of good 3D seismic data out there
demand constant monitoring. standings of Oklahoma’s stress state and that is not contributing in a proactive
Boak’s agency, which is not a regula- faults lines—but the data are incomplete way to the solution to this problem,”
tor but reports its seismic observations because even the best seismic technolo- Zoback said.
and findings to one, determined in 2015 gy may not pick up a fault until it moves. Staying on this point, Boak said that
that swarms of daily earthquakes were Although when armed with adequate he has found that the biggest obstacle
being caused by disposal well injections data sets, the Stanford seismic model to obtaining the right data sets is usually
of produced water into Oklahoma’s deep- has proven to be accurate. Zoback said it corporate counsel. “The hardest part of
est sedimentary formation (known as the found that the fault associated with the this negotiation, in trying to free up some
Arbuckle) that sits just above a myriad of second biggest earthquake in Oklahoma of these 3D seismic plots, has been try-
pre-Cambrian fault lines. history, the 5.7-magnitude Prague quake ing to figure out how to protect propri-
The panel discussion on which he sat in 2011, had a 50% chance of slipping. etary information and make the lawyers
revealed how much regulators, the seis- Further history matching showed that happy,” he said.
mology community, and the oil industry other recent earthquakes “were all pre- Zoback expects that the fault data will
have all learned in the past few years about dictable” had the model and the required see the light of day, but only when the
disposal wells and how they can trig- data been available. earthquakes in west Texas begin adding
ger earthquakes. The talk also served to “The real problem in the analysis is that up and force the hand of operators to
highlight the unfinished business on the there’s not a good correlation between share more.
ct
ob An
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· © 2017 All Rights Reserved · 1594
Induced Seismicity
der with Oklahoma, with support from quakes and determine if the direction of Magnetic and gravity studies were
the US Geological Survey. natural stresses is aligned in a way that also used in a major Oklahoma study
could lead to movement along a stressed (RPSEA 12122). That project, backed
Looking Deep fault if injected water was added. by RPSEA, a federally backed research
The faults that cause problems often go “We used this to create a stress map organization, concluded that a study
unnoticed because they are buried in to identify where there would be critical of earthquake clusters in two counties
the basement. stress in the basement that could trigger “clearly illustrate the need to acquire
More accurately, the faults and faults,” said Bauer. He added that “these new high-resolution gravity, magnetic,
fractures are found in the crystalline zones are also confirmed by the seismic and geologic data along with improved
basement rock. These ancient lay- history in the DJ basin.” geologic models of the sedimentary for-
ers, often Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian
rock, are found under the sandstones
or carbonates that hold hydrocar- Basic Emulsifiers
bon reservoirs.
“These are important because a lot
of epicenters occur along the faults and
fractures in the pre-Cambrian,” said Har-
vey Eastman, a consulting geologist, who
did a study mapping faults in Johnson
County, Texas, which is in the Barnett for-
mation (Eastman and Murin 2017).
As water flowing down from higher
levels reaches critically stressed faults
it can cause changes, which when com-
bined with natural stresses can cause
the opposing rock faces to slip, causing
an earthquake.
Researchers are studying old seismic
surveys turned over by oil companies WHY PAY FOR THIS,
looking for faults and fractures in the
zones above the basement that transport
injected water down to it. These images
have their limits. The features are rela-
tively small compared to the resolution of
WHEN ALL YOU NEED IS THIS?
the seismic, and the image quality is often
poor because these surveys were general-
ly not designed to image below the layers The same goes for your emulsifier purchases.
that hold potential oil and gas deposits.
XPLORTM Basic emulsifiers offer an economic alternative by meeting
Surveys available normally predate the rudimentary performance requirements combined with the quality you
shale boom. For example, in Kansas com- expect from the emulsifier experts, Georgia-Pacific Oilfield Chemicals.
panies are required to allow the state to
use seismic after 10 years, Bidgoli said.
For the Johnson County study, East-
man relied on 220 well logs from Texas • Meet the requirements, meet the budget.
regulators to define the underlying stra- • Get the job done. Don’t pay for unnecessary features.
ta and combined that with a map of the • Available for both mineral oil and diesel solvents.
surface contours to identify major faults,
which he said were generally in line with
past studies. In his case seismic was
not available. Contact us at 1-866-447-2436 or
The Colorado study combined multi- visit www.gp-chemicals.com/JPT5
ple sources—well logs, records of wells
that penetrated the basement rock,
gravity, and magnetic studies. These
XPLOR, the XPLOR logo and the Georgia-Pacific logo are trademarks owned by or licensed to Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC.
data were used to identify a basement ©2016 Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC All rights reserved.
structure near the source of the earth-
10 5
M2.8+ Earthquakes ing and fracturing has moved west to the
9 684 Arbuckle Well Injection Permian Basin.
OK Oil Production x10
8 4 The induced seismicity in that sparsely
Daily Injection/Production
6 Month Moving Average
Earthquakes per Day
(Millions of barrels)
7
produced water disposal has grown with
6 3 the number of wells.
5 Bridget Scanlon, an economist for
4 2
the Bureau of Economic Geology for the
University of Texas at Austin, said she
3
has heard that saltwater injection wells
2 1 are going deeper, sending brine into the
1 Ellenberger, a formation just above the
basement rock like the Arbuckle in Okla-
0 0
homa, which was the target for high-
Jan-11 Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
volume injection wells there.
Earthquakes in Oklahoma have risen and fallen with wastewater injection rates. “Injecting water into the Deeper Ellen-
Source: RPSEA 12122.
berger could cause induced seismici-
mations and structures above the crystal- ture to shift, potentially causing an earth- ty,” Scanlon said, during a talk on her
line basement.” quake, said Alan Morris, a staff scien- study of alternative uses for the water in
tist at the Southwest Research Institute in the Permian.
Managing Risk San Antonio. While no state has experienced the
The fix can be as simple as reducing the The program is designed to evaluate level of earthquakes that hit Oklahoma,
injection rate per well. “The first-order the risk of seismic activity using “data that could change. “I am not sure there is
thing that creates pore pressure is the inputs that can range from an educated more faulting in Oklahoma than in other
volume per well,” Bidgoli said, adding, “if guess as to the stress state, to seismic states nearby,” Boak said. JPT
you go from 16,000 B/D in one well and activity and wellbore data and full 3D
make it 8,000 B/D in two wells, the pres- fault interpretations from seismic reflec- For Further Reading
sure reduction is substantial.” tion studies,” he said. The program’s RPSEA Project 12122-91. 4D Integrated
In Kansas, the total amount of brine quick turnaround time allows a user to Study Using Geology, Geophysics,
disposed in two counties was about the consider multiple possible outcomes Reservoir Modeling & Rock Mechanics to
same—84 million bbl each in Ellis and when using differing inputs that reflect Develop Assessment Models for Potential
Harper counties in 2015. Much of the the level of uncertainty in the data. Induced Seismicity Risk by Jeremy Boak,
earthquake activity was concentrated in The example Morris uses to explain Oklahoma Geological Survey et al.
Harper County, while there was none in how it works is an injection well outside AAPG. 2017. Patterns of Induced Seismicity
Ellis County, which had twice as many of Youngstown, Ohio, that triggered a in Central and Northwest Oklahoma by
injection wells, according to Bidgoli and 4.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011. In the Jeremy Boak, Oklahoma Geological Survey.
Jackson (2017). month before the earthquake there were AAPG. 2017. Induced Seismicity in the
Reducing the depth of an injection small events below the level which could Denver Basin Prompts Updated Basement
well may also help by cutting off flows be felt, which had no impact on the injec- Stress and Fault Configuration Model
down to the basement rock. In Colorado, tion rate. At the time, the well operator was by Michael J. Harty and Matthew Bauer,
a 10,800-ft-deep injection well associ- seeking permission to increase injections. Colorado School of Mines.
ated with a cluster of seismic events in “Careful analysis of these smaller AAPG. 2016. Induced Seismicity in the
Weld County was plugged back, so the events could have identified the fault Denver Basin Prompts Updated Basement
deepest injection point was at 9,800 ft. before the magnitude 4.0 earthquake Fault Configuration Model by Matthew
That change reduced the rate of earth- occurred,” Morris said, adding that the W. Bauer and Michael J. Harty, Colorado
quake events, suggesting “reduced or program “could then have highlighted School of Mines.
removed basement communication,” the potential for a felt earthquake before AAPG. 2017. Operational Practices and
according to a previous paper by Bauer it happened.” Their Influence on Injection-Induced
and Harty (2016). But as is often the case, the warning Earthquakes: Lessons Learned From a
Kansas researchers used software signs and the underlying fault were only Statewide Survey of Brine Disposal in
from the Southwest Research Institute to studied after the fact, which in that case Kansas by Tandis S. Bidgoli and Christa
analyze how the stress on a fault or frac- led to the shutdown of the injection well. Jackson, Kansas Geological Survey.
ture could be altered by injections. Induced seismic activity in Texas AAPG. 2017. Geologic Characterization
The 3D Stress program was creat- dates back to the booming years of the of Johnson County, Texas by Harvey
ed to point to spots where subsurface first shale play, the Barnett around Fort Eastman, consulting geologist, and
stress change may cause a fault or frac- Worth. Now the epicenter for shale drill- Timothy Murin, AECOM.
