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CONTENTS
Volume 68 Number 5
An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Printed in US. Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Solutions for the Life Cycle
of Your Well
Completions Remedial
Drilling Abandonment
Production Stimulation
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58 DEEPWATER PROJECTS
Morten Iversen, SPE, Well Integrity Section Head, BG
79 MULTILATERAL/EXTENDED-REACH WELLS
TRIP
Bernt S. Aadny, SPE, Professor of Petroleum Engineering,
University of Stavanger COUNT.
80 Innovative Tool Improves Hole-Cleaning Efficiency in Extended-
ReachWells
- Maximise efficiency
- Minimise costs
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The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available
free to SPE members for two months at www.spe.org/jpt.
Smart Solutions for
Complex Drilling Challenges
Unlocking Complexities
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SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS SOUTH AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Anelise Quintao Lara, Petrobras
We give
2016 President
SOUTH ASIA
Nathan Meehan, Baker Hughes
John Hoppe, Shell
2015 President SOUTH, CENTRAL, AND EAST EUROPE
Helge Hove Haldorsen, Statoil
2017 President
Matthias Meister, Baker Hughes
REGIONAL DIRECTORS
WESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Andrei Popa, Chevron youve
AFRICA
Adeyemi Akinlawon,
Adeb Konsult
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
DRILLING AND COMPLETIONS
always
dreamed of.
David Curry, Baker Hughes
CANADIAN
Darcy Spady, Broadview Energy HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENT,
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Bob Garland, Silver Creek Services
Trey Shaffer, ERM
Introducing the worlds
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION
GULF COAST NORTH AMERICA
J. Roger Hite, Inwood Solutions
J.C. Cunha first X-Ray technology
MID-CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS
Jennifer Miskimins, Barree & Associates
for oil wells.
Michael Tunstall
PROJECTS, FACILITIES, AND CONSTRUCTION VISURAYs revolutionary VR90
MIDDLE EAST Howard Duhon, GATE, Inc.
Khalid Zainalabedin, Saudi Aramco not only finds downhole blockages
RESERVOIR DESCRIPTION AND DYNAMICS faster, it lets you see 2D and 3D
NORTH SEA Tom Blasingame, Texas A&M University
Carlos Chalbaud, ENGIE reconstructions of the obstruction.
NORTHERN ASIA PACIFIC DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIA Well illuminate the problem, youll
Phongsthorn Thavisin, PTTEP
Dan Hill, Texas A&M University eliminate the problem. Better yet,
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NORTH AMERICA
Erin McEvers, Clearbrook Consulting AT-LARGE DIRECTORS youll eliminate downtime and
RUSSIA AND THE CASPIAN Khaled Al-Buraik, Saudi Aramco increase profitability.
Liu Zhenwu, China National Petroleum Corporation
Anton Ablaev, Schlumberger
Contact us for a
demonstration
visuray.com
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PERFORMANCE INDICES
WORLD CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION1+ HENRY HUB GULF COAST NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE
THOUSAND BOPD
6
O PEC 2015 JUL AUG SEP OCT
Algeria 1370 1370 1370 1370 5 USD/million Btu
Angola 1890 1910 1800 1810 4
Ecuador 538 537 539 538
3
Iran 3300 3300 3300 3300
Iraq 4375 4275 4425 4275 2
Kuwait* 2550 2550 2550 2550
1
Libya 400 360 375 415
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
2016
JAN
FEB
MAR
Nigeria 2270 2320 2320 2370
Qatar 1537 1537 1537 1537
Saudi Arabia* 10290 10290 10190 10140
UAE 2820 2820 2820 2820 WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)
Venezuela 2500 2500 2500 2500
Indonesia 801 777 800 801 TOTAL 2171 2086 2047 1969 1891 1761 1551
Salik full page for JPT April, May, June 2016 16-ST-121508 AD.indd 1 3/7/16 9:35 AM
REGIONAL UPDATE
z
d
tDh
W
E
Recorded downhole data describes every frac
Dh
d
d
^
d
d
> d
dDh
TM
Learn from every frac.
2015, NCS Multistage, LLC. All rights reserved. Multistage Unlimited and Learn from every frac. are trademarks of NCS Multistage, LLC.
IMPROVING PEOPLES LIVES
A great benefit of being the SPE president We are currently at less than 25% of the prior peak activity
is the chance to interact with students level and at an all-time low for the Baker Hughes reported US rig
and young professionals around the count dating to 1944. Compare this with the 1980s. In late 1981,
world. Many are anxious about the future, rig activity peaked at 4,530 rigs and in the subsequent ice age,
but not panicked. I have been asked if this the rig count dropped to 663, less than 15% of the peak. While
is the worst time ever in the oil business, this was a steeper drop from the peak level, current rig activity
a question that made mesmile. is now approximately 70% of that ice age bottom, and future
For some reason, it is natural to try and drops are certainly possible. Current rig activity is lower than
scale a current calamity with past ones. For example, finan- what the US has seen in a very long time.
cial recessions are compared with the Great Depression of the
1930s during which the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) Is the Current US Rig Count the Lowest Ever?
dropped 15% in 3 years. In comparison, the recession of 2008 I have been looking at historical rig activity measures. The Baker
2009 saw a 1% drop in worldwide GDP but certainly felt huge. Hughes rig count data from 1944 include only rotary rigs. Before
WTI crude oil prices dropped from USD 145.31/bbl on 3 July 2008 the 1950s, cable tool rigs accounted for a significant portion of
to USD 30.28/bbl in less than 5 months. The US rig count followed drilling activity. Cable tool drilling dates to 1806 with horse-
suit, dropping from 1,987 in August 2008 to 895 by mid-2009. It powered rigs. These were replaced in the 1830s by steam engines
certainly was not good, but it was relatively short-lived. to provide rig power, and in 1860 when J.C. Rathbone used a
Fig. 1 compares US rotary rig activity during the four most steam-powered cable tool rig to drill a 100-B/D producer in West
recent significant downturns. Leo Tolstoys quote about fami- Virginia, cable tool activity took off. During the US Civil War,
lies may be paraphrased to apply to downturns: Each oil price many hundreds of cable tool rigs were drilling, primarily in West
downturn is unhappy in its own way, and each downturn and Virginia, California, and Pennsylvania. If we include cable tool
recovery had different causes. In Fig. 1, I have started with the rigs, total US rig activity has exceeded 500 rigs since Abraham
peak US rig activity immediately prior to the beginning of the Lincoln was the US president, making the rig activity of 464 as of
downturn and normalized subsequent weekly activity to this 24 March this year a truly historic low.
peak. Each prior downturn recovered to about 80% of peak ac-
tivity within approximately 2 years after dropping from 45% to When Will It Come Back Up? Is There Hope?
55% of peak activity. In a recent article in The Way Ahead (TWA 2016), I wrote about
the assumption that we are riding the storm out and pretty
125 soon things will return to normal. It is impossible to know how
long the status quo may last, or when an upswing will occur.
Rigs Operating as Percentage of
100 Hoping that prices will recover soon is not a strategy to deal
Pre-Downturn Level
with low oil prices. While the TWA article dealt with individuals
75
strategies for responding to the downturn, I am also concerned
about companies and SPEs strategies.
Few companies took very long to resort to familiar actions.
50 19972001 Capital expenditures were cut and then cut again. Service com-
20012004 panies were required to lower prices multiple times. Headcount
25 20082012 reductions now exceed 300,000. Projects are shelved and com-
2014March 2016 pany efforts focus on lowering costs. While few companies have
0 reduced salaries, bonuses and other benefits have been lowered
0 50 100 150 200 250
or eliminated. Many companies have cut or eliminated divi-
Weeks From Beginning of Downturn
dends. Research and development budgets have been lowered
Fig. 1The relative US rig count vs. number of weeks for larger companies, shifting the focus to technologies with
from peak rig activity. near-term payoffs. Training and travel budgets were slashed.
Reference
Meehan, N. 2016. Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Way Ahead.
12(1): 45. http://www.spe.org/news/article/should-i-stay-or-
should-i-go-young-professionals-and-the-industrys-future.
The first technology, fully automated drilling operations, has the potential to Greg Horton, Consultant
improve the speed and safety of drilling operations and greatly reduce costs. But its John Hudson, Shell
widespread adoption will require a complete redesign of drilling processes in order Morten Iversen, Karachaganak Petroleum
to gain all of the benefits. It will also require the use of related technologies such as Leonard Kalfayan, Hess Corporation
automated drillpipe handling, managed-pressure drilling, single-trip drilling, and bet- Tom Kelly, FMC Technologies
ter monitoring and diagnostic capabilities. Automated drilling could cut both drilling Thomas Knode, Statoil
time and costs by up to 50% compared with conventional operations, the report says.
Sunil Kokal, Saudi Aramco
Smart completions, including better monitoring and more precise control of pro-
Marc Kuck, Eni US Operating
duction zones to maximize recovery, should be heavily adopted by the industry. Low-
Jesse C. Lee, Schlumberger
cost smart completions, reconfigured without a rig, could potentially boost addition-
al output from complex reservoirs, such as thin oil pay zones. Silviu Livescu, Baker Hughes
Subsea systems will rely more on monitoring and data analytics to enhance pro- Shouxiang (Mark) Ma, Saudi Aramco
duction stability. That will help better predict flow-related problems and ensure con- John Macpherson, Baker Hughes
tinuous flow from the well. Improved monitoring and analytics, with more sensors Casey McDonough, American Energy Partners
and higher computing power, will drive simpler field development through the use Stephane Menand, DrillScan
of longer tie-ins and simpler designs, said Pierre Sames, DNV GLs group technology Badrul H Mohamed Jan, University of Malaya
and research director. This will improve leak detection, inspection, maintenance, and Lee Morgenthaler, Retired
repair, all contributing to uninterrupted flow and better integrity, he said.
Michael L. Payne, BP plc
Rigless plugging and abandonment could be a particular boon in the North Sea,
Zillur Rahim, Saudi Aramco
which has 8,000 wells that need attention. Current practice for plugging and abandon-
Martin Rylance, BP GWO Completions
ment involves costly permanent plugging, accounting for up to half of the total decom- Engineering
missioning expenses. Plugging without the use of a rig would require that plugging and
Otto L. Santos, Petrobras
abandonment be performed with the well tubing in place, according to thereport.
Luigi A. Saputelli, Hess Corporation
Autonomous inspection of pipelines and the use of biodegradable polymers for
Sally A. Thomas, ConocoPhillips
enhanced oil recovery also should be in full operation by 2025. Autonomous under-
water vehicles are more efficient than remotely operated vehicles in performing reg- Win Thornton, BP plc
ular pipeline inspection and will be equipped with sonars, cameras, and sensors. Xiuli Wang, Baker Hughes
Unmanned aerial vehicles will be used for onshore pipelines, but regulations will need Mike Weatherl, Well Integrity, LLC
to clarify their further use in civil airspace. Rodney Wetzel, Chevron ETC
DNV GL forecasts the world to be consuming up to one-fifth more energy by 2025 Scott Wilson, Ryder Scott Company
than it does now. With operational cost pressures and oil price volatility, there will be Jonathan Wylde, Clariant Oil Services
a need to drill new wells more efficiently, highlighting the need for such technologies Pat York, Weatherford International
as fully automated drilling and smart completions, Sames said. JPT
Approximately 5% of world annual on real locations and field conditions as approach for assistance with the quali-
gas production is being flared or vent- most flaring occurs at either aging and/ fication process to help establish tech-
ed. This is equivalent to approximately or remote locations. nologies in the market. The North Dako-
110140 billion m3 (Bcm) of gas, and ta Petroleum Council has set targets to
equates to the combined gas consumption Understanding the Challenges reduce flaring. These were set to 26%
of Central and South America in2013. A number of factors can affect the drive by the fourth quarter of 2014, 23% by
The World Bank estimates that flar- and desire to undertake a reduction in the first quarter of 2015, 15% by the first
ing 140 Bcm would cause more than gas flaring. Existing solutions are mature quarter of 2016, and 10% with the poten-
350 million tonnes of CO2 release into for large-scale applications, but fewer tial for 5% by the fourth quarter of 2020.
