JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY www.spe.

org/jpt

SEPTEMBER 2013

DRILLING MANAGEMENT AND AUTOMATION

RESERVOIR PERFORMANCE AND MONITORING COMPLETIONS TODAY

FEATURES

2014 SPE President Jeff Spath Drilling in Space Dry Tree Semisubmersibles An Incubator for Startups University R&D

Volume 65 Number 9

16 G  UEST EDITORIAL: CREATING A COMMON SAFETY CULTURE

The oil and gas industry can enhance safety practices by developing shared guidelines for work control, isolation standards, risk assessment, and safety observation programs. The incoming SPE president shares his goals and strategy with SPE and its members for the coming year. The new 5-year Strategic Framework will prioritize capability development, knowledge transfer, professionalism and social responsibility, and public education about the profession and industry issues.

32 2  014 SPE PRESIDENT JEFF SPATH

42 S  PE STRATEGIC PLAN IDENTIFIES FOUR PRIORITIES

56 D  RILLING IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS: SPACE DRILLING AND THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY 70 D  RY TREE SEMISUBMERSIBLES: THE NEXT DEEPWATER OPTION

Drilling in extreme environments is helping drive advances in the oil and gas industry and presents analogs that can be mined for insight.

Cover: National Oilwell Varcos hardware-

in-the-loop drilling simulator supports drilling automation. Photo courtesy of National Oilwell Varco.

Offshore engineering companies are taking existing technologies and lessons learned from floating rigs to create a new platform design that will allow drilling in deeper waters.

78 E  &P SOFTWARE: THE NEXT GENERATION

New ventures supported by Surge Accelerator, a company that offers financial support, training, and advice from mentors, are creating software to improve oil and gas operations. The discovery of additional unconventional resources, new oil recovery techniques, and more university collaborations have led to Saudi Aramcos record performance and increased technical capabilities.

86 S  audi Aramco Production Hits Historic Highs

6 10 12 14 18 24 50 167 169 171 175 176 Performance Indices Regional Update Company News Comments Technology Applications Technology Update Young Technology Showcase People SPE News Professional Services Advertisers Index SPE Events

88 I  NDUSTRY/RESEARCH COLLABORATION ADVANCES OIL AND GAS TECHNOLOGIES

Universities are working on some of the oil and gas industrys most challenging hurdles to develop new technologies and techniques to meet the increasing global demand for energy. Deloittes fourth annual Oil & Gas Reality Check presents five trends affecting the oil and gas industry globally and discusses the direction these trends may follow.

102 M  ANAGEMENT: TOP TRENDS IN THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR

166 L  EGION OF HONOR

SPE welcomes 83 members with 50 years of consecutive membership into the Legion of Honor.

Printed in US. Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

TECHNOLOGY

108  Reservoir Performance and Monitoring

Erik Vikane, SPE, Production Manager, Statoil Oseberg East

109  New Time/Rate Relations for Decline-Curve Analysis of

Unconventional Reservoirs

114  Instilling Realism in Production Forecasting Decreases Chances

ofUnderperformance

118  Conformance Control and Proactive Reservoir Management Improve

Deepwater Production andPressure

123  Distributed Microchip System Records Subsurface Temperature 126  Completions Today
Paul Cameron, SPE, Senior Well-Engineering Adviser, Global Wells Organization, BP

127  Advancements in Completion Technology Increase Production

intheWilliston Basin GasFormation

130  North American Completion Technologies Unlock the Amin Tight 136  Intelligent-Well Completion in the Troll Field Enables Feed-Through
Zonal Isolation

140  Evaluation of Established Cleanup Models in Dynamic

UnderbalancedPerforating

146  Drilling Management and Automation

J.C. Cunha, SPE, Drilling Manager, Ecopetrol America

147  Design of an Automated Drilling-Prediction System 152  Management Strategies Optimize Drilling and Completion Operations 156  Integrated-Technology Approach Enables Successful Prospect
Evaluations in Malaysia

160  Real-Time Analysis for Remote Operations Centers

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

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PERFORMANCE INDICES
world crude oil production+
THOUSAND BOPD OP EC
Algeria Angola Ecuador Iran Iraq Kuwait* Libya Nigeria Qatar Saudi Arabia* UAE Venezuela TOTAL 2012 NOV 1483 1770 504 3000 3225 2650 1450 2280 1200 9540 2820 2300 32222 DEC 1485 1790 503 3100 3125 2650 1350 2520 1200 9240 2820 2300 32083 2013 JAN 1490 1840 505 3200 3075 2650 1350 2460 1200 9140 2820 2300 32030 FEB 1490 1790 506 3200 3075 2650 1400 2420 1200 9140 2820 2300 31991 MAR 1490 1840 504 3200 3075 2650 1350 2445 1200 9140 2820 2300 32014 APR 1510 1855 516 3200 3175 2650 1450 2400 1200 9440 2820 2300 32516

THOUSAND BOPD Non-OPEC

Argentina Australia Azerbaijan Brazil Canada China Colombia Denmark Egypt Eq. Guinea Gabon India Indonesia Kazakhstan Malaysia Mexico Norway Oman Russia Sudan Syria UK USA Vietnam Yemen Other Total Total World 2012 NOV 533 379 866 2045 3281 4232 970 202 551 297 240 774 848 1564 550 2622 1517 947 10048 90 131 864 7052 362 162 2444 43570 75792 DEC 546 371 916 2105 3427 4224 984 200 551 297 240 773 850 1545 557 2606 1558 950 10018 101 136 923 7095 357 169 2455 43953 76036 2013 JAN 534 282 910 2054 3327 4168 1010 187 548 282 240 763 834 1564 546 2609 1545 939 9995 106 131 913 7047 345 162 2434 43475 75506 FEB 534 309 903 2017 3537 4146 998 197 547 282 239 767 834 1583 552 2602 1502 944 9990 106 133 826 7145 355 162 2453 43663 75654 MAR 536 328 892 1853 3637 4164 1013 193 545 282 239 777 840 1588 536 2562 1498 934 9995 112 91 1041 7177 337 140 2451 43761 75775 APR 592 341 886 1923 3637 4174 1007 183 543 282 238 773 827 1572 544 2564 1567 910 10002 115 71 805 7353 359 119 2445 43833 76349

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

PERFORMANCE INDICES
Henry Hub Gulf Coast Natural Gas Spot Price*
5 4 3 2 1 2012 JUL AUG SEP OCT DEC 2013 JAN FEB MAR NOV

USD/Mil. BTUs
MAY OCT FEB JUN JUN 1761 183 423 138 389 133 250 3277 2nd APR JUN

world crude oil pRICES (USD/bbl)

102.62 87.90 113.36
AUG

94.13

112.86

94.51

111.71

89.49

2012 JUL

SEP

109.06
NOV

86.53

109.49
DEC

87.86

112.96

94.76

116.02

95.31

2013 JAN

108.47

92.94

102.25
APR

92.02

102.56

94.51

102.92

95.77

MAR

MAY

Brent

WTI

WORLD ROTARY RIG COUNT

R EGION
US Canada Latin America Europe Middle East Africa Asia Pacific TOTAL 2013 JAN 1757 503 414 134 379 115 237 3539 FEB 1762 642 427 135 350 113 250 3679 MAR 1756 464 437 133 336 115 247 3488 APR 1755 153 429 136 354 125 257 3209 MAY 1767 128 424 124 362 124 249 3178 JUL 1766 291 418 139 379 128 241 3362

world OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND 1

MILLION BOPD
Quarter

2012
3rd 4th

2013
1st

SUPPLY DEMAND
INDICES KEY
+ Figures

89.03 89.27

89.33 89.82

88.60 89.15

89.79 89.54

do not include NGLs and oil from nonconventional sources. approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production. Includes crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas plant liquids, other hydrocarbons for refinery feedstocks, refinery 1  gains, alcohol, and liquids produced from nonconventional sources. Source: Baker Hughes. *  The US Dept. of Energy/Energy Information Administration discontinued its reporting of US Natural Gas Wellhead Prices, replacing them with Henry Hub Gulf Coast Natural Gas Spot Prices. Source: US Dept. of Energy/Energy Information Admin.  Includes * 

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

REGIONAL UPDATE
AFRICA
A discovery was made at the Ogo-1 well
offshore Nigeria. The well reached a total depth of 3206 m and encountered a gross hydrocarbon section of 524 ft with 216 ft of net stacked pay. Optimum Petroleum Development (60%) is the operator in partnership with Afren (22.86%) and Lekoil(17.14%). Salamander Energy (23.4%) and Orchid Kutai (22%). basement. Statoil Petroleum (40%) is the operator in partnership with Petoro (30%), Det norske oljeselskap (20%), and Lundin Norway(10%).

Oil was discovered at the Parit Minyak-2

exploration well located onshore north Sumatra in Indonesia. The well was drilled to a total depth of 2812 m, during which several oil shows were noted within the Eocene/Oligocene Pematang group. From the interval of 2480 m to 2539 m, the well flowed 37 API oil at a rate of 200 to 400 B/D with no water. Pacific Oil & Gas (Kisaran) (55%) is the operator in partnership with Pacific Oil & Gas (Sumatera) (22.5%) and New Zealand Oil &Gas (22.5%).

MIDDLE EAST
Gulf Keystone has commenced its
development drilling program with the spudding of the Shaikan-10 development well in Iraq. The well is a modular design with a production capacity of 20,000BOPD. It will be followed by a minimum three-rig development and production drilling program, which will begin early next year.

ASIA
Drilling has begun on the Lukut
Updip1exploratory well on Brunei Block L in Brunei. It has a planned true vertical depth of 2431 m targeting deltaic and baseslope sand deposits of Middle Miocene age. AEDSoutheast Asia (50%) is the operator in partnership with Kulczyk Oil Brunei (40%) and a private Brunei company (10%).

AUSTRALIA
Drilling began on Hooper-1, an
exploration well in PEL 92, in the Cooper basin in South Australia. The well will be drilled on a 3D seismic defined anticline in the northwest section of PEL 92 and has a planned total depth of 1820 m, targeting Namur Sandstone. Beach Energy (75%) is the operator in partnership with Cooper Energy (25%).

NORTH AMERICA
Drilling has begun on the East Lusk
15 Federal #3 horizontal well in Lea County in New Mexico. The planned depth is 2896m vertically and 1219 m to 1524 m laterally. FieldPoint Petroleum (43.75%) is the operator in partnership with Cimarex (37.5%) and other unnamed partners(18.75%).

Salamander Energy has begun its

multi-well exploration program in Block G4/50 off the Gulf of Thailand. The group plans to drill six exploration wells this year followed by further exploration drilling next year. The block covers 2,239 sq miles and contains five sub-basins. Salamander holds a 100% operating interest.

The Vicksburg deepwater well in

EUROPE
The Norvarg appraisal well confirmed
the presence of hydrocarbons in the Kobbe formation in production license 535 in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea. Drillstem tests to assess the quality of the reservoir and the volume potential in the northeastern part of the Norvarg closure will be performed. Total (40%) is the operator in partnership with Det norske (20%), North Energy (20%), Valiant Petroleum (13%), and Rocksource (7%).

Gas condensate was discovered

from a deep reservoir at the Adam X-1 exploration well in Block 2568-13 in the Hala field in Pakistan. During testing, the well flowed at 14.3 MMcf/D of gas and 125BOPD (condensate) at a 40/64in. choke. Pakistan Petroleum (65%) is the operatorin partnership with Mari Petroleum (35%).

the Gulf of Mexico encountered more than 500 ft of net oil pay after being drilled to a depth of 8042 m. Located in the DeSoto Canyon Block 393, the Vicksburg A discovery is estimated to contain recoverable resources of more than 100million BOE. Royal Dutch Shell (75%) is the operator in partnership with Nexen(25%).

Drilling has begun on the Stalder Pad

site located in eastern Monroe County in Ohio. The pad has been designed and permitted to drill up to 18 wells (10 Marcellus and 8 Utica). Triad Hunter (50%) is the operator in partnership with Magnum Hunter Resources (50%).

Production has begun on the offshore

Wenchang 8-3E oil field in China. The field is located in the western Pearl River Mouth basin in China and has an average water depth of approximately 110 m to 120 m. China National Offshore Oil Corporation is the operator with a 100% interest.

Seismic data acquisition has begun in

the Fedynsky and Central Barents license areas in the ice-free part of the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. The 2D survey is planned to take place over 6,100 miles. Rosneft holds 66.67% of the joint venture, while Eni holds the remainder (33.33%).

SOUTH AMERICA
Oil and gas reserves were discovered at
the Chercn 1 well located on the Flamenco block in Chile. The well was drilled to a total depth of 2066 m and flowed at a rate of approximately 4 MMcf/D of gas and 35 BOPD through a choke of 8 mm. GeoPark Holdings (50%) is the operator in partnership with Empresa Nacional de Petroleo de Chile.JPT

The Tayum-1 exploration well

encountered approximately 49 vertical ft of net gas pay from multiple sandstone intervals within the Miocene and Pliocene section. The well is located in the Kutai production sharing contract offshore Kalimantan in Indonesia. KrisEnergy (54.6%) is the operator in partnership with

Drilling began on the 16/2-18S

exploratory well in production license 265 in the North Sea. Located in the Cliffhanger North prospect, the well has a planned total depth of 1970 m and will test the presence of the Jurassic reservoir and the quality of fractured and weathered

10

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

COMPANY NEWS
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Chesapeake Energy will sell its assets
in the northern Eagle Ford Shale and Haynesville Shale to EXCO Operating, a subsidiary of EXCO Resources, for USD 1billion. The acquisition covers approximately 55,000 net acres from Zavala, Dimmit, La Salle, and Frio counties in Texas, which includes 120 producingwells.

Cameron and Schlumberger received all required regulatory approvals for their joint venture, OneSubsea, which will manufacture and develop products, systems, and services for the subsea oil and gas market. Cameron will hold a 60% interest and Schlumberger the remaining40%. Cimarex Energy and Chevron will jointly
develop Cimarexs combined Permian Basin acreage in Texas spanning 104,000 acres. Chevron will pay USD60million to secure a 50% stake in the Cimarex-built Triple Crown gas gathering and processing system and wells drilled on the acreage.

tube umbilicals for hydraulic control fluids, chemicals, and electrical power signals in early 2015 to operate and monitor the subsea wells and manifold. A subsidiary of McDermott International will carry out an engineering, procurement, and construction contract including six subsea wells, one six-slot manifold, two umbilicals, six jumpers, two flowlines with two steel catenary risers, two subsea pump modules, and topsides support equipment beginning in the second quarter of 2015.

GE Oil & Gas bought Lufkin Industries

for approximately USD 3.3 billion. Lufkin has more than 110 service centers and nine manufacturing facilities for artificial lift equipment globally.

Nido Petroleum Philippines, a wholly

owned subsidiary of Nido Petroleum, was awarded a 12-month extension of Sub-Phase 6 of Service Contract 54A by the Philippine Department of Energy. The contract will allow the SC 54A joint venture time to complete engineering and field development studies offshore west Philippines before making a decision to enter Sub-Phase 7.

Costain acquired EPC Offshore, Chesapeake Energy sold a 50%

undivided interest in approximately 850,000 acres in northern Oklahoma for USD 1.02 billion to Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production. Assets associated with the transaction produced approximately 9,600 B/D of liquids and 54 MMcf/D of natural gas during the first quarter of the year. resulting in the launch of Costain Upstream, a new divisional operation. The new company will have more than 350 employees and will provide services across the life cycle of upstream offshore oil and gas assets.

2H Offshore, an Acteon company, ALS Global acquired Reservoir Group

for USD 533 million. The transaction includes operational infrastructure in approximately 40 sites globally and 900employees. was awarded a contract by Total for the delivery management of the tension leg platform top tensioned riser (TTR) systems for its Moho Nord field development offshore Congo. The company will be responsible for the riser delivery management, including design finalization, procurement management, and inspection services for 17 production and water injection TTRs and one highpressure drilling riser.

Schlumberger bought Gushor, a

Canadian-based petroleum geochemistry and fluid analysis company that provides production and exploration solutions for heavy oil and oil sands.

COMPANY MOVES
Schlumberger announced the official
opening of its Schlumberger Reservoir Laboratory in Chengdu, China. The 32,000ft2 facility offers an integrated suite of petrophysical and geomechanical services to help customers improve hydrocarbon recovery and maximize production throughout the life of theirreservoirs.

Xodus Group bought Dubai-based

Prime Energy as part of its major expansion drive in the Middle East. Prime Energys team will form part of Xodus subsidiary based in Dubai, which will be renamed Xodus-Prime DMCC.

Aker Solutions won a contract from

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) to supply a drilling equipment package a production platform at the Mariner field in the North Sea. The contract includes a complete topside equipment package and support services to DSMEs shipyard in South Korea. Delivery of the contract is expected to be completed in 2015.

Petronas Carigali incorporated a

new wholly owned subsidiary, Vestigo Petroleum, to focus on development andproduction activities from small, marginal, and mature fields in Malaysia and abroad.

Petronas announced it has begun

construction on its first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Malaysia in June. The facility will be located in the Kanowit gas field in Block SK306, which is 112 miles offshore Sarawak and will have the capacity to produce 1.2MTPA of LNG.

Vietnam and China have extended

an agreement to jointly explore for oil and gas in the Gulf of Tonkin until 2016. The new agreement expands the area covered from 1541 km2 to 4076km2 under the initial arrangement. The operational responsibilities and costs will be split evenly. The joint exploration is led by Petrovietnam and China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Wison Offshore & Marine, a subsidiary

of the Wison Group, was awarded a contract from China Oilfield Services to supply one 3,000 hp modular drilling rig for use on the Tsimin field in the GOM. Wison will perform the project management, procurement, production engineering, fabrication, load out, offshore installation, and commissioning of the modular drilling rig . JPT

CONTRACTS
ExxonMobil awarded two contracts for
work in its Julia field development in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Walker Ridge block. Oceaneering International will supply 14 miles of electro-hydraulic, steel

12

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

COMMENTS

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Syed AliChairperson, Technical Advisor, Schlumberger Francisco J. Alhanati, Director, Exploration & Production, C-FER Technologies Mohammed Azeemuddin, Geomechanics and Pore Pressure Team Lead, Chevron Baojun Bai, Associate Professor/Graduate Coordinate Petroleum Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology Ian G. Ball, Technical Director, Intecsea (UK) Luciane Bonet, Reservoir Engineering Manager, Petrobras America Paul D. Cameron, Senior Well Intervention Discipline Advisor, BP plc Robert B. Carpenter, Sr. AdvisorCementing, Chevron Simon Chipperfield, Team Leader Central Gas Team/ Gas Exploitation, Eastern Australia Development, Santos Gerald R. Coulter, President, Coulter Energy International Martin V. Crick, Chief Petroleum Engineer, Tullow Oil plc Jose C. Cunha, Drilling Manager, Ecopetrol America. Alexandre Emerick, Reservoir Engineer, Petrobras Research Center Martyn J. Fear, General Manager Drilling & Completions,Husky Energy Niall Fleming, Leading Advisor Well Productivity & Stimulation, Statoil Emmanuel Garland, Special Advisor to the HSE Vice President, Total A.G. Guzman-Garcia, Engineer Advisor, ExxonMobil Robert Harrison, Global Technical Head of Reservoir Engineering, Senergy Oil & Gas Delores J. Hinkle, Director, Corporate Reserves, Marathon George W. Hobbs, Director, Strategic Chemistry John Hudson, Senior Production Engineer, Shell Gerd Kleemeyer, Head Integrated Geophysical Services, Shell Global Solutions International BV Gregory Kubala, Global Chemistry Metier Manager, Schlumberger Jesse C. Lee, Chemistry Technology Manager, Schlumberger Cam Matthews, Director, New Technology Ventures, C-FER Technologies Casey McDonough, Drilling Engineer, Chesapeake Energy Stephane Menand, Managing Director, DrillScan US John Misselbrook, Senior Advisor for Coiled Tubing, Baker Hughes Badrul H Mohamed Jan, Lecturer/Researcher, University of Malaya Alvaro F. Negrao, Senior Drilling Advisor, Woodside Energy (USA) Shauna G. Noonan, Staff Production Engineer, ConocoPhillips Karen E. Olson, Completion Expert, Southwestern Energy Michael L. Payne, Senior Advisor, BP plc Mauricio P. Rebelo, Technical Services Manager, Petrobras America John D. Rogers, Vice President of Operations, Fusion Petroleum Technologies Jon Ruszka, Drilling Manager, Baker Hughes (Africa Region) Hisham N. Saadawi, VP Engineering, ADCO (Abu Dhabi Co. Onshore Oil Opn.) Jacques B. Salies, Drilling Manager, Queiroz Galvo E&P Helio M. Santos, President, Safekick Otto L. Santos, Snior Consultor, Petrobras Luigi A Saputelli, Senior Production Modeling Advisor, Hess Corporation Brian Skeels, Emerging Technologies Manager, FMC Technologies Sally A. Thomas, Principal Engineer, Production Technology, ConocoPhillips Win Thornton Global Projects Organization, BP plc Erik Vikane Manager Petroleum Technology, Statoil Scott Wilson, Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott Company

Looking Ahead
John Donnelly, JPT Editor Initial forecasts for 2014 predict continued growth in global oil supply, relatively moderate demand, and a potential softening of oil prices. International events could change that picture overnight but, for now, the industrys three leading forecastersthe International Energy Agency (IEA), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), and OPECare in agreement about what to expect next year. The boom in oil productionprimarily from North American unconventionalsshould lead to another year of global surplus, with supply outstripping world demand. Global demand will actually rise next year, but at a lesser rate than nonOPEC oil supply. In addition to the US, supplies are expected to increase from Canada, Brazil, and Kazakhstan. ExxonMobils Kearl project will boost Canadian output, while the startup of the Kashagan project in the Caspian Sea should add 250,000BOPD in production in Kazakhstan. The IEA believes that non-OPEC output will rise by 1.3 million BOPD next year, annual growth that has occurred only once in the past 20 years. The largest increase will come from the US, with that countrys production rising 500,000 BOPD. In July, US crude production increased to 7.5 million BOPD, the highest monthly level of production since 1991. The EIA forecasts that US total crude oil production will average 7.4 million BOPD this year and 8.2 million BOPD in 2014. Total global demand is forecast to rise 1.3 million BOPD next year, to more than 90 million BOPD, according to the IEA, with OPEC slightly less optimistic with a forecast of a 1 million BOPD rise. Global oil demand has grown approximately 7 million BOPD since 2005. OPEC member countries will meet in December to formalize strategy for 2014. Meanwhile, OPEC is coming to grips with the US shale boom. At its meeting in July, OPEC ministers conceded that the world will need less of its crude even though world demand will grow at its healthiest pace since 2010. The organization said that demand for OPEC crude will fall by 300,000 BOPD to 29.6 million BOPD. Production from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is healthy, as output has grown to historic levels. Differences exist among these three major forecasts. The EIA is more optimistic about global demand and supply growth while OPEC is the most pessimistic. All three forecasters predict that OECD demand will decline, although at a slower rate, while non-OECD demand growth will continue to increase. China is something of a wild card. The EIA predicts a slight rise in Chinese demand growth next year to 389,000BOPD from 360,000 BOPD this year. But OPEC sees that demand growth relatively flat. JPT

To contact JPT s editor, email jdonnelly@spe.org. 14

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

GUEST EDITORIAL

Creating a Common Safety Culture

Bob Keiller, CEO, Wood Group

Bob Keiller became chief executive officer (CEO) of the John Wood Group in November 2012. Previously, he was CEO of Wood Group PSN and CEO of Production Services Network before its acquisition by Wood Group. He has also served as chairman of the Offshore Contractors Association, the UK Helicopter Issues Task Group, the Entrepreneurial Exchange, and cochair of Oil and Gas UK. Awarded the Aberdeen Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and 2008, he was also named Scottish Businessman of the Year in 2007 and Grampian Industrialist of the Year in 2008. Keiller received a master of engineering degree from Heriot-Watt University and is a chartered engineer.

Most people who work in the oil and gas industry know what a permit to work is. A blue permit indicates that it covers cold workwork with no potential to create a naked flame, hot surface, spark, or explosion. Having a permit ensures that the job site is safe for the team to do its work, that the team understands the potential risks of the work it is planning to do, and that it agrees to put suitable controls in place. I spoke recently at the Piper 25 Conference, a 3-day event held in Aberdeen to mark the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster that killed 167 people on board the oil platform in the North Sea. On display at the conference was a copy of Cold Work Permit 23434. The tattered paper was found in the accommodation module that was recovered from the seabed. The permit was for the replacement of a relief valve on the B condensate pump. It was this work that was at the heart of the initial release and explosion when the operators tried to start the pump even though it was not ready. The rest, tragically, is history. It begs an obvious question and a supplementary one: Could something similar happen again and, if so, can we do anything to reduce the chances of it happening? The oil and gas industry has made huge advances in safety management over the past 25 years. The goal-setting regime, safety cases, and verification schemes have been hugely beneficial. We have greater collaboration and everyone now talks about safety as being important and most people genuinely believe it. However, the industry is still experiencing too many serious events which, if we are unlucky, could easily result in anothertragedy. We are a global industry in which good practices are shared across our operations. The loss of life in any country has to be as unacceptable as a tragedy on our owndoorstep. Over the past 25 years since Piper Alpha, there have been more than 25 multifatality accidents in our industry. In June, two people died in an accident on a gas platform in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. Last year, three died in an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and 11 died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the GOMin2010. Can we do anything to make these situations less likely? Are we controlling the risks to our people in a joined-up way? Recommendation 67 of Lord Cullens Report on the Piper Alpha disaster called on the industry to institute common systems for alarms and warning lights. Unfortunately, at the time, the industry could not reach this position voluntarily and legislation was needed to create new regulations. Surely that would not happen today because we have a unified approach with strong, clear leadership across the industry that understands the benefit of common systems and approaches and are not hung up on insisting that only their corporate systems will do. We are happy to agree on common standards for survival training, we have a common system for tracking people traveling offshore, and we have agreed on standards for use of personal locator beacons on helicopter flights. These are all good. But we are not so good at agreeing to common standards in other areas, such as work control, isolation standards, risk assessment, and safety

16

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

observation programs. We are good at creating guidelines, but are reluctant to make any hard-and-fast safety rules for the step change safety club because few clubs allow membership to choose which rules to follow. Why not introduce a common permit to work? A common job safety assessment? Common observation programs? Common isolation standards? What a signal it would send to the offshore workforce about our genuine commitment to their safety.

ees and a legal obligation to cooperate in ensuring the safety of others affected by our activities. So it is not unreasonable to check the work site where our staff may be working, yet many operators take offense at being asked to demonstrate workplace safety.

Leadership Is the Key

Who Gets the Learning?

More contractor personnel get hurt offshore than operator personnel because there are more of them and fewer work in offices or control rooms. So when an accident happens and a contract worker is injured, you might think that the contractor company has at least as much to learn as anyone else, yet often the company does not hear about the accident straight away, is refused access to participate in the investigation, and does not see the findings unless the operator is faulting the contractor. The right to be informed of any and all accidents, the right to participate in investigations, and the right to see all findings should be part of the industrys standard contracting terms. We all have a legal duty to take care of our employ-

So what can we do about this? Although we can have better systems, more competent people, higher standards, and better training, the key and common ingredient is leadership. There are hundreds of books on leadership and a thousand different modelseach one has merits and many have evidence to support them. So if we cannot get a common idea of leadership, what is the chance of obtaining a common idea of safety leadership? Leadership shapes culture, culture shapes behavior, and poor behavior is the common factor that can undermine competent people, good design, and strongprocesses. It comes down to three basic building blocks. Things you need to know. A safety leader needs to be informed about what is happening in the business, and be aware of any and all accidents and near misses. To know these things, you need to

ask and checkall the time. You need to know the bad news, the concerns, and the complaints and have a culture that does not filter these out. You also need to know the risks faced by your people, as well as contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and other specialists. You need to know that all of these people are competent. You need to know that risk controls are in place and are effective. And you also need to know that people will do the right thing in anemergency. Things you need to say and not say. It is said that the primary role of leadership is about setting the tone. It is more than that; it is about repeatedly providing clear and direct messages that reinforce a commitment to safety. Being clear is far from easymessages need to be repeated, received, credible, and not drowned out or undermined. Things you need to do and not do. Actions need to match the good words. People see actionsoften they do not hear the words. If actions do not match the words, then credibility disappears in an instant. Safety leaders need to be aware that their actions, and sometimes their inactions, are visible and send a bigger message than all the wordscombined.JPT

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

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TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor

Electrical Wellhead Outlet

AnTech Limited unveiled its new TypeC, the smallest model in the companys extensive range of wellhead outlets that continuously monitor downhole pressure and temperature in permanent completions (Fig. 1). The Type C uses a threaded wellhead connection in linking the downhole cable to the surface telemetry system and is attached to

the wellhead to provide a safe connection between the cables and seal against downhole pressure. The configuration ensures that the integrity of the wellhead is maintained and electrical connections are secure, even if the downhole cable is flooded. The Type C uses pressure-testable cablehead technology that requires few connections to be made up. The Type C is certified for use in hazardous areas, meets with corrosion standards, and has been successfully pressure-tested in keeping with American Petroleum Institute requirements. It operates to 15,000 psi and in temperatures as high as 160C. The Type C is available in models that are compatible with single, dual, and triple conductors, and can be supplied in -in.configurations.
For additional information, visit www.antech.co.uk/antech/product-list/ wellhead-outlets.