Transportation is the linchpin of oil try—will become the chief driver of oil whole could peak in the early 2030s and
consumption, responsible for more demand growth. possibly sooner with higher biofuel use.
than 50% of the oil that the world uses Specifically, over the outlook period There are forecasts from outside the
every day and almost 70% of that con- of 2017–2035, the growth in transport industry that show oil demand peaking
sumed daily in the United States. Fore- demand will decelerate from 1 mil- and starting to decline sooner rather
casters all agree that the global vehicle lion B/D per year to 0.4 million B/D per than later.
fleet, the dominant factor in transpor- year and level off, while the demand for
tation demand for oil-based fuels and noncombusted oil use will increase by Implications for Industry
the major source of transport-sector 6 million B/D. The point is not that one forecast or the
growth, will expand greatly in the next Not every forecast agrees with this. other is correct, but rather to start think-
20 to 30 years. The International Energy Agency and ing about the implications of a transport
Thus, it is notable that BP in its 2017 ExxonMobil, for example, believe that demand for oil that no longer increas-
Energy Outlook forecasts, as a base case, transport demand will continue to drive es. It is bound to happen at some point,
that by the mid-2030s, transport demand oil consumption growth for substan- even if the more robust demand fore-
growth for oil will slow to a trickle, while tially longer. On the other hand, Shell casts prove correct. What will the indus-
demand for noncombusted oil use—par- Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beur- try begin to look like when transport no
ticularly in the petrochemicals indus- den recently said that oil demand as a longer delivers market growth?
Transport 0.0
20
Cars†
0 -0.5
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2005- 2010- 2015- 2020- 2025- 2030-
* Trucksinclude SUVs 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035
†Cars include two-wheelers and other light duty vehicles
Liquids demand and demand growth to 2035 are shown in BP’s 2017 Energy Outlook. Source: BP.
One person who has given a lot of thought Diyashev has taught petroleum, res- University and BS and MS degrees in
to what the oil and gas industry might ervoir, and production engineering and molecular and chemical physics from Mos-
look like when it can no longer count on a advanced classes in reserves evalua- cow Institute of Physics and Technology.
growing consumption from the transport tion, well test design and analysis, and To Diyashev, a leveling off of transport
sector is Iskander Diyashev, an instruc- gas reservoir management. He previous- demand should be closely linked chrono-
tor for PetroSkills and a former SPE ly held engineering and leadership roles logically with peak oil consumption. As
Director who is serving as an SPE Distin- at S.A. Holditch and Associates, Schlum- demand starts to fall shortly thereafter,
guished Lecturer in 2017–18 for the sec- berger, Sibneft, Geo-Alliance, and NRK- prices will begin a long-term downward
ond time. His current lecture topic is The Technology. He holds a PhD degree in trend. He believes it will happen rela-
Future of Oil. petroleum engineering from Texas A&M tively soon.
Conference
Highlights Shale
as an International
Business
T housands gathered in Austin, Texas, in July to attend
the 2017 Unconventional Resources Technology
Conference which reflected several of the biggest
themes shaping the shale sector and its emergence as
an internationally discussed business.
15 0
–1
USD/boe
10
–2
USD billion
5 –3
–4
0
–5
–5 –6
–7
Q1 2010
Q1 2011
Q1 2012
Q1 2013
Q1 2014
Q1 2015
Q1 2016
Q1 2017
–10
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
Revenue from producing wells for five of the biggest The free cash flow for five producers focused on tight oil,
unconventional oil producers is now a bit above the cost dubbed Tight Oil Inc., has been catching up with their
of adding wells resulting in some free cash flow (FCF peers focused elsewhere in the business. Source: Wood
shown by green line). FCF is expected to turn upward in Mackenzie.
the next decade. Source: Wood Mackenzie.
“The myopia of a sector focused on have concluded that a diversified portfo- Another change, which was outside
growth means our 2020 vision of surg- lio of producing wells of various vintages the scope of the report, was the large
ing cash flow could quickly become a reduces the number of drilling rigs need- and growing presence of major oil com-
mirage,” because investors lose hope ed to sustain or expand the output. panies in the Permian. While they are
that oil prices, and profits will rise, the Simulations run on Total’s software late to the shale business, their financial
report said. show large developments made up of muscle and technical skills may give them
The coming years will also weed out wells that rapidly decline in their early an edge in managing complex, long-term
those companies that are not strong, low- years behave quite differently as a group projects demanding huge investments,
cost survivors. Winners will range from over time. Shattuck said.
majors that exploit their ability to do As more wells are added the produc-
major, technically challenging projects, tion volatility is reduced because the fast Price Worries
to small companies with a nimble, inno- declining recent wells are balanced off by The biggest barrier to profitability for
vative, cost-cutting culture. the steadier output from the many older tight-oil producers has been their pro-
“We do not believe every company will wells. It works like a diversified portfolio lific production growth. As a result of a
reach profitability,” Shattuck said, add- of stocks and bonds. lingering oil glut between now and 2020,
ing, “but the good tight-oil operators are This means that “the more you feed” Wood Mackenzie and Charlez see prices
poised to weather the risk.” the asset base by adding wells, the less fluctuating in a band around USD 50/bbl
drilling is required to sustain or add pro- during this decade.
Bulking Up duction, said Philippe Charlez, a senior By 2020 Wood Mackenzie expects
While this group of tight oil producers is technology advisor for Total, during a that world demand will exceed what
still short of being consistently cash flow presentation. US unconventional producers can sup-
positive, the gap has narrowed between “Even if there is a big change in price, ply, and deep exploration cuts in places
Wood Mackenzie’s tight-oil focused com- production will resist the change. Pro- like deepwater plays will have stymied
panies and peers in other sectors. Over duction strongly resists a drop in work- growth elsewhere.
the past 12 months they have been mov- ing rigs,” Charlez said. The USD 66/bbl prediction comes with
ing into positive territory. That muted reaction gives operators a lot of assumptions. One is that Saudi
In part that is due to cost cutting the flexibly to turn spending on and off Arabia and other OPEC countries con-
since 2014, with producers squeezing as prices fluctuate, without killing pro- tinue to limit their output, that offshore
discounts out of suppliers. They also duction. Those operators also move development remains down, and by then
focused on finding more efficient meth- money to the lowest-cost play, which is the growth rate of tight-oil production in
ods and targeting the most productive the Permian, while reducing investment the US will slow.
spots to drill and fracture. in higher-cost areas, such as the Bakken, Wood Mackenzie acknowledges that
While the competitors outside of tight where a small number of rigs working slowing represents a break from the
oil focused on similar goals, their cash has been able to mute the decline. strategy that has been the norm for US
flow has remained within the same range. Faster drilling, or more productive shale producers, which have built aggres-
Those working in unconventional for- wells, further reduces the number of sive growth targets into the formulas
mations have more room for improve- drilling rigs required, he said. And this used for setting executive compensation.
ment and potential for growth. These year, gains have been required to help off- For now production growth remains
formations also cover huge areas, with set the rising cost of labor and services. “the principal metric by which Tight Oil
opportunities magnified by the number The large amount of energy, water, Inc. is measured and rated by the mar-
of layers available to exploit, allowing sand, and chemicals required to get oil ket.” And by its calculation, the greatest
production growth for decades without out of this tight rocks means that there long-term payoff is produced by drilling
the risk of drilling a discovery well. is a tight relationship between costs and now rather than slowing down to gener-
“Led by the Permian, tight oil’s huge the value of assets. Wood Mackenzie said ate greater cash flow.
inventory of undrilled wells allows oper- a 30% increase in development-capital But by 2020, it expects the inves-
ators to recycle free cash flow from pro- costs will lead to a 30% fall in company tors who have provided the billions that
ducing wells immediately into new, low, asset value. fueled growth will begin pressuring oper-
breakeven wells that generate similar, When predicting the future, technolo- ators to begin managing growth to deliv-
attractive returns,” the Wood Mackenzie gy is “a big wild card.” While Wood Mack- er a greater return.
report said. In comparison, conventional enzie expects productivity gains could be How companies “manage the tran-
exploration requires “sporadic, lumpy, “more limited than in the recent past,” sition to lower operational growth
and large-scale investment decisions.” a breakthrough such as proving that beyond 2020 and returns to sharehold-
By the year 2020, larger tight-oil oper- natural gas injections can improve ulti- ers (including dividends) will be impor-
ators will have developed enough produc- mate recovery rates well past 10% could tant concerns for investors looking to
ing wells that the cash they generate will have a large impact on the economics of see evidence of capital discipline,” the
support the operation. Studies by Total the business. report said.
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W1
Data_Tarrant W2
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A plot of 50 Barnett shale wells in Tarrant County shows how the actual numbers (shades of gray) can diverge from the
average (red line). Source: SPE 178525.
questions to make it clear that the com- Steps Toward a Type Curve ly seem to matter.” Those groups in the
mittee has some tough work ahead of it. large sample are needed to reflect the
◗ Identify the objective of the type
Those challenges range from recogniz- fact that within “a given resource play,
well calculations.
ing the economic limits on production wells in different areas are likely to fol-
◗ Select wells to sample that are in
from high-cost tight reservoirs to the keeping with the objective, with a
low somewhat dissimilar production
production decline likely when an older total of 200 or more. paths from completion to abandonment,”
well is hit by nearby fracturing. ◗ Divide the wells into bins of Lee said.
Lee acknowledged that to create about 50 based on significant While a lot of things can matter, the
a system that generates sound results differences. characteristics used to sort the wells
based on a reasonable amount of time ◗ To limit the number of bins, choose need to be limited to the most significant
and data “we will have to have some ways to normalize well production to make it possible to create bins large
clever approximations.” when there are differences, such as enough for reliable statistical analysis.
wells with various lateral lengths. A list of key variables could include
◗ Observe good practices to gather
Goal Oriented the well location, spacing, the date of
individual well data, such as
The goal is a statistically valid prediction first production, geological similar-
forecasting each well separately
of a typical well with an approach based rather than grouping wells.
ities, and the operator. The time of
on “what you are trying to do,” he said. ◗ Include abandoned rates with zero the completion and the operator can
The process will vary depending on production rates in the total. be significant because “the wells are
whether the goal is predicting the esti- ◗ For wells with a short production tending to get better and the best oper-
mated ultimate recovery for a typical history, forecast future production ator is really learning how to do that”
well, a production profile for the first 5 rather than leaving them out. (SPE 158867).
years of a well’s life, or the discounted ◗ Validate results by comparing with A statistical check is advised to ensure
value of the critical early years of these similar wells not in the sample. that wells belong in the same bin, Lee
fast-declining wells. said. When plotted the members should
Knowing the endpoint will guide the generate a log-normal distribution.
critical work of gathering a statistically In some cases, differences that signif-
significant sample of actual production “I have seen examples of type wells icantly affect production, such as hori-
data—his talk suggested 200 or more based on three wells to produce thou- zontal wellbores that are twice as long
wells—sorted into bins of 50 or so wells sands of wells to sell an investment,” as others, can be eliminated by finding a
with common characteristics. Lee said, adding, “If that is all you have, common unit of measurement.