the atmosphere. If this could be har- technologies have been used commer-
nessed for power, for example, it could cially at a small scale. This is perhaps due Technology Solutions
produce 750 billion kW-hr/year, more to uncertainty in the industry about the Gas flaring releases toxic components
than Africas entire annual consumption. technical and economic viability of cap- and greenhouse gases into the atmo-
Capturing the flared or vented gas turing the gas at these levels. sphere that can have harmful effects on
presents an opportunity for operators Retrofits and transportation of recov- the health and wellbeing of local com-
to reduce the environmental impact as ered gas to processing facilities can be munities as well as contributing to
well as provide an economic opportu- costly. Without a global cost penalty for climatechange.
nity to generate an additional revenue emitted carbon there is seen to be little Proposed technology solutions are
stream. The World Banks Zero Rou- benefit to capture the flared gas, particu- largely dependent on the flow rate, gas
tine Flaring by 2030 initiative is call- larly in countries with developing econ- compositions, and distance to market,
ing on governments and companies to omies. Similarly, different geographies and the viability of different technologies
achieve this target within the next 15 conjure various technical, regulatory, will vary accordingly. During the con-
years. To address both the need to end and economic drivers and limitations. ceptual study, our company considered
routine gas flaring and tackle climate Access to funding to develop projects the technoeconomic viability of 19 dif-
change concerns, DNV GL has conducted and the implementation of technologies ferent conversion methods. These were
research titled Natural Gas Capture is also a major factor. considered at different flow rates, gas
Clean and Economic, which examines Where there are carbon emissions reg- composition, and the distance to mar-
the viability of alternative solutions and ulations in place, there is obviously more ket. More than 150 suppliers/vendors
their revenuepotential. incentive to capture the waste from gas and their technologies/methods were
The conceptual study looked at four flaring. In the US, there are limits in researched. By examining the most cost-
existing oil and gas facilities, onshore place for gas flaring that penalize opera- effective ways of transporting and con-
in North Dakota, Algeria, and Russia, tors through the curtailment of produc- verting the gas into products of a higher
and offshore Vietnam, which provided tion for missing targets. As a result, new value, they were able to identify opportu-
a variety of volumes and rates of gas technologies are emerging with a variety nities to produce valuable product alter-
being flared. This enabled the model- of solutions. Since issuing its research, natives like ammonia, ethanol, gas-to-
ing of a range of diverse technologies DNV GL has had a number of companies liquids, and hydrogen.
More novel techniques examined how
to bring the market closer to the source
Martin Layfield is the global segment leader of the gas value
of the flaring and the opportunities to
chain for DNV GL. He has more than 25 years of commercial
experience in industry and more than 10 years with DNV GL in the capture in-situ. These included water
oil and gas industry, developing solutions and securing and desalination, gas-to-power, liquefied-
managing contracts and relationships with a range of major petroleum-gas and natural-gas-liquids
international clients. He holds a degree in business administration recovery, and carbon black. The technol-
from Coventry University. ogy solutions and means of transporta-
Water cut
Fluid flow rate
Pressure
Water cut Temperature
Fluid flow rate
Pressure
Temperature
Selected suitable
Onshore products from the
diagram
CNG Compressed natural gas NGL Natural gas liquids Opex Operational expenditure
LPG Liquefied petroleum gas Capex Capital expenditure NPV Net present value
tion explored can also be applied to the capture of natural gas, are maturing well opments are focused on reducing carbon
following. in the US. Many are at the pilot stage at emissions, rather than using the flared
Monetization of small-scale least. However, few are yet to be adopted gas to benefit society.
stranded gas fields elsewhere. Innovation is largely driven by If the industry is serious about ending
Monetization of associated gas from the US shale industry, where many of the routine gas flaring and addressing climate
extended well tests wells in North Dakotas Bakken Basin are change concerns, it also needs to over-
Resolving demands at remote areas already implementing affordable alter- come the nontechnical hurdles such as
where there is no infrastructure natives to flaring through connections to financial investment, time and resource
Capturing vented gas existing gas-gathering networks. These commitment, and the requirement for
handle associated liquids-rich gas from regulatory and legal frameworks.
In some North American shale regions more accessible drilling areas which are Major political forces will be a vital
that experience a lack of infrastructure being used to produce propane, meth- component to progress. Although crit-
and remote exploration and production ane, butane, natural gasoline, and indus- ics of the Obama administrations cli-
activities, as much as 30% to 40% of trial feedstock ethane. mate change plan are determined to
gas is being flared. Installing transpor- By using the four case studies with oppose it, the US has already made prog-
tation infrastructure is often costly and small-scale gas flow rates, the study ress toward reaching its emissions tar-
so looking at more economic and flex- proved that economically viable solu- gets. Obamas plan proposes a 32% cut
ible solutions is highly attractive. As well tions to assist in carbon abatement and in carbon emissions from power plants
as generating a valuable revenue stream, the development of flare gas for soci- by 2030 on 2015 levels. However, emis-
converting the gas can be highly ben- etal use are possible. It is a complex sions from power plants have already
eficial to local populations. The fractur- process to determine suitable technol- fallen by 15% between 2005 and 2013
ing process used in onshore shale gas ogy solutions as alternatives to flaring without regulatory incentive. There has
extraction generates a great deal of pro- and the flow chart (Fig. 1) shows the been some criticism of the emphasis
duced water. Desalinization can clean methodology used in carrying out the that Obama has placed on renewables,
that water and make it useable for local conceptualstudy. given that natural gas still has much fur-
communities as a water source. Although ther to go to displace coal as a friend-
some solutions might be immature for Future for Gas Flaring lier carbon-based energy source. How-
near-term implementation, current Though support for the World Banks ever, this emphasis on renewable growth
applications such as micro liquefied nat- Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative should only serve to increase the envi-
ural gas, compressed natural gas, natural is gaining momentum, greater aware- ronmental and sustainable credentials
gas hydrates, and conversion methods ness and understanding of the technical of natural gas given the improvements
can deliver significant benefits, and are and economic possibilities for gas flar- being made to reduce emissions in gas
key in shale gas regions where regula- ing, beyond operational modification, is production. Tapping into the opportuni-
tions will drive flaring reductions. needed to encourage commitment from ties to create value from flared gas will
Many of the novel techniques explored operators and policy makers. Many of drive emissions targets further, both in
in the study, particularly for small-scale the existing policy and technology devel- the US andglobally. JPT
Modern input
interface and
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TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
All referenced trademarks are owned by or licensed to Schlumberger. 2016 Schlumberger. All rights reserved. OSS-1062
Fig. 4The Wraith Frac Ball
dissolvable fracturing ball from
Phenom.
Fig. 3Self-propelled transport trolley from Protea. properties and specific bottomhole tem-
peratures. Phenom offers two versions
Pneumatic Trolley tain integrity and isolation during high- of the Wraith Frac Ball, solid and hollow,
Over the past 15 years, Protea has sup- pressure fracturing. The Wraith Frac Ball each currently available in five different
plied a range of pneumatically driven dissolves at controllable and predictable formulations to accommodate a variety of
winches, predominantly for use on off- rates, to allow production from all treat- operatorrequirements.
shore drilling rigs and floating produc- ed zones. Cast and machined from an alu- For additional information, visit
tion units. The Protea pneumatic-drive minum base, the Wraith Frac Balls high www.phenom-us.com.
system ensures precise and reliable load shear strength is suited for high-pressure/
control and that the equipment can be high-temperature applications and hori- Reservoir Simulator
used in hazardous areas per ATEX regula- zontal and extended-reach operations. Stone Ridge Technology has introduced
tions. Previous projects include a coiled- The Wraith Frac Ball requires only expo- ECHELON, an ultrafast extended black-
tubing-handling system comprising an air sure to fresh, salt, or produced water oil reservoir simulator supporting major
winch, transport trolley, and control sys- at temperatures greater than 100F to engineering features. ECHELON runs on
tem that was installed on the Aseng float- begin dissolving; however, faster dissolve graphics processing units (GPUs), the
ing production, storage, and offloading rates may be achieved through the addi- current generation of which provides 5X
vessel currently on charter to Noble Ener- tion of corrosive fluids or an increase in or more memory bandwidth than cen-
gy. Protea has recently developed a self- temperature. Phenom has developed an tral processing units and a similar advan-
propelled transport trolley with an inte- empirically proven equation that accu- tage in computing throughput, both crit-
grated pneumatic-drive system (Fig. 3). rately and reliably predicts the dissolve ical to a simulators performance. By
A self-propelled trolley is a versatile solu- rate of the Wraith Frac Ball in water on combining the extreme computation-
tion because it can be used at multiple the basis of its (compound and physical) al power and bandwidth of GPUs with
locations, requires less deck space, and is
simpler to commission, because there is
no need to install a separate winch system
complete with tow lines. The new trolley
incorporates a proven pneumatic-drive
system and can transit loads of up to 50 t
at an average speed of 12 m/min. The first
unit is currently completing a program of
extensive testing at Proteas production
facility in southern Poland.
For additional information, visit
www.protea.pl.
www.EnventureGT.com/SameDrift
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
With the recent drop in oil prices, oper- powerful solution to define injector pat- need to calibrate the model to the past.
ators are shifting to optimization of terns and associated key production met- Using measured historical produced and
existing assets with minimal costs. For rics. Advances in streamline-based flow injected total rates implies that the veloc-
mature floods (water, chemical, and modeling since the early 1990s allow ity field will properly reflect the influ-
CO2), one low-cost optimization strat- streamlines to be traced in 3D, account for ence of wells relative to each other in
egy is the intelligent adjustment of well- complex geological descriptions, include terms of production/injection volume
rate targets. While it is easy to identify all well geometries, and incorporate a and spatiallocation.
high-water-cut or high-water-rate pro- wide range of flow physics. However, An often overlooked detail is that his-
ducers, it is not obvious to identify which applying streamlines for surveillance torical well data implicitly contain infor-
injectors are contributing to oil produc- requires only a subset of these extensions mation about reservoir connectivity
tion or fluid cycling. This makes setting and is much simpler toimplement. high injection/production volumes are
injection targets a guessing game at best Most floods are driven by pressure gra- usually indicative of good pay and sup-
without a calibrated reservoir (simula- dients rather than absolute pressure, and port compared with low injection/pro-
tion) model. at reservoir conditions, it can be assumed duction volumes. This is the reason why
However, detailed calibrated reservoir that the fluids are nearly incompressible. bubble plots are popular among engi-
models require simulation expertise, are This is certainly true for water/polymer/ neers looking for clues to the spatial
time-consuming to build, and can even chemical floods. Even CO2 at high pres- quality of a reservoir. By using historical
be considered overkill for short-term res- sure behaves like a liquid. measured rates to solve for the current
ervoir management. Reservoir surveil- For surveillance purposes, the calcu- spatial pressure gradients, the result-
lance techniques sidestep this problem lation for the total velocity field needed ing velocity field will implicitly reflect
by using measured well data combined to trace the streamlines can be signifi- suchconnectivity.
with simpler models to create a feedback cantly simplified. Specifically, the veloc- It is possible to add a spatial descrip-
loop that is informative and valuable for ity is solved conditioned to a) measured tion of geological properties such as per-
reservoir management. (historical) total injected and produced meability, porosity, or net to gross, etc.,
The starting point for any improve- volumes at the wells; b) a description of as well as transmissibility barriers, such
ment of an ongoing flood is the proper the subsurface geology, including faults as faults and shale barriers, to further
identification of well patterns and reli- and flow barriers if available, and if not, condition the velocity field. Special con-
able pattern metrics. Which patterns a homogenous box can be used; and c) an sideration should be given to flow barri-
have historically outperformed and assumption of in-situ fluid distributions ers, as these will radically affect the flow
which have underperformed? How much if available, and if not, a uniform satura- field and tracing of streamlines. Local
oil is being recovered from each pat- tion distribution will do. permeability/porosity modifications, on
tern for each unit of volume injected into Although these assumptions seem sub- the other hand, are a lesser factor.