Drilling-Fluid System

Fig. 1AnTechs Type C wellhead outlet.

Baker Hughes has announced the availability of its MPRESS drilling- fluid system, which can improve drilling economics by enabling operators to manage circulating pressure more efficiently (Fig. 2). The system allows operators to reduce their standpipe pressure and apply more horsepower to the bottomhole assembly and drill bit, thereby increasing rates of penetration and decreasing nonproductive time. MPRESS also reduces viscosity in the drillstring while optimizing viscosity in the annulus for more efficient cuttings transport. The pressure saved in the drillstring can be used to increase flow rate, provide more power to motors and bits, and save wear and tear on surface equipment. The system features elevated ultralow-shear-rate viscosity and a shear-thinning rheological profile with a rapid-set/easy-break gel struc-

Fig. 2The MPRESS drilling-fluid system from Baker Hughes.

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TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Silica Technology

Fig. 3PWAs Osorb silica floating in a flask after absorbing more than 99% of all dispersed oil in a produced-water sample.

ture that minimizes the cuttings in the vertical section of the wellbore settling into the curve during connections and trips. Both the elevated viscosity and the rapid-set gels help keep the well-

bore clean and minimize torque and drag associated with cuttings beds in the lateralsection.
For additional information, visit www.bakerhughes.com.

Produced Water Absorbents (PWA) has commercially launched its Osorb media technology, an organically modified silica for the treatment of oilfield water and gas streams (Fig. 3). The silica medium is hydrophobic and does not absorb water, but can remove more than 99% of free, dispersed, and soluble hydrocarbons and toxic contaminants from water and gas streams. The technology is applied in both onshore and offshore applications for the purposes of discharge, chemical enhanced oil recovery, reinjection, beneficial reuse, prevention of membrane fouling, air-emission controls, and offshore excursions. No permanent chemical bonds are formed between the medium and the contaminants during these processes because the medium is both an adsorbent and an absorbent. This lack of permanent bonding enables the repeated regeneration and reuse of the media while also recovering the captured contaminants. Regeneration can be achieved by use of various processes that typically maximize resources available on site, such as gaseous purge.
For additional information, visit www.pwasystems.com.

Pressure Sensors

Fig. 4The Model 425 and 427 pressure sensors from Honeywell.

Honeywell Sensing and Control has introduced two new additions to its Wing Union/Hammer Union line of pressure sensors, with potential applications in oil and gas drilling, mud pumps and mud logging, fracturing and cementing, acidizing, wellhead measurement, and standpipe stimulation. Model 425 is available in two accuracy levels, while the Model 427 provides a wide and shallow sensing port that facilitates an effective flow of more viscous media blends. Built on the Wing Union one-piece design with stainless-steel construction (Fig. 4), both models provide accurate and reliable data for detection of small changes in pressure, allowing the operator to quickly adjust media flow pressure during drilling operations. This helps drilling operators optimize oil-withdrawal rates and profile potentially dangerous conditions to increase safety of drilling

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TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
(Fig.5). The World Diamond will be the first PSV in the new series to be delivered to launching customer WWS (Norway). Damens current Offshore Series includes PSVs ranging from 1500 to 6500 deadweight tonnage; Fast Crew Suppliers from 19 to 67 m in length, featuring the slamming-reducing Sea Axe bow; Anchor-Handling Tug Suppliers with 75 to 200 t of bollard pull; the Offshore Heavy-Lift Vessel 1800; the Ro-Ro Deep Dredge; various standby and multipurpose support vessels; and the new Damen Offshore Carrier 7500, featuring a 2300-m2 deck area.
For additional information, visit www.damen.com.
Fig. 5The World Diamond PSV 3300 from Damens Offshore Series of vessels.

personnel. Both models offer multiple electrical connections and are designed for quick field installation, offering resistance to torque stress at hammerup with field-adjustable zero and span for reliable long-term performance.
For additional information, visit https://measurementsensors. honeywell.com.

Offshore Solutions BV has released its Offshore Access System, a 21-m, The first of six Damen 3300 platform hydraulically operated telescopic gang supply vessels (PSVs), the World Dia- way fitted with an active heave- mond, has been delivered to Norwe- compensation system (Fig. 6). It is the gian offshore support company World only heave-compensated gangway sysWide Supply (WWS). The 400-t-deck- tem that can maintain a permanent concapacity PSV 3300 is the result of exten- nection. The gangway comprises a pedsive design work in close cooperation estal, operator cabin, telescopic boom, with the client and full tank testing and gripper platform. With continu-

Telescopic Gangway

Platform Supply Vessel

Fig. 6The Offshore Access System telescopic gangway from Offshore Solutions BV.

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Fig. 7Halliburtons XBAT LWD service.

ous 24-hour connection and operating capability, it incorporates a motion- reference unit in its active hydraulic system, which, when engaged, maintains the walkway tip at a constant height relative to the horizon. This allows the gangway to be connected safely to a fixed offshore installation in unstable sea conditions when mounted onboard a suitable vessel. Once connected, the heave compensation is disengaged and the gangway is allowed to float between the vessel and the installation. The walkway is robustly connected and automatically compensates for the six movement planes of the vessel motion.
For additional information, visit www.offshore-solutions.nl/en/.

the globe and has been tested extensively in the challenging environments of the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The XBAT LWD service uses four discrete transmitters and four azimuthally spaced receiver arrays. Each receiver is sensitive across a broad range of frequencies and is isolated from the collar to eliminate bit and mud-circulation noise. Using results from a broad range of frequencies, the XBAT LWD service provides a 3D image of the velocities around the wellbore.
For additional information, visit www.halliburton.com.

tion activities to commence more quickly. FastSwell does not rely on protective coatings to prevent premature swelling during the trip in the hole; reliable prediction of swell times is designed into the numerous compounds developed specifically for various global wellenvironment applications.
For additional information, visit www.tamintl.com.

Metal-Capturing Tool for Wellbores

Swellable Elastomer

Logging-While-Drilling Service

Halliburton has introduced its XBAT azimuthal sonic and ultrasonic loggingwhile-drilling (LWD) service (Fig. 7). The XBAT LWD service delivers accurate acoustic measurements in a wide range of formations through sensors and electronics that are less sensitive to drilling noise and have a wide frequency response. The result is a greater signal/ noise ratio that enables better measurements even in noisy drilling environments and poor hole conditions. The XBAT LWD service has delivered accurate measurements in formations across

TAM International has launched a new line of FastSwell elastomers (Fig. 8). The elastomers provide a fast, controlled swell time at lower temperatures and high salinities. The FastSwell product line was developed specifically for current challenging water-swell conditions in the Permian Basin and Russian fracture markets, but both waterswell and oil-swell elastomers are now available worldwide. The elastomers perform well for fracture applications between 80 and 120F. The technology reduces production delays for well operators working in low bottomhole temperatures because it allows hydraulic-fracturing operations and comple-

The 5D Oilfield Magnetics Open Hole Net (OHN) catches metal dropped into wellbores (wrenches, chain, shackles, bolts, nuts, washers, tong dies, and hand tools). The OHN also catches metal coming out of the wellbore and allows captured materials to be retrieved or measured (Fig. 9). The OHN is a system of specially designed magnets that take the place of the bell nipple when the discharge is built into the unit. The system is designed to take the magnetic field out of the internal diameter of the OHN when operations that could be affected by a strong magnetic field, such as measurement-while-drilling, LWD, or wireline logging tools, are executed in a well program. The OHN is installed by the rig crew, and no power source or operator is required. JPT
For additional information, visit www.5doilfieldmagnetics.com.

Fig. 8The FastSwell elastomer from TAM International.

Fig. 95D Oilfield Magnetics Open Hole Net metal-capturing device.

JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Storing Oil on the Sea Bottom to Improve the Bottom Line

Trent Jacobs, JPT Technology Writer

The growing desire of offshore operators to speed up subsea field development while reducing costs has fostered many compelling innovations. Among those systems under development to meet this demand, and one with broad applications, is a subsea storage unit (SSU) created by Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies. The SSU employs the new concept of a flexible bag protected by a dome for oil storage on the seafloor (Fig. 1). Depending on field conditions, the dome can be made of concrete, fiberglass, or steel. The system offers oil companies a safer, more cost-effective method of developing subsea fields in extreme weather zones or in the Arctic where ice floes are prevalent. The SSU is also being qualified for extended well testing (Fig. 2) and early production startup, and it may enhance the economics of fields with insufficient reserves to support full

field development. Furthermore, the SSU could be used in place of subsea storage cells, fixed platforms, floating storage units (FSUs), and pipelines. It is an alternative to existing storage facilities and could also potentially commercialize the development of marginal fields, said Astrid Russ Kristoffersen, a subsea systems product and technology manager at Kongsberg. The [SSU] will increase profitability of marginal fields, because the oil can be stored subsea. And then, using small shuttle tankers for more frequent offloading will precipitate the cash flow and reduce operational costs. Ideally, two or more SSUs could be used to maximize the allowable output volume that could be uploaded into a tanker. As production increases, SSUs could be added to the cluster. Kongsberg is considering standardizing the dimen-

sions of the SSU to fit different needs, with the largest version on the drawing board being 131 ft (40 m) in diameter with a capacity of 120,000 bbl of oil. Subsea storage technology has been used before in limited applications, but never has the design used a collapsible bag to store the oil. The bag is partly made of a polyester woven yarn that is coated with an impermeable layer on both sides to eliminate the possibility of seawater and oil mixing. Were that to happen, an emulsion layer could form, leading to bacterial growth that could cause corrosive damage inside steel pipelines and valves.

Subsea Storage Unit Operation

Openings at the base of the SSU allow seawater to flow in and equalize the pressure. So there is no need to design against pressure and the unit can be

Fig. 1The technology being developed by Kongsberg uses a subsea storage unit with a flexible bag inside a protective dome to store oil on the seabed at any depth.

Fig. 2A computer rendering shows how three subsea storage units could store oil during an extended well test involving a jackup rig and shuttletanker.

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
deployed to any water depth. The bag can then expand and contract as the volume of oil inside increases and decreases. Depending on the type of soil, a combination of weights, suction anchors, and piles could be used to secure the SSU to the seabed. The SSUs intake valves allow the product to flow inside, and once the bag is filled to capacity, the oil can be transported to a tanker through a standard flowline and offloading system. If an operator wishes to use the SSU for chemical storage, the unit would work in the same fashion. Only the source of fluids entering the SSU and the final export flow destination would differ. If the internal sensors detect a leak inside the bag, they will shut off the intake valves while alerting the operator to the problem. The SSUs design creates a double barrier that protects the environment from exposure to hydrocarbons. In case the bag should rupture, the outer dome is capable of collecting all the source fluids, preventing spillage into the sea, Kristoffersen said. With the dome serving as the second containment layer, the leaked oil can be safely extracted to a sister SSU or discharged to a shuttle tanker on the surface. A removable hatch atop the SSU provides access to the bag and allows easy retraction when replacing the bag. The SSUs weight will depend on field conditions and hydrostatic uplift forces from the stored oil and other fluids. In its base configuration, the SSU is designed to float so that a wide variety of vessels can perform the installation work, which eliminates the need for heavy lift vessels.

System Flexibility

Expected Service Life

The dome and shell of the SSU will typically have a service life of 25 years and the bag is being qualified for a life span of 10 years. Kongsberg is looking for ways to extend the bags life. The inspiration for the SSU arose from Statoils quest to eliminate the need for surface production systems and put the entire factory floor directly on the seabed. This is one piece of that puzzle, said Kristoffersen, who added that the SSU also provides a measure of safety for operators who are aggressively seeking new ways to eliminate hazards. Currently a lot of oil is stored on FSUs and [floating production, storage, and offloading units], and there is always the risk of collisions with a tandem-loading shuttle tanker. So by storing it subsea, you eliminate that risk, he said. During a fire or an onboard explosion, the oil stored in the SSU will not continue to feed the fire. Additionally, if an operator uses several SSUs instead of a floating or fixed storage facility, operating costs will be greatly reduced because subsea storage removes the need for a manned crew or helicopters and boats that provide supplies and transport. Instead, the SSU can be integrated into a remotely controlled subsea production system or a topside production facility that removes the water and gas before transferring the raw crude into the storage unit.

The flexibility to suit the operators field needs is another advantage of the SSU over traditional storage systems because each SSU can be picked up from the seafloor and be redeployed to another field. If used for extended well testing, the SSU provides another economic incentive by allowing the operator to collect first oil rather than burning off the product. Compared with traditional surface storage, the SSU in operation has a considerably lower environmental footprint because the system requires no routine vessel or aircraft support that would emit greenhouse gases. The SSU technology is being developed for use in the North Sea and is supported by Norwegian oil com panies Statoil, Lundin Petroleum, and Det Norske Oljeselskap, and by the Norwe gian Research Council. Kongsberg will start laboratory tests in 2014 after which the company plans to begin a pilot program that would include the subsea installation of a full-scale SSU. The SSU is being designed to meet the requirements of Norways offshore regulations and is to be qualified for the North Sea. However, Kristoffersen said, The SSU is providing a global solution for storing stabilized oil on the seabed. Because the SSU is a new design, Kongsberg is offering studies to show the feasibility and concept of subsea storage for specific fields, including the studies of risers, subsea manifold systems, interconnecting pipes, and the control system logic required for SSU operation and process integration with specific offshoreinfrastructure. JPT

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Offset Bow Centralizers Meet Underreamed Well Challenges

Marius Boncutiu, SPE, and Richard Berry, SPE, Centek Group

Underreamed wells are among the toughest challenges to using a centralizer, a device that keeps the casing or liner in the center of a wellbore. Underreaming, the technique of enlarging of a wellbore beyond its originally drilled size, is a drilling method widely used to increase the openhole size, which may be required for various reasons. Some well planners believe it is safest to drill unknown shallow formations with a small diameter bit and enlarge the pilot hole if no gas is encountered. Underreaming may also be performed if a small additional amount of annular space is desired, for example, if a liner must be run to protect against surge pressures. A fundamental problem with underreamed wells is achieving effective casing

centralization in the underreamed section. The job of the centralizer is to center the casing to improve run in hole (RIH), allow easier pipe rotation, and to enable the cement column to circulate freely around the tubular and produce a robust cement seal to ensure zonalisolation. Mud displacement is vital to achieving a good cement bond. The more central the pipe, the more efficient the mud displacement will be. In deviated and horizontal wells, if the tubular is not centralized, it will lie along the low side of the borehole and make cement circulation and the achievement of a uniform cement sheath difficult. Poor centralization can also impair the cement bond by causing channeling, which can lead to various live annulus

problems. Like any fluid, cement will take the easiest route in the annulus, and this can result in an inadequate seal if the casing or liner is not centralized. In addition, if the annular clearance is restricted in some sections, backpressure may result that requires a much reduced flow rate during cementation to avoid fracturing the formation and thereby losing fluid.

Offset Bow Centralizer

Fig. 1Undamaged centralizers were pulled twice from a well at 40 m above total depth and then run successfully for a third time to the target level.

The Uros offset bow centralizer developed by Centek is designed for use in underreamed or washed-out well sections. The device significantly reduces initial insertion forces and drag when running through previously set casing. Once through this compressed stage, the offset bow centralizer will revert to its designed outer diameter in the open hole and thus maximize standoff without additional drag. The device achieves a reduction in drag compared with other centralizers because of its patented bow design, in which the high points of the bows are offset alternately without reducing the strength of the unit or its capacity to centralize the casing in the open hole. An oilfield service and product supplier operating offshore Norway has specified the use of the offset bow centralizer in underreamed and deviated wells since August 2011. Even when using two centralizers per pipe joint, the company has consistently been able to reach target depth while maintaining the desired standoff in the open hole. The company is running the device in several fields and has expanded its use to normal wells, because of the fluid and cement displacement benefits that it allows. Offset bow centralizers are increasingly used in Norwegian offshore well

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Casing Shoe Measured Depth, m

operations. These wells often have a high risk of washed-out sections, i.e., openhole sections that are larger than the original hole size, which are generally caused by soft or unconsolidated formations. However, even in gauge holes, offset bow centralizers are used to ensure high standoff.

Liner Production: Drag

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 70,000 lbf Slackoff 96,000 lbf Pickup Running by its own weight Slackoff weight, lbf Pickup weight, lbf Static weight, lbf

Case Studies

A well operator offshore Norway ran 7-in.9-in. offset bow centralizers through 9-in. 53.5-lbm/ft casing into an 8-in. open hole with a total depth of 3600 m. Twice the operation reached a depth of 3560 m before it was necessary to pull the liner. Both times the liner was partially rotated in the open hole on the way in and was rotated for about 12 hours at 20 rev/min in the cased hole on the way out. The centralizers also had to be run through a whipstock window. Each time after pulling the liner, the drilling and cement teams inspected all the centralizers and stop collars (Fig. 1). The only visible damage was some bending of the set screw sockets. The operator was able to run the same centralizers again and eventually install them at target depth. The offset bow centralizers were run through the whipstock window on five occasions without snagging or packing out on the edges. By comparison, an oversized conventional bow spring centralizer would have exhibited considerably more drag during pullout. The offset bow centralizers are also being used in various Latin American operations. In an Ecuadorean well, 7-in.9-in. centralizers were run through previously set 8.535-in. inside diameter casing into a 10.4-in. average diameter open hole. The installed centralizers achieved a standoff higher than the customers requirement of 70% along the target zone. In addition, there was less risk of differential sticking, an even annular flow of fluid, and a good well cleanout, with an improved cement job ultimately achieved. The centralization was defined using an analysis of openhole logs, standoff calculations, and liner tally. Centralizers were distributed two per joint along M1 sandstone.

17,150 lbf

1,000 1,100 1,200 40,000 60,000 Traveling Assembly Weight

80,000

100,000

Hookload, lbf
Fig. 2The drag calculation results were close to the real values while running the casing.

It is necessary to understand the insertion forces and the cumulative running forces, as both affect the RIH performance because the bows are squeezed while passing through the smaller inner diameter of the previously set casing. If needed, the first few joints can be prefilled with mud to increase the strings weight and enable it to be run in under its own weight from the beginning when less weight is present. This makes it possible to overcome the initial insertion and running forces without pushing thepipe. In the Ecuador case, when all the casing was run and the liner hanger was installed, the pickup weight was 100,000 lbf and the slackoff weight was 70,000 lbf, which indicated 30,000 lbf of drag. Fig. 2 shows the drag calculation results, which are close to the real values observed while running the casing. In this case, the running force for each centralizer was approximately 1,000 lbf. There was no restriction while running the liner through the open hole, and the bottom was reached without problems. During circulation, there was no indication of debris accumulation

caused by drag. According to the circulation parameters, the well showed a good cleanout. By having acceptable drag conditions when passing through the previously set casing, low drag conditions in the open hole, and maximizing standoff in an enlarged annulus, the offset bow centralizers proved to be a major aid to reaching bottom and obtaining a good cement job in the Ecuadorean well.

Summary of Benefits

Offset bow centralizers result in greatly reduced torque and drag losses, and because they are heat treated, abrasive wear caused by running to depth and rotating the tubular is eliminated. Reducing torque ensures that casings can be rotated without wear in cased and open holes at deeper levels than would otherwise be possible. The ability to rotate a pipe can also greatly assist in mud removal. Typically, a rotational speed of 6 to 10 rev/min is all that isneeded. The centralizers are individually designed to fit each wellbore, rather than generally designed for specified gauge holes. Secure stop collars prevent centralizer movement on run in or pullout.

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
The choice of a centralizer depends on a number of factors such as the expected flow by area, the desired standoff, the strength and geometry of the formation, the required zonal isolation, the centralizer flexibility needed to traverse known formations, and the estimated start and running forces. Ensuring a lasting, effective annular seal in the wellbore is vital to maintaining oil and gas production. Preventing water inflow is extremely important and requires good zonal isolation. Achieving a long-term annular seal is difficult, especially in long extended reach wells. The use of offset bow centralizers can aid the cementing process in underreamed and conventional extended reach wells. JPT

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2014 SPE President

Jeff Spath
John Donnelly, JPT Editor

Jeff Spath is a member of the Schlumberger executive management team as vice president of industry affairs and is the 2014 SPE President. He will take office during the 2013SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,to be held 30September2 October in New Orleans.

Previously, he was president of the Schlumberger Reservoir Management Group and was president of Data and Consulting Services. He began his career with Flopetrol-Johnston Schlumberger asa field engineer conducting well tests onshoreandoffshore Louisiana and has workedfor 30 years invarious global positions inreservoir engineering, research, andmanagement. Spath is a recognized leader in the development and application of reservoir engineering and production enhancement techniques, including well testing, reservoir simulation, and nodal analysis. He is the author or coauthor of nearly 30peer-reviewed publications and holds 14patents.

An SPE member since 1983, Spath has served on many SPE committees and in many sections around the world. He was a Distinguished Lecturer during 19992000 and served as Technical Director of Management and Information during 20052008. He was elected an SPE Distinguished Member in 2011. Spath also currently serves on the Management Committee of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers; the petroleum engineering advisory boards at Texas A&M University, the Colorado School of Mines, and the Natural Petroleum Council; and on the United Nations Global Energy Board. Spath earned BS and MS degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University and a PhDdegree in reservoir engineering from the Mining University of Leoben in Austria.

What are your goals as SPE president? One goal would be to further globalize the Society. There is no doubt that SPE has made huge strides internationally from what was once a predominantly North American member society in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, more than half of our members reside outside North America. We have to continue to follow the upstream oil and gas business to the new frontiers, the new basins, and the new regions of exploration such as Greenland, east Africa, and the Caspian. Not just for the sake of member growth, but to make SPE more local and more relevant by adding professional sections and student chapters so critical to achieving successboth for industry and for individualsin these new regions. Secondly, we need to increase the degree to which SPE engages and collaborates with other organizations. We all accept that reservoirs are becoming more challenging to discover and produce. They are smaller, more complex, and they exist in increasingly hostile terrains under more difficult temperatures and pressures. Not to mention the challenges created by nano-perm shales and ultraheavy oil. No single company, university, or government has all the expertise required. So we need to collaborate in all directions, including with other industries, such as the aerospace, automobile, and medical industries. SPE has an incredible reputation as a professional society and I want to capitalize on this reputation by taking the lead in fostering collaboration with other industries, other societieswhich we are already doing quite well and with trade associations. Also, I hope members are aware of the new SPE Strategic Plan that the SPE Board of Directors put together under the

guidance of my two predecessors. I am in the fortunate position now to oversee the implementation of this strategy that will further grow and strengthen SPE, and this will occupy much ofmy time. What is the best way for SPE to continue to pursue globalization? Historically, SPE has followed the industry. After a significant number of operators and service companies have located in a region and universities have staffed up, SPE establishes a presence. What I would like to do in places such as east Africa and in Myanmar, for example, is to be there, not necessarily first, but in parallel with the building of the industry. Myanmar is a great example of a country in which SPE can bring significant value to individuals and to companies both, proactively, as they begin upstream development. Trade sanctions have just been removed, and Myanmar has had huge, very successful lease sales recently with operators such as Chevron, Petronas, PTTEP, Total, and others entering the mix. I had an interesting experience on my last visit there when I toured the technical universities, recently reopened, after decades of being closed by the government. Schlumberger supports universities around the globe by donating computers, software, bandwidth, etc., and so I offered these things but they said, No, no, we need buildings, we need faculty. They dont even have buildings and faculty and are trying to start a petroleum engineering program. This is where SPE should beon the ground, early, where the operators and service companies are going and initiating new operations, disseminating the technology, and sharing the expertise.