While the total needed will rise or fall that is all you have. But the uncertainty is One option for comparing the output
based on the level of variance, if data are just enormous.” from laterals lengths of 5,000 ft and
available from only a few wells the result Wells within each bin need to be those 10,000 ft and more is the oil and
will be less reliable. grouped using characteristics that “real- gas production per foot of wellbore. Lee
4
EUR (bcf)
1
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Year
Wells from one operator (company 4, purple) outperformed three other companies in four out of five Barnett wells, in
two cases by a wide margin. Source: SPE 158867.
benefits
I t has apparently taken one emerging
technology to help validate another.
HEAL Systems is a joint-venture with
a month. Visualizing how the HEAL
system is able to constrict and reform
slugs is aimed at furthering its technol- run dry.
Schlumberger which manufactures a ogy development.
downhole flow-regulating device by the Anand Nagoo, chief executive officer
same name. The innovation promises to of PipeFractionalFlow and co-author of
remedy one of the unconventional sec- the paper, said the flow model he helped
tor’s most common problems: slug flow. develop offers operators an “indepen-
PipeFractionalFlow is a spinoff start- dent and unbiased” way to validate the Membership in the
up from the University of Texas at Austin HEAL System and select candidate wells.
that is using new theories and equations “Now you can explain what slug flow Society of Petroleum
to make modeling complex multiphase mitigation means,” he asserted.
more affordable. As Nagoo explained, the typical artifi- Engineers is a
Together, the two technology devel-
opers completed a simulation and his-
cial lift strategy is devised by combining
an asset management plan with a sur-
continuous well of
tory matching study on four horizon- veillance and measurement plan. “That career-enhancing
tal wells in the US and Canada that will give you ‘the whats, the whys, and
shed light on how the HEAL system the whens,’” of which artificial lift sys- opportunities for
works. The research is detailed in an tems to use, he said. “What we are pro-
SPE paper published at the Unconven- posing, is that in addition to asset man- E&P professionals.
tional Resources Technology Conference agement and surveillance, there could be
(URTeC 2670789). predictive modeling and optimization to Whether you want to enhance your
Jeff Saponja, the chief executive officer go with it.” knowledge, expand your network, or
of HEAL Systems, said during the paper Nagoo said his model also clarified develop your leadership skills, it pays
presentation that a multiphase flow how the HEAL System reduces solids
to remain engaged with SPE.
model has helped his company see how migration inside the wellbore—anoth-
high velocities of gas moving through er common cause for pump failures in Stay connected to all that SPE
a horizontal well are the driving force the unconventional sector. It showed has to offer:
behind slugs. that reducing the bubble length of the
“This kind of learning was very impor- slug, along with breaking up the slug’s Publications and Journals
tant to us because it said the issue is in structure, directly diminishes the trans- Events and Training Courses
the bend, the curved section—so slug portability of sand along the wellbore,
flow mitigation is not out in the horizon- which tends to inch forward just like Local Section Activities
tal,” he said. the small dunes beneath the waves
Volunteer Opportunities
The paper’s authors concluded that at a beach.
the HEAL System smooths out slugs as “The slugging behavior is what’s mov- Online Communities and Resources
they enter its sized-regulating string and ing the solids … It picks up the sand, and
when the flow exits it is efficiently sepa- it bounces it along,” said Nagoo, who
rated into liquid and gas phases, both of added that with this effect significantly
which increase the lifespan of a down- reduced, operators should be able to add Keep your SPE member benefits
hole pumping unit. more sand or proppant to their fractur- producing for you.
HEAL Systems is trying to build on ing treatments without worrying that it
its early success of more than 250 well will jam up a pump later on. Renew today at
installations in every major shale basin This may also help wells be more pro- www.spe.org/go/17Renew.
in the US and Canada, a figure that ductive, since sand is critical to keeping
Saponja said is growing by about 30 fractures open and conductive.
MPGE offers BS, MS and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering, MS and PhD in geological engineering and an MS in natural
gas engineering and management. There are, currently, seventeen full-time faculty, two part-time and three adjunct with a
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demonstrated success in securing external research support and teaching experience or the potential to become a successful
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The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Carnegie-R1 comprehensive public research university known for excellence in teaching, research, and community
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311 scholars. The 277-acre Research Campus in Norman was named the No.1 research campus in the nation by the Association of Research Parks in
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mpge.ou.edu disabilities are encouraged to apply.
45
meetings with residents of Matagorda County to gauge their
+
opinions on a new project in the area. The results of those meet-
ings led to the development of a mail survey questionnaire that
asked participants to respond to, among other things, a set of
four statements on six types of energy: oil and gas, nuclear, coal,
wind, solar, and geothermal.
The questionnaires were sent to 800 randomly selected
addresses, but because of a high proportion of bad addresses
and a low response rate, an additional 500 questionnaires had
to be mailed out. The research team received 274 usable com-
Terminal
pleted questionnaires out of the 1,300 total that it sent.
Higgins et al. wrote that the confidence level of the final sur- Locations
vey results was around 95%. However, Adams said the low
response rate with mailings illustrates the difficulties in con-
ducting adequate market research. Our vast terminal network is ready
“A lot of folks think, well, all we need to do is gin up 10 ques-
tions, maybe hand them out at Walmart, and give them a chance to meet your proppant demands quickly
to say yes, no, thank you, whatever, and then we’re done. I was and efficiently. Operating over 45
a field biologist, and I never ran into a more difficult field of terminal locations in all key basins,
research than sociological research as it related to various man- we ensure better proppant when you
agement issues,” Adams said.
The survey results showed that the community appreciated need it, where you need it.
receiving factual knowledge about events or developments that
would affect their lives, but only if it was available in an open
and unbiased manner. From this, Higgins et al. developed a five-
step guideline for companies to help deliver that information:
On any proposed project or development, identify sources of Partner with the Proven Proppant
local knowledge as soon as possible.
Convene small groups for listening sessions in which a com-
Resource at SPE ATCE Booth #1671.
pany describes its concept for a project that would benefit from FMSA.com/JPT
stakeholder input. It is important to be cognizant of any com-
munity issue that could be framed explicitly.
w Create a written document describing the project that
includes guidance from community input. This document
should be public, but the researchers recommended that it
not be an official pronouncement of a development.
w Create an “open door” information office in which factual
information about the development be made available.
w Give a project’s personnel the right to talk about their
knowledge of the project and have them provide the
names of other knowledgeable managers who are
experienced in dealing with the public.
Adams said companies looking to gain community support
should view the process of increasing public knowledge not as a
technological challenge, but as a social challenge.
“For all types of energy, there is a high degree of self-reported
knowledge as a significant predictor of energy acceptance. If
you know something about a topic, you’re probably going to
respond a bit differently. Gaining more knowledge and being
familiar with an energy source may lead to a higher degree of
acceptance of that energy,” Adams said. JPT
Proppant Solutions
Since the last Reservoir Performance With the proper resources During the past 12 months, 160 tech-
and Monitoring feature in Septem- nical papers were presented at vari-
ber 2016, the industry trends of signifi- in�place, automated ous conferences and meetings with
cantly improving efficiency and reduc- reservoir-performance reservoir-performance-and-monitoring
ing operational costs have continued programs and were reviewed for this
to be implemented. For instance, at the
modeling and monitoring feature, displaying further advances
time of writing, in North America, the may no longer be in reservoir-performance monitoring,
US oil rig count has risen impressively a science-fiction analysis, and optimization. The papers
for 23 straight weeks and the big play- selected and recommended as addi-
ers have greatly reduced their exposure scenario. tional reading are representative sam-
to Canada’s oil sands. However, while ples of the reviewed papers. They are a
many efforts are focusing on the opti- geographically diverse mix of academic
mization of current technologies and formance, the nonrisk-averse innovation work, industrial research and develop-
the study of past reservoir performance culture from other industries could help ment, and field applications, describ-
to improve future developments, with us develop new disruptive technologies ing numerical simulation and laborato-
fewer capital resources and personnel and implement them in the field. For ry research, field-data-acquisition and
available, these efforts may yield only instance, with the proper resources in -interpretation studies, new-technology
incremental improvements. place, automated reservoir-performance development and field trials, and multi-
Technology and innovation are seen modeling and monitoring may no longer year reviews of current technologies and
industrywide as critical to long-term rad- be a science-fiction scenario. Once this work flows. JPT
ical efficiency and productivity. Once the downturn appears in the rear-view mir-
industry becomes less concerned about ror, our industry will need to change its
cost savings and more about investing in model disruptively to thrive sustainably Recommended additional reading
future technologies and long-term per- in the next growth cycle. at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 181550 Current State and Future
Trends in the Use of Downhole Fluid
Silviu Livescu, SPE, is chief scientist in the global Coiled Tubing Analysis for Improved Reservoir Evaluation
Research and Engineering Centre of Baker Hughes, a GE by H. Elshahawi, Shell, et al.
company, in Calgary, with fundamental- and applied-research,
SPE 184131 Production Optimization
industrial-research-and-development, innovation, commercial- Through Voidage Replacement Using
ization, and intellectual-property experience related to produc- Triggers for Production Rate by Cenk
tion engineering and reservoir engineering. He holds BS and MS Temizel, Aera Energy, et al.
degrees from Politehnica University of Bucharest in Romania and
SPE 183195 Development of Crosswell
a PhD degree from the University of Delaware, all in mechanical
Electromagnetic Monitoring System
engineering. Livescu is an executive editor for the Journal of Petroleum Science and Using the HTS-SQUID Magnetometer
Engineering and an associate editor for SPE Journal. He serves on the JPT Editorial by Makoto Harada, Japan Oil, Gas, and
Committee and can be reached at https://ca.linkedin.com/in/silviu-livescu-14a96735. Metals National Corporation, et al.