thepattern? stantial, they are reasonable for surveil-
Being able to answer these questions lance because the primary objective is to Defining Injection Patterns
with confidence enables target rates to identify current well pairs and allocation Once the total velocity is known, tracing
be set that will improve sweep and reduce factors rather than forecasting. streamlines from injectors to produc-
fluid cycling. And as new production/ ers automatically defines patterns and
injection data are collected, rate targets Model Calibration Not Needed injector/producer pairs. For example, a
are realigned to ensure that field recov- The assumption of fluid incompressibil- pattern may be defined as an injector
ery remains close to optimum. ity implies that the past spatial pressure (light blue bubbles displaying injection
distribution and gradients are immate- rates in Fig. 1) and all the producers
Streamlines as a Solution rial to the solution of the current velocity connected to that injector by stream-
Streamlines, which represent flow from field, and so streamlines can be extract- lines. Alternatively, one can define a
injectors or aquifers to producers, offer a ed for any moment in time without the pattern as being centered on a produc-
Apply now.
www.aramco.jobs/jpt
Fig. 1(left) Injector-centered well allocation factors (WAFs) and (right) producer-centered WAFs, determined by the
streamlines and displayed using a patented flux pattern map, where connection thicknesses can be used to display
each wells production allocation factor in addition to using a label. The bubbles represent injection (light blue) and
production (water=dark blue, oil=green) rates. All images courtesy of Streamsim Technologies.
er with associated injectors connected allocation factors (WAFs) as the ratio of observed well ratesfrom the derivation
by streamlines. There are usually fewer the total rate of an injector/producer pair of the streamlines to the final calculation
injectors than producers, and because to the total well rate of either the injec- of the WAFsgiving a summary plot of
the goal of a flood is to produce oil by tor or producer on either end of the con- good vs. poor use of injected fluids based
sweeping it with injected fluid toward nection (Fig. 1). Furthermore, as produc- on measured data.
the producers, centering patterns on tion history changes, the streamlines are It is also possible to estimate the
injectors has proven to be a good, prac- updated, the WAFs are recomputed, and cumulative oil produced by each pattern
tical choice. the patterns evolve through time. (injector) by properly accounting for the
To extract pattern metrics, it is useful changing production rates and WAFs
to consider each streamline as being the Estimating Pattern Efficiency over time (as shown in the right frame
center of a streamtube carrying a frac- With WAFs in hand, it is straightforward of Fig. 2). The plots in Fig. 2 are a power-
tion of the total flow rate of the wells to to estimate the efficiency of each pattern ful diagnostic view of the flood, quanti-
which it is connected. The sum of all the (injector), which is simply the oil pro- fying the relative efficiency of each pat-
streamlines ending or starting in a well is duction rate of all the connected produc- tern historically (right) and currently
therefore expected to equal the total flow ers weighted by the respective produc- (left). This is what makes the stream-
rate of that well. er WAFs and then divided by the water line-based surveillance model so unique
Similarly, summing up the rates of the injection rate. In other words, it is pos- and useful.
streamlines between any injector/pro- sible to associate oil production with an The final goal is to estimate future well
ducer pair will quantify the total rate injector (as shown in the left frame of target rates based on the streamline-
between the well pair (Batycky et al. Fig. 2). It should be reiterated that all based pattern metrics. A crucial value is
2008). That allows estimation of the well the calculations are based on historical the efficiency of each injector/produc-
1.4106
0.40
220
Cumulative Oil Produced (rm3/d)
200 1.2106
Rate Oil Produced (rm3/d)
Fig. 2(left) Each triangle represents one injector with current water injection rate on the x-axis and allocated offset
oil production on the y-axis. The diagonal lines represent efficiency thresholds. (right) Cumulative oil production
associated with each injector as a function of cumulative injected (water) volume, gives a historical rank of pattern
efficiencies.
Automated particle-size analyzers are als that might damage a rock crusher, ation is running smoothly, or running
something you will not see on most forinstance. intotrouble.
drilling rigs, but some think this out- On a rig, particle size analyzers would Directly measuring these particles
side-the-oil-field technology will play generate value by making drilling under would give rig crews and engineers an
a big role in the future of the drill- difficult conditions significantly easier, unprecedented ability to quickly deter-
ingsector. and they may also help move automated mine how the well is really holding up
They are routinely used in a number drilling efforts forward. and react if things head south. Fully
of industrial processes for quality con- As drilling fluids circulate thousands automated analyzers would go one
trol, including agricultural plants and of feet through a wellbore, the bits of step further by acting on the data to
mines to measure things such as the size material that flow back up to the sur- make precise adjustments to the fluid
of corn kernels or to identify materi- face can be a telltale sign that the oper- mix, creating a savings opportunity on
drillingchemicals.
Eric van Oort, a professor of petro-
leum engineering at the Universi-
ty of Texas (UT) in Austin, believes
the adoption of such technology is in
the early stages, but he sees immedi-
ate benefits for operators and con-
tractors who commit to using it. He
coauthored a technical paper on the
subject that was presented in March at
the SPE Drilling Conference and Exhi-
bition in Fort Worth, Texas, which out-
lines the capabilities of various analyz-
er technologies.
Van Oort, also the director of UTs
automated drilling research consor-
tium, explained that analyzers will
improve upon how drillers currently
monitor and make decisions in main-
taining the quality and size of lost con-
trol materials (LCMs)substances used
to plug fractures in wellbore walls that
may lead to the partial or total loss of
the drilling fluid, otherwise known as a
loss circulation event.
Addressing these areas could help
avoid or mitigate lost circulation events,
which still account for billions of dol-
lars in [nonproductive time] annually
across the industry, van Oort said.
A critical characteristic of LCMs is
Particle-size analyzers deliver precise measurements of drilling fluids, which allow drillers that they tend to break down inside the
to quickly determine wellbore conditions and avoid problems. Photo courtesy of J.M. Canty. well, a process known as shear degra-
All referenced trademarks are owned by or licensed to Schlumberger. 2016 Schlumberger. All rights reserved. CAM-1007
dation, which ultimately renders them plants, and demonstrate a strong per- operation. Setting up the analyzer has
less and less effective. Industry stan- formance in the oil field and be easy to also been simplified. Once installed, the
dard methods to deal with shear degra- use and maintain. Otherwise, the ben- device is calibrated and the user just has
dation involve the manual use of sieves efits of the technology evaporate quick- to press start.
for measurement and a sacks per hour ly, van Oortsaid. The critical components include a
criteria for mitigation. Simply put, Among the systems studied by UT, LED backlight, a flow cell, and a micro-
such imprecise methods are not suffi- top marks for accuracy went to a device scopic lens attached to a high-perfor-
cient for automated drilling operations built by J.M. Canty, a Buffalo, New York- mance camera that captures images of
and as mentioned above, have a severe based firm that develops process tech- the fluids passing by. As the software
financialimpact. nology for a number of industries. detects changes, it can alert a remote
The longer-term objective is much Whereas other systems depend on monitoring center via the Internet or it
bigger, van Oort went on to say, adding lasers to gather their measurements, can take action by sending commands to
that he predicts analyzers will eventu- Cantys relies on high-resolution cam- an operational system on the rig.
ally enable the automation of key mea- eras. We see whats there and measure By adding a hard drive to the system,
surements including how much fluid is exactly whats there, thats why were the images can be recorded and ana-
being lost into the formation. spot on, said Miles Priore, a business lyzed later. Priore said that in the event
Future systems, he said, will allow us development leader with Canty. of a problem, You can look at the video
to fine-tune [particle size distributions] In the UT study, the Canty device footage of the particles at that exact
for optimum fluid loss control and tai- used was a laboratory model and since time and see if there is a correlation.
lor them to the requirements of any par- then, the company has developed One of the unique features about the
ticular well, in a way that is much more a field-hardened version that is fully companys device is that the flow cell
appropriate than the current, high- automated. But due to the down mar- that allows the fluid and particles to
ly indirect fluid loss measurement that ket, only one of the new devices has be observed is built by fusing glass to
uses paper as a filtration mediumand been installed on a working rig for an metal, a process that allows glass to be
how much paper do we drill around undisclosedcontractor. used at extreme pressures. Canty says it
theworld? Priore said the system is equipped has used the technology to develop the
One caveat is that the analyzers must with automated valves controlled by sight glasses on space shuttle fueling
be able to leave the laboratory and software which eliminates the need for lines and is the only company using it in
the static environments of processing much human involvement in the devices the oil and gas industry.
To survive in the current low-price Than USD 50/bbl. He is the direc- If we want to achieve efficiency,
environment, exploration and produc- tor of the E&P practice at Independent weve really got to attack complexity, he
tion (E&P) companies must better han- ProjectAnalysis. said. We have to attack it everywhere
dle the complexities inherent in their Nandurdikar said that while simpli- we see it, and all aspects of complexity
projects through practices that pro- fication is key to developing efficient that we see. The reason is because com-
mote capital effectiveness and col- projects, the task itself is harder for plexity, or specialization, creates the
laboration. Owners and operators E&P companies now because they do illusion that we are headed in the right
must emphasize the long-term viabil- not engage in enough cross-disciplinary direction. We think were solving the
ity of their assets over high returns, an collaboration. In addition, with nation- right problems, but oftentimes, until the
expert said. al oil companies (NOCs) and service fog clears, we dont know whether this is
In a presentation hosted by the SPE companies managing their own proj- the best project to do.
Gulf Coast Section Projects, Facilities, ects, and NOCs partnering with spe- Nandurdikar said there are three
and Construction Study Group, Neer- cialists in other countries outside of types of complexities that E&P com-
aj Nandurdikar discussed the collec- their home base, the role of a tradi- panies face in their operations: techni-
tive actions the industry should take to tional multinational E&P company is cal, political, and organizational. Tech-
improve project efficiency. Nandurdi- in flux. Nandurdikar said these com- nical complexities typically revolve
kars presentation, Journey Towards panies can only determine the ways in around the geological aspects of a project
Efficiency, was the fourth install- which they can simplify their opera- such as water depth and reservoir pres-
ment of the study groups Spring Event tions after they determine their roles in sures and volumes. He said the indus-
Series, Delivering Projects at Less a low-priceenvironment. try has learned how to handle most of
O
ne of the biggest ways to lower It is competing with another newcom- to design completions for gas wells in
the cost of production from er, Fracture ID, whose website describes theMarcellus.
shale would be to identify what it does as drill bit geomechanics. The methods vary, as do the scale,
zones that are productive, or not, before Both are selling rock property analysis options, and prices, but they share some
fracturing them. methods that are lower-cost alternatives common traits. They are offering ways
There is a growing group of companies to accepted methods, such as well logs, to gather information that do not affect
selling new ways of cutting the cost and whose price limits their use in unconven- operations at a price and pace that allow
time required to gather data while drill- tional plays. But the cost, data-gathering targeting the most productive spots dur-
ing, which will allow completion engi- method, and output of these two methods ing fracturing.
neers to reduce the number of stages pro- differsignificantly. Ingrain, which is the most established
ducing little or nothing. Others are relying on readily available, of the group but still a young technology
I think better placement is where alternative sources of data: cuttings, fluids, company, sells a competitively priced ser-
the money is, said Vikram Rao, execu- or well pressure readings. They are hitting vice analyzing rock cuttings with chemi-
tive director of the Research Triangle the market at a time when low oil prices cal and elemental analysis testing to mea-
EnergyConsortium. have created an appetite for newideas. sure total organic content, mineralogy,
While the methods and data points Definitely we are exploring lots of and brittleness, as well as scanning elec-
vary, these new ventures are all seeking technology options right now. Anything tron microscopic (SEM) imaging down to
to gather data or samples during normal to drive down our dollar per foot comple- the pore scale.
operations that can be quickly turned tion cost, said Kevin Wutherich, direc- Biota is doing DNA analysis of drill cut-
into a report on a limited number of data tor of completions for Rice Energy. We tings and produced oil to identify sourc-
points, which can be used to improve are even looking at stuff that could save es of oil along the wellbore. Each well
fracturing productivity. USD 20,000 a well. We have a program can generate more than 50 million data
Customers want it cheap, want it fast, that might yield 70 wells a year, so that points that can be used to decide where
and want to see a return quickly, said is about USD 1.5 million. That might not fracture stages should be placed and
Chuck Matula, a board adviser for Drill- have been too big a deal (when oil was at which stages in an existing well should
2Frac, a startup company created by USD 100/bbl) but these days we will chase be refractured.
Vorpal Energy Solutions, that uses data that down. The technology used has only recent-
recorded while drilling to compare rock Based on favorable tests, Rice Energy ly become affordable enough to use on
hardness along a wellbore. is moving toward using Drill2Frac data a large scale. If you were to do a DNA
10,580
10,590
Total Vertical Depth (ft)
10,600
10,610
10,620
10,630
10,640
10,650
10,660
10,670
10,800 12,000 13,500 15,000 16,300
Lateral Length (ft)
Based on data gathered while drilling, Drill2Frac creates a wellbore map showing variations in hardness along a
wellbore. Image courtesy of Drill2Frac.