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SPE PRESIDENTS INTERVIEW

You mentioned the importance of the SPE Strategic Plan. What does it stress? The new plan refocuses the Society on what will be its most important functions over the next several years while reinforcing its mission and vision (see article on the SPE Strategic Plan beginning on Page 42). First, let me say that the strategy is a verification of our original and fundamental purposethat of serving our members in the dissemination of quality, trusted technical information. To this end, members can expect to see additional methods of obtaining information about technology, through online journals, mobile devices, and other means. Beyond this, though, there are a few specific strategic intents that will be important to ensuring the continued success of the industry, our profession, and SPE. One of my personal favorites is the strategic intent of increasing the attraction and retention of petroleum engineering faculty. The shortage of faculty at petroleum engineering schools is having a significant effect on the growth of our industry and, by correlation, our Society. Universities and industry both recognize this, and SPE is in an opportune position to help coordinate a solution. This issue is, to a certain extent, global, and is because they are not there. I have worked with a lot of university deans in trying to solve this problem and I believe it is solvable. But what is happening now is that you have Schlumberger trying to solve it with Texas A&M, Chevron trying to solve it with the University of Southern California, and so on. There is a lack of coordination. Coordination will be the role of SPE. If you have a choice between being a teacher or working for an operator or service company that does really interesting work and pays a higher salary, you might choose that company over teaching. That is the crux of the problem. Like nowhere else in the world, US universities graduate PhDs but dont keep them. They all go to industry. Or they go back to their country of origin. A possible solution, and where SPE could help, is to take the 50-plus-year-old employees that do not have a PhD and put them into the universities as they finish their careers. I have worked with the deans at Texas A&M, the University of Texas, and the Colorado School of Mines and convinced them that they need to drop the PhD requirement for teaching undergraduate education. If a petrophysicist, for example, has been interpreting well logs for 35 years, he or she can probably teach undergraduates how to interpret well logs. We call them professors of practice. Our company has taken another step along that path with a program called Schlumberger Professor Emeritus. We just did this for Colorado School of Mines. We took a world-class petrophysicist who was 60 years old and loved teaching. We kept him on our payroll to simplify benefits and he teaches at the university, which reimburses us 50% of his salary. We win because we want him there readying students for hire and he is a good ambassador for our company. The university wins because it is getting for half price a world-class petrophysicist who has interpreted logs and geologies all around the world. The only way to make a program such as this work is to do it in volume and that is how SPE can help, by coordinating such a program. This is a passion of mine, and it happens to be part of the strategic plan. How will individual members be affected by the strategicplan? One of its emphases will be the bread and butter of SPE, which is the dissemination of technical information. We have identified ways SPE can be more relevant to members, such as bringing technology to people on the go. That is another element of the plan that I have a personal passion for: knowledge building and capability development. SPE will continue to provide options in training and competency assessment in an effort to reduce the time to autonomous decision makingone of the banes of ourindustry. Two things cut horizontally across everything SPE does technical quality and volunteerism. Volunteerism originally was one of the intents of the strategic plan, but the board concluded that it does not really fit as a strategic intent because

Only two countries graduate more petroleum engineers than they can employ: Venezuela and China. Everywhere else in the world, theindustry is screaming for more petroleumengineering graduates.

particularly challenging in North America. It does no good to attract more young people to our profession and then accept less than 10% of petroleum engineering applicants due to lack of sufficientfaculty. SPE has spent a lot of time and effortwell-spent time and effortgoing in to secondary schools to educate teachers and students on the wonders of our industry. So, on the one hand, we are encouraging all of these young bright students to enter our profession, but then we have to turn them down at the university level because we do not have enough faculty. Only two countries graduate more petroleum engineers than they can employ: Venezuela and China. Everywhere else in the world, the industry is screaming for more petroleum engineering graduates. And the reason there are not more petroleum engineering graduates is not a lack of people who want to be petroleum engineers, but because we do not have enough people to teach them. Many companies hire mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, chemical engineers, and civil engineers and turn them into petroleum engineers through internal training. The industry would love to hire 100% petroleum engineers but it cant

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crew change. I have talked to members of operating companies who used to be responsible for 10 wells in the Permian Basin in Texas and now they are responsible for 100 wells in the Permian and three new wells being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. And you want them to volunteer? I mean, the guy hasnt seen his kids in 2 weeks. It is up to SPE to think of ways to help members volunteer, such as reducing the burden of administrative tasks associated with reviewing technical papers or setting up Distinguished Lecturer tours. We need to emphasize the value of volunteering and get better at recognizing the effort. What else should SPE emphasize in the near term? If SPE is to continue to grow as rapidly as it has in the past decade, the organization needs to better emphasize the advantages of being a member, and here I am talking simply about marketing what it can provide, both to existing and potential members. I have talked with members who have never been to the SPE website and seen the valuable links and information it provides. One of the most valuable assets the Society offers, the OnePetro library of 150,000 technical papers, is never accessed by some members. Perhaps one of the most important initiatives SPE has embarked on fairly recently, and one in which we must increase our emphasis, is educating the public about our industry and, more importantly, our profession. We need to proactively, honestly, factually, rationally, openly, and not defensively discuss the good our industry brings to society, and SPE must be the trusted, independent source of facts around issues that worry the public. This theme of energy education, now professionally delivered through the Energy4Me initiative, is essential to SPEs mission and I will build on the work of my predecessors in this effort. What is the best way to educate the public about energy? Let me start by saying we got off on the wrong foot. When the movies came out about hydraulic fracturing and the rhetoric got hot and heavy, what did the oil and gas industry do? We, as we typically do as engineers, said, Thats not right, here are the facts, you guys are wrong, and we got defensive. And guess what? They found one well out of a million in Pennsylvania somewhere, which for completely different reasons, was leaking gas. And critics said, Engineers, youre not so smart. Here is an example. So we have to level with the public. We have to agree with them, first of all, that there are potential hazards involved in producing oil and gas, as with any form of energy. And we have to prove to them that we are addressing those potential hazards. There is a consortium of companiesincluding Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, the other pressure pumpers, and the operatorsthat are involved in an initiative called FracFocus, a website whose primary purpose is to provide the public access to information on chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing in their region. For example, a service company will go out and take a baseline measurement of methane, noise,

volunteerism is part and parcel of everything SPE does. But one thing members around the world will notice about the strategic plan throughout is the renewed focus onvolunteerism. SPE is going to improve the volunteer recognition program, and we are going to help industry professionals volunteer by helping with some administrative details that volunteers deal with. Here is a great example from west Texas: when a small section wants to have an SPE Distinguished Lecturer come speak, someone from the section has to volunteer time to book a hotel room, make sure somebody picks the lecturer up at the airport, etc. We need to make better use of our volunteers time and to support them so that they can add the most value to SPE. Volunteerism is fundamental to our success, so we want to develop ways to improve volunteerism. We need to continually re-emphasize volunteerism because people are getting busier and busier and the volunteers that SPE traditionally relies on outside of young professionals are mid-career employees. Engineers and managers both are doing more with less. I am not saying it was ever easy to balance workload, family, and volunteering, but it seems to me that the workload for many has dramatically increased. Mid-career professionals do the bulk of the volunteering today. Unfortunately, mid-careers are the exact demographic that is being challenged by the big

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CO2 in the atmosphere, and any groundwater contaminants in the area. Then after the well is fractured, the same measurements are taken and the before-and-after results are published along with details about exactly what was pumped, chemical by chemical. A landowner, an environmentalist, or whomever can go to this website and get facts. So that is one way that we have disseminated factual information, and it is working. This has been so successful in the US that the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers, of which I am on the board, is doing something similar for Europe and elsewhere. Are there other ways in which SPE can become more valuable to the industry? SPE has an extraordinary record of adding value to its members and to our industry in general; I doubt anyone would question that. This value will increase as our services and our global footprint continue to grow. SPE has the ability and opportunity to help the industry as a whole by leveraging the strengths of its global reach, its more than 110,000 members, its technology library, its independence, and its financial strength to achieve solutions to significant issues that may not be possible Resources Technology Conference recently held in Denver. We cohosted this with AAPG and SEG because we know that the understanding of shale gas requires geologists, geophysicists, and engineers. In the future, we need to also invite geochemists and mathematicians. How does collaboration benefit the oil and gas industry? As I mentioned before, the technical challenges we face today are often too difficult for any one organization to solve. Take the challenge of dramatically improving recovery factors, for example. Schlumberger has gotten serious in improving EOR techniques and measurements. However, while we are really good at measurements and understanding the subsurface, we do not possess the best chemistry labs in the business. So we partnered with Shell. Now, neither Schlumberger nor Shell has world-class imaging at a nanoparticle level, so we partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who does. We now have a three-pronged alliance with seven successful EOR research projects. This is the value of collaboration. And of course it doesnt need to end with collaboration within our industry. There are a lot of exciting developments happening outside of the E&P world that can have a huge impact on our businessfrom nanotechnology to advanced robotics. As disruptive technologies evolve in other industries, we need to get smarter and quicker at adopting them into our industry. To a certain degree it requires a culture shift, and SPE can lead the way by fostering and coordinating the necessary relationships. Can SPE continue to grow at the same pace that it has for the past few years? SPE has doubled membership in the past 10 years, and it can repeat this in another 10. There are two modes of growth. One is old-fashioned geographical expansion, where you grow your footprint in areas that are emerging. Places such as the Arctic, east Africa, Greenland, Myanmarthose are places in which we have not yet stepped foot. A second mode of growth is where SPE has a presence but has yet to achieve the level of acceptance desired. One is Mexico and another is Russia. In Russia, I have already talked to the heads of Lukoil, Rosneft, and Gazprom and received positive feedback. We need to follow up now with the employees. Another area for growth, of course, is China. There are obstacles in language and in culture but we are solving these. How will your career experience inform your presidency? To my knowledge, there is not a job description for being SPE president, nor a list of required qualifications, but I would like to think I am well prepared, and naturally hope my peers will agree. Two strengths I have that I feel will serve me well are a strong technical background and a varied, global career that has allowed me to work among many different cultures, value systems, business philosophies, and operating environments. One advantage I think I have from working for a global ser-

Now I come to my central point on how SPE can become more valuable to the industry: It is the coordination of solving complex technology challenges through integration andcollaboration.

to achieve by companies working alone, or by individual companies working with individual universities. Solving the faculty shortage problem I mentioned earlier is one example of an industry problem that SPE can work across companies and across universities tomitigate. And now I come to my central point on how SPE can become more valuable to the industry: It is the coordination of solving complex technology challenges through integration andcollaboration. By providing seminal, member-written white papers and providing the forum to showcase technical challenges and sharing potential solutions through the new Summit program, SPE can facilitate and accelerate the solving of industrywide technical challenges. Each individual company can do that, or SPE can pave the way and coordinate thecollaboration. We are already adding significant value around integration by partnering with AAPG and SEG, for example, in various conferences and workshops to facilitate the bringing together of ideas, domains, and data. The feedback on these types of joint conferences has been very positive so we need to think about how to expand this. A great example is the Unconventional

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vice company for 30 years is the experience of interacting with all walks of the upstream life: from the largest IOCs and NOCs to the smallest independents. Finally, while I have worked for the same company my entire career, I have held positions from field engineer to salesman, from R&D to executive management, so I think I can relate to people in various parts of thebusiness. So this gives me the breadth of understanding of how Anadarko, for example, works differently than Petrobras. And they both work differently than, say, ExxonMobil. Each of these groups of companies, not to mention each individual company, has a unique culture and I have seen it in practice. I know, for example, there are companies that just love SPE and they encourage their employees to write papers and go to conferences and travel halfway around the world for an SPE training course, because they know it will be worthwhile. And I have seen the opposite, where a company I will not mention recently told me, We dont need SPE. There is a spectrum out there and I think my experience in knowing how different companies and different cultures extract value from SPE differently will be anadvantage.

Where do you see technology taking the industry in the next 5 or 10 years? Quite a few exciting developments are going on now in the industry. If I had to pick one or two that I think are most promising, the recent advances in drilling, specifically around rig automation, would be among the top in terms of improving our efficiency, safety, and bringing overall well costs down. The combination of a dramatic increase in measurements along the drillstring and bottomhole assembly with computerization (thus optimization) on the rig floor and the designed integration of rotary steerable motors with the optimal bit and the optimal fluids is creating a huge impact on the operators bottom line. A second growing trend in the industry addresses the integration of disparate measurements and data to reduce uncertainty and manage risk. This is not a new concept by any means, but the extent to which we are now combining seemingly unrelated data from different domains is making the industry much more confident in our subsurface interpretations and improving our ability to optimize production and maximize ultimate recovery. Think about the recent developments made in geomechanics, for example. Today, we

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are taking advanced, in-situ measurements of geomechanical properties and routinely integrating them into everything we do; a decade ago, that was unheard of by many. Who thought 10 years ago that we would be integrating seismic dataacquired, processed, and interpreted while drilling to guide the bit around hazards to the most productive part of the reservoir? Or to help us understand fracture propagation in shale? Integration is one trend we will definitely seecontinuing. You have written quite a few technical papers during your career. What is the value of writing technical papers, for the individual, the company, and the industry? It benefits all three. Fundamentally, a good engineer should be a good writer; you have to be able to express your thoughts. Writing technical papers enriches an individuals career. At Schlumberger, it isnt just encouraged, it isnt just rewarded, its a requirement for promotion. We have a formal technical ladder, like a lot of companies, and if you want to go from one rung on that ladder to the next, there is a concrete list of criteria. One of them is how many technical papers the person has written. So if

somebody comes to me and says, I think I am ready to become an advisor, I will say, Have you published 10 SPE papers? And they might say, No, but I have written nine, and I will say, OK, come see me when you get that next one and we will discuss it. It is a requirement for promotion. Why do we do that? It takes away some of the subjectivity for technical promotions, but we know that there is value for the company. When somebody picks up an SPE journal and sees a paper on simulation from Schlumberger, we may gain a simulation customer. But you cannot insist that employees write papers without giving them the time to do that and the time to go to conferences and learn from others presenting papers. It has to be part of the culture of the company. Lastly, it benefits SPEs mission of communicating technical information; papers are the lifeblood of SPE. Without them, what are we? I certainly think it is the place for SPE to start a campaign re-emphasizing the fundamentals of writing papers and the importance of writing papers, from section to section and chapter to chapter, giving advice on how to do it. Yes, thats another thing Ill push.JPT

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STRATEGIC PLAN

SPE Strategic Plan Identifies Four Priorities

Editors note: The SPE Board of Directors approved the SPE Strategic Plan 201317 in March 2013. The SPE Strategic Planning Steering Committee consisted of Ganesh Thakur, SPE 2012 President and Steering Committee Chair; MarkRubin, SPE Executive Director; Egbert Imomoh, SPE 2013 President; Ken Arnold, SPE 2012 Vice President Finance; Janeen Judah, SPE 2013 Vice President Finance; Alain Labastie, SPE 2011 President; and Jeff Spath, SPE 2014 President-Elect. Consultant and facilitator was Susan S. Meier, Principal, Meier andAssociates.

Since its inception 55 years ago, SPE has remained constant in its mission to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence. SPE is increasingly aware of the impact a changing environment and global influences may have on its ability to be effective in serving an increasingly diverse membership in a highly complexindustry. By all objective measures, SPE is a highly successful organization. SPE has seen dramatic growth in membership globally (Fig. 1) and in the number of meetings offered (Fig. 2) to serve these members. At the same time, SPE has added new programs, expanded the reach of its programs and services, opened new offices to serve its global membership, and worked with
160 140 120

other organizations to create greater value for members and the industry as a whole.

One SPE

Throughout this period of strong growth, SPE has strived to operate in a manner consistent with a set of One SPE Guiding Principles adopted by the Board in September 2001:  The Society of Petroleum Engineers is a diverse community of professionals that provides valuable knowledge and services to thoseprofessionals and to the industry in varied forms.  The concept of One SPE reflectsthe goal that each function and activity of the Society should serve the broadermembership while

120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

100 80 60 40 20 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Professional Members Fig. 1Growth in SPE membership.

Student Members

Conferences, Exhibitions, Workshops and Forums Fig. 2Number of meetings.

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STRATEGIC PLAN
addressing local needs, supporting technical and professional excellence, and making wise use of Society resources.  The voluntary donation of timeand talent by SPE membersis our most vital asset and the creative energy ofvolunteers must be encouraged and supported by theSociety.

Developing a New Strategic Plan

Strategic Priorities

Threats to SPEs Success

While SPE has achieved great success, several factors could affect its ability to sustain this success.  Oil and gas price volatility. The price of oil and gas is a key external factor that can affect SPE activities, including meeting attendance, membership, and participation in other programs. While SPE cannot influence the price of oil and gas, it can develop contingency plans for how to adapt the business to a sharp and sustained decline inprices.  Technical quality within SPE programs. Rapid growth in SPE programs has led to concern that the quality of programming could be affected. To sustain its success, SPE must ensure that technical quality is not compromised.  Volunteerism. The changing demographics of SPEs membership mean that more members come from areas that lack a tradition of volunteerism. Coupled with the pending retirement of many of SPEs longtime active volunteers, SPE could face a significant challenge to following its traditional volunteer-driven path to programming. At the same time that SPE pursues its strategic priorities, it must consider ways to manage or mitigate the potential impact of these threats to its business.

SPE leaders determined that it was time to reassess and either confirm or recalibrate its direction and core strategies to ensure its continued long-term success. In June 2012, SPE launched a strategic planning process to look at the direction the industry is moving and to develop a new SPE Strategic Framework for the next 5 years. The initiative, led by Ganesh Thakur, SPE President; Mark Rubin, SPE Executive Director; and a Steering Committee comprising five board members, was organized in threephases:  Phase I was to gather data andbest thinking from multiplesources both within and outside the organization: leaders in the field, SPE members, SPE Board Members, and SPE staff. The data collection findings included 85 responses to a strategic planning survey, 13 one-on-one interviews with industry leaders, and a July senior staff leadership team workshop.  Phase II of the process was a 1-day facilitated Strategic Planning Workshop for the SPE Board of Directors and the SPE staff who work with Board Committees. Phase III engaged the Steering  Committee and SPE staff leadership team in combining and advancing the workshop discussions and creating a high-level 5-year Strategic Plan to guide SPE decision making and priority setting through2017. This process led to the identification of four key strategic priorities. SPEs Board Committees and work groups will examine these priorities and develop specific initiatives to address them over the next 5 years. SPE should also evaluate whether it has the appropriate infrastructure (governance and staff) to ensure its long-term success.

SPE identified four key areas of focus to advance the Society over the next 5 years. 1.Capability development (to support industry in dealing with the big crew change) Areas of challenge or opportunity associated with this strategic priority that SPE may choose to address include: Accelerate competency development. Those coming into the industry will have to gain skills and be prepared to take on responsibility quickly as retirements accelerate. New professionals will need mentoring, training and other resources to fill the gaps in their knowledge. While technical skills are crucial, the full skill set required for success must be addressed through a combination of technology and soft skills training to accelerate competency.  Support faculty development and retention. Universities struggle to recruit, develop, and retain faculty because of the numerous opportunities available in the private sector. This has created a zero sum game in which universities recruit faculty from each other without increasing the total pool of educators. Universities face a crew change of their own, which will exacerbate the staffing challenge. Fill faculty gap with experienced  professionals. The number of future industry professionals is limited by the availability of faculty. There may be several ways to address this, including the creation of opportunities for qualified industry professionals to teach in universities. This could be something that companies would support for their technical leaders and might also be attractive to experienced professionals transitioning to

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retirement. Universities would need ways to identify those who will make good educators.  Facilitate life-cycle learning strategies (for any career stage). For professional development and advancement, individuals at all stages of their career have a need to master new areas of expertise, equip themselves for new responsibilities, and keep their technical knowledge current.  Assess competency. Both companies and individuals need measures for competencyways to demonstrate that certain skills have been acquired and can be put to use. Availability of competency assessment tools could encourage members to train themselves in new areas and be used to show prospective employers that they are ready for a particular assignment. Within companies, assessment methods are necessary to measure whether competency development has been successfully accelerated. An additional benefit could be to communicate to the public that engineers have demonstrated certain levels of professional competence. 2. Knowledge transfer This priority offers many opportunities, along with some challenges that SPE may be able to address: Maintain and enhance technical  quality within SPE programs. With the rapid growth in SPE meetings and other programs, questions have been raised whether that growth may have negatively affected the timing of knowledge delivery to members, quality of papers, and other program elements. Ensuring that the technical content offered through its programs remains of the highest quality is crucial to SPEs success.

Address volunteerism issues.  SPE relies heavily on member volunteers for its programs and especially to provide technical expertise. Volunteerism is not common in many areas outside the United States and western Europe. As membership from these areas grows, SPE will be challenged to apply its traditional model successfully. The Society must explore ways to make volunteering for its programs more efficient, effective, and attractive to its members.  Make knowledge available on demand and in user-friendly ways. Technology has enhanced member expectations for the delivery of technical knowledge when, where, and in the format needed. Offerings must be easy to use and provide the features that members expect.  Address language issues. While English remains the language of the oil and gas industry, SPE has a growing membership with limited English skills. Determining to what extent that translation is appropriate or needed and how to fill any gaps will be an important aspect of serving these members and the growing membership in certainregions. Take full advantage of  communications technologies. New technologies open the possibility for new types of events, new methods of content delivery, and new ways for members to network and communicate. For continued success, SPE must explore the potential of these technologies and deploy those that enhance the value of what is offered or support volunteer participation in SPE activities. Enable identification and closure  of technology gaps. As R&D has become more dispersed across the industry, it can be challenging

to know whether technical gaps are being addressed. Better means for identifying the technical capabilities required for the development of world oil and gas resources are needed. SPE may be in a unique position to facilitate discussions and exchange of information regarding gaps in existing technologies and whether other industries may have applicable technologies that couldbe deployed.  Complete and promote use of PetroWiki. PetroWiki has the potential to become an invaluable technical resource for industry through member contributions. It will serve as a vehicle for both capturing and sharing the technical knowledge of SPEs members. Making PetroWiki content available publicly increases transparency and supports SPEs image as an independent technical resource.  Serve as a curator of content. The volume of information available continues to increase and can be overwhelming. Sorting through vast quantities of content and identifying the material of greatest value or relevance for members will enhance SPE value. Determine future of peer reviewed journals. The value of peer-reviewed content is clear and peer-reviewed journals are crucial to the academic community. Yet, like many publishers, SPE has seen declining subscriptions to its journals. Submissions for peer review have declined as the industry becomes busier and oil companies have reduced the amount of research they perform. Reconciling these trends is important to supporting industry academics who educate future engineers. Facilitate mentoring. The  retirement of experienced professionals disrupts the informal mentoring that occurs

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STRATEGIC PLAN
on the job with new engineers. The knowledge transferred in these interactions covers both technical and corporate skills. As retirements increase, filling the mentoring gap may provide opportunities for SPE to address this need. 3.Promoting professionalism and social responsibility Several opportunities that SPE should consider in this area are:  Emphasize SPEs professional code of conduct. There is a growing trend for government organizations to require that professional engineers be part of an organization that emphasizes accountability for professionalism (as an alternative to the government setting up its own mechanisms). Although SPE has long had a Guide for Professional Conduct, it has not emphasized accountability and should evaluate to what extent that is an appropriate path forward for SPE. Developing a common global understanding of professional behavior is another area to be addressed. Incorporate ethics and ethics  education in SPE programming. The growing interest in ethics and need for ethics education should be addressed by SPE. Provide certificationboth general and discipline specific. As the pool of available talent grows in nontraditional areas, companies need ways, such as certification, to ensure that the technical training received by those individuals is sufficient to meet their needs. Even for professionals with industry experience, knowledge that the individual meets certain competency standards in a discipline has value to both employers and prospective employees. Government agencies are also showing interest in knowing that certain industry positions are filled by individuals with demonstrated expertise, which could necessitate certifications in specific areas of knowledge.  Promote safety and environmental protection as high priorities with our membership. Over the past 2 decades, industry has become far more cognizant of the far-reaching environmental and social consequences of its activities. While many companies have very strong safety and environmental programs, several recent incidents have reinforced public and government skepticism of the industrys focus on these issues. SPE should emphasize safety, the environment, and sustainability to its members as a complement to current corporate efforts. Ensuring that environmental and social responsibilities are part of SPE programming may provide opportunities to improve awareness and perception.  Maintain integrity and independence of SPE. As an individual membership society that emphasizes technical knowledge, SPE is viewed as credible and independent of corporate influence. As SPE evaluates future opportunities, it is crucial to retain its integrity and independence. Sharing this emphasis with local sections to inform their activities is alsoimportant. 4.Public education about petroleum engineering profession and industry issues Communicating industry activities publicly yields several challenges and opportunities that SPE may choose to address: Attract young people to the  industry. Public perception of the oil and gas industry is poor in the US and western Europe, thereby increasing the challenge to attract young people to industry careers. Enhancing energy and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in schools helps to counter those perceptions, and there may be other ways that SPE can help to make the industry an attractive careerchoice.  Develop public awareness programs based on technology. The technology used by the oil and gas industry is complex and not easily understood by the general public. This makes public perception subject to inaccurate interpretations of technical information. Making technical information accessible and enhancing awareness based on that information is a possible role for SPE.  Serve as a technical authority/ trusted source of unbiased information. SPE may be able to leverage its reputation for integrity and technical excellence to provide white papers, case studies, and other factual, technical information to governmental organizations and the public. These materials can help both industry and the public by explaining technologies, technical issues, best practices, and challenges in meeting the worlds energyneeds. Leverage membership to  provide expertise on technical issues. As SPE works to leverage its technical reputation to expand public information, it is important to position the Society as an organization of technical experts. When expertise is required to assist a government organization, or speak publicly, SPE should have a process to identify members with appropriate expertise to serve in that role. JPT

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YOUNG TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

Intelligent Inflow Tracers Obtain Information With Less Risk, Cost

Brock Williams and Vinicius Carvalho, Resman Todays field developments are increasingly characterized by complex wells in demanding and costly operating environments. Not only are individual wells challenging, but most are part of a complex reservoir network that must be managed over an extended period. The high cost and risk of acquiring reservoir surveillance information using conventional technology, such as production logging tools, is forcing operators to manage these fields without knowledge of the inflow distribution across the reservoir interval. In addition, permanent reservoir surveillance solutions based on optical or electronic sensors require major modifications of the completion design and installation procedure. Consequently, a significant amount of complexity and risk are added to the project, making the use of such technologiesprohibitive. Intelligent chemically based inflow tracer systems are an emerging technology that consist of engineered polymers and chemical compounds combined into a product that resembles strips of plastic. The tracer system is designed to react to either oil or water. For example, when a water-sensitive tracer system is contacted by water, the tracer system releases its unique chemical identification (inflow tracer) at a prescribed release rate, irrespective of the flowing conditions. The water-sensitive tracer system is dormant when contacted by oil, gas, or air. The oil-sensitive tracer system behaves similarly as the tracer is released only when it comes in contact with oil. Strips of the tracer system are readily integrated into almost any completion configuration including conventional sand screens, inflow control device (ICD) sand screens, multistage fracturing systems, pup joints, and intelligent completions. Additionally, the tracer system can be cemented behind casing and perforated through, providing contact between reservoir fluids and the intelligent tracer strips. In summary, the intelligent tracer strips can be deployed in almost any well type without affecting the installation process. Samples of produced fluid are analyzed for the concentration of each intelligent tracer. Tracer concentration data, combined with model-based interpretation techniques, enables the operator to understand where oil is entering the well, where water influx is occurring, and relative oil contributions of monitoredzones. The technology has been deployed onshore and offshore in locations such as Alaska, the North Sea, Australia, west Africa, and the US Gulf of Mexico. Operators have benefited from this technology by gaining insight into inflow distribution without having to run a production logging tool (PLT) log or needing to perform complex and risky completion design modifications to accommodate electronic or optical sensors across thereservoir.

Inserting tracer systems into a sand screen.

Intelligent tracer carrier mandrel

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Key benefits of the technology include the following: Minimum implementation risk: It does not require cables, connections (wet mates), or well intervention. Additionally, there is minimum impact to existing completion design.  Cost efficiency: There is no additional rig time or personnel required on site to run the completion. This is because the system integration is done ahead of time during manufacturing or where the inventory is located. Health, safety, and environmental (HSE) compatibility: The technology does not use radiation and is HSE-compatible for water discharge in extremely low concentrations (down to parts per trillion). Examples of insight that intelligent tracers have provided include the following:  Multizone fracture analysis that showed some zones were not producing and behind-pipe flow was occurring in other zones  Location of water influx as it changes over time  Evidence of flow contribution from the toe of a long horizontal well  Poor contribution from one lateral of a multilateral well  No flow coming from intervals thought to be productive Flow detected from downhole  sliding sleeves thought to be closed No flow from sliding sleeves  thought to be open  Assurance that remotely activated sleeves actuate as expected

Fig. 1Tracer locations.

mation for improved management of thereservoir. Intelligent inflow tracers can prove useful in this application. They are designed to release their unique chemical compound only when contacted by water. This feature allows the life of the water tracer system to be significantly extended as none of the tracer is being released during the time the tracers are in contact with oil. Fig. 1 illustrates an example of using intelligent inflow tracers for water breakthrough detection. In the figure, each vertical line represents the location of a joint of screen that contains intelligent tracer. Each color represents a unique chemical compound contained in the tracer system. If water is produced from one of these intervals, it will contact the tracer system in the screen, causing the chemical compound to be released. Samples of the produced water are analyzed and the concentration of the

tracers provides insight into where water production has occurred along the reservoir interval. Fig. 2 shows a plot of the water tracer concentration data for samples taken over 3 months. The colored lines correspond to the colors of the intelligent tracers in Fig. 1. The grey dashed line is the water cut during the time period measured from a multiphase flow meter and is plotted against the right axis. Point A in Fig. 2 identifies the point in time when a sharp rise in the concentration of the tracers occurred, designated by the blue color. A corresponding change in the slope of the water cut is also observed. The conclusion is that the rise in water cut at this point in time occurred in the blue zone. Point B identifies a sharp rise in the concentration of the green tracer. A corresponding rise in the water cut curve is also detected. The location of water breakthrough information is used to improve the

Location of Water Influx

It is common for a well to start producing water at some point during its life. Knowing the location in the well where the water is coming from is valuable infor-

Fig. 2Plot of water tracer concentration vs. time.

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Fig. 3Relative inflow assessment.

understanding of the overall flow dynamics in the reservoir and also to verify that the multiphase meter is calibrated to provide accurate information. This information can be used to improve recovery by modifying future well-location, completion-technique, or waterflood operational strategies. Wells can be designed such that intervention operations can shut off water-producing zones remotely or by intervention operations.

Inflow Distribution Assessment Using the Flush-Out Model

Fig. 3 illustrates a technique in which the tracer system strips are integrated into an ICD-style sand screen during the screen manufacturing process. The screens are installed in the well as normal practice and positioned across the reservoir section. When the tracer system strips come in contact with oil, tracer molecules are released from the tracer system.