Sl
t
igh
an
LO
elevation. Interferometric synthetic Fl
tR
S
aperture radar (InSAR) uses radar
an
ge
returns from the ground to calculate Ground R
ange
highly precise estimates of the ground
change. The authors discuss a new way N q
Image Swath
of extracting deformation information
from radar imagery, contributing to
W
improved accuracy of InSAR surface-
elevation monitoring. a E
ck
d Tra
n
Introduction ou
Gr
The challenge in the Canadian oil sands is
to achieve robust measurements with lim- h
ut
ited infrastructure. Essentially, the prob- im
Az
lem is to develop robust measurements
of the ground movement without reliance S
on buildings, pipelines, or even installed
Fig. 1—The geometry of ground movement as imaged from space. The change
targets [such as corner reflectors (CRs)]. in distance from the satellite to the ground can be calculated along the LOS of
The case study described here shows ex- the radar pulse with the phase difference observed between two observations.
ceptional results for monitoring of re-
gions without traditional point targets. the time required for this monitoring. The lationship between injection and produc-
The operations and mechanism of ther- relatively short time scales and the high tion volumes and the observed ground
mal recovery of steam-assisted gravity magnitude of the changes experienced in heave and subsidence, respectively.
drainage (SAGD) and CSS differ. SAGD is a CSS are well-suited to the nontraditional
continuous process of balanced injection methods described here. Methodology
and production, while CSS is a cyclic pro- The methods are validated by mea- Satellite radar achieves ground imaging
cess of injection, soaking, and depletion. surements of surface elevation by use by sending microwave energy from the
The methodology provided depends on of real-time kinematic (RTK) global- satellite to be reradiated from the Earth’s
an understanding of the expected ground positioning-system (GPS) surveys ac- surface and captured as a wave by the
movement but does not rely on fore- quired in the Primrose field coincident satellite. Because the energy travels at
knowledge of the motion itself. The rate to the InSAR observations. The net-over- the speed of light, the process of send-
of change in ground deformation associ- injection (NOI) metric provided by Cana- ing a pulse from a satellite at 800 km
ated with a CSS operation is key to the ex- dian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) takes only a few milliseconds. The speed
traction of the signal (deformation) over is also used to demonstrate the causal re- at which the satellite travels means that
large areas of ground may be imaged
almost instantaneously. The microwave
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of imagery provides amplitude and phase
paper SPE 184971, “Satellite Monitoring of Cyclic-Steam Stimulation Without Corner information about the radiation returned
Reflectors,” by Michael D. Henschel and Jonathan Dudley, MDA, and Peter Chung, to the satellite. The amplitude variations
Canadian Natural Resources Limited, prepared for the 2017 SPE Canada Heavy Oil can be described as a measurement of
Technical Conference, Calgary, 15–16 February. The paper has not been peer reviewed. the texture of the Earth surface. Key to
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
#OTCBrasil
order of centimeters per observation means that the significant
noise factor (atmospheric noise) is much smaller than the expect-
ed measurement. The requirement then is to understand the ef- HOST
Validation
CNRL provided measurements of the ground deformation from
six locations on Pad 43 in the Primrose Field. Measurements
of surface elevation by RTK GPS surveys have been taken since One global industry. One city. One meeting place.
22 October 2014 and have a reported accuracy of 2 cm. FORGING TIES, DRIVING GROWTH
The RTK GPS observations were made on wellhead flanges
of two observation wells and the pile caps of four light poles on
Pad 43; the coincident InSAR observations are available contig- REGISTER TO HEAR FROM GLOBAL
uously throughout multiple drainage areas. The graphic in Fig. 4
of the complete paper was constructed by taking an average of OIL & GAS BUSINESS LEADERS
the RTK GPS measurements at the six locations. The InSAR mea-
surements are averaged over a 100¥100-m area centered on
Pad 43. The excellent agreement between the two instruments AT ONE OF THE WORLD’S
is confirmation that they are both measuring the same signal.
There are two periods of missing observations from the LARGEST OIL & GAS
InSAR measurements (notably March to April 2015) and a pe- CONFERENCES
riod of missing observations from the RTK GPS (July to October
2015). The first period of missing observations for the InSAR
1 OPENING CEREMONY
was caused by snow and ice cover from 13 November 2014 to
7 December 2014. The second period of missing observations
for the InSAR was caused by spring thaw from 2 March 2015 to 4
KEYNOTE & FEATURED SPEAKERS
MINISTERIAL
SESSIONS
119
TECHNICAL SESSIONS
19 April 2015. InSAR results were obtained by processing SAR
• E&P GEOSCIENCE
images captured from 2 September 2014 to 28 October 2015.
No RTK GPS surveys were taken between 30 June 2015 and 27
4 GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADER
SESSIONS • OFFSHORE & MARINE
NEW • DRILLING AND COMPLETION
September 2015.
In the periods during which both systems were in operation, 3 GLOBAL DOWNSTREAM
BUSINESS LEADER SESSIONS TECHNOLOGY
• PRODUCTION FACILITIES
the agreement is clear. The nature of the InSAR measurement NEW
as a difference between one observation and the next makes pe- 10 C-SUITE DIALOGUES
SESSIONS
TECHNOLOGY
• HSE
riods of missing observations problematic. In this case, the sig-
nal from the InSAR has been rebalanced to the RTK GPS signal
by estimating the GPS deformation at the restart of the InSAR
8 TECHNICAL INDUSTRY PANEL
SESSIONS
• UNCONVENTIONAL OIL
• UNCONVENTIONAL GAS
time series.
Further evidence of the accuracy of the InSAR method de- 14 SECURITY IN ENERGY
SESSIONS
• PROJECTS ENGINEERING AND
MANAGEMENT
scribed here for CSS operations comes from the comparison of • PEOPLE & TALENTS
the NOI and the cumulative deformation. Volume above fill-up 8 MIDDLE EAST PETROLEUM CLUB
VIP PROGRAMME BRIEFINGS • GAS TECHNOLOGY
(VAF) is defined as the cumulative volume of steam injected in • UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES
a steam cycle after the reservoir pressure has reached the ver-
tical in-situ stress. NOI is defined as injected steam VAF minus
8 WOMEN IN ENERGY
SESSIONS • FIELD DEVELOPMENT
• OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
the cumulative volume of liquid produced. Increasing NOI oc-
curs during steam injection, and a decreasing NOI occurs dur-
8 OFFSHORE & MARINE
SESSIONS • IOR/EOR
Introduction
A tracer-survey study can provide a va-
riety of information about the hetero- Fig. 1—Reservoir map with sector distribution.
geneity of a formation. While transient
tests can provide information about res- tracer recovery. The mass-balance tech- could lead to full-field reservoir charac-
ervoir continuity, thief zones are diffi- nique can be used to calculate the amount terization that could be fed directly into a
cult, if not impossible, to detect. This is of tracer recovered to distinguish be- simulation model, sample collection and
because pressure-transient tests provide tween the existence of a fault, a flow bar- analysis must continue for a considerable
an arithmetic average for reservoir total rier, or a low-permeability zone. period of time after tracer is first detect-
transmissibility over the tested formation ed in order to establish a more-defined
thickness, while a tracer survey provides Tracer-Project Design elution curve.
a direct evaluation of the flow field be- Interwell tracer testing consists of inject-
tween the injection and production wells. ing chemical tracers into injection wells Gas-Tracer Application
Apart from heterogeneity, tracer stud- at the beginning of a flood project or after Field Background. The subject field is
ies also serve as an informative tool to the reservoir has reached its fill-up con- an offshore oil field located in the Ara-
yield fluid-flow paths inside the reservoir, dition, depending on the objective of the bian Gulf that has been on production
popularly known as reservoir stream- project, and subsequent sampling of pro- since the 1960s. After the initial natural-
lines. A tracer survey not only can pre- duction wells for a prescribed period of depletion phase, during the 1970s,
cisely identify these preferential paths time, which also depends on the objec- crestal dump-flood water injection was
that are detrimental to the sweep of the tive of the project. Samples are analyzed carried out to maintain the reservoir
reservoir in the enhanced-oil-recovery for tracer content, which will delineate pressure. During the 1980s, peripheral
stage but also can provide information communication between the injection water injection was introduced to serve
about the time that fluid takes to move and production wells. The time during as the principal source of energy to ar-
from one point (injection well) to another which samples are collected and ana- rest reservoir-pressure decline. In 2006,
point in the reservoir. This time is termed lyzed depends greatly on the objective a crestal gas-injection project was initiat-
the mean residence time. In addition, any of the project. If the objective is to iden- ed to support production from the wells
flow barrier or directional thief zones tify thief zones, deduce mean residence lying away from the periphery.
such as faults can be identified by delayed time, and determine other factors that Geologically, the field belongs to the
Lower Cretaceous and is divided into six
distinct anticline layers; for purposes of
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
monitoring reservoir performance, each
of paper SPE 183413, “A to Z for Gas Tracers: A Decade of Learning and Experience,” layer is further divided into six sectors,
by M.N. Khan, H. Iwama, A. Al-Neaimi, and O. Al-Shehhi, Abu Dhabi Marine as shown in Fig. 1. The division of sectors
Operating Company, and M. Chatterjee, Tracerco, prepared for the 2016 Abu Dhabi arose out of operational convenience and
International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 7–10 November. The was not defined by any special character-
paper has not been peer reviewed. istics of the layers in the reservoir.