HD5 75K100K dition of the bottomhole assembly is get- The drilling data analysis companies
HD6 100K125K
ting a lot of uptake in this environment, are hitting the market at a time when
Neale said. there are numerous theories as to why
HD7 125K150K performance varies widely from stage
HD8 150K175K
Checking Value to stage. More data may help answer the
Selling drill bit geomechanics will require question Why do results vary so much?
HD9 175K200K convincing users it generates reports as The initial sale process is to the 10%
HD10 200K225K
accurate as the established methods, and to 15% of the companies leaning forward
offers valuable insights. and using more science, Neale said.
HD11 225K250K Drill2Fracs methods have been used to At this stage the users are looking
HD12 250K300K
evaluate about 200 wells for 25 operators for correlations between the data gath-
over the past 18 months, Matula said. ered and their fracturing results. If users
HD13 300K400K Some of those jobs were by C&J Energy find ways to turn drill bit rock-property
Services, which was an early partner in reports into even modest gains, it could
HD14 400K500K
development of the software that Matula catch on.
MSEMechanical specific energy said is no longer involved. It still shares On a completion, if we can help them
ownership of the first version of the soft- get just a 3% to 4% increase in the ulti-
Drill2Frac measures the hardness of
the rock along the wellbore. Image ware, which was used for work covered mate recoveries everyone is a hero,
courtesy of Drill2Frac. in paper SPE 174839. Drill2Frac is using Neale said.
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The bit drilled for 235 hours to a local TVD record of 5350m
(17500). Back on surface, the bit was graded 1-3-WT.
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Mapping Fracturing
With Pressure Change
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
O
il prices are so low that the oil angle Energy Consortium. Sales are lim- tors did manage to quickly reduce the
industry is having to consider ited because they can only make that cost of production, frequently employ-
doing things differently. It is a point to survivors. ing innovations from the service sec-
hopeful sign for the future for innova- Rao divides the market into three tor. The industry embraced 3D seismic,
tors who have been struggling to keep groups based on their financial needs. subsea completions, horizontal drilling,
going and have potential customers with At the top are the companies with and logging while drilling (LWD).
little to spend and a lot to worryabout. secure financial futuresthe majors Dogged persistence is an essen-
What we see is a lot of consolidations and the strongest of the independents tial trait for oilfield innovators in
and slowdowns now. A lot of risk-averse and at the bottom are those in serious good times and bad. Most operators
folks out there who do not know if their financial trouble. The rich have resourc- are not adverse to new technologies,
companies will survive from one day to es to spend, though it is limited by their but few can afford to be new technol-
the next, said Chuck Matula, who is a drive to reduce costs; but their survival ogy leaders, said George King, distin-
board adviser and founder of a company is not at stake. That is the issue for com- guished engineering adviser at Apache
called Drill2Frac, which offers services panies at the other extreme, which have Corp. High on his long list of obstacles:
aimed at unconventional producers. no money to spend because they are Most new technology promoters do
2015 was an absolute blur. Abso- focused on dealing with creditors. not appear to know how to effectively
lutely everyone was trying to keep an In the middle are those companies introducetechnology.
oilfield operation afloat, there was so with some money to spend and a great The comment speaks volumes to
much indecision and uncertainty, Rich- sense of urgency. Their long-term future Pradeep Anand, a consultant who teach-
ard Broderick president and chief exec- depends on quickly lowering their cost es Strategic Marketing in the Energy
utive officer (CEO) of Fountain Quail per barrel enough to survive with oil Industry to a class of graduate students
Water Management, said during a ses- selling for less than USD 50/bbl. And at Rice University, drawing on his experi-
sion at the recent IHS CERAWeek con- they will not be able to get there by ence marketing oil and gasinnovations.
ference in Houston. squeezing suppliers for more discounts. We are dealing with a very risk-
Demand for the water company and What is happening is, basically, inno- averse industry that is very measured
others has slowed as drilling and com- vate or perish for anyone in between, in its adoption of new technologies and
pletion work plummeted in shale fields Rao said. They have 2 years to show they rightfully so. Add to it, the increasing
where the cost of adding production can survive, and 3 years to makegood. reluctance to change corporate and pro-
exceeds the price of oil, which dipped They cannot keep doing things the cess habits over time and we have a
below USD 40/bbl in early April. same way and they are looking for new seemingly immovable object, he said.
Those still on the payroll have power- solutions, said Mark Wilkinson, a vice The key is to win support from the
ful motivation to consider how to reduce president for GroundMetrics, which is select group of companies whose busi-
operating costs or increase production trying to convince companies that they ness is built on innovation. Rather than
enough to pump profitable barrels if oil can better understand what is going on developing an infinite force to move this
edges toward USD 50/bbl. in the ground by using electromagnetic immovable object, technology innova-
Those with likely answers to that imaging to track water and carbon diox- tors have to work on the fringes, which
question were getting some traction ide flooding, or spot missed oil reserves. are firms that have good reasons to
when prices where high, but not as Faced with similar cost pressures, adopt new technologies to create com-
much as they are now, said Vikram Rao, and an equally awful economic envi- petitive advantages in their markets,
executive director of the Research Tri- ronment in the 1980s, Rao said opera- Anandsaid.
3,000 175
Left axis
150
2,500
100
1,500
75
1,000
Right axis 50
500
25
0 0
1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Year
Oilfield service companies have taken over as the big spenders on research and development in exploration and
production after oil companies reduced their role during the 1980s oil bust. Both groups significantly increased their
outlays until cuts in 2015. Chart courtesy of IHS.
Leadto Stricter
Regulations
Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer
I
ndustry regulators in Oklahoma have rolled out broad new
restrictions on more than 600 disposal wells as part of the
largest action of its kind taken in response to earthquakes.
An additional 118 wells have been included in an area of
interest and face increased reporting and monitoring require-
ments. Altogether, the plan affects approximately 20% of the
states disposal wells and marks a major change for the fourth-
largest oil- and gas-producing state in the US.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the states industry
regulator, spent a year issuing volume reductions and shut-ins
at a number of specific disposal sites, efforts that failed to slow
the rising rate of earthquakes. Then on 13 February, the third-
strongest earthquake in Oklahoma history shook homes across
the state and was felt hundreds of miles away by residents of
three neighboring states. No serious damage or injuries were
reported. But just days after the 5.1 magnitude trembler, reg-
ulators abandoned their pinpoint approach and announced a
regional earthquake response plan that covers approximately 7,000 ft
10,000 sq milesan area twice the size of Qatar.
For the foreseeable future, no new disposal well permits will
be granted in the restricted zone, and operators must curtail
fluid injections into existing wells by 40% of their 2014 average
rate. Based on last years figures, that means a reduction of fluid
injection of approximately 300,000 B/D.
Because water disposal is a necessary component of oil and
gas operations, the immediate scarcity of disposal wells may
drive up fees at sites operated by third parties. Recycling or
trucking the water outside of the restriction zone are expensive
options that few operators can afford right now.
If there are no feasible alternatives, ongoing production
declines may accelerate in the Mississippian Lime, the most sig-
nificant play affected by the order. The play is a carbonate for-
mation, and unconventional techniques are used to recover oil
and gas from it. Last year, production in the Mississippian Lime
was estimated to be around 100,000B/D, which accounted for a
quarter of the states overall production.
44
The play is notable for being the leading water producer in the
state. To handle all the produced water, along with much smaller
fractions of drilling and fracturing fluids, operators have spent
millions of dollars on drilling a vast network of disposal wells.
Producing Wells As they do around the world, disposal wells in Oklahoma
allow companies to efficiently and cheaply dump billions of bar-
rels of waste water a year deep into the ground. In most loca-
Waste Water Pipelines tions, this is a safe and standard practice.
But when the volume of water being injected in Oklahoma
soared to new levels, so did the rate of earthquakesnow 600
times higher than it was before 2008, according to the Oklaho-
ma Geological Survey (OGS). The consensus among regulators,
scientists, and many industry experts is that wastewater injec-
tions are the root cause of the earthquakes, a process termed
r induced seismicity.
te
Wa It could take several months for regulators to decide if their
k ing
Drin current plan has worked. If it fails, then some experts expect
to see even tighter rules or an outright moratorium on injec-
tions. There are also those who believe that reductions are
not the solution; instead, a better understanding is needed of
where disposal wells will have little or no chance of triggering
fault slips.
45
Arbuckle Disposal Wells 20122014
OK Earthquakes 20142016, magnitude
<2
23 Map by: Sam Limerick
34 [email protected]
Date: 4/4/2016
5.1
Water Injection Volume Reduction Areas
Central Plan Est. 3/7/2016
Western Plan Est. 2/16/2016
Area of Interest for Study
After a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in February, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has taken its biggest steps yet to
mitigate the growing earthquake problem in the state. Graphic courtesy of Sam Limerick.
easier to drill through and requires lower they could always get worse if further chance of incurring minor home dam-
horsepower rigs. limits are put in place. Zeits said the big- age such as fallen plaster or cracks in
But the more operators got to know the gest risk facing operators is the uncer- the walls due to an earthquake induced
Mississippian Lime, the less they liked tainty about how the situation will play by injections. It is the same risk level
it. Wells depleted too quickly and due to out and whether the response plan meets assigned to naturally occurring earth-
its remoteness, companies faced spend- its objective. quakes in the seismically active state
ing tens of millions of dollars on power If there are more big earthquakes, the ofCalifornia.
lines needed to run pumps for lifting regulators may have little choice but to Keith Hall, a professor and director
anddisposal. impose even stricter rules, he said. I am of the Mineral Law Institute at Louisi-
And the water cuts were not just high- not saying this will happen, but if it did, ana State University, presented a tech-
er than normal, they were often extraor- the impact on production and cash flows nical paper on the legal risks associated
dinarily high. Newly completed oil wells would be potentially a lot more severe. with induced seismicity at last years SPE
have been known to pump out as much as Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Con-
98% water at a rate of thousands of B/D. Legal Faults Widening ference. He said that since then, there
Those who have worked the Mississip- The spike in Oklahomas seismic activ- have been more earthquakes, more regu-
pian Lime sometimes quip that it is really ity prompted the US Geological Survey lations, and more lawsuits filed by home-
a water aquifer with just a little bit of oil to recently issue its first 1-year forecast owners. The one thing I am seeing less
sitting on top. for earthquake hazards in the continen- of is skepticism about whether there is
Even if prices rise enough to make the tal US. The federal agency, whose seis- really a problem, he said.
play profitable, the disposal limits will mic risk assessments are used to develop Hall added that environmental groups
essentially act as a cap on future oil pro- building codes and guide policy mak- have begun using the issue as a legal
duction. And as bad as things are now, ers, said Oklahomans face a 5% to 12% wedge that may affect future permits,
Based on results from the 2014 Based on results from this study
National Seismic Hazard Model
Chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016
The US Geological Survey (USGS) issued a map showing parts of Oklahoma are now considered as seismically
hazardous as areas of California where natural earthquakes occur regularly. Graphic courtesy of USGS.
sure transducers just below the fluid line ultimate goal is to establish a network of high injection volumes observe few earth-
inside the wells to take measurements at least 12 monitoring wells. quakes and others that have low injection
on a second-by-second basis and build Another modeling approach to the seis- rates experience manyearthquakes.
hydrogeological models with the data. mic situation is to take emerging geome- Geomechanically, it is very simple,
He is hoping that the transducers chanical modeling technology designed Ouenes said. When we see these high
will identify a pressure front moving to predict the effects of hydraulic frac- injection volumes happening in the low
through the Arbuckle formation and said turing at the wellbore level and use it to induced-seismicity potential areas, and
such information could help operators predict fault behavior on a regionallevel. we dont see earthquakes, that confirms
find safer locations to drill disposal wells Ahmed Ouenes, chief executive offi- that the location is more important than
in the future, as well as where it would be cer of the geomechanical modeling firm the volume. JPT
a bad idea. FracGeo, believes that injection reduc-
This is the raw data that has been miss- tions alone will not solve the problem. For Further Reading
ing, he said. We think that the Arbuckle The problem is not about injection vol- SPE 173383 On Liability Issues
disposals are related to seismicitywe umes only he said. Its really all about Concerning Induced Seismicity in
think that it is pressure propagating away where you inject. Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments
from those wells and reaching basement He recently coauthored an SPE paper and at Injection Disposal Wells:
faultsbut until someone starts measur- outlining how his companys software What Petroleum Engineers Should
ing that pressure in the Arbuckle, and can identify the existing stresses involved Know by Keith Hall, Louisiana State
possibly in the basement rock, we wont with regional fault networks and put University et al.
ever be able to documentit. them into two categories: those with low SPE 180461 The Effects of Faults on
The project is being funded by industry induced-seismicity potential, and those Induced Seismicity Potential During
partners and emergency funds released with a high induced-seismicity potential. Water Disposal and Hydraulic
by Oklahomas governor to address the The difference between the two categories Fracturing by Nick Umholtz and
earthquake situation. Murray said his could help explain why some areas with Ahmed Ouenes, FracGeo.