During a shut-in period, the tracer system continues to release the tracer even when there is no flow. The oil immediately surrounding the tracer system strips acquires a high concentration of the tracer chemical. When the well is turned on, the oil with the high concentration of tracer is flushed out of the screen and into the main flow stream of the well. An analysis of samples taken at regular intervals at the surface will detect the rise and fall of tracer concentration as the oil that contains the high tracer concentration is produced to the surface. The shape of this plot is indicative of the productivity of the interval being monitored. The response is best when isolation packers are used to ensure the response is from the zone of interest. The rate of rise and fall in concentration is compared among all the monitoring locations. The more prolific zones will flush out the ICD faster and will there-

fore, exhibit a sharper rise and fall in concentration when compared with the less prolific zones. The example shown in Fig. 3 illustrates this behavior. The character of the curves indicates that Zone 1 is the most prolific contributor. Zone 2 is a minorcontributor. This behavior has recently been studied in a flow loop using full-scale completion components. This testing is being performed at a multiphase flow facility operated by the Institute for Energy Technology in Norway. The testing is being conducted as part of a joint industry project that includes two North Sea operators. The results of the flow loop testing have verified the validity of the tracer decline rate as a direct indicator of inflow compared with the decline rate of other zones in the well. The accuracy of a proprietary mathematical model that converts the decline rate of tracer con-

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Fig. 4Tracer carrier locations in a multilateral well.

centration to percentage of total well flow also has been confirmed, thereby providing a quantitative inflow analysis of each zone. The accuracy of this method is dependent on good displacement efficiency; therefore, the best results will be obtained when single phase fluids are present. Significant amounts of water or gas will alter the effectiveness of the flush out. The effect of multiphase fluids on the tracer decline is the focus of ongoing flow loop testing and research and development work. It should be noted that even in situations when inflow conditions are not ideal for quantitative analysis, there are

rarely any viable alternatives for acquiring across-the-reservoir surveillance information. Intelligent tracer technology will still provide qualitative insight into each zones performance. With this knowledge, the operator can assess potential reasons for the difference in production and feed this insight into the reservoir simulator to improve reservoir understanding.

The Tracer Shot Model

As described earlier, the tracer system releases the tracer chemical when it comes in contact with its target fluid, oil, or water. When the well is static, the concentration of the tracer increases in

the fluid in the immediate vicinity of the tracer system. The previous example illustrated how this effect can be used to determine relative inflow distribution when the tracer system is placed in an annular area that is connected to the main flow stream. Another technique is to deploy the tracers in the main flow stream instead of an annular area. The oil that is on the inside of the mandrel develops an increased concentration of the tracer during shut-in periods. When the well is turned on, this oil is displaced directly to the surface. By deploying several carrier mandrels containing unique tracers at various locations in the well, the difference in produced volume between the arrivals of these slugs of fluid (referred to as tracer shots) is used to determine the inflow distribution. Fig. 4 illustrates the location of tracer carriers in a multilateralwell. During a brief shut-in period the intelligent tracer shots are developed at each carrier location. The well was turned on and sampled at a frequency of 4 samples per hour during the few hours that the tracer shots were expected to arrive at the sample point. The tracer shot arrival technique does not use the decline rate of the tracer concentration, only the produced volume when each peak of tracer concentration arrives at the sample point. To facilitate determination of when the peak concentration arrived at the sample point, the tracer concentration data is normalized. Fig. 4 shows the normalized concentration data of each of the tracers plotted against the produced volume associated with each sample. The spacing between the concentration peaks is a function of the inflow distribution across each lateral. A simulator is used to work out the inflow distribution that would create this arrival pattern. Fig. 5 illustrates the good correlation achieved by the simulator after several iterations were performed to match the actual arrival of each peak with the simulators predicted arrivals, which are

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represented by the dashed lines. The inflow distribution that creates this correlation is shown in the upper portion of the figure as a percentage of total flow. This analysis indicated several interesting features including the observation that 43% of the flow is originating from the toe of the upper lateral. Knowledge of the inflow distribution of each lateral is useful in designing the placement and design of future wells to optimizerecovery.

Conclusions

Fig. 5Actual vs. predicted arrivals.

 The management of reservoirs is made more challenging by the difficulty in obtaining reservoir surveillance information from complex wells in high operating cost environments. In many cases, there is no across-thereservoir inflow distribution surveillance information obtained for the life of the field.  Intelligent tracer technology can be deployed in a variety of forms and methods that have a minor impact on completion design and effectively no additional riskto the overall success of thewell.  Intelligent tracers have shown the ability to provide inflow distribution information in a variety of situations that otherwise would have proved impractical to obtain.JPT

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Drilling in extreme environments:

Space Drilling and the Oil and Gas Industry
Robin Beckwith, Senior Staff Writer

An artists concept illustrates what the Mars rover Curiosity looks like on the Red Planet. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

he oil and gas industry is today drilling in environments that 50 years ago were viewed as extreme. Drilling fluids and equipmentincluding pipe, bits, motors, batteries, collars, MWD/LWD toolsas well as jars, fishing tools, wireline tools, cement, and hydraulic fracturing fluids, routinely tackle bottomhole temperatures up to 180C, pressures of 10,000 to 15,000psi and more, depths greater than 25,000 ft, and matrix permeabilities in the range of 100 nanodarcies. The oil and gas drilling environment remains inherently extreme, with dangers attached to managing flammable liquids and volatile gases under high pressure. However, huge leaps in knowledge, experience, science, and technology have increased safety through procedures and automation, increased certainty through modeling and real-time sensing, and increased reliability through research and development leading to sophisticated testing and ruggedized materials. But while many fields today are drilled, re-drilled, or stimulated within the industrys conquered range, the frontiers keep expanding. However, there are other

environmentsincluding space, geothermal, and deep Earth scientific drillingwhose frontiers have always been more extreme. Humankinds desire to push physical limitations has led it to delve more deeply into outer space and within our planet. Drilling in these extreme environments is helping drive advances in the oil and gas industry and/or presents analogs that can be mined for insight. One such type of drilling is extraterrestrial drilling.

Designing Curiosity s Actuator Electronics

According to the technical article, Engineering Systems for Extreme Environments, by Guy V. Clatterbaugh, Bruce R. Trethewey Jr., Jack C. Roberts, Sharon X. Ling, and Mohammad M. Dehghani, most of whom are members of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Extreme environments in general can typically be categorized as involving abnormally high or excessive exposure to cold, heat, pressure, vacuum, voltage, corrosive chemicals, particle and electromagnetic radiation, vibration, shock, moisture, contamination, or dust, or extreme

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fluctuations in operating temperature range. The authors point out that These situations are made more extreme when, upon deployment, the system is no longer available for maintenance or repair. The article, which appeared in Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 29, Number 4, details the approach used in material characterization and environmental testing of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover actuator electronics. This is the very same electronics system used to actuate Curiosity s robotic arm, the part of the rover responsible for completing two exploratory drilling milestones from the Martian surface this year, one on 8 February (a borehole named John Klein) and the other on 19 May (a borehole named Cumberland). The careful, detailed approach APL used may help inform analogous characterization and testing efforts in the oil and gas industry. Mars is indeed an extreme environment where there is little a priori knowledge about how the system will

function. To obviate failures occurring on the expensive Curiosity mission, the authors discuss important testing andsimulation that took place to mitigate system risk, assure system performance, and improve system reliability. For programs operating in extreme environments, identifying and being prepared to address risk at the earliest stages of concept development is imperative, the authorsstate. One of JPLs main reliability concerns involved the chip-on-board assemblies (i.e., printed wiring boards with integrated circuits that have been removed from their plastic packages). Curiosity was designed with a heated compartment to protect its computer and most of the electronics from the extremes of Martian temperatures. However, the electronics that actuate the motors on the arm and wheels are located far from the heated body and must operate at temperatures that fluctuate from 127C to +30C, the maximum daily temperature range on Mars. They are thus more susceptible to failure than Curiosity s protected computer.

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At center is the hole in a rock call John Klein, Curiositys first sample drilling on Mars. Curiositys Mars Hand Lens Imager took the image on 6 February, the missions Sol 182 (Mars days are called sols). Courtesy of NASA/JPLCaltech/MSSS.

Cumberland, drilled by Curiosity on Sol 279 (19 May), will check results from John Klein, located about 9 ft away. Image also taken by Curiositys Hand Lens Imager. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

The article asserts that JPL sought APLs assistance in material characterization and environmental testing. APL says, One pitfall to be aware of when designing the system is to watch for a critical element on which the entiredesign may depend. If this element poses some risk,the fallback position would necessitate an entireredesign. For example, say the authors, quite often in electronic packaging of spacecraft electronics, the choice of a connector will determine the arrangement of boards in a chassis, the size of the boards, and even the chassis configuration itself. If the connector proves to be unreliable and there is no equivalent fallback connector, the entire chassis and the electronic subassemblies would have to be redesigned and possibly remanufactured. Such design dependencies or linchpins should be avoided if possible to reduce system risk.

 Identifying the appropriate failure models and their input parameters, including those associated with material characteristics, damage properties, manufacturing flaws and defects, and environmental and operating loads  Determining the variability for each design parameter when possible  Computing the effective reliability function (e.g., Weibull function) (Note that a significant amount of testing is typically required for computing such a reliability function, and in many cases a simpler go/no-go test may be preferred. However, many existing reliability functions for electronic systems are available in the literature.)  Accepting the design, if the estimated time-dependent reliability function meets or exceeds the required value over the required time period The authors state further, The most common simulation techniques for physics-of-failure modeling in electronic systems include finite element calculation of temperature, stresses/strains, random shock, vibration, buckling, thermal stress, creep, fatigue, mass transport, and electromechanical reaction rates. Statistical methods using Monte Carlo simulations and Arrhenius-based models are also commonly used. APLs desire to use a physics-of-failure approach to addressing the extreme environment on Mars led to a further collaboration with the University of Marylands Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering. Before APL designed the temperature cycling testing plan, all potential failure sites were identified using the physics-of-failure methodology: Substrate fracture Substrate bond pad lifting

The Physics-of-Failure Method

APL opted to use what is termed the physics-of-failure method, which is a science-based approach that uses modeling and simulation to design in reliability. The method, if not already in use, might prove valuable to the development of materials and electronics for use in extreme oil and gas environments. This approach, say the authors, models the root causes of failure, such as fatigue, fracture, wear, radiation, or corrosion. They cite computer-aided design (CAD) tools that have been developed to address various failure mechanisms. According to the authors, the physics-of-failure approach involves the following:  Identifying potential failure mechanisms (chemical, electrical, physical, mechanical, structural, or thermal process leading to failure), failure sites, and failure modes

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data over this extended temperature range and the cost associated with failure made the duration of this test a prudent measure. APL then carried out a material characterization study to measure the coefficient of thermal expansion Section View of Curiositys Drill Bit (CTE), Youngs modulus, and yield strength as a function of temperature for a variety of materials. Four testing Chamber 2 methods were used: 1. The dynamic mechanical analysis technique (DMA) The DMA testing method is particularly well suited Exit to CHIMRA to flexible materials such as silicone glob-top encapsulants and the flexible conductive die-attach Chamber 1 adhesives. 2. Uniaxial tensile testing apparatus This is used for Sample path obtaining yield strength Contact Sensor/ for the rigid epoxies and Stabilizer encapsulants. Top View of 3. The interferometric strain/ Curiositys Drill displacement gage method This was assembled at APL These schematic drawings show a top view and a cutaway view of a section of the drill on NASAs Curiosity rover on Mars. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech. for measuring millimeter- and micrometer-scale materials in cases where bulk properties Wire breakage, wire thinning, and ball shear were not valid. Adhesive failure at the die/substrate interface A flat-plate dilatometerThis was used to measure 4. Encapsulation cracking the CTE of candidate materials as a function of temperature. Temperature Cycling Testing, Life Test, and

Material Characterization

The APLs testing and characterization efforts also could find application in developing electronics used in extreme oil and gas environments. The temperature cycling testing was carefully designed to properly test all the critical failure points. Three failure modes were observed after extensively testing various materials and careful inspection, using X-ray tomography, of the effects of the testing. All failures were either wire failures or substrate pad lifting failures. Based on the testing and inspection outcome, a combination of the polyimide substrate, an 84-1 die attach adhesive, and a 4402 glob top was selected. Additional test coupons were constructed and subjected to a life test performed for a period of more than a year, with a daily temperature cycle between -125C and +80C without a failure. The authors state, Performing an environmental test without using an acceleration factor is a bit unorthodox, but the lack of sufficient existing reliability

The next step was to create an optimized wire bond analytical model. APL personnel attempted to optimize the shape of a wire bond by minimizing its strain energy. We used the principle that the lower the initial strain energy, the more likely it is that the wire board can sustain deformations without a loss in structural integrity, the authors state. The approach taken here was to develop an optimized wire bond shape that was the least susceptible to strains caused by deflections in the glob-top material. The finite element method (FEM), which facilitates the use of nonlinear, time-dependent, and temperaturedependent analysis methods, was used by APL personnel to analyze an encapsulated 2-mil gold wire bond for the Curiosity rover actuator electronics. According to the authors, The nonlinear FEM was a one-quarter symmetric model and simulated the stresses resulting from a wirebonded chip cooled from the cure temperature (150C)down to 125C. A coupled thermomechanical

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This full-resolution image from NASAs Curiosity shows the turret of tools at the end of the rovers extended robotic arm on 20 August 2012. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Prototype Mars2020 rotary percussive core drill, called RoPeC, designed to autonomously drill, shear, and capturea rock sample. See http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=_-hOO4-zDtE. Courtesy of Honeybee Robotics.

finiteelement analysis with temperature-dependent materialproperties was used. The analysis confirmed thatthe globtop encapsulant chosen for the actuator electronics would not produce an overstressed conditioninthe assembly, confirming the results of the cycling tests. APL cited good correlation between the testing andevaluation (T&E) and the modeling and simulation (M&S)results. The authors state, It is important to emphasize the link between T&E and M&S. We stated previously that M&S results should guide testing, but the reverse is also true: Good test data should be used to refinemodels and simulations. This is often an iterative process requiring several M&S and T&E cycles to refine system models. Because the Curiosity actuator electronics program produced such good results, the authors are hopeful that long periods of expensive testing can be replaced with relatively inexpensive short-duration simulations for future Martian missions.

However, extraterrestrial drilling has also taken place on the moon. Those cores are the only ones returned to Earth, collected by US Apollo mission astronauts (late 1960s and early 1970s) and Soviet Luna program robotic spacecraft (early to mid-1970s) on the lunar surface. The moon, of course, is much closer to Earth than the planets, at a distance of (only) 384,400 km. Mars is a little less than 1,500 times farther away. But, unlike the moon, Mars may have been capable of supporting life. By the time Curiosity conducted its second drilling operation, 19 May, named Cumberland, the results of the first drilling revealed that ancient Mars was likely capable of supporting microbial lifegroundbreaking if it is corroborated. According to NASA officials, The science team expects to use analysis of material from Cumberland to check findings from John Klein.

Extraterrestrial Drilling Constraints

Missions like the Curiosity stretch the bounds of drilling in an extreme environment, yet at the same time present many constraints that limit their operation. A number of these are noted in SPE Paper 111126, Drill Automation for the Space Environment: Lessons Learned, by K. Zacny and G. Paulsen, Honeybee Robotics, and G. Cooper, University of California at Berkeley. In addition to simply surviving the journey from Earths surface to the surface of an extraterrestrial destination, the following parameters also must be observed in order to accomplish drilling in outer space: Electric PowerCuriosity has a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Heat given off by the decay of an isotope, in this case Curiosity s 4.8-kg of plutonium-238 dioxide, is converted into electricity by thermocouples. The power source generates 2.5 kWh each day. Waste heat is used via pipes to warm systems, freeing electrical power to operate

Curiosity s Actuated Drilling Arm in Action

Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral 26 November 2011 aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft. Following the 563,000,000-km journey and after a rather torturous descent (dubbed the 7 minutes of terror), Curiosity, divested of the spacecraft, landed safely on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on 6 August 2012. On 6 February 2013, Curiosity s actuated arm-mounted percussive drill hammered a borehole, dubbed John Klein, 6.4 centimeters deep into a Martian outcrop. This is the first time any robot, fixed or mobile, has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars, Louise Jandura, sample system chief engineer for Curiosity at NASAs JPL in Pasadena, California, told reporters.

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the vehicle and its instruments. Two rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are charged from the generator, which enables the power subsystem to meet Curiosity s peak power demands when demand exceeds the generators steady output level. Each batterys capacity is about 42 amp-hours. The rovers average traveling speed is about 30 meters/hr. In oil and gas drilling on Earth, a typical rig generator set has a nameplate rating of about 1,100 kW, with larger (around 3,500 kW) and smaller (around 550 kW) unitsavailable. MassThe maximum weight-on-bit (WOB) that can be applied to the drill is limited by the mass of the rover multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity. The case given in the paper is for an 850-kg rover (Curiosity is actually 899kg), where the maximum WOB may not exceed850 kg * 3.68 m/s2=3,100 Newton (equivalent to 300 kg on Earth). This assumes the drill is placed along the rovers center of gravity. In Curiosity s case, the drill is deployed from the robotic arm, making allowable WOB muchlower. The mass is constrained by several factors, including cost of the launch, the size of the launch vehicle, and landing technologies for extraterrestrial bodes (landing on the moon is easier than on Mars, because of the lower lunar gravity). WOB during drilling into the Earth can reach 30,000 to 50,000 lbf. On Earth, mass of the drilling rig is constrained more by its purpose than anything else, with widely different sizes and types of rigs used in a range of operations, including oil and gas well drilling, mining, water well drilling, making subsurface installations, mineral-deposit sampling, or testing rock, soil, or groundwater physical properties. Temperature, Thermal Fluctuations, Atmosphere, and PressureThese parameters place physical constraints on the design of all materials and mechanisms, whether used in oil and gas drilling anywhere within the Earth or in extraterrestrial drilling. Mars: The maximum daily temperature range on Mars fluctuates from 127C to +30. Mars atmospheric pressure averages about 0.087 psi, about 0.6% of Earths mean sea level pressure of 14.69 psi (equivalent to 120,000ft above Earths surface). Mars atmospheric mass is about 25 teratonnes, compared to Earths 5,148 teratonnes, and it consists of carbon dioxide (95%), nitrogen (3%), argon (1.6%), and traces of other gases. Earths Moon: There is no significant atmosphere on the moon, so it cannot trap heat or insulate the surface. Daytime on one side of the moon lasts about 13 Earth days, followed by 13 nights of darkness. When sunlight hits the moons surface, the temperature can reach 123C. The moons dark side can have temperatures dipping to 153C. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a NASA robotic spacecraft launched mid-2009 and currently orbiting the

moon, measured temperatures of 238C in craters on the moons south pole and 247C in a crater on its north pole. Venus: The surface temperature of Venus is about 480C and its atmospheric pressure is about 900 Newtons per square centimeter (1,300 lb/in.2). Its atmosphere consists of about 95% carbon dioxide, with the remainder mostly nitrogen. A thick layer of clouds is thought to be largely composed of sulfuric acid droplets. None of the several Russian spacecraft of the Venera series lasted more than an hour on the planets surface. Earlier Venera probes parachuted into the Venus atmosphere and were crushed byit before reaching the surface. Although the European Space Agencys Venus Express spacecraft, launched in November 2005 and arriving within Venus orbit in April2006,has supplied images and data from its orbit, nomission since Venera has attempted to land on the planets surface. Venus DrillTemperature and Pressure: A Venus drill is discussed in chapter 6, Extraterrestrial Drilling and Excavation, in the book, Drilling in Extreme Environments, edited by Yoseph Bar-Cohen and Kris Zacny (Wiley-VCH, 2009). The benefit of high-temperature motors is that they can drive a sampling drill or a grinder, robotic arm, or a deployment stage on the surface of Venus and thus allow for sample acquisition, transfer, and analysis. The authors note that high temperature is a much more problematic issue to deal with than high pressure. [A] high-temperature application either requires components to withstand this temperature or necessitates some kind of an active (or passive, depending on the time of exposure) cooling system. [An] active cooling system is very expensive and many proposed sample return missions from, for example, asteroids, which had to keep samples cool, could not fit within the mission cost cap. On the other hand, a solution to [the] high-pressure problem can be solved by a pressure vessel, which is a passive system (does not require any power to work). FluidsTemperature and Pressure: According to SPE Paper 111126, In terrestrial oil well drilling, cuttings removal is often done by circulating a fluid such as water, a mud slurry, or air. In most extraterrestrial setting (moon, Mars, and asteroids), the use of a fluid is not the first choice because of low pressure and/or low temperature conditions. At these conditions, a fluid either freezes or sublimes directly to vapor. Note also that even if a low freezing point fluid were available, the launch cost in excess of USD 20,000/kg would make sending drilling fluid prohibitively expensive. For this reason, most extraterrestrial drills use an auger with helical fluting to convey cuttings to the surface. This makes the drilling process more inefficient. Communications DelayOf all the constraints, the delay in communication is probably the single most important factor

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human involvement, even with regard to monitoring and decision-making. There was no real-time monitoring of Curiosity s drilling operations but computer command sequences were altered based on the drilling campaign at John Klein. On 5 June, the JPL reported that, For the drill campaign at Cumberland, steps that each took a day or more at John Klein could be combined into a single days sequence of commands. We used the experience and lessons from our first drilling campaign, as well as new cached sample capabilities, to do the second drill campaign far more efficiently, said sampling activity lead Joe Melko of JPL. In addition, we increased use of the rovers autonomous self-protection. This allowed more activities to be strung together before the ground team had to check in on the rover.

Lecture Series and Workshop Spark Dialog

Dr. Alfred Eustes, a professor within the Petroleum Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines, was selected as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer for the 2013 14 program. His lecture topic is Extraterrestrial Drilling: How on Earth Can Martian Drilling Help Us? Eustes is convinced that What we learn from building and deploying extraterrestrial drilling technology will help us understand how to drill better here on Earth. For example, he continued, think of the development of autonomous drill systems for Martian deployment and how applicable those techniques could be here. How about the development of sensor technology for detecting life, assumed to be carbon based just as hydrocarbons are here on Earth? Could those be used here to find oil? And what of material development and machine design for those extreme environments? The X-15 research aircraft was an extreme machine for an extreme environment. And it paved the way for the routine jetliners we use today. In further pursuit of dialog between the oil and gas and space communities, a workshop on Planetary Drilling and Sample Acquisition was held 68 May at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Several members of the oil and gas-related community participated, from companies such as Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Atlas Copco, and National Oilwell Varco, as well as from universities, NASA, and other companies such as Honeybee, QMI, and ATK (AlliantTechsystems). Workshop co-organizer, Dr. Michael New, astrobiology discipline scientist at the Planetary Science Division, NASA, said, The drill used on Curiosity is the best we have. But we want to go deeper. Because, for example, the Mars surface is bathed in ultraviolet radiation, everything gets chemicallymodified. He explained that the Curiosity arm is equipped with a brush that sweeps away the superficial layer of Martian red dust. A meter or 2 will get you below most of the radiation damage, he said. If you want to go deeper10s or 100s of

The Autogopher is a wireline drill, powered by a rotaryultrasonic system, that enables reaching great depths with low system mass. See http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=CSjfKhF5Vys. Courtesy of Honeybee Robotics.

that determines the level of autonomy in drilling on planets like Mars, states SPE Paper 111126. Curiosity is equipped with an X band transmitter and receiver that can communicate directly with Earth (at speeds up to 32 KB/sec) and a UHF Electra-Lite software-defined radio for communicating with Mars orbiters. The orbiters have more power and larger antennas, allowing for faster transmission, and thus are relied on as Curiosity s main means of communicating. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Odyssey orbiter can communicate with Curiosity for about 8 minutes/day, with data transfer rates that can reach 2 MB/sec and 256 KB/sec, respectively. An average of 14 mins, 6 secs is required for signals to travel one way between Mars and Earth. Information from Earth to Curiosity has to follow the same path in reverse, with the same time delay and window of opportunity constraints. This constraint alone dictates the need for fully autonomous robotic operation throughout most of an extraterrestrial drilling operation beyond the moon. This is quite different from the concept of automated drilling on Earth. As chapter 6 in Drilling in Extreme Environments states, In the commercial realm, automation and remote control mean the capability to watch values and open and close valves with a mouse click in a control room, as opposed to sending out a human with a wrencheliminating direct hand contact other than joysticks and touchscreens. In space, these definitions imply minimal or no direct

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metersthis is in the realm of a multisegmented drillstring, with borehole stabilization (casing) required. This is really not possible in space at this time. New said he has been hampered as the manager of an instrument development program. He receives many proposals for sample acquisition devices such as drills and corers, but wanted focused, strategic guidance on which applicationsand therefore technologiesare highest priority. Participants in the workshop helped develop scenarios of the timeframe and feasibility of drilling on extraterrestrial bodies such as comets, Earths moon, Venus, Enceladus, and Europa. As an example, the European Space Agencys Rosetta is the first mission (currently in hibernation until January 2014 on its way to rendezvous with the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko) designed to orbit and land on a comet. According to New, it has a small drill on it. The problem, he explained, is that a comet has almost no gravity, so theres the necessity to bolt down a drill. Then theres the problem of no weight-on-bit. New cited the tension between the constraints of drilling on an extraterrestrial body and the drive to push the frontiers of knowledge. In a short paper he coauthored with Dr. Brian Glass from NASAs Ames Research Center, Drill and Sample Acquisition Testing Using Planetary Analogs, the results of the workshop were discussed: Future missions requiring subsurface samples will require lightweight, lowmass planetary drilling and sample handling. As discussed in the workshop, unlike terrestrial drills, these future exploration drills will likely work dry (without drilling muds or lubricants), blind (no prior local or regional seismic or other surveys), and weak (very low downward force or weighton-bit, especially on small bodies, and perhaps 100W of poweravailable). The paper talks about the merits of using drilling analog sites (such as Arctic and Antarctic permafrost, desert, and basaltic sites) here on Earth:  They provide a relevant environment for testing technical maturity, and for pushing prototypes and beta versions harder, more unpredictably, and with higher overall fidelity than in laboratory bench tests.  They tend to flush out buried assumptions about durability, connectors, vibrations, and component failure rates at far less expense than on-orbit tests.  They are valuable for testing and developing new operations concepts. For example, given their natural strata and outcrops, analog sites give a more widely varied set of inputs for drill automation training than laboratory bench tests.

The Future: Mars 2020 and Beyond

On 1 July, a 154-page report was issued that had been prepared by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team (SDT), appointed by NASA in January to outline scientific objectives for the mission. The mission will send another rover to Mars,which should look for signs of past life, collect samples for possible future return to Earth, and demonstrate technology for advancing toward human missions to theRedPlanet. The Mars 2020 mission concept does not presume that life ever existed on Mars, said Jack Mustard, chairman of the Science Definition Team and a professor of the geological sciences at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. However, given the recent Curiosity findings, past Martian life seems possible, and we should begin the difficult endeavor of seeking the signs of life. No matter what we learn, we would make significant progress in understanding the circumstances of early life existing on Earth and the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Drilling again will be a challenge. A drilling device will be crucial for the sampling system. The report states, [T]he 2020 mission must have the capability to acquire a core from rock/outcrop. The ability to acquire a regolith [extraterrestrial unconsolidated solid material covering a planets bedrock] sample would be highly desirable. SDTs Finding 6-1 defines the Mars 2020 mission drilling depth parameter: The minimum threshold depth for coring into rock is 50 mm. The baseline depth for sampling into rock is >50 mm. Sampling strategies (e.g., fresh bedrock exposed by impact) may provide opportunity to sample deeper than 50 mm where organic material may be preserved from ionizing radiation. The importance of drilling and coring to this mission cannot be overstatedand the oil and gas industry has the opportunity to provide insight and analogs into drill development as well as coring operation design. Samples collected and analyzed by the rover will be essential in helping inform future human exploration missions to Mars. As laid out in a speech delivered 15 April 2010, US President Obama provided a blueprint that includes a manned trip to Mars orbit and back in the 2030s. A landing on Mars will follow, he said. And I expect to be around to see it.JPT

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Dry Tree Semisubmersibles: The Next Deepwater Option

Trent Jacobs, JPT Technology Writer

The Octabuoy dry tree semisubmersible, shown at a shipyard in Qidong, China, is the first of a new type of floating drilling and production platform under construction and is owned by ATP Oil and Gas. Photo courtesy of Moss Maritime.

o commercialize some of the worlds most challenging T deepwater fields, offshore engineering companies are developing a new class of drilling and production platform known as the dry tree semisubmersible (DTS). The challenge involves taking existing technologies and lessons learned from previous floater designs to create an alternative platform for waters too deep to cost-justify the use of tension-leg platforms (TLPs) and fields too large for spar platforms. Dry trees, also known as Christmas trees, are wellhead devices installed during the completion stage of a wells life and give the operator control over production. Used on onshore wells, dry trees have been used extensively on shallow water fixed platforms, TLPs, and spars, but never on a deepwater semisubmersible because that platforms motions are too extreme to support a dry tree system. As the DTS concept awaits introduction into the deepwater market, multiple designs are under evaluation by major offshore oil companies and the Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

The chief advantages of using a DTS are that operators can drill, complete, and carry out intervention operations on multiple wells from the same platform in depths below 6,000 ft. This saves the operator significant resources that otherwise would be spent over the life of the field on contracting mobile offshore drilling units or purpose-built, well-interventionsemisubmersibles.