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.
Gas Tracers: A Decade of Learning and Experience (Continued from page 63)
three wells belonged to the deepest res- fastest in these layers because no possible Conclusions
ervoir (i.e., Layer 6). partitioning caused by the presence of the w The tracer studies for this reservoir
dual phase was anticipated. This was in- in the subject case study had to
Tracer-Data Analysis and Results. Trac- deed observed in the case of Layer 6. be terminated (owing to long
er detection in a given sample is an indica- Reservoir complexity could be anoth- incubation time of tracers) before
tion of direct communication between the er reason for the delayed breakthrough. substantial amounts of tracer could
injection well and the corresponding mon- From the logs, it could be seen clearly be seen. If the tracer elution could
itoring wells. However, the extent of com- that top Layers 1, 2, and 3 have a higher be completed with a finite amount of
munication depends on the breakthrough degree of homogeneity when compared data, considerable information about
times and tracer-concentration values. with the bottom three layers. According- the reservoir, both qualitatively and
ly, Layers 4, 5, and 6 were expected to see quantitatively, could be generated.
Data Integration. While the crestal-drive a faster breakthrough when compared w It is well-understood that tracer
gas injection commenced in 2004, gas with the top layers. While this is evident studies take a considerable amount
tracers were introduced in the six crestal in the case of Layer 6 (the only layer that of time, and a constant production
gas injectors across six different layers in saw a breakthrough), Layers 4 and 5 did behavior is almost impossible to
August 2006 after a steady front was es- not see any breakthrough at all. achieve for most practical purposes.
tablished. Until 2016, only three wells in It was found that the closure of the high- Strategic planning of wells serves as
the deepest layer had experienced break- gas/oil-ratio wells in Layers 4 and 5 result- a key solution in such cases.
throughs lying on the northern part of ing from revised reservoir-management w Simulation serves as a key to the
the field. The simulation study did pre- guidelines led to an apparent disruption modeling of a tracer study. However,
dict the gas movement toward the pres- of the pressure streamlines within the as is the case here, the concept of
sure sink. However, no other shallower reservoir. The pressure-differential paths “dynamic simulation” should be used
layers had experienced breakthroughs. that the tracers were initially following in monitoring a tracer project. Any
Gas tracers tend to partition between were modified on account of the closure change that is taking place in the field
different hydrocarbon phases. While Lay- of a few wells; this led the chemical en- should be updated periodically in
ers 3 and 6 had no gas caps, the move- tities to reroute their path toward a new the model to gauge the actual tracer
ment of the tracers was expected to be pressure sink within the closed system. movement in the reservoir. JPT
Completions
Doug Lehr, SPE, Senior Manager for Design for Reliability, Baker Hughes, a GE Company
I am very excited to begin my term as The good news ter will advance effectiveness in both land
editorial reviewer for Completions. JPT and offshore completions. Process inno-
has always been the source of cutting- is that innovation vation is also occurring and is evident in
edge information on industry technology has continued the drive to create advanced numerical
developments, and I pledge to continue models for optimization of stimulation
that tradition through expert review and
during the downturn. and hardware choices in multizone shale
selection of articles. well completions. Finally, increased focus
Our industry is showing signs of on reliability in design, installation, and
emerging from the recent downturn, and One of the more powerful tools avail- operation has emerged, as both opera-
commodity prices are slowly improving. able to help achieve sustained profitabil- tors and suppliers recognize the contri-
There is intense focus across the indus- ity is innovation, and it has consistently bution of risk management to comple-
try on profitability in the current low- generated cutting-edge technologies that tion technology and systems.
oil-price environment, and profitability have advanced the oil and gas industry. The articles in this month’s Comple-
must be achieved while meeting regula- The good news is that innovation has tions section are great examples of how
tory requirements, delivering value to continued during the downturn. For innovation is driving profitability, and I
stakeholders, and attracting and retain- example, advancements in dissolvable- hope that they help you drive profitabil-
ing the best talent available. Yet, today’s materials technology and downhole data ity in your completions. JPT
profitability is not the only challenge. acquisition have continued. While the
Laying the groundwork for future profit- former primarily advances efficiency in
ability must also occur. multizone shale well completions, the lat- Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
Doug Lehr, SPE, is senior manager for design for reliability at IADC/SPE 180542 Appropriate
Baker Hughes, a GE company. His current focus is driving reliabil- Completion To Prevent Potential Damage
ity improvement through leading-edge processes across all prod- of Annular Pressure Buildup in Deepwater
uct lines. Previously, Lehr was global director of technology, Wells by Bo Zhang, China University of
wellbore intervention. He has 37 years of experience in the devel- Petroleum, et al.
opment of downhole tools for completion and intervention appli- SPE 185499 Fracturing-to-Production
cations. Lehr’s research interests include high-pressure/high- Integrated Completion Sensitivities for
temperature applications, industry codes and standards, and Horizontal-Well Design in the Vaca Muerta
accelerating innovation. He has authored or coauthored eight technical papers and Shale by S. Pichon, Schlumberger, et al.
holds 25 patents. Lehr holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from The SPE 185051 The Impact of Completion
University of Texas at Austin and an MBA degree in finance and marketing from the Technique on Well Performance by D.M.
University of Houston. He was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2012–13 and is a mem- Anderson, Anderson Thompson Reservoir
ber of the JPT Editorial Committee. Lehr can be reached at douglas.lehr@bhge.com. Strategies, et al.
2. Tieback
pressure high-rate-designed oil wells in
an ultradeepwater environment. Well 3. SCSSV
conditions, coupled with challenging 4A. SMART
production requirements (depletion of 4B. Upper-to-Lower Interface
10,000 psi), posed an arduous design 5. Production Accessories
challenge. More than two dozen firsts 6. Production Packer
for the operator, and indeed for the 7. GP Packer
industry, were required to deliver the 8. Fluid-Loss Device
final completion designs. 9. GP Accessories
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
O ff-bottom-cementing (OBC)
operations are unique to
Saudi Arabia and represent a very
challenging approach to drilling and
workover operations when deployed Liner-Hanger System
in combination with inflow-control
devices (ICDs) across horizontal
sections. The multitasking-valve (MTV)
feature in upgraded ICDs offers safe,
Cemented Curve Section
simple, and cost-effective deployment
operations. This paper discusses the Cementing Valve
first deployment of an ICD system Depleted formation
Nonshear Ball Seat
combined with an OBC system for Wellbore
Inflatable Packers
a workover operation in a mature ICD Completion Isolation Valve
producer well in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
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www.wellbarrier.com
while still being able to hold the 1.5-in. first time worldwide made it an impor- nection time between stands, filling the
ball for a cement barrier. tant job. In the last quarter of 2013, the string using a hose during running in
workover operation was commenced by hole, and using special centralizers that
Field-Trial Summary and Result killing the well. The well was decom- have a lower friction factor were the
The well chosen for deploying the first pleted and the main bore was plugged main steps in getting the completion to
integrated one-trip OBC ICD comple- back to the whipstock-setting depth. A target depth.
tion is a somewhat historic one in Saudi window was opened, and a 6⅛-in. hole Completion equipment reached target
Arabia. The discovery well of the world’s was drilled to target depth, with approx- depth after 18 hours. The hole was circu-
largest field was drilled in July 1948 imately 3,000 ft drilled horizontally. Be- lated clean at 3 bbl/min at 450 psi, and
as an exploration well with a 7-in. cas- fore running the integrated downhole was displaced to brine. A biochemical
ing. After a successful perforation job, completion, a stiff reaming assembly mud treatment was pumped to be spot-
the well was converted to an oil pro- was run to clean out any tight spots and ted across the ICD completion. A 1.25-in.
ducer and completed with 2⅞-in. tub- a wiper trip was performed to confirm setting ball was dropped and chased
ing. A 7-in. downhole packer with 3½- that the directional hole was in good with a high-viscosity pill and brine.
and 4½-in. tubing was set during the condition. A lubricant pill was spot- The ball landed at the WIV, and pump
first workover that took place in July ted, and the stiff reaming assembly was pressure was increased to 1,600 psi to
1973 to replace the corroded 2⅞-in. pulled out of the hole. set the liner hanger. The hanger was set
tubing. The well was kept in produc- The proposed completion, which con- and confirmed with 20,000-lbf slackoff.
tion until mid-2012, when high tubing/ sisted of a WIV, nine ICDs with MTV, Pressure was increased to 2,000 psi to
casing-annulus (TCA) pressure was ob- four mechanical openhole packers, and set the inflatable packers. Pressure was
served along with a water-cut increase. five small swell packers plus the OBC then brought up to 2,800 psi to set the
A workover operation was proposed line system kit, was picked up, drift- mechanical openhole packer, actuate the
to contend with the high TCA pres- ed, and labeled. Getting this completion MTV, and release the hydraulic liner-
sure and sidetrack the well to restore to the target depth across more than hanger-setting tool. The liner-hanger-
its productivity. 5,000 ft of open hole in an area known setting-tool release was confirmed by
Re-entering a well drilled approxi- for differential sticking was a major con- pickup. Running string was slacked
mately 65 years ago was a challenge, and cern because any delay could lead to a off 20,000 lbf, and pressure was in-
deploying the integrated system for the stuck completion. Reducing the con- creased to 3,100 psi, opening the ce-
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the UFM model, the actual geometry of range of possible variations along the lat- properties of the reservoir to create the
each hydraulic fracture along the lateral eral for a given completion design. grid to be used in a reservoir simulation.
varies according to its surroundings and The grid is unstructured and allows ex-
the sequence of the operation, as shown Reservoir Simulation. Once the plicit characterization of the conduc-
in Fig. 1. Therefore, a statistical descrip- hydraulic-fracture simulations of all tivity distribution along each hydrau-
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is preferred and allows assessment of a ometry is merged with the background being able to describe the hydraulic frac-
Take the SPE Certification Exam through Fluid Volume and Type. As expected,
computer-based testing at a third-party a good correlation can be observed be-
tween the total amount of fluid pumped
testing facility near you. and the total hydraulic surface created.