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From organizational structures to pro- flow throughout the entire E&P value project design, customization, decreases
curement strategies to engineer staffing chain. Part of the reason for this is an in equipment reliability, and the misuse
and development, the upstream explo- extended period of underinvestment in or nonuse of appropriate technology.
ration and production (E&P) industry the previous 3 decades. More important- One of the overarching objectives of
is undergoing a transformation. Opera- ly, the aging production base requires my term as SPE president was to increase
tors and service providers alike are not more investment to fight decline, and the extent with which our industry col-
just tweaking, altering, and fine-tuning the newer resources such as pre-salt and laborates with other industries. We have
in this most recent downturn, they are unconventionals are more complex and much in common with and much to learn
completely rethinking the way they expensive in terms of cost per barrel. from industries such as the automotive,
work. Our business of finding, develop- Eighty percent of the global upstream aerospace, and biomedical industries
ing, and producing oil and gas profitably, research and development (R&D) spend to name just a few. It is clear that adopt-
dependably, and in an environmentally is devoted to maintaining existing pro- ing technologies and processes from
responsible manner is facing unparal- ductionarresting decline. these sister industries is one way in
leled challenges. One additional statistic that powerfully which we can improve our own technical
In conversations with many chief exec- summarizes the situation is that over the and financial performance.
utive officers during my term as presi- past 10 years, global upstream spend has In this article, I describe several addi-
dent of SPE, the most common concern increased more than 400% while pro- tional areas of focus, primarily within
I heard expressed was cost control. And duction has increased a mere 15%. Much the service providers domain, which
that was before the downturn. In fact, it of this production increase came from when taken individually or collective-
has been a concern for management for relatively expensive new frontiers such ly, can significantly reduce costs and
most of the past decade. as shale oil and deep water. However, improve efficiency levels and operating
The combination of escalating find- there have been significant cost increas- companyreturns.
ing and development costs, relatively flat es throughout the upstream industry due
global oil production, and a steep decline to such factors as labor costs, materi- Innovation
in commodity prices has put significant al costs, inefficiencies in supply chains The largest oilfield service company in
pressure on profitability and free cash and logistics, as well as the complexity of the world, Schlumberger, began actively
transforming its business in 2008well
Jeff Spath, SPE, is chief executive officer of the newly formed before the downturn. The first phase of
Texas Oil and Gas Institute, based in Houston. Before assuming the companys transformation focused on
this position, Spath was part of the Schlumberger executive boosting the performance of its technol-
management team with past positions that included president of ogy R&D organization in several areas,
the Reservoir Management Group and president of Data and including shortening time to market and
Consulting Services. He joined Schlumberger as a well testing speeding up the rate of innovation.
field engineer in 1984 and held various global positions of Why start there? Because as the indus-
increasing responsibility in reservoir engineering, research, and try has matured, both technical and
executive management. financial challenges have become enor-
Spath serves on the Deans Advisory Council at the College of Engineering at Texas
mous. Mistakes in todays highly com-
A&M University and the University of Utah and is on the Petroleum Engineering
Industry Advisory Board at Colorado School of Mines. Active in SPE, he has served
plex, often hostile environments can cost
as technical director for Management and Information on the SPE Board of Directors, billions of dollars.
as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer on production enhancement, and was the 2014 Many oil and gas projects have become
SPE President. Spath has published 26 technical papers and holds 14 patents on so capital intensive that evolutionary or
the subject of oil and gas production. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in petroleum incremental changes in tools, equipment,
engineering from Texas A&M University and a PhD in reservoir engineering from software, and systems are no longer suf-
Mining University of Leoben, Austria. ficient to keep our heads above water.
Deepwater Projects
Morten Iversen, SPE, Well Integrity Section Head, BG
The high costs surrounding deepwater must cease; industry needs to develop
If deepwater operations
developments and the low price of oil are a more-cost-effective good enough
a challenging combination for operators are to survive going mindset.
and service companies today. forward, the luxury of By simplifying, standardizing, and
Considering transportation, services, industrializing deepwater technologies,
qualifications, permitting, and infra- unnecessary customization 2530% reductions in lead time and
structure costs, capital-expenditure of facilities and individual costs are possible, but there are limits to
costs for deepwater developments are how much this can save.
much higher than they are for onshore
company specifications of The resources we are developing no
developments. Similarly, operating in components must cease. longer come from massive fields, which
remote locations, where risk must be limits the economic and cost-saving
low and safety and preparedness must potentials. Second, the industry cannot
be high, operating-expenditure costs are In addition, operators were able to create a commodity industry like the
also much higher for deepwater projects justify designing operations that were automotive industry.
than they are for those onshore. more flexible and could respond to a These issues may be overcome with
Industry has recognized that, even at greater number of scenarios. How- the willingness of the deepwater indus-
USD 100/bbl, the costs of some deep- ever, this resulted in complex designs, try to continue investing in technology
water developments were not sustain- which involved more engineering and developments, and, in particular, tech-
able, and, when it comes to USD 30/bbl greatercosts. nology and constant innovation are what
oil, it is obvious that the operator cannot However, in the current cost environ- will bring us acceptable economic prof-
justify this capital and operating cost. ment, the operator must now work with itability, which will allow us to continue
During the first decade of the 2000s, the service companies to discuss what deepwater development.JPT
escalating oil and gas prices were the ris- acceptable specifications are. If deep-
ing tide that lifted all boats. It essential- water operations are to survive going
ly bailed out many floundering projects, forward, the luxury of unnecessary cus- Recommended additional reading
masked poor project performance, and tomization of facilities and individual at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
bred profligacy and complacency. company specifications of components
SPE/IADC 168048 New Applications
of Cementing Valve Technology for Gulf
of Mexico Deepwater Operations
Morten Iversen, SPE, graduated from the University of Stavanger
byJim McNicol, Archer Oiltools
in 1981 and has worked throughout the world for different opera-
tors and for several service companies. He works for BG in the OTC 25802 Deep Offshore Gas Fields:
Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) development in A New Challenge for the Industry
Kazakhstan as the Well Integrity Section head responsible for byE. Gyllenhammar, Aker Solutions, et al.
well integrity for all wells within the KPO development. Iversen OTC 25868 Lucius and Hadrian South
holds several patents, including a patent for a tubing-conveyed Projects: Development Overview
perforating-shot detection system and a deepwater-blowout- byM. Lamey, Anadarko, et al.
preventer system for riserless light well intervention (RLWI). He has worked on imple- OTC 25896 Developing Megaprojects
menting the RLWI technology from its infancy in the late 1980s and later as a global Simultaneously: The Brazilian Presalt
subsea adviser for Welltec, optimizing the use of RLWI technology to increase well Case byFlavio Gonalves Reis Vianna Filho,
recovery in subsea wells. Iversen serves on the JPT Editorial Committee and can be Petrobras, et al.
reached at [email protected].
N umerous developments in
automation have made the modern
mobile offshore drilling unit a marvel of
When bottomhole pressure (BHP) is lower
than formation pressure, influx of forma-
tion fluid occurs.
Deepwater Kick Detection
(DKD)
Besides adding smart meters to conven-
engineering achievement and a model Closing the system with an annular seal tional pressure/volume/temperature (PVT)
of efficiency. Yet, even with the surge in offers many benefits. The closed system systems, the DKD system must account
advancements, kick detection, which creates a fixed, known well volume that for vessel movement, wellbore effects, and
can be comparatively elementary for is a function of the casing and bit diame- changes in rheology and drilling parame-
a fixed drilling unit, has proved to be ters and the volume occupied by the drill- ters, and it must feed information directly
significantly more difficult to master string. With fluid in the wellbore being to the MPD system. This may be done in
on a vessel subject to wave motion mostly incompressible, the pressure up- such a way as to be evolutionary and natu-
and currents. This paper describes stream of the choke and the flow rate ral, as opposed to revolutionary and inco-
experiences, challenges, and approaches through the return line become valuable in herent, with the larger-rig-design philoso-
to solving the problems related to determining the size and severity of kicks. phy. Ultimately, DKD should be achieved
creating an advanced early kick- Sealing the wellbore has also led to the use in such a way as to refine and automate ex-
detection system suitable for floating of meters that can measure multiphase isting drilling-data measurements and en-
mobile offshore drilling units. flow accurately. Conventionally, wellbore hance proven practice with the addition of
and fluid characteristics are determined accurate flow measurement.
Enhanced Kick Detection by analyzing trends and catching samples In the effort to modernize the mud-
The complete paper provides a discussion after the fact, whereas a closed-loop sys- processing system, the conventional PVT
of conventional approaches to kick detec- tem allows a higher level of automation, system provides a firm foundation upon
tion. However, managed-pressure drilling real-time automated analysis, and action- which to build. In order to detect a small-
(MPD) has surfaced as a natural response able data on the basis of which engineers volume influx or loss, reduction of error
to drilling in unconventional or otherwise can quickly make decisions. in the current format is the key. At least
difficult fields, and the need for an en- These solutions have undoubtedly re- two approaches exist: One may reduce
hanced kick-detection system has been duced the amount of time required to trig- error by increasing accuracy of the in-
established somewhat naturally from the ger an alarm. But there still exists a void in strumentation involved, and one may re-
imposed needs of MPD systems. MPD is terms of what is done with the feedback duce error through discretizing the larg-
based upon the most fundamental prin- from the closed-well system. To compli- er system into more-manageable pieces.
ciples of drilling; balancing the equivalent cate this matter, deepwater drilling pres- Specifically referring to the mud-
circulating density to formation pressure ents challenges to kick detection to which processing system, it has been the case
minimizes influx and stabilizes the well- fixed offshore installations are not sub- historically that the well, the pits, and all
bore. The MPD system aims to drill a well ject. Additionally, deepwater formations processing equipment are grouped togeth-
within a margin of the balanced pressure tend to be some of the most prolific in the er when drilling with a closed-loop con-
of the formations being drilled. To accom- world, often displaying high productiv- figuration. This approach is reliable when
plish this goal, a rotary head or other an- itydesirable for production, but risky detecting large volume changes but suffers
nular sealing device is coupled with an ac- from a drilling perspective. in small-volume-change detection because
tive drilling choke that can automatically Fortunately, an advanced, robust kick- of precision errors. In the process of dis-
adjust the casing pressure. Though config- detection system can be constructed from cretizing the system, the next logical step
urations of the MPD system may vary, the many components that are already avail- is to separate information coming from
primary feedback mechanism for the MPD able and, in many cases, already used in the well from information coming from
system in all cases is the return flow rate. the downstream sector of the industry. the mud-processing equipment. In accom-
plishing the aim of decoupling the well
from the mud-processing plant, it may be
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights seen that defining boundaries between the
of paper SPE 167990, Advancing Deepwater Kick Detection, by Austin Johnson, well and the processing equipment is ad-
Christian Leuchtenberg, Scott Petrie, and David Cunningham, Managed vantageous. A suitable boundary on the re-
Pressure Operations, prepared for the 2014 SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition, turn side of the system is the flowline im-
FortWorth, Texas, USA, 46 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. mediately downstream of the diverter. The
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
CM
MY
CY
CMY
Anturio Africa
Orquidea
Cravo Gulf of
Hortensia Guinea
Indian Ocean
Tulipa
Rosa
Zinia
Block 17
Dalia
Jasmin
Acacia
Fig. 1Block 17. screens, while the remaining five pro- fields have both low reservoir pressure
ducers and two injectors have selective, and a high-viscosity wellstream.
of providing up to 1,400,000 B/D. It or intelligent, completions. The subsea umbilical, riser, and flow-
is coarse filtered then ultrafiltered to line system installed at the CLOV com-
remove fine particles. Sulfate removal Subsea Production System plex is described in the complete paper.
with a membrane system is followed The subsea production system of 34 wells
bydeoxygenation. (19 producers and 15 water injectors) is Health and Safety
Power generation is developed typical of systems implemented by the The CLOV project team achieved out-
through three aeroderivative turbo gen- operator in west Africa, but its deliv- standing health, safety, and environmen-
erators rated to produce 28 MW each. ery was designed to raise the local con- tal performance on this development,
This power-system design, initially de- tent of the project compared with earlier aided by its contractors. A particular
ployed on a Nigerian project, drives an ones. A much higher level of assembly of highlight was the achievement by Dae-
all-electric machinery concept based on subsea trees and fabrication of under- woo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineer-
variable-frequency drives. water structures took place in Angola ing (DSME) in its work executing half
compared with earlier projects, a signifi- of all the man-hours performed by con-
Well System cant part of the operators commitment tractors on the project. DSME performed
One of the major enterprises on this to an increase in local activity. its 17 million man-hours without a sin-
project is the drilling program of almost The subsea-tree system on this project gle lost-time injury at the Okpo yard in
2,500 days: 34 wells to be drilled by two is not dissimilar to those that the opera- South Korea and has already received two
drillships: West Gemini and Ensco DS-1. tor has deployed in the past (10,000-psi- awards as a result.