Going Deeper With a DTS

A TLP typically uses four columns to support a large topside facility and is secured to the seafloor with mooring lines that allow the floating platform to move from side to side, but not up and down. Operating at a water depth of 4,674 ft, ConocoPhillips Magnolia TLP in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is the deepest structure of its kind in the world. Next year, Chevron hopes to begin first production from its Big Foot TLP, also to be located in the GOM, at a depth of approximately 5,200 ft. Beyond 6,000 ft, TLPs become impractical because of the amount of steel needed for the tendons that moor the platform to the ocean bottom.

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A spar platform supports drilling, production, and storage operations and achieves stability from the deep draft of the vertical column on top of which the topside sits. Spars have virtually no water depth limit and are designed specifically as a dry tree unit. However, their size is limited by their cylindrical hulls, which constrain the available deck space, thereby pushing designers to stack the decks vertically. When scaled up to increase the deck area comparable to that of a TLP and to add the payload capacity required for a deepwater drilling rig, the hull of a spar introduces tremendous challenges for transportation and installation. Measuring 555 ft in length, Shells Perdido spar is the deepest in the world, operating at a depth of 7,844 ft in the GOM. Because the deep draft of spars exceeds the water depth near a fabrication yard and create too much drag to wet tow vertically, they must be transported on their side, then upended on location, and have the topside installed onto the hull at sea. Operators are increasingly seeking to avoid this type of offshore integration because of the risk and cost involved, especially for large topside decks. The safer and more cost-effective option that the DTS allows for is quayside integration of the hull and topside, where sea motions are minimal and the need for a heavy lift vessel is eliminated. A conventional semisubmersible platform offers the optimum amount of deck space for safer operations and payload flexibility that a spar cannot, but it has too much vertical motion for a dry tree to operate safely. Several semisubmersibles operate in depths exceeding 6,000 ft; however, all of them use subsea trees. Unlike subsea trees that are installed at the seabed and deliver hydrocarbons to a surface platform through a flexible production riser or a metallic riser such as a steel catenary riser (SCR), a dry tree uses a rigid riser system known as a top tensioned riser (TTR) that is locked onto the subsea wellhead at the seafloor and to the dry tree at the platform deck, thereby making it very sensitive to movement. Another difference is that when using a DTS, the rigid risers dictate that the wells be drilled directly beneath the platform in comparison to semisubmersibles, which use subsea trees that can span large distances between each other. On a DTS, each well has its own riser, whereas in a subsea tree scenario, depending on the rate of production, multiple wells can tie into a single riser.

Aker Solutions dry tree tensioner technology is based on the tensioning system shown being used on a drilling rig. The tensioner compensates for the heave, or bobbing, movements of a dry tree semisubmersible. Photo courtesy of Aker Solutions.

Short Stroke vs. Long Stroke

Although the DTS hull is designed to reduce motion caused by ocean forces, it is the motions that move the platform up and down that are of the highest concern. To compensate for excessive vertical motion current, DTS concepts are relying on proven riser tensioner technology. Riser tensioners have been used on TLPs and spars for nearly 3 decades and are connected to the uppermost segment of a TTR at the platform. Like the shocks on a car, riser tensioners absorb the vertical heave motion caused by ocean waves, allowing the riser to move up and down in a controlled manner without over or under tensioning the riser.

A key difference in some of the DTS concepts is the stroke length that the tensioners need to compensate riser motions vertically. In modified DTS hull designs with deep drafts or additional dampening devices, conventional short-stroke riser tensioners are used to compensate for the heave. In conventional hull designs, longer stroke riser tensioners are needed to compensate for a greater heave movement. The required maximum safe range of the tensioner stroke is largely dependent on field conditions and can be as short as 25 ft in severe environments. To be qualified for global field development applications, each DTS concept must be designed to survive a 1,000-year hurricane in the GOM. In some designs, the riser tensioners must have a stroke length of up to 45 ft. A driver for the modified hull DTS with a deep draft is the preference that operators have shown for a short-stroke tensioner length within the range of 30 ft to 35 ft (Fig. 1). However, as the length of the columns grows to mitigate heave, so does the cost of the hull. Another construction issue that will need to be addressed is whether to dredge quayside at the shipyard to accommodate a substantially deeper draft platform or complete the hull and topside integration offshore.

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Fig. 2The Octabuoy has a deeper draft than a conventional semisubmersible and can be deployed to multiple fields over its expected 50-year service life. The platforms unique column and octagonal buoyancy pontoon minimize the effects of heave, pitch, and roll motions which allow it to support dry tree wellheads at any depth. Image courtesy of Moss Maritime.

Fig. 1SBM Offshores 35-ft range riser tensioner system allows its dry tree semisubmersible to move vertically while ensuring the integrity of the dry tree system located on the tensioner. Image courtesy of SBM Offshore.

In addition to supporting TTRs, the DTS concept is being evaluated for its applications in subsea tiebacks of satellite wells using flexible or steel catenary risers (SCRs). Connected to subsea pipelines and subsea trees, SCRs are flexible metallic risers that bend in a catenary shape as they deliver oil and gas to a production platform. Over time SCRs become susceptible to fatigue as the host platform sways, thereby weakening the steel at the point closest to the seafloor known as the touchdown zone. With the improved motions of a DTS hull, SCR performance could be enhanced, thus extending its service life.

Octabuoy: The First DTS

Moss Maritime says its Octabuoy (Fig. 2) is the worlds first DTS concept to be purchased by an oil company and has gained certification from the American Bureau of Shipping and DNV, and validation by a number of other operators as a dry tree unit. In

2008, Moss Maritime sold the license to build the Octabuoy to ATP Oil and Gas, which has completed the construction of the hull in China but has yet to commission the unit for service. The ATP Octabuoy was designed to produce up to 175,000 B/D of oil in the North Sea using subsea trees and for the deeper waters of the GOM using dry trees. The Octabuoys four conical columns are connected to the octagon-shaped pontoon for which the platforms name is derived from. The columns, which can be used for oil storage, have a profile with a variable water line and dimensions that minimize platform motions. This grants the platform superior motion characteristics compared with a spar and the transport and installation simplicity of a semisubmersible. Weve placed the columns on the outside of the pontoon ring to give us greater stability, said Roberto Noce, general manager of Moss Maritime. Now youre able to integrate a deck with a footprint as large as needed, and once you put in a bigger deck, you can spread your equipment out more efficiently and safely, because you can keep hazardous areas away from the livingquarters. The conical shape of the columns does not present fabricators with any significant challenges, Noce said, proving

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that the design adheres to conventional construction methods and semisubmersible technology. Moss Maritime has completed multiple field-specific testing and engineering studies on the use of the Octabuoy for Chevron, Petrobras, Shell, and Statoil.

Paired Column Semisubmersible

Fig 3Houston Offshore Engineerings paired column semisubmersible is capable of accommodating a drilling rig with a 2-million-lbm hook load in water depths up to 8,000 ft. Image courtesy of Houston Offshore Engineering.

Houston Offshore Engineerings paired column semisubmersible (PCS) (Fig. 3) uses four large outer columns and four smaller inner columns to achieve the stability required in using existing tensioner technology. The inner columns support the topside decks and the outer columns provide motion stability. By increasing the size of the columns, or by changing the distance between the outer and inner columns, the PCS can accommodate varying deck payloads. Pairing the columns in this configuration cancels out surge and sway motions. The paired column concept has shown that it can reduce what are known as vortex-induced motions (VIMs) caused by the loop current in the GOM. VIMs are a major contributor to the fatigue of SCRs and eliminating this type of motion would increase their service life. In June, the PCS underwent tank testing to evaluate its VIM performance and the results were better than expected. The VIM motion is actually significantly less than the single column (semisubmersibles) which gives us a big advantage in regards to mooring line fatigue, said Jun Zou, manager of naval architecture at Houston Offshore Engineering, He added that his companys design is compatible with a short-stroke tensioner system capable of a 28-ft range for use in the most severe GOM environments. The PCS is designed to process 100,000 B/D of oil and the company has completed a study to increase the design capacity to 150,000 B/D.

Conventional Semisubmersible Solutions

The paired column semisubmersible during tank testing earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Houston Offshore Engineering.

Another approach is to use a conventional deep-draft semisubmersible platform and incorporate long-stroke riser

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tensioners to compensate for the greater heave motion. Kvaerner Field Development and Aker Solutions are both developing DTS concepts that feature a ring pontoon with four corner columns supporting the topside. The Kvaerner DTS (Fig. 4) is based on prior in-house semisubmersible designs and uses a long-stroke tensioner with a range of 35 ft. The hull is deeper than a conventional semisubmersible but within the limits that allow for quayside integration and commissioning. The hull itself looks a lot like a conventional semisubmersible except the draft of the underwater portion, the column, is deeper, because of the riser performance requirement, said Jack Zeng, director of engineering and technology for floaters at Kvaerner. The Aker DTS (Fig. 5) concept is based on the companys existing semisubmersible designs that have been used to build offshore units already in service. The Aker design has been modified only slightly in regards to the configuration of the drilling rig and well bay to accommodate for tensioner stroke and deepercolumns. The Aker DTS will use the same riser tensioner technology used on the companys drilling rigs, but the stroke length will increase by a few feet from the current maximum range. For use in the GOM, the Aker DTS will have a riser stroke range of 35 ft to 45 ft as dictated by storm survival requirements. Aker is studying the use of smaller stroke riser tensioner in areas where stroke requirements are less extreme because of calmer seas, such as off west Africa and in southeast Asia. This is being looked at to use around the world so that we find fields that are really perfect for a DTS with the right depth and right field conditions, said Rolf Eide, manager of hull and marine engineering at Aker. The Aker DTS is in the final stages of qualification with DNV and Chevron. SBM Offshore is following the same path as Kvaerner and Aker in developing its own version of a DTS (Figs. 6 and 7) by using the design of two semisubmersibles operating in the GOM. Compared

Fig. 4The Kvaerner DTS, shown in an illustration being towed to sea, uses a deck box-type structure made up of a double bottom-type lower deck and an upper deck with enough vertical separation to accommodate drilling and production modules. Image courtesy of Kvaerner.

Fig. 5Aker Solutions dry tree semisubmersible design is based on its previous semisubmersible designs and uses riser tensioner technology already in use on its drilling rigs. Image courtesy of Aker Solutions.

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Fig. 7A computer illustration of a riser tensioner system layout in the well bay of SBM Offshores dry tree semisubmersible design. Image courtesy of SBM Offshore.

Fig. 6SBM Offshores DTS is designed to house 12 top tensioned risers and produce 100,000 B/D of oil and 50 MMscf/D of natural gas. Image courtesy of SBM Offshore.

with its two other deep draft semisubmersibles, SBMs DTS concept would be more than twice the weight with 50% more draft. Weve extended the draft another 50 ft in our design beyond what we did for the Independence Hub and Thunderhawk, Randy Jordan, vice president of floating production systems at SBM Offshore, said. Independence Hub is the deepest operating semisubmersible in the world at approximately 8,100 ft in water depth and it processes 1 Bcf/D of natural gas. The SBM Offshore DTS has a 150-ft draft and is designed for depths up to 8,000 ft. Based on results from a wave basin model test completed in April, Jordan said its DTS design is ready to be used for field development in west Africa, Brazil, and southeast Asia. The company will reveal the results of its recent testing at OTC Brasil in October.

platforms. Because drilling rigs are required to enter dry dock for inspection every 5 years and floating production facilities are designed to operate at sea for decades without coming to port, operators are seeking a high level of certainty on the longterm integrity of the riser tensioner systems. Other safety issues that are under review include outlining the contingencies for a riser tensioner or supporting system failure and the safest way to arrange the well bays so as to protect the integrity of the riser tensioner system. Consideration must also be taken in the designs regarding how to safely conduct drilling and production operations simultaneously in a well bay crowded with multiple riser tensioners. And because no DTS has been field proven in deep water, the concepts cost-effectiveness has yet to be determined. JPT For Further Reading:
OTC 23912 A Project Oriented and Technology Robust Dry Tree Semi Concept by Jack Zeng, Kvaerner, et al. OTC 23919 Dry Tree Semi Technology ReadinessPerspectives of Operator and Classification Society by Jenny Yan Lu and Ming-Yao Lee, DNV/Chevron, et al. OTC 23926 An Evaluation of Strength, Fatigue, and Operational

Performance of Dry Tree Semisubmersible Riser Tensioning Equipment by Jun Zou, Houston Offshore Engineering, et al.

Challenges Remain for Adoption

OTC 23958 A Robust and Flexible Dry Tree Semisubmersible Drilling and Production Platform by Roberto Noce, Moss Maritime, et al. OTC 24148 Dry Tree Semisubmersibles for Gulf of Mexico by Steve Leverette, SBM Offshore, et al.

The riser tensioner technology that the DTS concept relies upon has been proved on drilling rigs, but not on floating production

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INCUBATOR FOR STARTUPS

E&P Software: The Next Generation

Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Editor

A handful of entrepreneurs are out to disrupt the daily routines of workers in oil exploration and production (E&P) by applying digital technologies. The entrepreneurs are members of a generation of digital natives who grew up expecting constant online contact and information, so their ideas are typically a version of how they expect the world to work. RunTitle wants to cut the number of days spent in courthouses searching title records to find the owners of mineral rights by creating a national onlinedatabase. The Global Material Exchange (Gmex) is creating an online marketplace

for the millions of tons of steel products now bought and sold using phones, faxes, and email. Skynet Labs plans to replace spreadsheets and manual calculations by drillers with applications that can be used on smartphones or tablets, and ultimately with a cloud-based system offering greater computing power and the ability tocollaborate. Secure Nok is going about drilling rig security from a different angle, looking for signs of trouble by closely analyzing machine performance. Waveseis seeks to create better seismic images of formations otherwise obscured by thick layers of salt.

Kirk Coburn, the managing director of Surge Accelerator, speaks in front of entrepreneurs who made their pitch to investors at the event put on by the Houston business accelerator that picks and promotes ventures seeking to change the energy and water businesses.

They are among the 12 companies in the second class of startups nurtured by the Surge Acceleratora 2-year-old Houston venture created to use techniques developed in the technology sector to jump-start early-stage companies in energy. About half the business plans are based on software to improve oil and gas operations. Surge was founded on the premise that the energy industry is ripe for a digitally driven change that has transformed business sectors such as finance and manufacturing. They (plans of Surge companies) are all focused on collecting data, managing data, analyzing dataall in real timeand providing actions on top of that, said Kirk Coburn, managing director of Surge, who summed it up as true real-time intelligence. Initially, Surge was investing only in software for energyincluding alternative energy and electricitybut its investment committee has added hardware. The group includes Dynamo Micropower, which makes a simplified turbine that can be powered by wellhead gas to generate power. Water has also been added because it is so critical in thisrealm. If these ideas turn into profitable enterprises, Coburn and the other Surge backers have a chance to profit from it. The accelerator gets a 6% stake in the companies in exchange for financial support, training, mentoring, and connections to potential investors and users during a 3-month program in Houston. Of the 23 companies backed by Surge over the past 2 years, 21 are still in business, Coburn said. In the world of technology startups, failures are a givensuccess often comes only after

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music shows, with short pitches playing up a problem and a solution. The lineup offered an interesting sample of the digital opportunities in E&P. RunTitles Chief Executive Officer Reid Calhoon pitched his business by saying: We are wasting our time driving out to courthouses and researching titles. To limit the outlay, the company is creating a digital marketplace for the reports owned by oil companies and regional companies in the report business. It is raising money to hire software developers and salespeople to expand this resale market. All these businesses are after niches that require limited capital. Compared with the enormous scale of the oil industry, the money backing the Surge startups is tinythe amount raised by the first class of companies was hardly enough to drill and complete two shalewells. To support the 12 ventures in Surges second class of startups, the programs backers put up USD 1.2 million, with onethird of the money covering the operation and the rest supporting the companies it pays for them to live in Houston for 3 months and to work together in an open space where each startup has a cubicle. The goal is to create a supportive environment offering useful information, advice, and inspiration through what can be a lonely process of starting a business.

Improving the Odds

Ariel Sella, a Surge alumni starting a business accelerator in Israel, talked at Surge Day about the opportunities created by the growing number of sensors transmitting data over the Internet.

many triesand an idea that does not work often inspires another. Ariel Sella, the founder of one of the Surge startups that stopped, was inspired to create an accelerator called Azimpo in Tel Aviv, Israel, to support entrepreneurs working to help a range of industries operate moreefficiently. While he is not targeting the energy industry, there is a common link. Both accelerators see opportunities in the exploding number of devices connected over the Internetmany of which have sensorsknown as the Internet ofthings.

The challenge for those picking ideas is finding ones offering the upside that comes with disrupting the status quo, but there is a limit to the pace of change. Sometimes being early is the equivalent of being wrong, Coburn said.

Raising Money

During Surge Day in late May, members of the class made their pitch to investors gathered in an auditorium in the House of Blues in downtown Houston. The production made full use of the lighting and sound system normally used for

Surge is modeled after similar ventures in tech centers such as Californias Silicon Valley. The goal is to improve the odds for new ventures by offering support, training, and advice from experienced mentors, some of whom are investors and many working for major oil com panies. The process often leads to c hanges in plans, sometimes complete changes in their direction, which is known as apivot. Among the mentors is Gene Ennis, best known as the chief executive officer of Landmark Graphics during a rapid growth period for the innovative seismic software company that was acquired by Halliburton. He was involved in several startups and knows the odds. Based on data gathered in the venture capital (VC) business, out of every 10

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THE INTERNET OF THINGS

The number of devices connected to the Internet has surpassed the number of people globally and is rising rapidly, according to a study by the network equipment company, Cisco. It predicted more than 6.5 connected devices per person in 2020, ranging from smartphones to oilfield sensors. Year 2003 2010 2015 2020
Source: Cisco 2011.

World Population (billion) 6.3 6.6 7.2 7.6

Connected Devices (billion) 0.5 12.5 25 50

Connected Devices Per Person 0.08 1.84 3.47 6.58

startups backed by investors, one will be a home run, Ennis said, adding, It might be one in 20 depending on the economy and other things we cannotcontrol. These entrepreneurs were looking for investments from venture capital firms that have become more selective. If you look at the ones VCs out there today are doing what they are doing in a much more conservative way than 20 years ago, Ennis said. On Surge Day, the goal for nearly all the members of the class was raising money. The one exception was Waveseis. The two-person company is built on an algorithm created by Mark Roberts, a former BP research geophysicist. That formula is the basis for a program designed to create more accurate images showing oil and gas targets beneath thick salt layers. So far, Waveseis business plan has required a huge investment of Roberts time, but not much cash. Mark plans to use this to get into the business, said Ennis, who is advising the venture. The goal is to use revenue from the first program to pay for a series of improved seismic processing software designed with the needs of a select group of clients in mind. What Roberts lacks is access to the field data to demonstrate he can create more accurate images of reservoirs below salt layers. So far, the evidence is limited to images created with synthetic data sets simulating conditions found in the ground. Roberts knows from experi-

ence that they are always clearer than the real data. Getting the data he needed to create the image and verify its accuracy was more difficult because Roberts also needed permission to show the results to potential customers. It is always a challenge to get oil companies to show their data outside their walls, he said.

Oil and Software

The Surge portfolio ranges from monitoring the health of drilling equipment to creating online markets. Secure Noks business plan is based on a different way of sniffing out malicious software (malware). Its focus is machine performance, analyzing the data seeking early indications that a drilling rig control system has been compromised. Most defense programs are designed to block incoming threats by identifying programs with code associated with malware. Malware creators can stay ahead of those defenses by changing the code used, with programs now able to reside unnoticed for years beforeattacking. The monitoring and detection part of Secure Noks programs looks for trouble in a different wayby comparing its current performance with data gathered during tests of the machines, as well as performance expectations learned from on-the-job performance as observed by an artificial intelligence program. Basically, our solution does not look for known attack patterns and sig-

natures, which is the common way used in existing monitoring solutions, said Siv Hilde Houmb, chief executive officer of Secure Nok. Our solution evaluates the machine behavior to determine whether it is normal or potentially abnormal based on observations during testing, which is updated in the field using artificial intelligence methods to better observe and evaluate behavior. This diagnostic program is at the heart of Secure Noks incident-handling tool that advises operators on how to handle potential problems in a way that is supposed to minimize interruptions, Houmb said. The drilling market is our first focus, as we have partnerships and experience in this space, Houmb said. She said the company is collaborating with an equipment maker on pilots with a goal of building its software into the companysequipment. RunTitle is looking to change the way companies buy mineral rights, with an online market for title information. Based on their experience working as landmen, the companys two founders created what they hope will be the online market for reports previously done to identify mineral rights owners. The goal is an easy-to-use database covering all the significant unconventional oil and gas plays in the US, offering data for a fraction of the cost of hiring someone to go to a courthouse and do a title search. The reports are from oil

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To demonstrate what its seismic processing software can do, Waveseis created these two seismic images. The one on the left was processed using a program that removes noise and distorts images beneath thick layers of salt. The one on the right used reverse time migration. It is seeking actual data to prove that its images are more accurate.

companies and regional title databases seeking to resell old research. As of June, the company said it had exclusive rights deals covering 15 million acres, or about 10% of its goal. While the reports are often several years old, updating those is far less work than starting from scratch. When 50 people have done this title search before, there is no reason for me to go back to 1830, said Charlie Wohleber, chief operations officer forRunTitle. Similar thinking went into the creation of the online metals exchange, known as Gmex. Jeremy Chapman said the idea for the company goes back to his time working as a metals buyer in the oil industry spending his days making one-on-one contacts with suppliers to fill orders. Gmexs goal is a widely used competitive online market in which approved vendors bid on orders from industrial users. The challenge is to generate enough volume, so buyers and sellers can rely on it for a wide range of orders, which will justify the fees it needs to support the business. While in the Surge

program, Chapman said they worked to make it more user-friendly, inspired by the car sales website Autotrader.com. Skynet Labs is seeking to use cloud computing and the Internet to provide people in oil and gas with simple mobile ways to analyze data, said Tim Duggan, chief executive officer of Skynet. The first products for the company were applications used by drillers built on widely used American Petroleum Institute formulas. The products include security to ensure this work cannot be viewed by network hackers, Duggan said. To grow, he is looking at sources of more widely used industry formulas, such as widely used ones in SPE papers, which Skynet can turn into an app in a relatively short period of time. The company is working to move beyond a single-user customer base of engineers to operators and service companies by offering a cloud-based system. Now in testing, this system will allow multiple users to log in and view each others work in a secure online space where access is controlled and the work is saved.

Tim Duggan, chief executive officer of Skynet Labs.

An early inspiration for Duggan was seeing how his father, a drilling engineer, would do calculations using a personal computer or paper, pencil, and a calculator. Duggan said, The oil and gas drilling industry is drowning in Excel spreadsheets.JPT

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PRODUCTION RECORD

Saudi Aramco Oil and Gas Production Hits Historic Levels

Abdelghani Henni, Middle East Writer

Saudi Arabian state oil company Saudi Aramco released its annual report in July, noting that it produced more oil and gas last year than ever before, and also raised its technical capabilities to new heights as part of it 2020 strategy to be a fully integrated energy and chemicalscompany. The companys annual production exceeded 3.4 billion bbl of oil, equal to an average of 9.5 million BOPD. In 2012, we produced 3.479 billion bbl of oil, about one in every eight bbl of the worlds crude oil production and the most we have produced in a single year in our history, Saudi Aramco said in its annual report. During 2012 at Saudi Aramco, we responded to market conditions by producing crude oil at the highest level in our companys history, said Khalid Al-Falih, president and chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco. The companys recoverable crude oil and condensate reserves have reached 260.2 billion bbl, while gas reserves reached 284.8 Tcf. Our maximum daily sustainable crude oil production capacity remained at 12 million BOPD during the year. Our gas plants now have a gas

processing capacity of 13.23Bscf/D, the report said. Gas production has also reached historic levels, as the company reported an 8.3% increase in output in 2012 compared with 2011 at about 3.924 Tcf/yr, the highest in Saudi Aramcos history. The company also said that it produced 482 million bbl of natural gas liquids including 82 million bbl ofcondensates. Crude oil exports increased 100million bbl in 2012 to 2.52 billion bbl, with 53.2% exported to the Asia Pacific region followed by 16.5% to the United States, 7.4% to the Mediterranean region, and 5% toEurope. In 2012, Saudi Aramco focused on exploring frontier areas in the Red Sea and complex reservoirs onshore and offshore. Discoveries included one oil fieldAslafand two gas fieldsShaur and Umm Ramilbringing its total oil and gas field discoveries throughout its history to 116. Shaur was its first discovery in the marine portion of the Red Sea.

Unconventionals Advance

Through exploration for unconventional resources, Saudi Aramco determined that substantial shale and tight gas

Table 1crude oil production in 2012

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: Saudi Aramco

Annual Production (billion bbl) 3.27 2.89 2.89 3.31 3.48

Daily Production (million BOPD) 8.92 7.91 7.91 9.07 9.51

deposits exist in Saudi Arabia, and made its first foray into the unconventional gas arena. The Unconventional Gas Initiative will contribute to our strategic intent in many ways. Saudi Arabias supplies of unconventional gas will supplement its supplies of conventional gas resources and help meet the kingdoms energy demand, the annual report said. The company appraised three prospective areas for unconventional gas: the northwest, South Ghawar, and condensate-rich shale gas in the Rub al- Khali. These efforts were aimed at acquiring the data needed to help us make the right decisions as to where and how to invest in order to accelerate the delivery of commercial production of unconventional gas, Amine N asser, senior vice president for upstream at Saudi Aramco, said during a recent industry conference. These projects are part of our wider Unconventional Gas Initiative, which became fully operational in 2012 when multidisciplinary teams, made up of Saudi Aramco professionals and industry experts with extensive experience, began appraisal drillings. The report said that although the cost of delivered unconventional gas is higher than most conventional gas, it is an important strategic and economic choice for the company. Unconventional gas will serve as a substitute for higher value liquid fuels such as diesel, residual fuel oil, and crude oil that would otherwise be used to fuel the electric power and water-desalination needs of the kingdom.