However, no clear correlation appears
when comparing total fluid volume and
Find out more the total propped surface. Large fractur-
www.spe.org/training/certification. ing treatments usually include mostly
low-viscosity fracturing fluids such as
slickwater to maintain the completion
cost. This practice has been taken into
account in the considered completion
scenarios by increasing the fraction of
low-viscosity fluid as the volume of fluid
increases. No clear correlation seems
to appear between the volume of fluid
pumped and the early production or
NPV. Eventually, a larger volume of fluid
pumped creates a larger hydraulic sur-
face but without conductivity sufficient
to sustain long-term production. JPT
The drilling industry is changing. Equip- Systems automation paper deals with combined modeling and
ment providers, service companies, real-time surveillance and the required
and drilling contractors are redefining requires a digital backbone awareness by rig crews when operating
the boundaries of their business inter- and offers significant rig-control systems. The third selection
ests, and these boundaries are evidently deals with the propagation of uncertainty
quite porous.
performance, cost, in drilling and the development of a strat-
Over the past year, workshops and and safety benefits. egy to optimize performance against risk.
symposia have made it clear that consid- These papers, and the alternative
eration of data and digitalization plays papers, illustrate the integration and col-
an important role in transforming com- laboration that are necessary for drilling
panies in the drilling industry. Systems segments of the well-drilling and systems automation and management,
automation requires a digital backbone -completion industry. which is transforming the tradition-
and offers significant performance, The selected papers on drilling sys- al roles of equipment providers, service
cost, and safety benefits. It is not sur- tems automation and management pick companies, and drilling contractors.
prising, therefore, that companies are out various themes in this transforma- One story that is somewhat obscured
exploring data-analytics techniques tion. One paper deals with close collabo- in the selected papers is that human-
and drilling systems automation and ration between operator, drilling contrac- factors engineering will play an increas-
that this exploration will define the new tor, and service company in automating ingly important role in our industry as we
boundaries (if any remain) between aspects of a drilling operation. Another take care in specifying the role played in
automated systems by crews both on the
rig and remote to the rig. JPT
John Macpherson, SPE, is senior technical adviser for drilling
services for Baker Hughes, a GE company. He has been in the
oil and gas industry for more than 40 years, much of that time
Recommended additional reading
with Baker Hughes in the upstream oil and gas industry.
Macpherson spent the first 7 years of his career in operations in at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
South America before transitioning to applications research. SPE 183022 Detection of Failures and
His technical interests include measurement-while-drilling Interpretation of Causes During Drilling
(MWD) systems, drilling measurements (especially drilling Operations by Pål Skalle, IPT, NTNU, et al.
dynamics), signal processing, MWD telemetry systems, enhanced-geothermal- SPE 184168 Using Bayesian Network
system technologies, and drilling systems automation. Macpherson has held various To Develop Drilling Expert Systems by
research-and-development management posts, has published extensively, holds Abdullah S. Al-Yami, Saudi Aramco, et al.
several patents, and has been a committee member for SPE conferences. He is a past SPE/IADC 184611 Improving Torque-
chairman of the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section and was an SPE and-Drag Prediction Using the Advanced-
Distinguished Lecturer. Macpherson holds a BS degree in geology from the University Spline-Curves Borehole Trajectory by
of Glasgow. He is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee and can be reached at Mahmoud F. Abughaban, Colorado School
john.macpherson@bhge.com. of Mines, et al.
T he application of automated
technologies to the process of
well construction is emerging as key w
of performance across multiple rigs
and wells.
Automation can supplement
w Complete three closed-loop
field trials of the DSP’s drilling
automation systems, and evaluate
to improving the overall efficiency of the competency and capacity of the opportunities and areas for
drilling performance. Though not yet drillers. improvement.
mainstream, several recent applications
have demonstrated that technology Automation Project Goals Technology Description
maturity is no longer the limiting factor In early 2014, the company agreed on a Three main components of the technol-
in accelerating implementation and plan to bring this technology to the field ogy were required to enable the automa-
realizing the benefits of automation. in collaboration with the project’s major tion of drilling-parameter controls:
This paper describes a collaborative drilling contractor and drilling service w A method to analyze the data in real
effort between an operator, a drilling provider (DSP), the supplier of the drill- time and determine the appropriate
contractor, and a service company ing automation technology. settings for weight on bit and
to introduce specific aspects of Additionally, because the drilling rig revolutions per minute, referred to
automated technology to a major was recognized as a major component as the ROP-optimization system
drilling operation. of the technology delivery, the company w A platform to house the
engaged in focused discussions to build optimization system and manage
Project Context and alignment with the main drilling con- the data feed into and out of it, as
Technology Business Drivers tractor to ensure that the right resources well as support communication
In 2012, the company began developing a were available throughout the project. with the rig’s drilling control
giant gas greenfield that required nearly Finally, the DSP and the drilling con- system, referred to as the drilling
300 wells to be drilled. Among the many tractor implemented a bilateral agree- automation system (DAS)
challenges on a project of this magnitude ment that covered the scope of work and w A control gateway to the rig’s
was the need to drive well-construction protected each party’s contribution to drilling control system that
costs down. An important aspect of well- the project. provides secure, bidirectional data
construction cost is the time spent drill- With all this in place, the project deliv- communication enabling a third
ing, which is largely influenced by the erables were defined as follows: party to control and operate major
slow rate of penetration (ROP) preva- w Complete three open-loop rig equipment within a managed set
lent in the field because of the high rock field trials of the DSP’s ROP- of rules
strength. In order to deliver the perfor- optimization software, and evaluate The first two were provided by the DSP,
mance enhancements required, the com- the opportunities and areas for while the latter was provided by the drill-
pany set up an integrated hard-rock drill- improvement. ing contractor in conjunction with the
ing team. w Design, build, and test an interface control-system manufacturer.
In addition to the objective of increas- between the DSP’s automation
ing ROP, several other aspects of the system and the drilling contractor’s DAS. The DAS is an intelligent deci-
technology made it attractive. These in- drilling control system. sion-management system that is de-
clude that w Install the DSP’s drilling automation signed to deal with constantly changing
w Automation presents a systematic systems and interface with drilling conditions. In specific scenar-
approach to improve consistency operator-designated drilling rigs. ios, by integrating surface and down-
hole data, it is able to diagnose the
situation and execute a series of prepro-
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
grammed, consistent, and standardized
of paper SPE 184695, “Development to Delivery—A Collaborative Approach to
well-construction operations.
Implementing Drilling Automation,” by Riaz Israel, SPE, Julian Farthing, SPE, and The DAS is designed with two key
Hamish Walker, BP; Rodrigo Gallo Covarrubias and Jason Bryant, Schlumberger; objectives:
and Christian Vahle, KCA Deutag Drilling, prepared for the 2017 SPE/IADC Drilling w To support through its automation
Conference and Exhibition, The Hague, 14–16 March. The paper has not been capability the consistent application
peer reviewed. of operational procedures and to
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Houma 985.223.1966
Open-Loop Trial 2. On the basis of the CORTEC proudly designs,
manufactures, assembles,
Port Allen 225.421.3300
lessons learned from the previous trial, Houston 713.821.0050
and tests all products in
the USA.
Houma 6A – 0700
16C – 0314
ISO – 0708 Q1 – 0450
winner ◗
loop testing.
The driller is not always able
to execute recommendations
ings include
◗ An improved strategy for managing
stick/slip is required. To date,
because of multitasking. While the the DAS has demonstrated the
Discover more.
TechnipFMC.com
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
WOB
are reasonably good at predicting torque, most-economical solution. Stable?
drag, buckling, and ECD.
A relatively simple model of torsional Application of a DAS
vibrations can be applied to help evaluate To Mitigate Vibrations Lateral/whirl
the stick/slip tendency of different drill- The operator’s DAS is in the late
string options, complementing the exist- development/precommercialization
rev/min
ing modeling tools without the overhead stage, and it has shown promise as a
of complicated finite-element-analysis driller’s guide to help identify drilling Fig. 1—Notional drilling-dysfunction
codes. Torsional-vibration-model results dysfunctions. In a perfect drilling envi- domains.
add value in the decision-making process ronment, there are no limits to applying lateral vibrations, yet the potential for
regarding operational tradeoffs between maximum weight on bit (WOB) and turn- stick/slip increases. On the other hand,
competing string-design objectives. ing with the fastest possible rotary speed, higher rotary speeds often help to re-
A simple torsional-vibration model which, in the absence of dysfunction, will solve stick/slip, with the possibility of
that estimates the resistance of a string yield the highest drilling rate. However, generating higher lateral vibrations. In
to stick/slip is a helpful tool to shed light in a great many wells, drilling dysfunc- some instances, the driller is able to find
on the implications of these choices for tions cause this scenario to be elusive. a sweet spot between these two vibra-
the stick/slip vibration problem. Note Primary causes of dysfunction include tional dysfunctions. In those difficult cir-
that this analysis of ECD and torsional- lateral vibrations (whirl) and stick/slip cumstances where there is no middle
modeling trends is independent of the torsional vibrations. Coupled modes also ground between stick/slip and whirl, and
well profile and, therefore, is more exist in which both of these may be pres- when the driller is unable to go to the
broadly applicable. A more-complete ent. Axial vibrations are less frequent maximum-WOB and maximum-rotary-
analysis will look also at individual well today but are still a potential problem speed conditions that would provide
profiles as well as torque, drag, and buck- when using roller-cone bits. the highest ROP, it is helpful to have an
ling considerations, which vary consider- As indicated in Fig. 1, as WOB increas-
ably. In each individual case, the pros and es, the bit is typically stabilized against (Continued on page 90)
Embedding Automatic Risk-Level Estimation
and Performance Analysis in Drilling Plans
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Integrated Work Flow Mitigates Drilling Vibrations (Continued from page 87)
advisory system that monitors drilling system stability needs to be evaluated demonstrated lower vibrations than
performance continuously in real time and corrected if required as part of the another design with measurement-
and provides parameter recommenda- drilling-optimization process. while-drilling tools that had higher
tions. This system can balance compet- Many autodrillers can be selected to vibration indices.