By first oil, they had drilled and installed rated vertical tree weighing 39 t). Each
the completions in 14 wells (11 produc- tree is equipped with a chemical-injection Angola and the Future
ers and three water injectors), which al- valve, an insert choke valve, and a mul- While the description of any project such
lowed the design peak (168,000 B/D) to tiphase flowmeter installed on the well as CLOV is based on discussing technolo-
be reached on 30 September 2014. jumper. There are eight production mani- gy, it is necessary to make mention of the
The vast majority of the wells (32) are folds, four 12-in. four-slot manifolds at drive to maximize the amount of work
of a horizontal design with a maximum Cravo and Lirio and four 10-in. four-slot to be done in the nation and to bring
length of 1800 m, with the other two manifolds on Orquidea and Violeta. a new well-trained local workforce into
being deviated. As with the geology of Two features of the subsea-production- theproject.
the other Block 17 developments, the Oli- system concept for the CLOV complex set While five local fabrication yards were
gocene reservoirs are highly faulted and it apart from the operators other west Af- used to fabricate a variety of project
thin. In order to ensure a full understand- rican projects. First, fiber-optics commu- structuresincluding manifolds, pipe-
ing of the structure of the reservoir, a nication was adopted for the subsea con- in-pipe stalks, and at least one module
pilot well and the two deviated wells were trol system. Each of the eight manifolds for the FPSOit was the overall quan-
drilled initially to calibrate vertical un- is equipped with a subsea router module tity of work done in country that was the
certainties and plan the remaining hori- that handles the flow of data between the target for the operator. At the turn of the
zontal wells. subsea production wells and the master century, when Girassol was being devel-
As with all of the Block 17 reservoirs, control station on the FPSO. The other oped, 1 million man-hours of work was
there is potential for significant sand differentiating feature of CLOV is the ap- performed in Angola, primarily at one
production, which required either sand plication of a multiphase pumping system fabrication yard. For the CLOV develop-
screens or gravel packs in all of the wells. driven by helicoaxial pumps to provide ment, however, 10 million man-hours of
Fourteen production wells and 13 of the flow boosting for the heavier Miocene oil work was performed in Angolan fabrica-
water injectors have standalone sand produced at Orquidea and Violeta. These tion facilities. JPT
3340 m. The maximum water depth does the conventionally welded SCR systems. Strength Assessment
not change significantly for different Weldability of thick-walled X80 line pipe Strength analysis is carried out for the
ODs. It should be noted that these water- offshore is not qualified in the industry following three riser configurations:
depth limits are obtained for the riser- yet for sour-service conditions; there- X65, 8-in. production SCR, 0.67-in.
top angle of 12. fore, it is not considered in this paper. wall thickness, 5-ksi design
SCRs are constructed from conven- Riser-wall-thickness sizing performed pressure, 3617-m water depth.
tionally welded line pipe. A typical steel on the basis of API RP 1111 indicates that X65, 10-in. production SCR, 1.85-in.
grade used in the SCR applications is X65. an advantage can be gained by increas- wall thickness, 15-ksi design
However, X70 pipe is also used in some ing wall thickness along the top section pressure, 3283-m water depth.
SCR projects in the GOM. X80 welded of the riser instead of specifying a single X65, 16-in. oil-export SCR,
line pipe has not been used to date for wall thickness along the entire riser. 1.17-in. wall thickness, 5-ksi
THE HOTTEST
NAME IN TEMPERATURE SENSORS.
Manifold
Conductor
Caissons Spacer
MOBO
TEA
Caisson
Fig. 1Schematic of the entire caisson and ALM (top left); the support structure, 42-in. conductors, and the manifold on
top (top right); ALM populated with four MOBOs (bottom right); closeup of the TEA, showing it attached to the 32-in.-
inner-diameter caisson; this forms the MOBO (bottom left).
son control, there are three pressure which the defoamer injection was un- effectapproximately 15 bar, which,
gauges situated along the length of the able to suppress the formation of foam given that the MOBOs boost in the field
caisson. These allow a liquid density in in the lower caisson during transient was approximately 120140 bar, rep-
the caisson base to be measured and, in operations. At this point, it was noted resented a 1012% reduction in boost
combination with the top gauge, allow a that the defoamer was not effective, so and, hence, load.
level to be calculated on the basis of this it was taken off line to see whether this The increase in capacity over the
determined density. was causing the foaming. Once the tran- threeunits was approximately 5,000B/D
The entire MOBO is retrievable and sient passed through the system, it was gross. Furthermore, the defoamer
is supported on the manifold, which, in noted that the gas at the top of the cais- chemical was the most expensive used
turn, is supported on the conductors; son was still dry (no free liquids) and in BC-10 on a volume basis, so the re-
these also serve to provide a slot inside that the density of the liquid in the cais- quirement to stop continuous injection
which the caisson can sit (Fig. 1). son was lower than before, suggesting it saved approximately USD 4 million on
was holding more gas. an annual basis.
Optimization 1: Embracing On the basis of these observations, it
Foaming Operation was decided to try not injecting defoam- Optimization 2: Nonseparated
Early on in the life of Ostrathe only lo- er on the other caissons to see if they Operation on Ostra
cation of separated MOBOs in BC-10 could operate without liquid carryover With the Ostra MOBOs now operating
the criticality of subsea defoamer in- and with higher gas volume fraction without defoamer, there was still some
jection was identified. Without it, the (GVF). In all cases, the caissons man- unrealized well potential in the field be-
liquid in the caisson became very frothy aged to maintain gas dryness, but there cause the MOBOs were still constrained
and started to carry over and also limit was a decrease in pump performance with respect to power. To increase ca-
the pump because of reduced boost ca- (head) with the increased GVF. pacity, and in light of the experience
pacity. However, at some point, the na- In the field, the additional gas enter- gained operating with higher GVFs on
ture of the foam changed from liquid ing the main oil line through the MOBOs the pump without defoamer, it was de-
in gas (early life) to a gas in liquid. The caused a dramatic reduction in flowline cided to try operating one of the MOBOs
change was observed during an event in backpressure because of the gas lifting in Ostra nonseparated so as to further
Over the last couple of decades, we have While we push model steer our exploration and appraisal pro-
seen a steady stream of intelligent cesses. While we push model integration
innovations go from ideas to infancy to integration (e.g., between (e.g., between static and dynamic and
catalog solutions. Advances in metering, static and dynamic and for for entire production systems), artificial
measurement, control, automation, and intelligence will be working behind the
modeling have changed our daily rou-
entire production systems), scenes to find model inconsistencies, to
tine such that our decisions are better artificial intelligence will narrow uncertainties, and to improve
informed, and, as a result, we produce be working behind the our forecasts and option assessments.
in more-challenging environments, at These advances are coming at an
lower cost, and with better recoveries. scenes to find model opportune time in that they can support
Whether deployed in the office or in inconsistencies, to narrow better decision making in some of our
the field, the majority of these advances most-costly decisions (e.g., helping us to
have pertained to improvements in our uncertainties, and to improve our productive drilling rates and
organizations, in our production facili- improve our forecasts and demonstrating the real costs of deviating
ties, and in our wells. While still not from reservoir-management plans). The
option assessments.
routine, tools based on artificial intel- papers highlighted in this section provide
ligence, large-scale model integration, clear illustrations of how some of this will
and automated data/model integration that take the next step into the reser- be achieved.JPT
are finding their way into the typical voir and across solution types and dis-
practitioners toolbox. What is clearly cipline boundaries. In the coming years,
emerging now are practical solutions artificial-intelligence applications will Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
John Hudson, SPE, is a principal production engineer with Shell. OTC 26209 Proactive and Reactive
He has more than 25 years of experience in multiphase-flow Strategies for Optimal Operational Design:
research, flow-assurance design of deepwater production sys- An Application in Smart Wells byA.C.A.
tems, and development of model-based real-time operations Abreu, PUC-Rio, et al.
decision systems. Since joining Shell, Hudson has held technical SPE 176760 Leveraging Intelligent-Field
and managerial positions in Europe and North America, including Data for Full-Field Pressure-Transient
leading a team that developed a model-based cloud computing Analysis byB. Al-Wehaibi, Saudi Aramco,
solution that was deployed globally to gas plants with a total pro- et al.
duction capacity in excess of 10 Bcf/D. He currently provides production-engineering SPE 177829 Smart Proxy: An Innovative
support for the development of a next-generation simulator. Hudson holds a PhD Reservoir-Management Tool; Case Study of
degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois. He serves on the JPT a Giant Mature Oil Field in the UAE byS.D.
Editorial Committee and can be reached at www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonjohnd. Mohaghegh, Intelligent Solutions, et al.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
68
DAYS WITHOUT SCALE
0 0
REQUIRED WORKOVERS
carboceramics.com/scaleguard
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Future Work
The authors are currently compiling more
geological data and data from other plays
with more-diverse geology. This is im-
portant because, first, the data are need-
ed to validate that the knowledge carries
over to distant locations and even differ-
ent geological horizons; second, the new
data will add to the deep models geologi-
cal knowledge and allow it to increase ac-
curacy and portability (to make use of the
Fig. 1Division into different data sets. knowledge as it is appliedelsewhere).