Boosting Tech Capabilities

Saudi Aramco knows that further developing its fields, increasing recovery

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rates, and exploring unconventional resources will require significant technological advancement. Saudi Aramco is boosting technological capabilities as part of its 2020 strategy, aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of its production. It is investing more in developing new technologies as well as investing globally in startup and high-growth companies with technologies of strategic importance to Saudi Aramco. The company inaugurated a new research and development center last year at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The center, a part of Aramco Overseas Company, concentrates on geophysics research in near-surface characterization and data-driven seismic processing, and is one of two research groups closely aligned with auniversity. The second research group, at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, undertakes projects related to biocapture, robotics, fuel technology, chemicals, membranes, and advanced

Table 2Production in 2012

Crude Production Daily Crude Production Annual Gas Production Daily Gas Production Proven Crude Reserves Proven Gas Reserves
Source: Saudi Aramco

3.5 billion bbl 9.5 million BOPD 3.9 Tcf 10.7 Bcf/D 260.2 billion bbl 284.8 Tcf

materials. The company is also opening several centers around the world in 2013. In 2012, Saudi Aramco also reviewed all of its reservoirs, meticulously identifying the crude oil mix that it will be able to deliver in the short and long term. Going forward, we will rely on this information to help us continue to introduce

new best-in-class reservoir management principles for optimal development and production, it said. Saudi Aramco was granted 58 patents last year, a record for the com pany. Examples of the innovations include technologies involved in locating and plugging lateral wellbores, flare stack and combustion apparatus, automated real-time reservoir pressure estimation, advanced petrophysical algorithms fostering the shift from well-centric to model-centric workflows, and an illumi nated directional wind speed indicator. New technologies were enablers for the redevelopment of the Manifa field, the fifth-largest oil field in the world, in which five patents were filed, including one for the ILOOP that has potential international application for enhanced environmental cleanup. The company said it reduced sulfur dioxide emissions from its facilities by almost 70% between 2005 and 2012, despite the ongoing expansion of its operations. JPT

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Industry/Research Collaboration Advances Oil and Gas Technologies

Mika Stepankiw, JPT Staff Writer

Universities are working hard to anticipate the demand for new technologies and techniques as oil and gas exploration delves into deeper waters, harsher climates, and unconventional fields. Numerous universities are teaming up with the industry on projects such as modeling software, heavy oil technologies, fines migration, drilling technologies, and foam to enhance oil recovery and production. Through these research collaborations, more efficient methods are being developed to meet the increasing global consumption of oil and gas.

Petroleum Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, US

The Petroleum Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines has a large undergraduate and graduate enrollment and a healthy mix of multidisciplinary research efforts including the Unconventional Natural Gas and Oil Institute; the Marathon Center of Excellence for Reservoir Studies; the Fracturing, Acidizing, Stimulation Technology Consortium; the Energy Modeling Group; the Unconventional Reservoir Engineering Project; and the Physics of Organics, Carbonates, Clays, Sands, and ShalesConsortium. One area of focus is the Routes to Sustainability for Natural Gas Development and Water and Air Resources project in the Rocky Mountain Region. For this project, the Petroleum Engineering and the Civil and Environmental Engineering departments are working with their sister school, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and seven other institutions in a Sustainability Research Network (SRN) funded by a 5-year grant from the US National Science Foundation. The mission of the SRN is to provide a logical, science-based framework for evaluating environmental, economic, and social trade-offs between the development of natural gas resources in the Rocky Mountain Region and the protection of water and air resources. The SRN plans to give the results of these evaluations to the public in a way that will improve policies and regulations governing oil and gas exploration. Our goal is to find the balance between maximizing the development of natural gas and oil resources for the benefits of short-term reduction of CO2 emissions from power generation and transportation, national energy independence, and national job growth, while minimizing damage to water and air resources and risks to human health, said Joseph N. Ryan, faculty director of the researchproject. The departments first task in the SRN is to assess the isolation of aquifers from gas- and oil-producing formations. The department is evaluating the possibility of losing isolation because of damage to the cement sheath from pressure testing, casing integrity tests, and other operations during the production cycle of an oil or gas well over a life cycle of up to 50 years. Using finite element analysis, the SRN is assessing the effects of the change in the in-situ stresses acting upon a cemented wellbore to determine the improvement or degradation of the annular seal during the wells life cycle. The second task is to estimate the probability of casing and cement sheath failure in production, intermediate, and surface casing strings. As part of this task, the SRN will review the consequences of failures, including volumes and nature of gases and fluids released into an aquifer. They will focus on black swan eventsunlikely, worst-case scenarios and the possible effects of such an event. The third task is to examine the possibility of fracturing into aquifers using fracture modeling software in addition to finite element modeling. The modeling will involve combinations of casing, formation barriers, and annular cement to determine if fractures could propagate into freshwater aquifers under a variety of conditions. The fourth task is to evaluate procedures used by various operators and service companies for green vs. nongreen well completions. The results will determine the best practices for green completion operations. The broader impacts of this effort include improved public understanding of the effects of natural gas development on water and air resources and better decision making regarding the local effects as well as regional and national benefits of natural gas development.

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Institute of Drilling Engineering and Fluid Mining, Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany
The Institute of Drilling Engineering and Fluid Mining High-pressure/high-temperature return at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg was permeability tests and drilling fluid management established in 1962 within the Faculty of Geosciences,  Energy fluid storage in salt caverns and porous Geoengineering, and Mining. The university offers a reservoirs German diploma, which is equivalent to a master of Stimulation technologies science, in petroleum engineering. The curriculum covers CO2 storage in porous reservoirs engineering fundamentals and advanced subjects in  Enhanced oil recovery (e.g., microbial, thermal, and drilling and production engineering as well as renewable acoustic wave stimulation) and sustainable energy, including geothermal energy andunderground storage of hydrocarbons, hydrogen, Other major research interests include geothermal andCO2. reservoirs and unconventional reservoirs, such as shale gas The institute has strong ties with the oil and gas industry and submarine hydrate reservoirs. through its association with oil, gas, and service companies and SPE chapters in Europe and around the world. Before joining the institute, faculty members work for a number of years to gain real-world experience in the industry. They maintain their connection with the industry by consulting, working on joint researchprojects, and teaching shortcourses. The institutes laboratories are fully furnished with the latest equipment and software. They have specialized equipment and advanced experimental setups for research in drilling fluids, oilwell cementing, data transmission in boreholes, and enhanced oil recovery. In particular, the laboratories have sophisticated equipment (Fig.1) to measure the permeability of very tight rocks, such as caprock and rock salt, which are harder or more resistant rock types that often lay over a less resistant rocktype. In 1919, the university took over the Reiche Zeche mine, which consists of 14 km of passageways at depths up to 230 m. The mine provides unique opportunities for research projects that require these specificconditions. Current R&D projects include the following: Ultrahard materials for drill bit  bodies and cutters Seismic prediction while drilling Fig. 1The laboratories in the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg in Germany are furnished with the latest equipment and Hydraulic and acoustic high software. The equipment, shown above, can determine the tightness of speed telemetry systems a rock in unsteady-state conditions to simulate field environments.

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Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, UK
Research activities at the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University span from exploration, through reservoir appraisal and development, to production technology. Within this broad spectrum, the institute is divided into 12 distinct research themes, each represented by an interactive grouping of academic/research staff and postgraduate research students. These themes include carbon capture and storage; enhanced hydrocarbon recovery; petroleum geoscience; and gas hydrate, flow assurance, and pressure/volume/temperature. The Gas Hydrate, Flow Assurance, and Phase Equilibria Pressure/Volume/ Temperature Research Group consists of approximately 20 staff and students with expertise in chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, geology, and physics. The research team seeks to address various aspects of flow assurance and gas hydrate development, including kinetic hydrate inhibitor evaluation; avoiding gas hydrate, wax, and asphaltene problems in petroleum production and transportation; design and testing of low dosage hydrate inhibitors, hydrate monitoring, and early warning systems; and the natural occurrence of hydrates in sediments. The research groups activities are supported by the Centre for Gas Hydrate Research, which was formed in 2001, and the Centre for Flow Assurance Research, which was formed in 2007. The research group collaborates with the industry through four joint industry projects and receives support from 25 companies. Current research is being developed through five ongoing projects: gas hydrates and flow assurance; reservoir fluid studies; low dosage hydrate inhibitors; hydrate safety margin monitoring and early detection systems; and impact of common impurities on CO2 capture, transport, and storage (a collaborative project with Mines ParisTech). Research activities have resulted in generating new understanding, novel experimental data, and extensive test facilities including five well-equipped laboratories and have led to more than 200 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at technicalconferences. To address the increasing industrial demand for technical support, Hydrafact, a Heriot-Watt University spin-off company, was formed in 2006. The company is based in the Heriot-Watt University Research Park and has eight full-time and seven part-time staff members. Results of studies by the Gas Hydrate, Flow Assurance, and Phase Equilibria Pressure/Volume/Temperature Research Group have led to the development of three tools that are being commercialized by Hydrafact under license from the university: HydraFlash, HydraChek, and HydraSens. HydraFlash consists of comprehensive software capable of modeling a wide range of scenarios in reservoir fluid systems. It can be used by chemical, process, reservoir, and production engineers for a variety of phase equilibrium calculations, covering systems with and without gas hydrates. The software is currently being used by a large number of oil, gas, and service companies. HydraChek and HydraSens are being developed as joint industry projects. HydraChek monitors hydrate safety margins by providing the actual concentration of hydrate inhibitor and salt through downstream analysis of produced water samples. This information can be combined with operating parameters to allow the operator to continuously monitor and optimize inhibitor injection rates. HydraChek has been successfully deployed in many fields around the world, and an online version is being developed by Hydrafact with support from Total E&P UK and Statoil Petroleum. HydraSens detects early signs of hydrate formation in hydrocarbon production systems by analyzing compositional changes in produced gas to detect small amounts of hydrate forming.

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Petroleum Engineering Program, Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi

Although the Petroleum Engineering Program at the Petroleum Institute is relatively new in the region, it has become regionally and internationally known because of its staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and state-of-the-art laboratories. Accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the program offers master of science and master of engineering degrees and has plans to offer a doctoral program in the nearfuture. The program offers a wide range of technical courses with a focus on applied engineering and decision-making tools to prepare students for global challenges in the energy sector. It benefits from direct access to real field data and examples through its strong affiliation with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and other companies, including Shell, BP, Total, and Japan Oil Development. The program has several major projects with industry collaboration, one of which is the Smart Water Flood Project funded by Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) and led by Hemanta Sarma. The aim of this project is to increase oil recovery by altering formation wettability through modification of the chemical composition of injected water in the reservoir. A second project is the Transition Zone Project led by Hadi Belhaj. Also funded by ADCO, the project focuses on investigating variation of oil saturation distribution in a complex reservoir and determining the optimum well completion mechanism. Funded by ADNOC and Total, Ali AlSumaiti leads a project on digital rock physics in collaboration with Mohammed Sassi from Masdar Institute. The main objective of the study is to develop a digital rock physics database for Abu Dhabis reservoirs to be used as a tool to generate accurate, fast, and cost-effective special core analysis properties. This tool will ultimately support reservoir characterization and simulation models. The program also collaborates on projects with partner universities, notably Stanford University, the Colorado School of Mines, The University of Texas at Austin, and Rice University. Continuous global growth in the demand for oil and gas has ignited the drive to explore new opportunities and develop new technologies to meet the demand. Carbonate reservoirs in the United Arab Emirates are categorized as high-pressure/high-temperature with great heterogeneity and high acidity. As a result, ADNOC, in conjunction with the institute, will build a new research and development (R&D) center called the Petroleum Institute Research Center with the aim to solve these issues. The advanced laboratories have been designed to meet all technical challenges and health, safety, and environmental compliance. The research center is expected to be complete by the end of 2014. With this addition, the institute expects that the number of funded projects will increase rapidly as will the number of scholars with extensive industry and academic experience to work on these projects.

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Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide, Australia
The Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide offers education, training, and research in the upstream petroleum industry. The program integrates petroleum engineering, petroleum geoscience, and business decision making in one school. Its current research interests are  Reservoir characterization, modeling, and simulation  Unconventional resources, completion, and production techniques  Fundamentals of flow in porous media, enhanced and improved oil recovery, formation damage, and geomechanics  Sedimentology and stratigraphy CO2 sequestration Economic evaluation Decision making and risk analysis  The school has well-established links with the petroleum industry and related government organizations. It is a node of the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, a collaborative research organization focused on CO2 capture and geologicalsequestration. One of the schools key research projects involves fines migration-assisted technologies for oil and gas recovery. Very small particles called fines can drift and block the permeability of the well. This process, known as fines migration, may result from an unconsolidated or unstable formation or from using an incompatible fluid that frees the fines. This is the most common formation damage
50%

mechanism that often challenges the economic viability of a petroleum development project and is often found in production and injection wells, drilling, waterflooding, and pressure depletion with watersupport. Although the current theory of fines migration in petroleum reservoirs predicts a delay in the permeability response, laboratory tests demonstrate an instant response. A new theory developed at the school involves the maximum fines retention function and drift velocity for fines that model fines mobilization and allows for laboratory coreflood test interpretations, well impairment history analysis, and well behavior prediction. Laboratory and field case studies validate the new approach. The reservoir studies use corefloods, tests with rock fragments and cuttings, Z-potential, and scanning electron microscope data along with well history for reliable prediction, prevention, and mitigation of productivitydecline. Traditionally, fines migration has been avoided because of its potential for having a harmful effect on reservoir permeability. However, research suggests that the permeability decline effect provides a relatively simple method for water mobility control. The university proposes deliberately freeing natural reservoir fines by injecting low-salinity/high-pH water, which results in a decline in the reservoir permeability and a subsequent deceleration of the injected or invaded water. Laboratory and field data cases demonstrate a threefold to fourfold reduction in produced water and a 5% to 10% increase in the recovery of oil and gas (Fig. 2), indicating that natural or deliberately induced fines migration may significantly assist in oil and gasproduction.

Recovery Factor

SPE9, Water Injection SPE9, Polymer Injection 5-Layer Reservoir, Induced Fines SPE9, Induced Fines 5-Layer Reservoir, Water Injection 5-Layer Reservoir, Polymer Injection

25%

0%

0.2

0.4

0.6

Pore Volume Injected

Fig. 2A new approach to fines migration by the University of Adelaide in Australia shows an improvement in oil recovery and water mobility control when fines are deliberately freed.

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Center for Petroleum Studies, State University of Campinas, Brazil
(e.g., geometry of bodies and architecture) scale, which includes the petrographical characterization of field rock samples and outcrop analogs; field investigation of electric, radioactive, and magnetic properties; and diagenesis, the study of chemical and physical changes to sedimentary rock after formation. Research in well engineering covers basic and applied aspects of wellbore stability, directional wells and new techniques for drilling, well control and safety, operability of ships and drilling rigs, and production in harsh environmental conditions. Computational geophysics research involves the development and application of methods and algorithms linked to wave propagation. Seismic processing algorithms, such as image reconstruction and inversion of seismic data, are being studied to better understand reservoirs. Oil and gas production research facilities, such as CEPETROs multiphase flow lab, focus on new techniques and technologies that improve production and flow assurance in onshore and offshore fields, while reducing cost through intelligent production management (Fig. 3). The main research projects in oil and gas production cover artificial lift, separation of gas/liquid/solid, use of intelligent systems, and the production and transportation of heavy oils. CEPETROs research in reservoir engineering involves characterizing rocks from basic and special core analysis with a focus on fluid displacement mechanisms and their effect on reservoir rocks. Analysis is conducted through CEPETROs reservoir characterization research focuses laboratory assessments of the rock fluid properties as well on investigating reservoirs from the microscopic scale (e.g., as reservoir modeling through deterministic and geostatistic petrophysical features) to the macroscopic and megascopic techniques. Reservoir simulation research is a primary focus, covering topics ranging from history matching core displacement studies to field production data. In the study of subsea systems, operability issues in offshore rigs, subsea operations, and information processing during the drilling and intervention phases are studied. CEPETRO aims to investigate and develop techniques related to subsea production systems, subsea equipment, subsea pipes, and production risers. CEPETROs previous R&D projects have included the design and installation of template manifolds, floating production systems with dry completion, numerical and experimental analysis of hybrid riser Fig. 3The multiphase flow laboratory at the State University of system dynamics, and the life of steel Campinas in Brazil is used for research on improving oil production and catenary risers. flow assurance and reducing cost in onshore and offshore fields. The Center for Petroleum Studies (CEPETRO) was founded in 1987 in a partnership between the State University of Campinas and Petrobras to address an increasing demand for R&D in the oil and gas industry. With this partnership, the Department of Petroleum Engineering in the Mechanical Engineering College was also created along with a masters-level petroleum engineering program. CEPETRO facilitates collaboration between academic and industry professionals to find new knowledge and technologies for the sector and to contribute to the scientific and technological development of the oil and gas area in Brazil. During its 25 years of existence, CEPETRO has carried out more than 300 applied research projects and has had approximately 390 masters and doctoralgraduates. Research is the flagship of CEPETRO activities. The center currently has 140 researchers with expertise in oil and gas involved in 65 financed research projects. The centers infrastructure includes six laboratories on its premises and another 13 laboratories in institutes and colleges around the campus. Current research is concentrated in six fields in Reservoir characterization Well engineering Computational geophysics The production of oil and gas Reservoir engineering Riser systems

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Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Historically, the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE) program at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) has had a strong R&D emphasis on petroleum engineering. The first joint effort between Petrobras and UFRJ was formed in 1977; this was invigorated by the discovery of huge deepwater reserves along the Brazilian coast and more recently in the pre-salt layers. These efforts have led to the creation of jobs and consulting projects as well as the production of several scientific articles. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the installation of the worlds largest ocean basin laboratory, which was designed and built by COPPE. The COPPE petroleum interdisciplinary program draws upon talent from several departments and laboratories including petroleum systems, offshore systems and structures, structural integrity, materials, dynamic positioning, submarine robotics, and computationalsystems. Petrobras America, a subsidiary of the Brazilian state oil company, has been operating the Cascade and Chinook fields in the US Gulf of Mexico. The company deployed one of the worlds deepest floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) facilitiesthe BW Pioneer FPSO facility. During the review of these field developments, what was then known as the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement required the continuous monitoring of mooring tension in the mooring system. To meet these requirements, Petrobras America contracted a primary monitoring system to directly measure mooring system tensions using gauged pins. However, an alternate monitoring system was also required to indirectly determine tensions by measuring the FPSOs turret. For this, Petrobras contracted COPPE/UFRJ to help develop the alternate system. Calibrated numerical models were created to represent the mooring system, which were then analyzed by the numerical solver SITUA/Prosim, which was developed by COPPE and the Laboratory of Computer Methods and Offshore Systems in partnership with Petrobras (Fig. 4). Considering the platform would incorporate a supervisory system to collect and store measured data (e.g., positions, tensions, sea states), the tasks assigned to COPPE/UFRJ included adapting the analysis software for offshore use and real-time processing of the measured data to calculate and record the line tensions. The most critical task was building an accurate model of the existing mooring system. The tension data from the primary monitoring system was unreliable, so alternative calibration procedures were devised. Remotely operated vehicles were employed to provide position data for selected points along the lines, and this data was post-processed into an accurate representation of each mooringline. Because it needed to operate continuously and without supervision, the alternate monitoring system had to also be fault-tolerant. Currently, the system is operational and working without interruption. The model can also be recalibrated and updated with new data from surveys or direct monitoring of the mooring systemtension.

Fig. 4The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro developed a numerical model to monitor tension in mooring systems for floating production, storage, and offloading facilities.

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Department of Petroleum Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

The Department of Petroleum Engineering at Delft University of Technology joins its fellow geoscience disciplines (geology, geophysics, petrophysics, geoengineering, and resource engineering) in the Department of Geoscience and Engineering. The petroleum engineering group has seven staff members, 25 to 30 doctoral and postgraduate students, and approximately 50 masters-level students. The department collaborates with subsurface disciplines, mathematics, and mechanical and chemical engineering. Cross-disciplinary research efforts include the close integration of geology, data assimilation, and reservoir engineering in reservoir characterization and the use of geophysics to monitor recovery processes and production from unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The department emphasizes innovation and complex experimental studies through its large and well-staffed laboratory. The department focuses on optimization and control theory applied to reservoir management, enhanced oil recovery, numerical methods of reservoir simulation, well productivity, and fundamental fluid and transport properties in porous media. The department has been a pioneer in the development of concepts and techniques for closedloop reservoir management also known as smart fields (Fig. 5). This involves optimization under uncertainty, data assimilation, and model order reduction. Two of the programs key innovations in this field are the introduction of adjoint-based, robust, and two-level techniques for smart well optimization and of model reduction techniques. Moreover, we have established fundamental insights in controllability, observability, and identifiability of reservoir flow, which serve as the basis for better algorithms for data assimilation and model-based production optimization, said Jan Dirk Jansen, professor of reservoir systems and control. In the field of enhanced recovery, foam piques the interest of Delft University researchers. The complex fundamental properties of foam make it an excellent candidate for improving sweep of injected gas and production of oil during injection of gas for enhanced oil recovery, said Bill Rossen, professor of reservoir engineering and chair of the petroleum engineering program. Foam research is divided into two themes: (1) developing improved experimental methods for its characterization and (2) improving modeling of the process based on insights from the characterization methods. Researchers develop more sensitive techniques for displacement experiments with foam using computerized tomography (CT) scans (Fig. 6). A new way to interpret CT data compared with prior techniques reduced the

Fig. 5The algorithm for model-based production optimization developed by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands shows an improved net oil production while yielding significantly less water.

estimate of the flowing gas fraction in foam by a factor of 70. Researchers also explore the effect of oil on foam in oil recovery. Chemically enhanced oil recovery research includes experimental studies and modeling of polymer flooding, alkali-surfactant polymer, and alkali-surfactantfoam. As part of a major CO2 storage research program in the Netherlands, the department focuses on transportation, reactions, phase changes, and petrophysics as well as how they affect the feasibility of CO2 sequestration in aquifers and depleted oil and gas fields. Micro-CT visualization revealed that during CO2 injection, salt precipitates at discrete locations distributed throughout the porous sample. Precise measurements of contact angles show that CO2 replaces water as the wetting phase on coal and some other minerals at high pressure.
Fig. 6Students prepare for a coreflood analysis using a computerized tomography scanner to study foam for enhanced oil and gas recovery at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

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Department of Petroleum Engineering, Curtin University, Australia
Located in Perth on the west coast of Australia, Curtin Universitys Department of Petroleum Engineering is at the hub of Australasian oil and gas production. The department offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs in petroleum engineering and will begin a new 2-year master of subsea engineering program in 2014. Closely aligned with the oil and gas industry, the department has a number of research projects with international companies including Chevron, Shell, Woodside Petroleum, and Apache as well as local Australian companies including Buru Energy and NorthWestern Energy. The department also works alongside the government, mostly with improving CO2 geosequestration (retention and wettability issues) and future drilling technologies. Curtin has four main areas of research in  Reservoir engineering for understanding pore fluidflow CO2 geosequestration  The geomechanics of fracture systems associated with shale gas  High-speed, low weight-on-bit drilling technologies

In association with Deep Exploration Technologies Cooperative Research Centre concepts, the department anticipated that a future need of the industry is for a fast but inexpensive, high-technology drilling rig that can later be applied to shale gas fields and conventional oil and gas fields. The rig would need a small footprint to initially support rapid hole drilling to 2 km in the hard rock industry. To meet this need, Curtin developed a concept using a high-speed (6,000 to 8,000 rev/min), low weight-on-bit coiled tubing rig with a high-speed downhole turbine driving a diamond impregnated bit. The coiled tubing is made of a light composite material and has imbedded sensors along its length for logging while drilling. The rock is inserted into a true triaxial cell that takes a maximum of 1 cu ft of rock to provide realistic downhole stress conditions (Fig.7). A CO2 storage project funded by the Australia National Low Emission Carbon Scheme seeks to better understand the effects of supercritical CO2 on the reservoir and shales for long-term storage of CO2. Of particular significance to carbon storage is the issue of imbibition and wettability, which allows improved reservoir simulation of the process. In parallel with this project, a second project seeks to understand the dehydration effects of CO2 when in longterm contact with impervious shale. The shale is exposed for 3 months or longer and then studied with micro CT scans (and other microscopy methods). This makes it possible to see if there are any changes in their mineralogy. Linked with this project is the National Geosequestration Laboratory, which gathers data from a test well 2 hours south of Perth close to Harvey, known as the Collie-South West CO2 Geosequestration Hub. Curtins hope is to turn the Collie-SW Hub into an industrial geosequestration site in a number of years Fig. 7The initial high-speed laboratory test rig at Curtin University in provided that tests of the reservoir and its Australia is used for conducting experiments in coiled tube drilling by seal prove it is a suitable site for long-term, using a high-speed downhole turbine, a diamond impregnated 2-in. industrial CO2 storage. bit, and low weight-on-bit characteristics.

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School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada
Strong support of industry and government funding for petroleum engineering research in the School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Alberta enables researchers to work on real-world, diverse problems faced by the oil and gas industry. These problems include oil recovery from tight and shale environments by nonaqueous methods such as electromagnetic heating, thermodynamics, and multiphase behavior as applied to numerical modeling of thermal oil recovery; mature field development; formulating improved data-driven modeling approaches based on artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic for the design and optimization of thermal recovery processes; and use of nanometal particles in steam and solvent heavy oil recovery. Tayfun Babadagli, professor of petroleum engineering and industrial research chair in unconventional oil recovery at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, is leading the Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery and Reservoir Characterization research group to develop ecologically viable technologies for extracting or tapping unconventional oil reserves and resources (Fig. 8). Although Albertas oil sands contain an estimated 1.84 trillion bbls of crude bitumen, only about 9% (168.7billion bbls) is recoverable using current technology. While proven technologies are successfully applied in surface extraction of mined oil sands, in-situ recovery of heavy oil and bitumen is still a considerable challenge due to the technological and economic problems. Through the development of advanced and optimal in-situ recovery techniques under this research program, the potential to recover the remaining reserves is within reach. The program is designed to deal directly and extensively with ways to improve the efficiency of the depletion of heavy oil and bitumen from sands and carbonates by proposing and testing new methods and materials that do not exist in Canada. The research program has gained industry support from Schlumberger, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Statoil, Husky, Petrobank Energy and Resources, Sherritt International, Apex Engineering, and Pemex. The program is twofold. First, it focuses on improving existing technologies through experimental and computational modeling and visualization. Fundamental and applied research is conducted to understand the underlying mechanisms and physics of heavy oil and bitumen recovery processes, namely, thermal and solvent injection techniques. This leads to identifying the reasons for low recovery and inefficiency of these applications, including advanced techniques such as microscale (e.g., pore) to gigascale (e.g., field) experimental and numerical modeling studies. Second, the program tests new materials, tools, and techniques to improve the efficiency of the thermal and solvent processes with a focus on fluids/materials that respond electrostrictively and magnetostrictively, and react to changes in temperature or pressure. Under the research program, new techniques also include nonclassical modeling approaches such as random walk, particle tracking, and other types of pore or larger scale stochastic techniques. The school also collaborates with German scientists through the Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative program. This project aims to assess the feasibility of obtaining geothermal energy for oil sands extraction and processing in the Fort McMurray area of Alberta. A hot dry rock system in granitic basement rock needs to be developed by hydraulic fracturing at a depth of 4000 m to 5000 m and injecting cold water to generate 60C hot water for oil sands extraction for a period of a few decades at the rate of 50 L/sec. This research involves understanding fracture development in granitic rocks and optimizing the depth and injection rate to minimize cost while maintaining a given production temperature and hot water rate.

Fig. 8The Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery and Reservoir Characterization research group at the University of Alberta in Canada is working on ecologically viable technologies for extracting crude bitumen from Albertas oil sands. The team is led by professor Tayfun Babadagli, front center.

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Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
The Middle East Technical University created the Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department in 1964. The department has six full-time and eight part-time faculty members as well as 10 research assistants. Four laboratories are available for training and research: Core Analysis and Sample Preparation Laboratory, Pressure/Volume/ Temperature Laboratory, Drilling Fluid Testing Laboratory, and Enhanced Oil Recovery Laboratory. The departments research interests include Drilling fluids models  The environmental effects of drilling and production activities Reservoir characterization using CT scans Underground storage of natural gas CO2 storage Natural gas hydrates While natural gas hydrates and CO2 storage have been studied independently for a long time, the department combined these two topics in one research project that focuses on the interaction between methane hydrates and CO2. The project aims to replace methane trapped in hydrate cages with injected CO2 to produce methane without affecting the stability of the hydrate structure. Other suggested methane hydrate production techniques are based mainly on the dissociation of hydrates by reducing the pressure or increasing the temperature; however, these techniques add the risk of uncontrolled dissociation, which could lead to instability in the hydrate-bearing sediment. Deep sea sediments have suitable conditions for the formation of hydrates. The Black Sea is one of the major identified natural methane hydrate regions of the world and may be a good candidate for CO2 storage in hydrate form. To determine the interaction of CO2 and methane hydrates and the sealing efficiency of methane hydrates, the department performed various tests including methane hydrate formation in both bulk conditions and within sand particles. A geological structure must contain an impermeable barrier to store huge amounts of CO2. Because of this, the department studied the sealing efficiency of methane hydrates and the longterm fate of the CO2 disposal under the methane hydrate zone by measuring the permeability of unconsolidated sand particles for several values of methane hydrate saturation and by injecting CO2 into the methane hydrates. The results suggest that the presence of hydrates sharply decreases the permeability of the unconsolidated sand system, while hydrate saturations greater than 50% may act as an impermeable layer.