ing objectives to find an optimal set of control in one of four modes: ROP, WOB, w Torsional modeling—An evaluation
drilling parameters. torque, and differential pressure. Only of six different drillstring designs
The DAS objective function seeks to one mode is in control at a time. included both torsional-vibration
find the best balance between compet- There are several different types of modeling and ECD calculations,
ing goals. Field testing has shown several control systems and several variations showing that tapered drillstrings
examples where the DAS display in front on the basic types. However, all autodrill- tend to be inefficient relative to
of the driller has provided an increase in ers ultimately control the drum rotation single-diameter strings. More
drilling performance. The driller is re- speed and, thus, ROP. torque swing capacity may be
lieved of complex drilling-performance achieved with the same ECD using
calculations and can rely on a quick Conclusions a single-diameter drillstring.
glance at the DAS screen to see the cur- The operator has taken a comprehensive w Application of a DAS—A real-
rent drilling performance. approach to address drilling vibrations. time system monitoring drilling
It is commonly known that reducing vi- parameters can strike a balance
Identification and Mitigation brations yields benefits that include fast- between drilling dysfunctions
of Rig-Control-System er ROP, more time spent drilling on bot- adaptively, targeting mitigation of
Dysfunctions tom, fewer trips and thus reduced pipe the dysfunction that has the greatest
The response of the autodriller has handling, less damage to equipment, and effect on performance.
been found to have a significant effect reduced nonproductive time. The com- w Rig-control systems—At present,
on drillstring vibrations, in particu- plete paper has sought to document con- autodriller control systems may be
lar on stick/slip. It has been found that crete examples of four paths toward miti- tuned improperly and cause stick/
it is much easier to find a vibrational- gating drilling vibrations. slip and other dysfunctions during
ly quiet set of operating parameters w BHA redesign—Comparing two system oscillations. However,
when the control system is stable, and BHA designs in similar intervals, significant improvements can be
it is sometimes impossible when it is it was shown that the simpler made with support from system
not stable. This suggests that control- BHA with a low vibration index designers and driller training. JPT
Oilfield Chemistry
Jonathan Wylde, SPE, Head of Global Innovation, Clariant Oil Services
A true structure performance under- The sheer complexity structures and then use high-throughput
standing of asphaltenes and the chemical techniques to determine structure per-
methods used to control them has elud- of the�asphaltene molecule formance relationships gives us a chance
ed the industry for many years. Despite is�now within our grasp to accelerate our understanding.
many hundreds of published works (and The featured papers summarize some
no doubt many more unpublished stud-
as the digital age of the state-of-the-art techniques in
ies), there is still no singular technique creeps up use—techniques to determine the onset
that can definitively characterize a crude on�our industry. of asphaltene precipitation, adsorption,
oil for asphaltene risk and control that is and inhibition. Readers are encouraged
scalable to the field. to research the recommended additional
The answer to why this is lies in the reading and take some time to delve into
sheer complexity of the asphaltene mol- sant in action. But how does the exact the references contained in these papers.
ecule itself and, just as important, the mechanism of adsorption onto a sur- These papers contain an extensive review
variances in asphaltene type and con- face take place, and how can we prevent of the history of, and current state of the
tent from crude to crude. As produc- it? These idiosyncrasies still cause much art in, asphaltene science for the oilfield
tion chemists, we have relied upon debate among academics and industrial- chemist and engineer. JPT
generalizations born from seminal aca- ists alike.
demic and industry studies over the last Much work remains to be done to get
3 decades. For instance, asphaltenes the final answers. The sheer complex- Recommended additional reading
are polar, asphaltene precipitation very ity of the asphaltene molecule is now at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
much depends upon pressure and the within our grasp as the digital age creeps
change of that throughout a system, and up on our industry. Having the analyt- SPE 178956 Asphaltene-Prevention
Work Flow Enhances Oil Production in
asphaltene-control chemicals are disper- ics to decipher and measure asphaltene High-Temperature Fractured Carbonate
Reservoirs by R. Ortiz, Pemex, et al.
Jonathan Wylde, SPE, is the head of global innovation at SPE 183940 Experimental Investigation
Clariant Oil Services based in Houston. He holds a BS degree in of Effects of Asphaltene Stability on
Interfacial Behavior of Live-Reservoir-Fluid
geology and a PhD degree in physical chemistry from the
Systems by Ram R. Ratnakar, Shell, et al.
University of Bristol, UK. Wylde is the author of more than 120
papers and holds several patents. He serves on the JPT Editorial SPE 186008 Re-Evaluation of
Committee and on committees for the SPE International Asphaltene-Precipitation Risk Depending
Conference and Exhibition on Oilfield Scale, the SPE International on Field-Operational-Condition Change/
Variation: Case Study Comparing Risks in
Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, and the SPE Annual Technical Past (2008) and Present (2016) for Future
Conference and Exhibition. Wylde is also a technical editor for SPE Production & Prediction by Katsumo Takabayashi, Inpex,
Operations and SPE Journal. He can be reached at jonathan.wylde@clariant.com. et al.
Acquisition of Downhole
A n asphaltene threat was identified
in production wells located in a
Gulf of Mexico deepwater field. During
Fluid Samples
High-quality pressurized bottomhole
w RTA ratio<1.5—Asphaltenes
expected to be unstable during
expansion of oil
reservoir-fluids characterization, samples were collected for asphaltene- w RTA Ratio>2.5—Asphaltenes
asphaltenes were identified as a key risk onset-pressure (AOP) and wax- expected to be stable during
factor for successful field development. appearance-temperature (WAT) measure- expansion of oil
This paper presents an integrated ments in pressure-compensated cham- w RTA Ratio 1.5–2.5—Transition
approach to evaluate the key elements of bers. Because the samples tend to cool region
asphaltene risk for deepwater projects, to below reservoir temperatures as they While gathering fluid data, the bound-
the strategy to manage the issues during are retrieved from the well, the sam- ary of the stable region was increased to
production implementation, and aspects ples were maintained at pressures above 3.5 to be conservative in the field. The ex-
to be considered in the mitigation of reservoir condition at all times to re- perimental data demonstrated that this
asphaltene in the field-development plan. duce the possibility of irreversible as- method was not effective in the field.
phaltene precipitation resulting in non-
Introduction representative samples. Experimental Techniques
Asphaltene precipitation and deposition To Determine AOP and WAT
can occur at different stages during pe- Asphaltene Prescreening During pressure depletion at constant
troleum production, causing reservoir The de Boer Plot. The de Boer plot is temperature, asphaltene aggregate for-
formation damage and plugging of pipe- a method to screen crude oils for their mation is observed within a range above
lines and production equipment. tendency to precipitate asphaltenes. It and below the bubblepoint. As pressure
Remediation of asphaltene deposits re- essentially evaluates the loss of asphal- drops from the reservoir pressure during
quires solvent-soaking operations, fol- tene solubility as a reservoir-fluid sample production, asphaltene precipitation can
lowed by removal through exposure to is depressurized. This pressure/volume/ appear because of changes in density that
turbulent flow. These intensive operations temperature screen is a crossplot of in- produce changes in the solubility of as-
require high amounts of chemical solvents situ density and the degree of undersatu- phaltene in crude oil. The maximum as-
with potential effects on health, safety, and ration with respect to gas (the difference phaltene precipitation occurs at or near
environment, along with production de- between reservoir pressure and satura- the bubblepoint pressure.
ferrals because of operations downtime. tion pressure). Because this screening The AOP test is performed in a high-
The focus of this study is to understand assumes that the fluid is saturated with pressure visual cell. The depressur-
the effects of asphaltene precipitation in respect to asphaltene at reservoir condi- ization experiment is performed with
a Gulf of Mexico deepwater field. The ap- tions, it is extremely conservative. the simultaneous measurement of
proach is based on reservoir-fluid char- light-transmittance power. The solid-
acterization and monitoring tools. Being The Resin-to-Asphaltene (RTA) Ratio deposition-system (SDS) technique in-
able to predict the presence and type of Plot. The RTA ratio indicates asphal- cludes a fixed-wavelength laser-light
trouble zones along the production sys- tene stability because of the presence source and a detector. While directing a
tem from downhole to production facili- of resins. The statistics-based rules for light source through the reservoir fluid,
ties is becoming progressively more im- the RTA ratio required to keep the as- changes in the absorbance of the beam
portant as water depths increase. phaltenes stable are are monitored. The transmitted power
of the near-infrared light-scattering sig-
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights nal is recorded during the depressur-
ization process. Before the onset, the
of paper OTC 27123, “Strategies To Monitor and Mitigate Asphaltene Issues in the
transmitted light signal is inversely pro-
Production System of a Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Subsea Development,” by Doris
portional to the fluid density. During de-
Gonzalez, Fabio Gonzalez, Marney Pietrobon, Mehdi Haghshenas, Megan pressurization, the signal power increas-
Shurn, Amber Mees, Carlos Stewart, SPE, and Chinenye Ogugbue, SPE, BP, es. If particles appear, then the signal
prepared for the 2016 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 2–5 May. The power decreases.
paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2016 Offshore Technology Conference. The high-pressure microscope (HPM)
Reproduced by permission. is a microscope connected to a com-
expected
12,000 crystals start to precipitate, they will de-
in the 10,000
polarize the light, allowing some light
flowline, to pass by the top polarizer. In turn, the
riser, and 8,000
wax particles will appear to be glowing
facilities Asphaltene Phase
Well 6,000
Envelope against the dark black background. At
4,000 this point, the WAT is determined.