The current choice of parameters
is used to adapt the model to the data. If ber of wells. This will also be a cause of (thickness, porosity, water saturation,
a model is computationally powerful and variation in the output. Hence, the output bulk density, vitrinite reflectance, total
data are sparse, there is risk of overtrain- should be interpreted as a baseline EUR organic carbon, and brittleness) is made
ing. This means that the model becomes estimate, a value one might expect from for historical rather than scientific rea-
overly specialized on the training data at an average well or fracturedesign. sons; these were the parameters to which
the expense of performance on new data. The predictions are not perfect, but the authors had access when they began
The validation set contains data that the they are still approximately twice as ac- building the models. Some can be re-
model has not seen before, and it is used to curate as type-curve region averages that moved without significant loss of perfor-
evaluate the models ability to generalize. require substantial production data and mance, while adding others would likely
The model is never adapted directly to the do not generalize outside the regions increase accuracy. JPT
validation data set, but indirect decisions they portray.
might be made on the basis of it. When the One can look at the error in absolute
training and validation errors are com- terms or in relative terms. In a data set
parable, the model is in balance when it that contains large variations in OGR,
comes to performance vs. generalization. it makes sense to look at relative devia-
Although the validation set has never been tions. In an area where the average gas
used for adaptation, it has been used indi- EUR is approximately 56 Bcf, an error of
rectly to determine if the system general- 1 Bcf can be acceptable, while in an area
izes well. A third data setthe test setis with 0.2 Bcf, an error of 1 Bcf is consid-
used as a final independent test. erable. The standard statistical measure
It is important that this system work for this is the mean absolute percentage
well in new areas, so the authors select- error (see the complete paper for a de-
ed a test set that covers a separate geo- scription of this expression).
logical and geographical region, one that The test set was in a separate region
lies between 50 and 100 miles from the that was between 50 and 100 miles from
training-set region and contains data the training-set region and used data
from multiple operators. from multiple operators.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Pressure (psi)
500 Prediction
1,500
1,000
1,000
1,500
500 True Data
Noisy Data
0 2,000
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
(a) (b)
Time (hours) Time (hours)
500 100
True Data
Flow Rate (STB/D)
Noisy Data
400
Pressure (psi)
Prediction
200
300
300
200
400
100
True Data
Noisy Data
0 500
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
(c) (d)
Time (hours) Time (hours)
351 0
True Data True Data
Flow Rate (STB/D)
Prediction
5
Pressure (psi)
350.5
10
350 15
20
349.5
25
349 30
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
(e) (f)
Time (hours) Time (hours)
Fig. 1Machine-learning results on Case 1. (a) and (c) show the true flow rate (blue) and the noisy training rate (circle)
of Well 1 and Well 2; (b) and (d) show the true pressure (blue), noisy training pressure (circle), and the pressure
prediction (red) corresponding with the true flow rate of Well 1 and Well 2; (e) shows the flow rate of Well 1 during the
interference test (Well 2 is shut in); (f) shows the comparison of true pressure (blue) and pressure prediction (red) of
Well 2 during the interference test.
active well and observing the pressure dress the two-phase issue, the authors with pressure and flow-rate data with
response at other wells. replaced the oil rate by total liquid rate artificial noise. It should be noted that
Case 2: Pressure Forecast. Here, fur- when constructing the features, thus re- the direction of the modeling was dif-
ther complexity is added to the machine- flecting the physics that the pressure re- ferent, although the training data were
learning task by introducing a greater sponse is caused by the flowing of both still pressure and flow rate. After train-
number of wells and the presence of two- phases. A cross validation was applied. ing, two pressure histories were used as
phase flow. The goal is to forecast the The results showed an accurate match input to generate the flow-rate predic-
pressure, given flow-rate controls at vari- to the training set and a good predic- tions. A high agreement between pre-
ous well locations. Four production wells tion on the validation set, although a de- dictions and true data was observed in
are located at the corners of a homoge- viation in pressure prediction for the in- both cases, although the zig-zag flow
neous reservoir, and an injection well sits jector was observed. Thus, the authors rate looks very different from the train-
in the center. conclude that the machine-learning ing rate, demonstrating the ability of
The key idea in multiwell testing is to framework does have the flexibility to the method to generalize well to un-
expand the feature dimension to include work on multiwell systems with two- known data.
the contributions from multiple wells. phase flow. Case 4: Real Data. The machine-
Adding more wells only means adding learning approach for flow-rate recon-
more features. Besides feature expan- Flow-Rate Reconstruction. Case 3: struction was tested further on a real
sion, no other treatment was required to Synthetic Data. In this case, the PDG-data set. In the training step, part of
account for the additional wells. To ad- machine-learning model was trained the flow-rate data was hidden to mimic
Multilateral/Extended-Reach Wells
Bernt S. Aadny, SPE, Professor of Petroleum Engineering, University of Stavanger
The development of multilateral wells The main benefit from There has been considerable develop-
and long-reach wells has become impor- ment around these technologies. Those
tant to maximizing recovery for many directional drilling is the that help clear the challenges, such as
fields. These technologies are often maximizing of reservoir those related to wellbore stability, well-
applied in offshore environments, where bore friction, equipment limitations,
large reservoir areas are drained from
recovery. From this and operational aspects, can be consid-
one or more platforms. perspective, multilateral/ ered mature technologies today.
In the late 1980s, long-reach wells extended-reach wells may The main benefit from directional
started to use existing infrastructure drilling is the maximizing of reservoir
better by drilling beyond the design lim- be considered one of the recovery. From this perspective, mul-
its of that time. Several major operators more important means of tilateral/extended-reach wells may be
were extending their limits, and, in the considered one of the more important
late 1990s, BP Wytch Farm showed that improved oil recovery. means of improved oil recovery.
a horizontal departure exceeding 10 km Although these directional-well con-
was feasible. This had a significant effect There were many drivers for this devel- cepts have been used for some years,
on the industry because offshore plat- opment. One of the more important was they were initially costly with a high eco-
forms now could be designed for up to the desire to increase production in tight nomic risk. There is a continuous tech-
10-km reach, as opposed to the early reservoirs. Another advantage is direc- nology development at many levels that
1980s when 3-km reach was common. tional control. Well stimulation with leads to improvements. These result in
A field could now be developed with one fracturing has the drawback that the more-efficient processes, with increased
platform instead of three, resulting in fracture direction is controlled by the field recoveries as a consequence. There-
enormous savings. in-situ stresses in the rock. Multilater- fore, multilaterals and extended-reach
Multilateral-well technology also al branches, on the other hand, can be wells are now common and will be very
matured during the past 2 decades. drilled in any direction. important for future cost-effective oil
and gas production.JPT
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
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Well A1 Cumulative Cuttings Recovery Chart
8-in. Section (10,83224,160 ft)
/2 3
/3 3
/3 3
01 1/13
01 1/14
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
14
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/2 3
/2 3
12 0/13
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
01 1/1
01 2/1
01 3/1
01 4/1
01 4/1
01 5/1
12 1/1
12 2/1
12 2/1
12 3/1
12 4/1
12 5/1
12 6/1
12 6/1
12 7/1
12 8/1
12 7/1
12 8/1
12 9/1
12 9/1
12 0/1
12 1/1
12 2/1
12 3/1
12 3/1
12 4/1
12 5/1
12 6/1
12 6/1
6/
/1
/0
/0
/1
12
120 1,300
1,100
100
1,000
60 600
Recovery 89.5%
50 Volume Excess/
Recovery 90.7%
Deficit (bbl) 400
Trip
Trip
40
Trip
300
30
Drill (12,86518,355 ft) 200
20 Drill (12,86518,355 ft) Recovery 89.2%
100
Recovery 88.7%
10 0
0 100
23 59
24 50
24 60
60
23 77
23 05
23 92
23 92
23 92
20 57
21 91
21 81
22 22
22 37
14 43
15 13
15 76
16 31
17 2
18 56
18 52
18 55
18 55
19 55
19 15
19 98
19 98
19 62
20 70
11 32
11 35
12 71
12 25
12 66
13 66
13 54
,0
,1
,1
,1
,1
,5
,1
,2
,2
,2
,4
,8
,8
,2
,7
,2
,6
,3
,3
,3
,3
,3
,4
,9
,4
,8
,4
,9
,5
,8
,8
,3
,9
,7
,5
,4
10
Fig. 1Hole-cleaning chart showing percentage of cuttings recovery and dry volumes for Well A1.
8-in. tangent section. A major reduc- to the last casing shoe without pump or stuck-pipe events were noticed.
tion in the friction factor was also ob- or rotation was performed four Primary hole cleaning was achieved
served in the last 5,000 ft of the run, times because of tool failures and for during drilling, and no secondary
when the majority of CBI tools covered blowout-preventer tests. hole cleaning was required.
the tangentsection. Pill efficiency was monitored and The cuttings recovery of 91.6%
optimized on the basis of cuttings- showed excellent hole cleaning.
Hole-Cleaning Analysis flowmeter data; only one pill was All short trips and wiper trips
A cuttings flowmeter at the shaker evalu- pumped for every four or five stands were eliminated on the basis
ated hole cleaning. The weight of cuttings drilled, instead of for every 45 ft or of hole-cleaning assurance. Pill
reaching the surface was continuously for every stand drilled. efficiency was also monitored, and
measured and analyzed coming off the With the help of hole-cleaning pill frequency was optimized. As
shale shakers. By comparing measured assurance, up to 1,100 ft was drilled a result, greater than 50% of pill
and theoretical volumes, early detection without pumping any tandem pill. volume was saved compared with
of inadequate hole cleaning and excess Final trip at target depth was smooth, the drilling plan.
returns caused by wellbore instability indicating good hole cleaning and A hole-cleaning comparison between
(caving) or formation damage was possi- stable wellbore conditions, before Well A1 and Well B1, which did
ble. Fig. 1 shows the cumulative cuttings running the 7-in. liner. not use the CBI tools, revealed the
recovery for Well A1. effectiveness of the tools, with an
Conclusions 11.7% improvement in recovery and
Results The 8-in. tangent section from a 50% decrease in pillfrequency.
Drilled 13,332 ft in 8-in. section 10,828 to 24,160 ft was drilled The 47 CBI tools resulted in a
without any hole-cleaning issues and successfully with five bit runs. substantial reduction in the
no tight-hole or stuck-pipe events All bits were pulled out of hole rotational friction factor while
recorded. in excellent and rerunnable rotating off-bottom and on bottom.
Drilled 5,490 ft and 3,895 ft in one condition. The 47 CBI tools The openhole friction factor was
run each. installed in the drillstring met and reduced from 0.22 at the beginning
Primary hole cleaning was achieved exceeded expectations. The CBI of the run to 0.12 at target depth.
during drilling; no secondary hole tools enhanced hole cleaning and The CBI tools showed a significant
cleaning was required. ensuredstable hole conditions while reduction in hookload. The last
Excellent hole-cleaning efficiency, drilling the 8-in. tangent section trips showed a 27.3% increase in
with a cuttings recovery of 91.6%. of Well A1. slackoff weight and an 11% decrease
All planned short trips and wiper The 8-in. section was drilled in pickup weight compared with a
trips were avoided by optimum hole successfully without any hole- simulated hookload with a friction
cleaning, although smooth tripping cleaning problems; no tight-hole factor of 0.150.20. JPT
Introduction
The Sakhalin-1 project comprises the
Chayvo, Odoptu, and Arkutun Dagi fields
off the east coast of Sakhalin Island,
Russian Federation (Fig. 1). Develop-
ment drilling at the Chayvo field start-
ed in 2003 with extended-reach wells
drilled from an onshore location with Fig. 1Sakhalin-1 field overview.
the Yastreb drilling rig. In 2005, further
development drilling commenced from
the offshore Orlan platform site. Sub- Limiter Identification Torque Limitation
sequently, in 2008, the Yastreb rig was During the first drilling campaign at The existing 5-in. drillpipe connec-
moved approximately 75 km north to the Chayvo, available topdrive torque limited tion used on the ERD wells during the
Odoptu onshore wellsite and drilled nine drilling performance in the long produc- Odoptu drilling campaign had a maxi-
extended-reach-drilling (ERD) wells as tion hole section (>3000 m). Installa- mum makeup torque of 56,600 lbf-ft.
part of the initial-stage development of tion of a new topdrive capable of contin- The subsequent Chayvo drilling cam-
Odoptu. During the Odoptu campaign, uous torque in excess of 90,000 lbf-ft paign had planned wells that predicted
it was determined that a higher-torque at 140 rev/min eliminated this limiter. surface torque in excess of 70,000lbf-ft.
5-in. drillpipe connection with good During the subsequent Odoptu drilling Using the existing 5-in. connec-
runnability was needed. Following the campaign, the 5-in. drillpipe connec- tion for upcoming planned wells would
Odoptu campaign, the Yastreb rig was tion was identified as a new limiter af- have required significant reductions
moved back to the Chayvo onshore well- fecting rate of penetration (ROP) and in ROP to keep surface torque below
site in 2011 for further development and torque operating margin in the produc- the drillpipe-connection torque rating.
infill drilling of the Chayvo reservoirs. tion holesection. The need for increased torque capac-
ity of the 5-in. drillpipe connection
was identified.
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE/IADC 168049, New Rotary Shouldered Connection Expands the Connection Modifications
Capability of World-Record ERD Operation, by S.R. Sanford, SPE, and M.W. Walker, To Increase Torque Capacity
SPE, ExxonMobil; and J.N. Brock, M.J. Jellison, SPE, and A. Muradov, SPE, NOV Examining the parameters affecting
Grant Prideco, prepared for the 2014 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, torque capacity, and the consequences
Fort Worth, Texas, USA, 46 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. of modifying them, quickly limits the
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
REGISTER NOW
URTeC.org
Fatigue Testing
In order to evaluate the fatigue performance of the enhanced
second-generation DSC, comparative fatigue testing was con-
ducted at the manufacturers technology center. Fatigue test-
ing was performed on a harmonic-fatigue-test machine. This
machine applies a cyclic bending stress by exciting the part in a
whirling motion.