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Top Trends in the Oil and Gas Sector

Adi Karev, Global Head Oil and Gas, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

The past 12 to 18 months witnessed the oil and gas sector drifting away from the rule of certainty and the return of uncertainty. Uncertainty required more focus, deeper analysis, and operational determination. Deloittes fourth annual Oil & Gas Reality Check identifies five trends and delves into the fundamental characteristics of each trend: the supply, demand, macroeconomic, regulatory, cost, price, and competitive behavior factors. Given the rise of shale gas resources and with new countries entering the ranks of net energy exporters, some are proclaiming that a global revolution is at hand with fundamental shifts in energy geopolitics because of newly found energy independence. A closer examination of the development progress of countries with major shale gas resources reveals a vastly different picture. Countries that can commercially produce unconventional and conventional gas seek higher returns by exporting or planning to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia Pacific countries that have historically agreed to long-term purchase contracts at oil indexed prices. The expected increase and diversity of LNG supply is spurring transition away from oil price indexation, and the rise of gas hub and hybrid price indexation. The discovery of new resources across various geographies coupled with the technical challenges of developing those resources are softening governments resource policiesan indicator of the degree of resource nationalism. As production efficiency rates and capabilities improve, will resource nationalism surge or will it pale in comparison

with the competitive rise of national oil companies (NOCs)? How companies react to and deal with this uncertainty is changing the notion of a singular business model and giving rise to different business models. Each of these questions and the five trends are discussed below: 1. Shale gas: A global or regional resource? The success of North American shale gas has created interest in duplicating the results in other countries. An April 2011 study by the US Energy Information Administration estimated that world shale technically recoverable resources outside the United States were 5,760 Tcf, sparking widespread interest in international shale. However, the presence of shale gas in the ground does not guarantee the unearthing of a fortune. Given the greater technical challenge of shale gas and higher development costs, exploitation of shale resources is not easily replicable in other markets. While some countries are making progress, over the next 1 to 3 years it will remain a largely regional resource with an uncertain impact on the global market beyond this timeframe. Four countries with major shale gas reserves are representative of the distinct phases of resource development: Poland is struggling to maintain  its nascent shale industry because of a recent reduction in the estimated size of its shale resources, as well as declining

company interest resulting from poor initial results. China is working diligently  to provide an investment environment conducive to shale development, but given rising domestic demand and a challenging exploration environment, it is unlikely to become a shale exporter.  Argentina experienced positive production results and is aiming to scale up production, bringing new shale basins online.  The United States is home to the shale gas revolution and poised to globalize its shale resources through exports of LNG, assuming favorable exporting regulation and permitting. The US shale gas revolution was 3 decades in the making with incremental progress through multiple stages of development. Although other countries want to replicate this success, there is a long road ahead before they can begin to see the gas volumes and supporting infrastructure needed to dramatically lower domestic natural gas prices and create export opportunities. While countries may enter into partnerships with shale-experienced companies, limitations such as low reserves per capita and steep demand curves can constrain countries from becoming shale exporters. Apart from the US pending exports of LNG, the reality is that shale will continue to be a regional resource with limited impact on the global market over the shortterm.

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24.00 22.00 20.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Brent price parity Henry Hub Japan LNG (spot price) UK NBP

USD/MMBtu

Source: Deloitte MarketPoint analysis, April 2013 reference case.

Fig. 1Projected prices vs. oil price parity (real 2012 USD/MMBtu).

2. LNG pricing: The end of oil indexation? The prospect of the US globalizing its shale gas resources through LNG exports has many observers (especially in Asia) hopeful that US LNG indexed to Henry Hub prices will also be exported, eroding the hold of long-term LNG contract price formulae indexed to crude oil. Anticipation has been heightened in light of recently announced Henry Hub-linked contracts, which could see Japans import prices in the range of USD 10 to USD 12 per MMBtu compared with USD 14 to USD 16 per MMBtu for oillinked contracts. Rather than signaling a complete switch from oil to gas hub indexation for long-term LNG contracts in Asia Pacific, these recent developments reflect a transition toward a pricing spectrum in which oil indexation is one of several pricing mechanisms used. As diverse supplies enter the LNG market over the next 12 months and beyond, the dynamics of supply competition will drive transition away from contracts purely indexed to oil prices and at high oil-price parity in the Asia Pacific region. There will likely be a mixture of contract pricing approachesprices set lower from oil price parity, hybrid indexation, and full gas hub

indexation. Oil indexation will likely remain the predominant pricing approach because of concerns over gas and oil price volatility risk, and also because suppliers are able to offer value through nonprice terms, such as quality flexibility, supply security, and equity stakes in upstream projects. US LNG exports will be a major catalyst for the transition away from oil price indexation. It is important to stress that not all US-sourced LNG will be indexed to Henry Hub prices, and pricing will be dependent on project economics, buyers price sensitivity, and the relative competitive landscape. On the other hand, even limited US LNG export volumes indexed to Henry Hub will be sufficient to spark competitive pricing among existing and up-andcoming LNG suppliers (Fig.1). For Asia Pacific buyers, supply competition and diverse pricing approaches are welcome new developments. 3. Resource nationalism: Entering a period of low tide? The recent discovery of new resources and burgeoning demand in developing countries have produced a new crop of supply and demand centers, making industry players sensitive to a poten-

tial rise in resource nationalism. We define resource nationalism through types of government resource policies and fiscal regimes. A countrys resource policy is either protective (no equity participation to low equity stakes in production sharing contracts) or open (concessioncontracts). Our analysis highlights the partnership opportunities between international oil companies (IOCs) and NOCs, moving beyond the adversarial aspects that colored IOC/NOC relationships in the past. Not only are we seeing beneficial, mutually dependent relationships between IOCs and NOCs, but NOCs themselves are playing a quasigovernmental role in terms of infrastructure development and transference of technical expertise to smaller players in the value chain. This interplay has, in some cases, benefited IOC partners by deepening relationships in the countries where they operate and better assist them to withstand resource policychanges. Resource nationalism should diminish in the short term until producing countries advance in resource development, bringing a rise in restrictive resource policies in the long term. The US, Canada, and Australia leading the development of unconventional oil and gas resourceswill con-

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tinue with concession contracts and a stable taxation regime in the near term, but are already indicating a future direction of restrictions on exports and foreign directownership. China, Argentina, and Brazil seek foreign partnerships to support development of newly found resources, balanced with the need to build local technical capacity and capabilities. The countries will likely change contracting terms to extract a higher share from their resources, as new technologies mature and infrastructure is built. Traditionally dominant producing countries, such as Russia, Libya, and Nigeria, will seek foreign investment and expertise to reverse declining rates of production in the short term, but they will likely shift toward majority government ownership as economic production and cash flow improve in the longterm. 4. NOCs: Capturing the playing field The rise of NOCs as competitors of IOCs is a persistent narrative. NOC acquisitions reached an all-time high of USD 112.6 billion in 2012, representing 225% year-on-year growth, and constituting 45% of total exploration and production (E&P) mergers and acquisitions by value. NOCs are taking larger risks by buying undeveloped acreage and fields and initiating large acquisitions in countries such as the US, Canada, and Mozambique, showing that NOCs are taking the long view and globally expanding for local resource development and technical capacity building. A deeper look shows that NOC expansion is differentiated by oil vs. gas. Oil has been the predominant target of investment and E&P efforts, but this will shift to gas in the long term because of changes in end-use demand, resource availability, and price. Understanding how NOC expansion is differentiated by oil vs. gas will help define how IOCs and NOCs compete and collaborate.

In the short term, NOCs will continue to dominate production in the conventional oil sector, and in the long term will increase investment in the gas sector, especially in offshore gas, shale gas, and LNG. Not only do these developments impact IOCs, but also oilfield services majors that are emerging as important partners for NOCs, even as some NOCs are starting their own oilfield service subsidiaries. Overall, the industry will benefit as NOCs continue to invest heavily in research and development, expand in services capability, and transfer technical expertise to local development ofresources. 5. Managing market complexity: Revolution of the play, evolution of the player It is no secret that, in recent years, oil and gas companies have been forced into more challenging operating environments and become subject to more volatile and complex market conditions, rendering the term business as usual obsolete. Vertical integration was traditionally seen as the winning business model, but the industry has become more fractured with diverse business models and nontraditional players, debunking the notion of a singular winning business model. The types of business models employed by oil and gas companies also differ between sectors. The gas sector, which is dominated by growth in unconventional resources and LNG, is facing greater vertical integration, while the oil sector is undergoing disintegration and specialization for smaller players. In the past few years, four US integrated companies announced or completed spin-offs of their downstream businesses; supermajors saw profit increases in their downstream segments because of asset rationalization and growth in chemicals; and NOCs continued to expand their global refining capacity. These varying paths show that vertical integration as the win-

ning business model in the oil sector is far from becoming a market certainty. Instead, vertical integration largely depends on aligning company strengths and strategy with local and global market conditions. In the gas sector, marked by growth in unconventional resources and LNG, the entrance of nontraditional players, downstream players moving upstream, and large integrated companies expanding throughout the value chain seem to show that vertical integration is the winning business model. In the oil sector, vertical integration works for companies with significant economies of scale especially considering the high capital intensity for unconventional E&P and LNGprojects. Overall, the industry has evolved to where market complexity is best managed through diversification of companies, partnerships, and flexible businessmodels. JPT
The full report that served as the basis for this article can be found at www.deloitte.com/energy.

Adi Karev is the global head of oil and gas at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He has more than 25 years of advisory experience, including many years in Asia and multicountry advisory work for international energy and resources clients. Karev is responsible for the strategy, objective, execution, and operational management of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsus Global Oil and Gas Practice. His advisory work is focused on executive-level problem solving, including large strategic and transformational initiatives involving cultural, economic, and operational challenges of mergers and global expansions, and other major external events.

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TECHNOLOGY

Erik Vikane, SPE, is production manager for Statoil Oseberg East. He has 22 years of diverse experience in the upstream business. Starting as a well-intervention engineer, Vikane then moved to reservoir engineering and has held various positions within reservoir management, early-phase development, exploration, and business development. His areas of interest include reservoir and asset management, reservoir performance and monitoring, and integrated uncertainty studies. Vikane holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He serves on the JPT Editorial Committee and the SPE Reservoir Management 2020 ForumCommittee. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
OTC 23949 In-Well Distributed FiberOptic Solutions for Reservoir Surveillance by Juun van der Horst, Shell, et al. IPTC 16866 Uncertainty Assessment of Production Performance for Shale-Gas Reservoirs by Jiang Xie, Chevron, et al. IPTC 16505 Joint Inversion of Time-Lapse Crosswell Seismic and Production Data for Reservoir Monitoring and Characterization by Lin Liang, Schlumberger, et al.

reservoir performance andmonitoring

All models are wrong, but some are useful. This famous quote by George E.P. Box illustrates both the challenge and the appreciation of building models. Models are needed to predict future performance of an oil or gas field, but, at the same time, models are often biased and inaccurate. Most investment decisions rely on our ability to predict and to plan the future, and, in that regard, nothing is more important than accurately modeling future well performance. Consequently, three of the four chosen papers address different aspects of this topic. The first paper deals with ways to improve the accuracy of our predictions. It offers readers a rigorous checklist of questions to ask when developing reservoir models to guide them toward less-biased forecasts. The second paper deals with how we develop reservoir-prediction tools for asset management. Active reservoir management addresses the almost impossible task of maximizing short-term production while optimizing ultimate recovery. However, to evaluate the different reservoir-drainage mechanisms, one needs good models, and the more advanced the drainage mechanism is, the more crucial the model is. As an illustration, it is much easier to model a pressure-depletion scheme than to try to predict a secondary- or tertiary-recovery process. Assessing and quantifying uncertainties as part of the modeling are becoming increasingly common, and this practice improves the ability to develop a sound decision basis. The development of unconventional shale resources has further challenged the ability to predict performance. Prediction of such unconventional resources does not necessarily require new tools but rather new assumptions and new experiencebased calibration methods. More than 40% of the papers I reviewed for this issue dealt with prediction of production and ultimate recovery of shale gas, which clearly illustrates the increasing interest in this topic and the current challenges faced by todays petroleum engineers. The lack of history and of good analogs further adds to the uncertainty. I am sure that more research and the availability of more production data will enable us to develop better models and, hence, increase the accuracy of our predictions. The third paper provides great insight into our understanding ofunconventionals.JPT

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New Time/Rate Relations for Decline-Curve Analysis of Unconventional Reservoirs

his work presents a workflow that can be used to analyze and forecast time/rate data of wells in lowand ultralow-permeability reservoirs. The key component of the workflow is the application of diagnostic plots to guide the analysis and obtain model parameters for a given time/ rate relation. Once model parameters are obtained, the production profile is extrapolated to yield the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) at a specified time limit or abandonment rate.

Introduction

The starting point for any discussion of decline-curve analysis for unconventional reservoirs must be an understanding that no simplified time/rate model can accurately capture all elements of the performance behavior. In addition, no time/rate model can be expected to provide a completely unique forecast of future performance or prediction of EUR. It is important to be both realistic and practical when attempting to characterize production performance from systems where the permeability is on the order of 10500 nd, the reservoir flow system is complex, and, although the induced-hydraulic-fracture system enables (and dominates) the production performance, there is only the most rudimentary understanding of the flow structure in the fracture systems. It is essential that these conditions be established as a starting point. Not doing so will inevitably lead the analyst

to interpretations based on incorrect assumptions as well as significant bias. The authors assert that reasonable production forecasts and predictions of EUR can be made, but not in isolation, not solely looking at the data and the selected time/ rate model. The analyst must consider the nature of the resource and the significant uncertainty in the ability to apply simple time/rate relations to a very complex reservoir system. As an attempt to better represent the general character of time/rate production data for a multistage-fractured horizontal well in an ultralow- permeability reservoir, numerous authors have developed time/rate relations using certain specific bases to represent a particular scenario. These developments include the following time/rate relations: Power-law exponential model Stretched exponential model Logistic growth model Duong model Each relation has its own strengths, and, at this time, each of these models can be described only as empirical; there is no direct link with reservoirengineering theory other than through analogy. For example, the stretched exponential model is essentially an infinite sum of exponentials, so the concept of adding the rigorous exponential decline to some limit could be thought to define this model. The power-law exponential model is essentially the same as the stretched exponential model (except for a constraining variable). At this point, we

must assume that the proposed models are essentially empirical in nature, and generally center on a particular flow regime or characteristic behavior.

Field-Case Data

The complete paper focuses on three different shale-gas plays in North America. Field A is a formation composed of siltstone and dark gray shale, with dolomitic siltstone in the base and fine-grained sandstone toward the top. The formation of interest is a highly unusual, approximately 400- to 500-ft-thick package of continuous gas-charged siltstone with very small clay content. The formation is slightly overpressured, with pressure gradients of approximately 0.500.65 psi/ft.

Time/Rate-Analysis Relations

The basic definitions and diagnostic functions for time/rate analyses and a complete summary of the time/rate- analysis relations are given in the complete paper. These relations are formulated as diagnostic relations and are used to make long-term rate projections and predictions of EUR. As a matter of process, any given relation is calibrated against the historical rate and cumulative data by use of a diagnostic approach and the model extrapolations are made only from the end of the data (not the body of the data). This approach ensures that all extrapolations/projections are based on the actual (not model-based) cumulativeproduction.

This article, written by Editorial Manager Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 162910, Practical Considerations for Decline-Curve Analysis in Unconventional ReservoirsApplication of Recently Developed Time/Rate Relations, by V. Okouma, SPE, Shell Canada Energy; D. Symmons, Consultant; N. Hosseinpour-Zonoozi, SPE, and D. Ilk, SPE, DeGolyer and MacNaughton; and T.A. Blasingame, SPE, Texas A&M University, prepared for the 2012 SPE Hydrocarbon Economics and Evaluation Symposium, Calgary, 2425 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Diagnostics and Characteristic Time/Rate Behavior

This section presents characteristic time/ rate performance from six wells from Field A. The primary objective of this effort is to demonstrate time/rate behavior of the wells with diagnostic plots without performing analysis corresponding to the play. Diagnostic plots used are

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
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Diagnostic Plots: Field A (All Wells) Production-Rate vs. Time Plot (Log-Log Scale)
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Data Functions Well A.1 Well A.2 Well A.3 Well A.4 Well A.5 Well. A.6

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Fig. 1Production-rate/time plot for all wells (Field A).

(Gas-Flow Rate/Gas Cumulative Production), qg /Gp, 1/days

Diagnostic Plots: Field A (All Wells) (Gas Rate/Gas Cumulative Production) vs. Time Plot (Log-Log Scale)
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Data Functions Well A.1 Well A.2 Well A.3 Well A.4 Well A.5 Well. A.6

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Fig. 2Diagnostic plot: Gas-rate/gas-cumulative-production vs. time plot for all wells (Field A).

the reciprocal of the loss ratio (D) and time (t), Arps decline exponent (b) and t, beta function () and t, and production rate/cumulative gas production (q/Gp) and t. Diagnostic plots have significant importance in our applications because these plots provide direct insight into our under standing of decline behavior.

For example, a straight-line trend of the continuously evaluated D-parameter [i.e., D(t)] vs. t on log-log scale could indicate power-law behavior that would yield the power-law exponential (or stretched exponential) function when the ordinary differential equation is solved for the rate function. Furthermore, from the contin-

uous evaluation of the b-parameter, it is possible to verify the hyperbolic behavior. A constant b-parameter trend [i.e., b(t)=constant] suggests hyperbolic ratedecline behavior; as such, it is possible to establish the value of the b-parameter in the hyperbolic equation. In addition, a constant -derivative trend verifies power-law flow regimes such as linear or bilinear flow. These diagnostic functions involve differentiation of time/rate data, and, therefore, errors and inconsistencies associated with the data are amplified in the derivative functions, which may prevent the analyst from establishing a unique interpretation. The diagnostic plot of q/Gp and t provides significant diagnostic value because it does not include any numerical differentiation and it serves as a complementary diagnostic tool to the other diagnostic plots. From another point of view, diagnostic plots are particularly useful while performing time/rate analysis. Each time/rate relation has more than two model parameters, and it is generally difficult to establish the values directly from production-rate data. In particular, the log[D(t)] vs. log(t) plot is used to establish the power-law exponential and stretched exponential model parameters because these parameters are related to the slope and intercept values on this log-log plot. The general procedure for time/rate analysis is to use the diagnostic plots and calibrate the parameters of each model simultaneously until an optimum (visual) match is achieved. This procedure ensures consistency in the analysis and prevents the nonuniqueness associated with simply matching a single variable. Fig. 1 presents the time/rate behavior of six wells producing in Field A. Shallower decline behavior and dominantly power-law-type flow regimes are observed throughout the production history. When data are plotted on the log[qg/ Gp]-vs.-log(t) plot (Fig. 2), almost all wells exhibit almost identical behavior. The log[D(t)]-vs.-log(t) data are presented in Fig. 3 (left axis), and it is observed that certain (but not major) differences exist in the slope values of these wellswhich could be related to production characteristics. The log[b(t)]-vs.log(t) data are presented in Fig. 3 (right

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Diagnostic Plots: Field A (All Wells) Computed D - and b-parameters vs. Time Plot (Log-Log Scale)
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though some of the conclusions are qualitative, the diagnostic analysis of multiple data functions ensures a degree of impartiality in the data analysis and helps at least qualify the uncertainty in the data, which will likely ensure that the relevant time/rate models are isolated and that analyses/interpretations are not attempted that are not justified by the quality or nature of the given production data. It is critical that data diagnostics always be performed as part of the data analysis.

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Application of the Time/ Rate Models to Long-Term Production Data

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Fig. 3Diagnostic plot: Computed D- and b-parameters vs. production time for all wells (Field A).

Diagnostic Plots: Field A (All Wells) -derivative vs. Time Plot (Log-Log Scale)
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Fig. 4Diagnostic plot: -derivative vs. production time for all wells (Field A).

axis), and these data suggest that the hyperbolic relation could be applicable to model time/rate data because the b(t) trend exhibits a very gradual decrease with time and a constant b-value in the 23 range could reasonably be assumed. Fig. 4 presents the log(-derivative)-vs.log(t) trend, and a stabilization of data with time is seen, which suggests that

power-law-type flow regimes are being established. In conclusion, the diagnostic interpretation of time/rate behavior of wells in Field A was concluded with the remark that time/rate behavior is being dominated by power-law-type flow regimes. It is vitally important that the analyst realize that the diagnostic analysis of production data is a necessary step. Al-

This section presents a (relatively) longterm production-data example to investigate the model behavior of the rate- decline equations considered in this paper. This field example consists of a tight gas well from east Texas (permeability values are estimated to be approximately 7.0 d) with more than 7 years of production. For this case, we demonstrate our diagnostic interpretation procedure for matching data and performing forecasts. All of the matches of production data with each of the time/rate models are performed simultaneously by calibrating model parameters. Each of the models matches the data for the entire production history. In particular, when the log[qg/Gp]-vs.-log(t) plot is used, the models can approximate the data trend to a considerable extent (this rendering tends to force the impression of a linear relationship, which may not be the case). Therefore, the differences in EUR will be dictated by the long-term model behavior. This is where the differences between the time/rate models begin to emerge. Duongs model is based on the linear behavior of the (qg/Gp)-vs.-t data trend (on a log-log scale), whereas the powerlaw exponential, the stretched exponential, and the logistic growth models exhibit nonlinear behavior. This difference in behavior dictates that the EUR estimates from Duongs model should (almost always) be higher than those for the other models. On the other hand, when a terminal decline is imposed on the modifiedhyperbolic relation, deviations from the linear trend are readily evident. The modified-hyperbolic and power-law exponential have specific terms that limit

-derivative, dimensionless

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the overestimation of EUR; the Duong model does not. It is worth noting that, for methods that use a terminal decline, the prescribed value of the terminal decline is generally an arbitrary number and is often based on a companys policies or the analysts experience. In the log[D(t)]-vs.-log(t) and log[b(t)]-vs.-log(t) data trends for this case, very strong linear behavior of the computed log[D(t)]-vs.-log(t) trend is observed, confirming the applicability of the power-law exponential time/rate model. It can be argued that the latesttime data are affected by the numericaldifferentiation algorithm and, therefore, can be considered as artifacts. Nevertheless, each of the models matches the data trends in its own fashion. The b(t) trend does appear to be decreasing with time (with the noted artifact near the endpoint); and an average b-value can be inferred from the data behavior.

intermediate and late times) exhibited by data on the log[(t)]-vs.-log(t) plot. And almost all of the models match the entire production history. Differences in model behavior are observed at late times in the forecasts. Generally, EUR values from the power-law exponential and stretched exponential relations are very similar (as should be expected). These models, along with the results from the logistic growth model, tend to provide conservative estimates across all wells. The Duong model and the modified-hyperbolic model always yield the highest EUR predictions. A 5% terminal decline rate is used for the modified-hyperbolic relation. In this particular case, the logistic growth model appears to provide the most conservative EUR values (quite comparable to those of the power-law exponential and stretched-exponential time/rate models).

the power-law exponential model and the logistic growth model shows the EUR predictions to be similar, with the exception of a single case. The next comparison considers the power-law exponential model and the modified-hyperbolic model. Some consistency in predicted EUR values is seen, but a couple of outliers suggest that the modified-hyperbolic relation will always predict higher EUR values compared with the power-law exponential model. Finally, a comparison of the power-law exponential model and the stretched exponential model reveals essentially identical results, somewhat as expected because these relations have essentially the same mathematical formulation. Almost identical results are seen because these two equations are essentially the same relations, and wells in Field A are not (yet) in the boundary-dominated flow regime after only a few years of production.

Time/Rate Analyses

Interpretation of Results

This section presents the time/rate analy ses for each well from a given shale play using each of the models specified in this study. It is worthwhile to note that each of the matches produced in this study are based uniquely on the authors interpretation of the model behavior. Different matches with different EUR values can be obtained with similar probability. It can be suggested that wells in Field A exhibit power-law-type flow regimes. The basis for this observation is mainly the signature on the time/rate plot and the near-constant character (at

The authors interpretation of results is provided by presenting comparison plots of the EUR values predicted by each model. The power-law exponential model results were chosen as the reference results, and EUR values from different models were compared with respect to those from the power-law exponential model. This approach should identify any correlations or inconsistencies that might exist between models. For Field A, the EUR values from the Duong model are consistently higher than the results from the power-law exponential model. A comparison between

Conclusions

The D/t-and-b/t diagnostic plot should be the primary diagnostic used to establish the well/ reservoir character. The qg/Gp-vs.-t diagnostic plot is an excellent data check, and should be incorporated into diagnostic analyses; however, the expectation of a completely linear trend is optimistic. The -derivative/t diagnostic plot is useful for establishing the existence of power-law flowregimes. JPT

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Instilling Realism in Production Forecasting Decreases Chances of Underperformance

cross the exploration-andproduction (E&P) industry, several projects were found to underperform compared to the promises made at the time of project approval. Investment decisions on upstream projects rely, to a large extent, on the robustness of the predicted ultimate recovery and production forecast associated with the chosen development concept. The challenge for the E&P industry is to ensure that project approvals are based on realistic forecasts. This paper is intended to increase awareness among the forecasters and the decision makers about pitfalls associated with productionforecasting.

Introduction

mature, with a high likelihood of progressing to the execution phase. Some projects are immature, with a possibility of not reaching the execution stage (Fig. 1). For each project, it is important to have a realistic expectation of costs and production because this is the basis for business decisions. In addition, for immature projects, it is equally important to estimate the likelihood that they will be executed. At the portfolio level, this probability of maturation will lead to an appropriate expectation of expenditure and production and will facilitate the making of higher- level business decisions. Fig. 2 shows how to combine realistic forecasting at the individual-project level and at the portfolio level.

ing drilling, hookups, construction, and startup of new facilities. Forecasters quite often assume that operational efficiency will be 100% during the life cycle of the project. However, significant deferments are seen because of operational constraints of various facilities during the production cycle. Human Bias. Forecasters and decision makers tend to be optimistic about their capability to judge outcomes of uncertain situations. They may underestimate uncertainty and have positively biased expectations about the consequences of their actions. They may ignore risks or underestimate the effect of risks on theforecast. A tendency toward overconfidence may lead to overlooking certain realities. If a forecaster interprets data with a bias to confirm preconceived notions, it may result in an unrealistic outcome. Reservoir-Modeling Limitations. Numerical simulation models approximate the production mechanisms of complex hydrocarbon accumulations. They suffer from inherent limitations in capturing the physical properties of reservoirs, wells, and process facilities. Simplified models can overpredict production because actual geology and physics are often more complex than can be captured realistically in a numerical model.

Recently, an industry benchmarking consortium concluded the sixth of a series of long-term production-attainment studies, which reviewed the production profiles of 59 major development projects from different hydrocarbon- producing regions. For the majority of projects, the forecasted production was not achieved. Long-term production forecasts drive company strategies, portfolio choices, sales contracts, and shareholder promises. Too-optimistic forecasts result in underdelivery of projects, with often far-reaching consequences. Too- pessimistic forecasts, on the other hand, may lead to undervaluation of assets. The value of an E&P company is determined by the projects in its port folio. Some projects in the portfolio are

Pitfalls of Production Forecasting

Despite considerable efforts to prepare production forecasts, gaps between the forecast and the actual production are found in the majority of cases. Analysis of these gaps for a large number of E&P projects led to the following generic issues. Unrealistic Forecast Assumptions. The assumptions used for dynamic modeling are frequently either optimistic or lack realism, resulting in over- or underprediction of the production profiles. Project schedules often assume flawless execution and ignore or underestimate the potential for delays and unexpected events. In reality, however, there is a high probability of activity slippage dur-

Instilling Realism in Production Forecasts

The following suggestions are useful for instilling realism in forecasts. Realistic Forecast Assumptions. A base-case forecast should be founded on realistic assumptions about reservoir performance, project schedule, equipment availability, and production- system constraints.