WAT for live fluids is determined in
2,000
a high-pressure/high-temperature cell
Atmospheric WAT
Oil Layer 0 by slowly reducing the fluid’s tempera-
50 100 150 200 250 300
ture while holding the live fluid at con-
Temperature (°F)
Fig. 1—Fluid D phase behavior. stant pressure in the SDS cell. This tech-
nique allows studying the ability of the
mercially available camera; it is used and it can measure asphaltene-particle dissolved-gas content to hold the wax
in conjunction with a lens to observe growth quantitatively. in the liquid phase. While directing a
the sample visually. The camera is con- Cross-polar-microscope (CPM) tech- light source through the reservoir fluid,
nected to a computer to obtain photo- nology is used to determine the appear- changes in the absorbance of the beam
graphs and monitor real-time chang- ance and disappearance temperatures of are monitored. WAT, therefore, can be
es in the fluid. The HPM can detect the wax solids visually. The CPM works obtained by plotting the transmitted
asphaltene particles larger than 1 µm, on the principle of the polarization of power while cooling.
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Fluid-Phase Behavior The asphaltene content in Fluid D is The SDS test is performed at reser-
Fluid A is located in the shallow layer relatively high (up to 4 wt%); however, voir conditions using live reservoir fluid.
of the field. The reservoir pressure is because of their low gas/oil ratio (ap- The asphaltene-deposition mechanism,
approximately 12,000 psia at tempera- proximately 500 scf/bbl), these fluids however, is not completely understood,
tures between 175 and 190°F. Asphaltene are considered more stable from an as- and some schools of thought argue that
issues while producing Fluid A are ex- phaltene point of view. Asphaltene issues stronger deposits are formed whenever
pected to occur in the reservoir and the while producing Fluid D are expected to smaller particles are precipitating.
near-wellbore region. The fluid proper- occur in the pipeline, riser, and facilities. In the laboratory, the AOP of some of
ties indicate a high tendency to precip- The wax-appearance measurements the reservoir fluids was measured after
itate asphaltene from the early stages for Fluids A through D indicate that the injecting 700 ppm of two AIs. The chemi-
of production. precipitation and deposition of waxes cals were injected directly into the pres-
Asphaltene issues while producing will not be an issue during normal pro- surized cell at reservoir pressure. No ob-
Fluid B are expected to occur in the tub- duction of these fluids. vious benefit on the AOP of Fluid C was
ing above the wellbore region. Issues are observed. The chemicals change the AOP
also expected along the downhole equip- Asphaltene-Inhibitor (AI) between 200 and 400 psi, which is with-
ment and below the wellhead. These Effect on AOP in the experimental error.
fluids have low asphaltene content (ap- The SDS technique was used to eval- In the field, multiple rates of AI chemi-
proximately 1 wt%), and no significant uate the performance of AI. The test cal have been introduced, which have had
amount of deposition has been observed. measures the ability of the chemical to varying effect on the deposition rate seen
Similarly, asphaltene issues while pro- reduce the AOP and, therefore, miti- in the flowline. The different rates and
ducing Fluid C are expected to occur in gate the asphaltene-deposition tenden- chemicals have also led to variances in
the tubing above the wellbore region. cy. AIs are commonly dispersants that deposition volumes collected during pig-
However, the asphaltene content in reduce the asphaltene aggregate parti- ging operations. The results of this test
Fluid C is much higher (2–3 wt%). A sig- cle size, potentially reducing the onset suggested that AI chemical can affect the
nificant amount of returns has been col- of asphaltene precipitation. The effec- deposition rate adversely by increasing it
lected from these fluids after pigging. tiveness of the chemical to mitigate as- above the baseline rate (no AI chemical
Fig. 1 shows the phase behavior of the phaltene deposition is evaluated by present), thus showing that an overtreat-
heaviest fluids in the field located in the its capability to disperse precipitated ment mechanism can be seen as well as
deepest layers. asphaltene particles. an undertreatment mechanism. JPT
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Sedimented Phase
Floating Piston
Floating Piston
Fig. 1—Pictures of sample before chemical treatment. Fig. 2—Pictures of sample after chemical treatment.
its volume is recorded. Using these Another crucial step is to quantify the form. At this point, the temperature dif-
volumetric measurements, along with amount of solid depositing on the pipe ference between the fluid and the wall is
the gravimetric analysis of the sam- wall at certain thermodynamic condi- at its highest. As a result, the attraction
ple from the supernate, the extra layer tions. For this, a special high-pressure of the asphaltene crystals toward the
is quantified. sheared-concentric-cylinder asphaltene- wall is at its highest. As the asphaltene-
deposition apparatus is used. A vessel ca- micelle concentration of the fluid near
pable of 30,000 psia and 350°F holds hot the wall is depleted, more asphaltene
live oil at specified (tubing) conditions, micelles diffuse through the boundary
and it shears it against a cooler surface layer to replenish the boundary-layer
that emulates the tubing wall. This test is asphaltene-micelle concentration. The
Check out carried out for an hour, and the deposit is concentration of asphaltene micelles in
then quantified. the bulk fluid becomes uniform primar-
the new JPT website ily through convective mass transfer.
and sign up for the Asphaltene-Deposition However, within the boundary, where
eNewsletter. Modeling the flow is laminar, an asphaltene-
The most dominant factors of asphal- micelle-concentration gradient is set
tene deposition in primary production up, which causes mass transfer to take
• Expanded Coverage
are flocculation of asphaltene micelles place by means of diffusion. Any dis-
• Daily Updates into larger particles near the wall be- ruptions of the diffusion process can
• Mobile Friendly cause of a loss of pressure and tempera- result in diminishing of the asphaltene-
• Improved Navigation ture and adhesion of flocculated asphal- deposition rate.
tene particles at the wall that results in It is evident that the diffusion of as-
a compositional gradient between the phaltene micelles through the laminar
bulk of the fluid and the wall. These re- boundary layer is largely responsible
All of this and more at sult in diffusion of more asphaltene mi- for asphaltene deposition in liquid-full
www.spe.org/jpt celles, flocculation into larger particles, conduits. Hence, quantifying the diffu-
and adhesion at the wall. The stream- sion mechanism is the key to predict-
ing potential between wall and fluid is ing asphaltene deposition in liquid-full
thought to be partly responsible for the systems. This work uses the rotating-
force of adhesion. concentric-cylinder approach to deter-
As the fluid is being cooled or its pres- mine experimentally the asphaltene-
sure is depleted, its temperature and deposition rate through the diffusion
® pressure arrive at the onset of asphal- mechanism without shear and with
tene flocculation at some point in the shear. The overall approach consists
pipe and asphaltene particles begin to of measuring the amount of asphal-
Chemical
Qualification
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If you do, consider nominating one or more of them for the Society of Petroleum Engineers
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Nominations are accepted until 15 March.
The SPE Distinguished Lecturer Program is funded by the SPE Foundation, Offshore Europe,
AIME, and companies that allow their professionals to serve as lecturers.
SAEID RAHIMIAN, SPE, was appointed ergy Group, a division of KKR-sponsored Gardner Denver Inc.
CEO of Aereon, an emissions control equip- Before that he was president for the Energy Services Group
ment and services provider. Rahimian has and corporate senior vice president at Robbins & Myers.
several years of experience in industry Rahimian holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Evans-
leadership roles and was most recently ville University and an MS in mechanical engineering from
president and CEO of Gardner Denver En- the Ohio State University.
In Memoriam
This section lists with regret SPE members who recently 2007 JPT article about his presidency. In 1993, Jacques Bosio
passed away. If you would like to report the passing of a became SPE’s first non-US president and DeAnn Craig took
family member who was an SPE member, please write to office as the first woman SPE president in 1998.
service@spe.org. Gaither worked for Amoco Oil Corp. for more than 43
Richard L. Hoskins, Inverurie, UK years. During his career at the company, he was involved in
George E. Macneill, Bangkok, Thailand several domestic and international operations and retired
as the president of Amoco International’s Africa and Middle
East region. After his retirement, he founded Gaither Petro-
ORVILLE D. GAITHER, 1990 SPE Presi- leum Corp. with two of his sons.
dent and an SPE Foundation trustee, died An honorary member of SPE and the American Institute
29 June. Gaither’s presidency was marked of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Gaither
by the opening of several international was recognized as a Distinguished Engineer in the fields of
SPE sections and his extensive traveling mechanical and petroleum engineering by the University
to visit members around the world. When of Houston Engineering Society, and with the Outstanding
recollecting his presidency, Gaither often Engineering Alumni Award by the George R. Brown School
used “Enroute” to sum up the year, in which he journeyed of Engineering and the Rice Engineering Society.
25,000 miles in commercial airlines and the private jet that A well-known philanthropist, Gaither was a founding
Amoco assigned to him to get to sections not connected member of the Spindletop International Charities, which
through domestic airlines at that time. During his many sec- aids social and educational causes such as child abuse pre-
tion visits, he opened the first Asia Pacific Conference in Aus- vention and drug abuse rehabilitation. He was also involved
tralia, attended the Appalachian Regional Conference, and in the Boy Scouts of America all his life and was honored with
addressed the Cairo Egypt Section three times. the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2009, of which fewer
His presidency also marked several steps toward SPE’s than 2,000 have been awarded to date.
diversity initiatives. “I recognized that SPE needed to elect Gaither was a registered professional engineer in Texas
an international engineer as president and also that women and Louisiana. He held a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
were becoming more of a factor in engineering and Earth engineering from Rice University, a master’s degree in petro-
science professions. I’m pleased to say that the groundwork leum engineering from the University of Houston, and was a
was laid to accomplish both objectives,” said Gaither in a graduate of the Stanford Business School.
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Liquids Rich Shale—What Makes It Caspian Technical Conference and Conference and Exhibition w Aberdeen
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Find complete listings of upcoming SPE workshops, conferences, Deadline: 24 October
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