Four samples of the enhanced second-generation DSC and
the standard second-generation DSC (baseline) were fabricat-
ed for testing. All samples were tested at a bending moment of
424,000lbf-in., which corresponds to 14,580-psi bending stress
at the outer fiber of the test specimens. The bending stress was
arbitrarily chosen on the basis of previous experience and in an
attempt to perform testing within a reasonable number ofcycles.
Test Results
All samples were tested to failure. Two of the enhanced second-
generation DSC samples failed in the last engaged thread of the
pin, while the other two failed in the last engaged thread of the
box. Three of the standard second-generation DSC samples
failed in the last engaged thread of the pin, while one failed in
the last engaged thread of the box. The enhanced second-gen-
eration DSC samples exhibited better fatigue performance com-
pared with the baseline standard second-generation DSC, failing
on average after 982,300 cycles and 571,276 cycles,respectively.
The test results demonstrate that the fatigue-resistant thread
form incorporated in the enhanced second-generation DSC de-
sign adequately compensated for any potential adverse effects
of the increased makeup torque and also improved the fatigue
performance when compared with the field-proven standard
second-generation DSC.
Field Deployment
The enhanced second-generation DSC has been in use for 18
months on two differentrigs. Initial deployment of this connec-
tion proceeded without issues, and compatibility with the exist-
ing standard second-generation DSC has been successful. The
operator was able to use all existing tools from the standard sec-
ond-generation DSC and maintain complete compatibility with
the new drillpipeconnection.
No failures of the enhanced second-generation DSC have
been observed in operations. Although the new connection is
in a higher stress state than its predecessor when made up, the
operator has seen no fatigue cracks during routine inspections,
consistent with the history of the standard second-generation
DSC. These field data support the laboratory-testing data in
terms of the enhanced connection not being more prone to fa-
tigue failure than the standard second-generation DSC.
Stabbing and making up the enhanced second-generation
DSC have proved to be identical to previous operations with the
standard second-generation DSC.JPT
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
Cementing/Zonal Isolation
Gunnar DeBruijn, SPE, Standards and Knowledge Development Manager, Schlumberger
Is zonal isolation provided by cement? In the last several years, us to double-check our practices, con-
Cementing is central to the discus- tinue effective techniques, and devel-
sion of zonal isolation and well integri- regulations have been op technology where improvements
ty because cement typically provides at updated and rewritten areneeded.
least one barrier in a well and is a com- Technology is also focused on improv-
ponent of the barrier envelope or barrier worldwide. In every ing verification of cement placement and
system during well construction and the jurisdiction, we can point barrier achievement. Cement evaluation,
operational phases of the well. Cement including wellsite observations during
to a regulation or industry
parameters are typically included in cement placement, pressure tests, and
regulations and included as part of the standard that affects logging techniques, are part of the well-
permanent-abandonment requirements drilling and cementing integrity equation. These enhanced
for oil and gas wells. evaluation methods provide confidence
As an industry, installing and maintain- operations. This regulatory that zonal isolation and well integrity
ing the cement barrier and well integrity attention compels us areachieved.
are part of our social license to operate. As an industry and as SPE profession-
Since the first use of cement in oil wells in
to double-check our als, we work to provide energy from
1906, we as an industry have been proud practices, continue wells that use cement as a key compo-
that we have established and continuous- effective techniques, and nent in providing zonal isolation and
ly improved cementingpractices. well integrity. We comply with regula-
There is a long history of industry develop technology where tions, industry standards, and indus-
standards for cementing, with the Amer- improvements are needed. try best practices and continually
ican Petroleum Institute establishing update technology that instills confi-
the first cementing standard in 1948. dence in zonal isolation and well integ-
SPE has also included cementing ses- In the last several years, regulations rity for our industry, stakeholders,
sions at technical conferences for the have been updated and rewritten world- and society. JPT
last half-century. A quick search on the wide. In every jurisdiction, we can point
word cement in the SPE OnePetro to a regulation or industry standard that
database yields 21,133 results, dating affects drilling and cementing opera- Recommended additional reading
back to 1945. tions. This regulatory attention compels at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 172937 Achieving Cementing
Gunnar DeBruijn, SPE, is standards and knowledge develop- Improvement in Horizontal Tight-Gasfield
ment manager for Schlumberger, well integrity (cementing). He Development byPungki Ariyanto, BP, et al.
holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University SPE/IADC 167922 Intermixing of
of Alberta and has 26 years of experience working in the oil Cementing Fluids: Understanding Mud
industry, mostly in cementing. DeBruijn has worked in North Displacement and Cement Placement
America and in deep water around the world supporting cement- byZhongming Chen, Baker Hughes, et al.
ing and well-integrity initiatives. His current focus is on training SPE 175237 A Decade of Self-Sealing-
and competency development for the worldwide cementing Cement Technology Application To
population. DeBruijn serves on the JPT Editorial Committee. He can be reached at Ensure Long-Term Well Integrity byArash
[email protected]. Shadravan, ReservoirFocus, et al.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
www.wellbarrier.com
An Integrated Approach to Solving Sustained
Casing Pressure in the Cana-Woodford Shale
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
tationally prohibitive. So, a critical section 0% corresponds to the onset of non- Book Sales
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ROBERT J. BREWER, SPE, has been ap- Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and European Associa-
pointed president of Cepstrum Geophysi- tion of Geoscientists and Engineers.
cal, based in Houston. He is responsible for
3D data processing and overall operations SEGUN OMIDELE, SPE, has been appoint-
functions, focusing on sales management ed chief executive officer at Erin Energy
and business development. Brewer was Corp. He will assume the role in May after
previously region business development the companys annual meeting of share-
manager for Baker Hughes. He has experience in land and ma- holders. He was previously its chief operat-
rine surface and borehole seismic data acquisition, process- ing officer (COO). Omidele joined the com-
ing, and interpretation, and has played lead roles in projects pany in 2011 as senior vice president for
in the US Lower 48 states, Canada, and Mexico. Brewer holds business development and new ventures. From 2008 to 2011,
a BA degree in geology from Bowling Green State University. he was senior vice president of exploration and production at
He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Allied Energy Corp. Before that, he held senior technical and
Geologists, Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts, management positions with Shell companies in Nigeria, UK,
and the US for more than 28 years. Omidele holds a masters
degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Hous-
ton and is a graduate of Harvard Universitys advanced
Member Deaths managementprogram.
Robert C. Berger, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA
Cy A. Schaadt, Berne, Indiana, USA ROBERT TERRELL, SPE, has been appointed regional man-
Thomas E. Williams, Denton, Texas, USA ager at Aquatic Engineering and Construction and will focus
Nelson Ed Williams, Surprise, Arizona, USA on growing the companys business in the Americas. He has
In Memoriam
EDGAR RANGEL-GERMAN, SPE, com- Rangel-German made significant contributions to the suc-
missioner of Mexicos regulatory agency cess of the reform. His term with CNH began in 2009, with
National Hydrocarbons Commission his appointment as one of the five founding commission-
(CNH) and one of the key members be- ers of the agency by Mexicos president at the time, Felipe
hind the implementation of Mexicos re- Caldern. Before the CNH appointments, he held other ex-
cent energy reform for hydrocarbons, ecutive roles in Mexican government. He was chief technical
died 23 March. He was 42. adviser to the undersecretary of hydrocarbons at the secre-
Rangel-German was a thought leader in Mexicos energy tary of energy, SENER, where one of his early assignments
reform, which brought about constitutional changes in was to write the first charter for CNH in 2005. He also held
2013 to open the countrys oil and gas market to private in- the role of general director for hydrocarbon, electricity, and
vestments and technical expertise to increase production. water project evaluation at the secretary offinance.
He was appointed CNH commissioner for a second term in A member of SPE since his student days, Rangel-German
2013 by Mexico President Enrique Pea Nieto, when consti- was the president of the SPE Stanford University student
tutional changes charged CNH with regulating, overseeing, chapter. He continued to be an active volunteer and served
and evaluating all hydrocarbons exploration and produc- on several SPE committees, including the 2016 SPE Mexico
tion activities in Mexico. Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability Symposium;
CNH oversees the tenders the country is offering under 2014 and 2016 SPE Latin America Heavy and Extra Heavy Oil
the reform. On the success of the second tender in Round Conferences; 2014 SPE Applying the Best Technologies in
One in September last year, he commented in a JPT article, Extremely Sensitive Environments Workshop; and 2013 SPE
We believe that our mandate of obtaining the best con- EORTechnical and Managerial Framework for Engineer-
ditions for the Mexican state was achieved. neither the ing a Successful Implementation Workshop. He was also
current oil prices nor the minimum value established by the author of several SPE technical papers on topics such as
the minister of finance mattered in the second auction. It heavy oil reservoir thermal simulation and economic evalua-
seems to me that materiality ruled the tender. The third tion, production forecasting for underdeveloped fields, and
auction last December was even more successful with all temperature-induced sandconsolidation.
25 onshore blocks offered being awarded. Rangel-German held a bachelors degree from the Uni-
With technical expertise in petroleum engineering and versity of Mexico, and masters and PhD degrees from
experience from Mexicos finance and energy ministries, Stanford University, all in petroleum engineering.
[email protected]
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2324 May Abu DhabiSPE Global 14 June LondonSPE London Annual 2224 May Kuala LumpurSPE: The Role
Integrated Workshop Series: Managing Conference: Adapting to a Challenging Oil of Geomechanics in Conventional
Well Integrity in a Low Cost Oil Price Environment and Unconventional Reservoir
Environment Performance and Management
13 August San AntonioSPE/AAPG/
2526 May DubaiSPE Coiled Tubing: SEG Unconventional Resources Technology 1216 June San AntonioSPE Processing
Taking the Lead with Coiled Tubing Conference Facilities of the Future
Technologies in a Challenging Oil Market
24 August LagosSPE Nigeria Annual 1217 June San AntonioSPE Key
9 June CalgarySPE Oilsands: International Conference and Exhibition Factors for Success in Unconventional
Competitive Strategies for In-Situ Well Pad Reservoir Development
Development 2224 August SingaporeIADC/
SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology 1720 October DubaiSPE Well
1820 July BangkokSPE Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition Construction Fluids 2025: Meeting the
Systems for Optimised Production Challenges
2426 August BeijingSPE Asia Pacific
1921 July Colorado SpringsSPE Hydraulic Fracturing Conference
Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing for Wells, CALL FOR PAPERS
Reservoir, and Facilities Management 68 September AberdeenSPE
Intelligent Energy Conference
1516 August Kuala LumpurSPE SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show
Reserves, Resources, and Definition 1415 September GalvestonSPE and Conference Bahrain
Deepwater Drilling and Completions Deadline: 15 May
2021 September CalgarySPE Caprock Conference
Integrity for Thermal Applications SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and
2122 September MidlandSPE Liquids- Exhibition Dublin
912 October MuscatEAGE/SPE Rich Basins ConferenceNorth America Deadline: 23 May
Workshop on Tar Mats and Heavy Oil
2628 September DubaiSPE Annual SPE Health, Safety, Security,
1011 October Kuala LumpurSPE Technical Conference and Exhibition Environment, and Social Responsibility
Reservoir Surveillance & Production ConferenceNorth America
Enhancement through Cost-Effective 1820 October AccraSPE African New Orleans
Technology Integration and Operation Health, Safety, Security, Environment, Deadline: 24 May
Efficiency and Social Responsibility Conference and
Exhibition SPE International Conference on Oilfield
Chemistry Montgomery
CONFERENCES 1920 October LimaSPE Latin America Deadline 16 June
and Caribbean Heavy and Extra Heavy Oil
Conference SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology
910 May AberdeenSPE Oilfield Conference The Woodlands
Corrosion Conference Deadline: 15 August
SYMPOSIUMS
1112 May AberdeenSPE Oilfield
Scale Conference
1718 May HoustonSPE/IAEE
2326 May AnchorageSPE Western Hydrocarbon Economics and Evaluation
Regional Meeting
Find complete listings of upcoming SPE workshops, conferences, symposiums, and forums at www.spe.org/events.
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