This article, written by Editorial Manager Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 155443, Instilling Realism in Production Forecasting: Dos and Donts, by Avnish K. Rajvanshi, SPE, Robert Gmelig Meyling, and Danny ten Haaf, SPE, Petroleum Development Oman, prepared for the 2012 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 810 October. The paper has not been peerreviewed.

For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
114 JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

Exploraon Appraisal
Project I

Investment Decision Development Planning

Project D Project C Project E

On Stream

Realistic forecasting for individual projects

Realistic forecasting for portfolio management

Execuon

Operaon

Project G

Adjustment represents unmodeled risks and uncertainties

Maturation Risk represents the probability that a project will not be executed

Project F
Project H

Project A Project B

Risked Volume (P50)

Immature

Mature

Maturity
Unrisked volume Unadjusted volume

Realisc forecast for the individual project Realisc forecast for porolio management
Fig. 1Representation of an E&P companys portfolio. For each project, a realistic forecast must be prepared. For immature projects, a probability of maturation is applied to achieve a realistic forecast at portfolio level. Note the size of the blue rectangle with increasing probability of maturation.

Fig. 2Forecasting at individual-project and portfolio levels. The full rectangle represents the unadjusted forecasted volume from the forecasting tool. An adjustment is made for elements of uncertainty, which are not explicitly modeled. A further reduction is applied in the case of immature projects to represent the risk that the project will not be executed.

The base-case-activity schedule should not assume flawless execution across all project stages. Benchmarking the proposed schedule either against an actual project track record or against a schedule of analogous projects should guide timelines for facility project completion, well delivery, and production ramp up. When selecting a base-case schedule, forecasters should examine whether the project is realistically achievable in the defined period and whether there is a 50% chance to beat the assumed schedule. Neither perfect operational performance nor high initial uptimes for major new facilities should be assumed. Forecast Reality Check. One should compare the forecasts with actual production on a regular basis. Reasons for significant deviations from forecasted performance should be investigated. When comparing forecasts with actual production, the essential first step is to understand any deviation in the implementation of the plan. Forecast assumptions and uncertainty ranges should be adjusted, taking into account the latest production data, drilling results, and study outcomes. In the case of project slippage,

the forecast should be shifted toward the future. Adjustment of Production Forecasts. Despite extensive technical work, production may be over- or underpredicted, particularly when forecasts are generated from dynamic models. Most of the time, it is overpredicted. Therefore, there is a requirement to adjust the simulation output to enhance the reliability of the forecasts. In the majority of cases, this adjustment will be a downward revision of the model forecast. However, there may be instances where an upward revision is needed. Ideally, known uncertainties and risks should be captured in the dynamic model. Downward adjustment should address any residual risks and uncertainties that could not be covered in themodeling. Model-derived forecasts can be conditioned by use of one or more of the following techniques. Calibration Against Historical Performance. Model predictions should always be benchmarked against available field-performance data to ensure that production forecasts are realistic. Appropriate adjustment factors can be estimated from the gaps

between simulation forecasts and actualperformance. Actual production achieved for recent wells is generally an excellent benchmark when forecasting initial rates and ultimate recoveries for future wells. Analogs. It is impossible to create a 100% accurate single deterministic reservoir model. Uncertainties in the production forecast will remain even when an excellent history match is obtained. Analogs can assist in estimating well productivity and ultimate recovery for reservoirs with limited data. When comparing recovery efficiencies predicted from a simulation study with that of an analog, it is important to identify those factors that control reservoir behavior. Specific reservoir classes can be inspected for possible analogs, such as carbonate reservoirs under waterflood. Sensitivity Analysis. Sensitivity analysis is used to determine which model parameters have the largest effect on the history match as well as on the predicted production and recovery. Some sensitivity parameters may have little effect during the historical period but have considerable effect on long-term predictions. This knowledge is valuable in estimating a

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range of uncertainty for the predicted reservoirperformance. Most likely, there are multiple parameters causing uncertainty in the forecast. The following steps are recommended:  Identify the parameters that have the largest effect on the forecast. Check whether these parameters are interdependent. If parameters areinterdependent, then a simple product cannot be applied and only the parameter having the greatest effect should be chosen. Estimate forecast-adjustment percentage for each of these (independent) parameters. For example, Adjustment 1=-20%, Adjustment 2=-15%.

 The total adjustment will bethe individual adjustments applied in succession. Using the preceding example, the total adjustment will thus be calculated from (1-20%) (1-15%)=68%, implying a total adjustment of -32%.

Summary

To enhance the reliability of a production forecasts, the following suggestions are offered: Be realistic in assumptions.  Be aware of reservoir-modeling limitations.  Carry out regular forecast reality checks.  Adjust the simulation-derived forecast by use of some of the

practical techniques explained in this paper.  Get an external review of the forecasts.  Do not use simulation output without considering appropriate adjustments. Never treat simulation models as accurate predictors of reservoir performance.  Avoid bias in sharing information, during analysis, and when selecting and reporting.  No arbitrary factor should be applied to adjust the forecasts.JPT

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Conformance Control and Proactive Reservoir Management Improve Deepwater Production

he K field is one of the more developed deepwater fields currently going through development in Malaysia. It has an excellent data set from which to optimize future development activities. In hindsight, it is clear that much more complexity exists than initially thought. As a result, uncertainty does not necessarily diminish at the start of production and a comprehensive collection and analysis of dynamic performance data are required in order to optimize recovery further.

SB-301

Kota Kinabalu K Field

Sabah
Labuan Island Fig. 1K field location in Malaysia.

Field Background and Geological Setting

The K field is a deepwater development located in 1330-m water depth offshore Sabah, Malaysia. The field was discovered by the K-1 well drilled to a depth of 3600 m on 30 July 2002 and marked the start of deepwater development in Malaysia. Five years after first oil, the field has more than 30 active wells including producers and injectors. The K field is located in Block K (Fig. 1) and comprises the outbound tract of a major northwest/southeast- trending foreland fold-thrust belt that extends from Brunei to the Philippines and forms the margin of the North Sabah trough. Block K is dominated by fold-thrust structures. The reservoir section of the K field is dominated by mass-transport

deposits with interspersed complex eservoir-bearing turbidite deposits. r

Subsurface Development Challenges

The deepwater fields under development and study phases in Malaysia are usually considered to have more or less similar subsurface complexities and uncertainties. Among these uncertainties are level of heterogeneity, thinly-beddedto-blocky sands, compartmentalization, fault intensity and behavior, reservoir connectivity, pressure and flow communication across the field, injection requirement from early production time, sand/fines production and reactive shale,

This article, written by Editorial Manager Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper IPTC 16702, Deepwater Production Improvement Through Proactive Reservoir Management and Conformance Control, by Rahim Masoudi, SPE, Hooman Karkooti, SPE, Shlok Jalan, SPE, Anndy Arif, Keng S. Chan, SPE, and Mohamad B. Othman, SPE, Petronas; and Steve Burford and Philip Bee, Murphy Sabah Oil, prepared for the 2013 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Beijing, 2628 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2013 International Petroleum Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission.

wellbore stability, and commonly inadequate available data at the time the development decision is made. The typical type log in the K field shows the reservoir has been subdivided into eight distinct reservoir packages labeled H110 through H150. In this example, the gross reservoir thickness (h) is 492 m with a net sand thickness of 50 m, giving an overall net/gross ratio of 0.102. Apparent from the type log is a large percentage of thinly bedded reservoirs, characterized to be beds that are less than 30 cm thick. Core data indicate that the thin beds ranging from 2 to 30 cm in thickness have porosity and permeability (k) comparable to those of the thick beds, an observation further supported by well-test kh comparison with log-derived kh and numerous production-logging tool logs that have been run in the field. The initial field-development-plan strategy was to develop the reservoir in three packages (H110H115H120, H130 H136, and H140H145H150) with updip production and downdip water injection. Despite being in 1330-m-deep water, reservoir horizons are as shallow

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118 JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

Objectives:

Maximize Production Rates Sand Management

Effective Reservoir Management Achieve Downhole Sand Control

Maximize Ultimate Recovery

have always been and will remain a major source of uncertainty in this deepwater field development.

Production Issues: Subsurface Challenges:

For analyzing water-injector performance, the Hall plot and modified Hall plot in combination with other plots such as the MDT Pressure Fluid Tracers, Surveillance Daily Production Testing Hall-plot derivative, well-performancePTA DHG Monitoring and Drilling Production Logging Tools: analysis plot, and injectivity index were Data (Sw) used. Because all the wells were equipped Success of Wells: P*/Pbar VRR Targets Interference Pressure and Rate Prediction, with downhole gauges as part of the Performance Skin GOR Limits Responses Breakthrough Timing Indicators: reservoir-monitoring plan, the Hall plot FBHP (PTA and DHG) Simulation History Match was generated on the basis of both tubingOptimize Development Operational head pressure and bottomhole pressure. Rate (Production/ Intervention/ Infill Drilling Plan/Well Locations Responses: Injection) Stimulation The Hall plot is a diagnostic tool for During Implementation monitoring water-injection-well perforShort Term Long Term mance. Hall-plot analysis is conducted by plotting cumulative water injected vs. Fig. 2Reservoir-monitoring and -management workflow. DHG=downhole cumulative injection pressure, either botgauge; VRR=voidage replacement ratio; GOR=gas/oil ratio; FBHP=flowing tomhole pressure or tubinghead presbottomhole pressure; PTA=pressure transient analysis; MDT=modular sure. A straight line with constant slope formation dynamic tester. indicates the well is injecting consistentas 2400-m true vertical depth subsea. timing of water breakthrough was one ly. Any deviation from the straight line The development strategy had to employ of the key uncertainties because of un- indicates plugging or fracturing effects. multiple drill centers to access the oil, known thin-bed extension and poten- In order to look at the Hall plot more including wells drilled from the dry-tree tially uneven injection. The earlier-than- closely, a derivative of the Hall plot vs. unit or spar, and required subsea mani- anticipated water breakthrough in some cumulative water injection was also genfolds for both production and injection. wells caused sand/fines instability and erated. For a well performing consistentsevere sand production, which led to cat- ly, the derivative of the Hall plot will be Production- and Injectionastrophic well failures and production a horizontal line, and any change in this horizontal line vs. cumulative water inloss after Phase 1. Performance Evaluation The field has a comprehensive data- Another event that added more jection indicates plugging or fracturing. On the basis of well-by-well monitoring system and reservoir- complication to the dynamics of the field injectormanagement strategy (Fig. 2). All wells was out-of-zone water injection, which performance analyses during the life of the have downhole pressure and tempera- happened in several injectors. Although injection well, decreased injectivity was obture gauges with real-time data access corrective measures were taken instant- served in some of the water injectors after provided back to the office. The early ly, the extent of the healing process is un- prolonged shut-in or after being choked interference detected in the downhole- certain and some crossflow might result back. One possible reason for this kind of gauge data proved invaluable in con- within the field. behavior is flowback of sand/fines during firming producer/injector connectivConsidering high-pressure depletion shut-in, which would block the pores at the ity, particularly in the blockier sands. and the unexpected-water- breakthrough sandface and reduceinjectivity. The reservoir- management strategy was pattern observed in some areas in the The kh distribution in three reserbased on the full voidage replacement by field partly because of heterogeneity, voirs was predicted to be quite even; waterflooding and gas-cap gas injection subseismic geological features, water- however, the observed water-injection (only in H150). injection distribution, and thin-bed ex- rate into the H110H115H120 reserThe implementation of the tension, the connected sand volumes in voirs did not follow the ratio of the kh. reservoir-management strategy has the initial models were proved to be over- This is thought to be primarily because of been based on weekly reviews including estimated. Many examples now exist in fracturing performance in the early part production, subsurface, and operations the field where sands disappear or thin of the injection life of the well. The waterteams. The reviews incorporate voidage or thicken dramatically within 100 m of injection split and distribution sensitivcalculations, production performance, well control. On the basis of the observa- ity to the injection rate raises questions well-test data, and dynamic-model tions so far, the classic view that uncer- regarding the water-injection distributainties will decrease through time with tion in commingled sands on the basis of history-match updates as available. The actual field performance after more wells and dynamic data does not kh data. This kind of problem potentially Phase 1 and during Phase 2, however, necessarily hold for all deepwater turbi- can be addressed by using selective and was not completely in line with the ini- dite fields. The extension of the thin beds smart water-injection schemes, which tial 3D dynamic-model predictions. The and the dynamic complications thereof are being considered currently.
Manage Geological Risk Sweep and Zonal Conformance

Injection-Performance Analysis

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Production-Performance Analysis

Optimized Case Base Case

Because of the uncertainties and unexpected events in the field, different production-performance-analysis techniques were applied to provide a range of predictions of future field production. This analysis was also used to complement and sense-check the dynamic 3D simulation-model results. Production-/ injection-well performance analysis and decline-curve analysis (DCA) were performed on a well-by-well basis. Wells with sufficient production history were considered in the category of existing wells. DCA for each well was evaluated by two methods: log (water/oil ratio) vs. cumulative oil and oil rate vs. cumulative oil. Wells with little or no production history were considered in the category of new wells. Carrying out DCA for these wells is not as straightforward as for those with sufficient production history; therefore, a customized DCA was carried out. For existing wells, a correlation was generated between measured oil rate and the capacity (kh) of the well. Capacity of wells in the new-well category was estimated from the reservoir properties from static/dynamic models and by use of the previously mentioned correlation, and initial oil rates were estimated for the new well. To cover the range of uncertainty apart from the most likely initial oil rate, low and high values also were estimated from the correlation. For estimating the production on plateau and decline factor for new wells, statistical analysis of the DCA of the existing wells was used. To estimate the production on plateau, a cumulative distribution function of cumulative production as a fraction of estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) for each well was prepared. On the basis of the productionperformance analysis (DCA), the EUR is lower than the most likely figure of the field prediction based on the 3D dynamic model. This has been translated to an average 8% lower ultimate recovery factor (up to 50 million STB) compared with the reported value from the 3D dynamicmodel. The next stage of development is likely to focus on identifying, screening, and ranking missed opportunities,

Fig. 3Short-term production profile after optimization efforts in different disciplines.

in terms of either unswept or unsupported oil. The use of smart injection wells is being considered to optimize injection conformance and focus pressure support on the known areas of unswept oil.

Smart-Well-Design Methodology

The K field is moving into the brownfield stage, and a Phase-3 redevelopment review is under way. As a consequence of the geological and stratigraphical compartments, more producers might be needed; however, improving the reservoir conformance and sweep efficiency may also assist in optimizing the number of wells. From the operational point of view, it makes more sense to free up the spar slots for producers and relocate injectors to subsea templates. This would serve to create better access to producers for possible interventions or chemical treatments for reducing skin. On the basis of the subsurface feasibility studies, the following objectives were defined:  Improve reservoir conformance and reservoir sweep.  Delay water breakthrough in new wells. Reduce/eliminate well intervention for subsea wells to reduce operational expenditures.  Accelerate and increase oilproduction rate, and maintain or improve reserves.

Aug-07 Oct-07 Dec-07 Feb-08 Apr-08 Jun-08 Aug-08 Oct-08 Dec-08 Feb-09 Apr-09 Jun-09 Aug-09 Oct-09 Dec-09 Feb-10 Apr-10 Jun-10 Aug-10 Oct-10 Dec-10 Feb-11 Apr-11 Jun-11 Aug-11 Oct-11 Dec-11 Feb-12 Apr-12 Jun-12 Aug-12 Oct-12

A comprehensive subsurface- opportunity-framing and well/zonescreening study was performed to arrive at candidate selection for the first field trial. Consequently, a study was conducted on smart-well-completion design on the basis of the performance data and subsea-wellhead configuration and taking account of surface-facility considerations. The following solution was proposed:  Implement multizone selective subsea water injectors.  Allocate the required water injection into selected zones by means of choking intervalcontrol valves. Considering all the operational and development challenges in this field, the project team successfully adopted various technical initiatives and fitfor- purpose solutions in different disciplines such as drilling, completion strategy, sand- control methodologies, selective smart injection, and proactive reservoir-monitoring and -management planning. Fig. 3 shows the short- and long-term production and additional- reserves gains in this field as a result of this study. In addition, the study shows that there is a potential of achieving a 4% incremental recovery factor through increasing the well water-cut limit from 95 to 98%. This will be pursued by enhancing the topside facilities and water-handling capacity.JPT

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Distributed Microchip System Records Subsurface Temperature and Pressure

microchip system capable of measuring temperature and pressure over the entire wellbore was developed and tested in the field. When used in the field, tracers will be injected together with the drilling fluid. As the tracer travels through the wellbore, it will measure the temperature and pressure throughout the wellbore and store the data in the on-chip memory.

Tracer Injector

Initiator Alternating Valve

Control Computer

Tracer-Injection Pump

Mud Pump

Data Collector

Prototype

Magnetic Tracer Separator Mud Return

The prototype of the instrument system is shown in Fig. 1. The instrument system developed in this work includes two major components: the surface devices (Fig. 1) and the tracers (Fig. 2). A tracer (approximately 7.5 mm in diameter) consists of a small system-on-chip integrated circuit (SOC IC), which includes sensors, microcontroller, memory, transmitter and receiver circuits, and d ensity-control material (hollow spheres), all encapsulated in a protective-chemical-coating shell. The surface devices include an initiator to reset the circuit on the tracer before the tracer is injected into the wellbore, and a data collector to retrieve data from the tracers on-chip memory when the tracer is carried back to the surface by the drilling fluid. The initiator and data collector will use wireless communication to reset the circuit and download data from the tracer, respectively. A magnetic tracer separator (see Fig. 1) will be installed after the data collector to recycle the tracers. A lithium cell (battery) used in the tracer contains stainless

Magnetic Ring Wellbore

Tool Joint Drillstring Tracer

Fig. 1Schematic of the instrument system.

steel, which can enhance the separation of tracers from the drilling fluid in the magnetic tracer separator. When used in experiments or in the field, tracers will be injected together with the drilling fluid. Before a tracer is injected into the flowline, it passes through an initiator, which will reset the circuit for recording data. As the tracer travels through the wellbore, it will measure the temperature and pressure throughout the wellbore and store the data in the on-chip memory at a sampling rate set by the initiator. When the

tracers are carried out of the borehole by the drilling fluid, they will pass through a data collector (controlled by a computer) through which the tracer will communi7.5 mm Sensors -Controller/Memory Transmitter/Receiver Circuit Power Supply (Lithium Cell)

This article, written by Editorial Manager Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 159583, A Distributed Microchip System for Subsurface Measurement, by Mengjiao Yu, Sufeng He, Yuanhang Chen, Nicholas Takach, SPE, and Peter LoPresti, The University of Tulsa; and Shaohua Zhou, SPE, and Nasser Al-Khanferi, SPE, Saudi Aramco, prepared for the 2012 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 810 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Protective Coating Hollow Spheres 0.5 mm

Fig. 2Schematic of the tracer.

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JPT SEPTEMBER 2013 123

Fig. 3The first three tracers to be deployed in the wellbore.

cate with the surface devices to send the data stored in its on-chip memory. Fiber-optic temperature and pressure sensors for harsh environments (up to 15,000 psi and 250C) have been used in the field successfully during the last 10 years and will be integrated into the instrument system in this project. Other sensors can be integrated into the system when they are readily available. When used in the field, magnetic rings can be placed on the tool joints (glued to the surface of the pin). An onchip magnetic sensor can be fabricated on the SOC IC. As the tracer travels through the borehole, it could sense the weak magnetic field around each tool joint along the drillstring. This information can be recorded in the on-chip memory and used to determine the real-time location of the tracer in the wellbore. SOC IC and Surface Devices. The device used in the initiator and the data collector is the same, a surface-device reader and writer module. The surface-device reader/writer and the tracer communicate through the wireless magnetic channel. The system can work in fully duplex mode or in half-duplex mode. In duplex mode, both the reader/writer and the tracer can transmit and receive simultaneously at different frequencies. In half-duplex mode, the reader/writer and the tracer transmit and receive at different time slots. Half-duplex mode can lead to simpler implementation at the expense of slightly slower communication rate in this particular application. Each tracer has its own identification, and thus can be logged separately.

tached at the end. Tracers were injected into the flow loop by the tracer-injection system. Injected tracers traveled through the flow loop and then passed the drillFiber-Optic Sensor. Currently, fiber- bit nozzles at the end of the loop. Results optic sensors are commercially available show that the tracer injection functions that are capable of measuring pressure well and a controllable tracer-injection and temperature up to 15,000 psi and rate can be achieved. In addition, all trac1,000C, respectively, using a variety of ers passed the drill-bit nozzles without methods. However, current realization any difficulties. of these sensors, including packaging, is not suitable for the current applica- Temperature-Sensor Test. Changes in tion. The focus, therefore, is the adap- the temperature of mineral oil in which tation of proven sensor concepts to the the tracer was immersed were recordunique environment and operating lim- ed every 20 seconds. At the same time, its of thetracer. measurements by the tracer were taken One potential sensor technology is at the rate of one sample per second. based on a Fabry-Perot-interferometer The integrated circuit was programmed (FPI) structure. FPI-based sensors can to take a total of 500 data points. Therebe made small, having a cross-sectional fore, the measurement took 8 minutes area not much larger than the fiber dia and 20 seconds to complete. After the meter (125 m) and lengths on the order test was completed, data collected by of 1 mm. Both the extrinsic FPI and the the tracer were transmitted to the datafiber FPI configurations will be investi- acquisition system wirelessly. The tracer gated. Both configurations can measure output is inversely related to the actual temperature or pressure with minimal temperature change. These two curves crosstalk from the other measurement, were in a good agreement in terms of with proper design. slope, response time, and curve trend. The built-in lithium battery is rechargeable, allowing the tracer to be used manytimes. Protective Chemical Coating. Tracers need to be protected against harsh downhole conditions. This can be achieved by encapsulating the stress-sensitive electronic parts of the tracer into a protective shell. The specific objectives of this protective shell are to shield the electronic parts of the tracer from highpressure (up to 15,000 psi) downhole conditions, chemical attack, impact, and abrasion of the drillstring. The shell also plays a crucial role in reducing the effect of temperature variation on the integrity of the electronic parts. In addition, the density of the protective coating should be low enough to ensure the mobility of the tracer. A literature review of chemical-coating materials reveals that special types of porcelain, ceramic, thermoset, and composite materials have the potential to meet the required properties. High-Pressure/High-Temperature Survival Test. Tracer samples were placed in a chamber, and then pressure and temperature were applied to simulate harsh downhole conditions. Tests were conducted up 12,000 psi and 100C. Results show that tracer samples can withstand 12,000 psi and 100C without undergoing any structural problems. Tracer-Mobility Test. Another major concern about the tracer system is tracer mobility. Tracers might travel a long distance in a wellbore and then have to flow back to the surface. In order to prove that the tracer can be transported by the drilling fluid, a tracer-mobility test was conducted on a full-scale flow loop. The full-scale flow loop had a 100-ft-long 84.5-in. annular test section. Tracers were injected from one end of the flow loop by use of the tracer-injection system developed in this study. After injecting the tracers, one can see that the tracers travel at a very fast speed in the testsection.

Laboratory Testing

Validation of Tracer Passing Through Bit Nozzles. One of the major concerns of the tracer is whether it can pass through drill-bit nozzles. In order to prove that the tracers can do this, they were tested on a flow loop with a tricone drill bit at-

Field Test

The first field test was conducted in an onshore field in Saudi Arabia. Before in-

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jecting tracers into the well, a tracerretrieval system consisting of magnetic strips on the shale shakers was installed on the rig. In addition to the magnetic strips, an aluminum mesh basket was installed at the end of the discharge line. The aluminum mesh basket serves as the last point to trap the tracers. Testing Well Information. For the first field test, the main goal was to validate the concept and find out if the tracers can be carried out of the wellbore by the drilling fluid and then be retrieved on the shale shaker. To simplify the test procedure so that we can focus on the major functionality of the microchip system, the tracer-injection system developed in this study was not used for the first field test. The tracers were deployed by directly dropping them into the drillpipe during the pipe connection. Fig. 3 shows the first three tracers to be placed into the drillpipe. A stopwatch was started when the tracers were dropped into the drillpipe to record the time needed for the tracer to return to the surface. Circulation of the drilling fluid was started right after the

pipe connection was completed, and a flow rate of 500 gal/min was maintained. It was estimated that the tracer should return to the surface approximately 50 minutes after the circulation started. After injecting 13 tracers, seven tracers were found that returned to the surface. Out of the seven returned tracers, two tracers were intact and the other five were damaged. Post-Test Processing. The two intact tracers were moved to the control room, and data were downloaded from one of them. During the download procedure, the circuit of the second complete tracer was found to be damaged. Pressure and temperature readings were downloaded from the on-chip memory of the intacttracer circuit. It was observed that all the broken tracers had fractures on the plane where either the battery or the circuit board is located, which means that, by manufacturing the tracer in three layers, the integrity of the tracer was reduced. It is more difficult to make the tracer in one step, but, for greater mechanical strength, one-step manufacturing of the tracers may be required in thefuture.

Conclusions

 The concept of the microchip wasproved successfully. Operations such as initiation, deployment, fluid capability to carry the tracers back to surface, and retrieval methods were tested and proved to be successful.  The prediction of time for thetracer to return to the surfacecalculated by the simulator was close to the recorded time.  Two intact pieces were retrieved out of 13 pieces deployed. In addition, five broken pieces were retrieved at the surface. By improving the fabrication process, the survival rate should be improved.  No plugging of drill-bit nozzles occurred during the tests. Therefore, more pieces can be deployed in the future to increase the retrieval rate.  The overall return rate was greater than 50%, much better than expected. JPT

TECHNOLOGY

Paul Cameron, SPE, is a senior wellengineering adviser in the Global Wells Organization at BP. He is responsible for developing and implementing well-engineering practices and building global discipline capability in the area of wellintervention engineering. Cameron has 30 years of experience in the industry, including holding a variety of engineering and leadership roles in the discipline areas of drilling, completion, and well-intervention engineering. He has worked in engineering and operations roles in Aberdeen and Alberta and, for the past 10 years, has worked in a global functional role and in leading technical communities of practice. Cameron serves on the JPT Editorial Committee and the SPE Europe Regional Training Advisory Committee. He holds a First Class BEng (Hons) degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bradford. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 163290 Third-Generation GlassBarrier Technology: Improving WellCompletion Integrity and Reliability by Rune Gimre, TCO, et al. SPE 160160 Production Array Logs in Bakken Horizontal Shale Play Reveal Unique Performance Based on Completion Technique by Robert Boyer, ConocoPhillips, et al. SPE 165141 Impact of Charge Type Used in Perforation on the Outcome of Matrix Acid Treatment in Carbonate Formations: Comparative Study by Ahmed I. Rabie, Texas A&M University, et al. SPE 163344 Optimization of Cleanup of Limestone Production Zones: New Observations by Eric Davidson, Halliburton, et al.

completions today
Achieve more with less. This is the rallying cry as our global energy journey plays out, whether in the onshore shale developments, in the deepwater basins, or in the frozen lands and waters of the Arctic. Two important levers for achieving this goal are improvements in well reliability and well productivity. Our industry needs to build and operate wells that deliver their design well productivity for their design life and do it consistently. Technology has a vital role to play to help deliver theseimprovements. I began working in this industry exactly 30 years ago to the month. As a keen young petroleum engineer, I recall being amazed by the level and complexity of the technology deployed in our wells at the timefrom the heavy iron at the wellsite to the mainframe computers filling a disproportionate amount of space in our suburban office block. Looking back, I could barely have dreamt about many of the technology solutions that we are using so routinely in our wells today. Sometimes, solutions have come from an unlikely placerooted in our operating challenges. For years, we knew that downhole elastomers in subsurface tools were affected adversely by exposure to hydrocarbons. As a result of some innovative thinking, this undesirable reaction has been successfully turned around to serve our needs in the form of engineered swellable elastomers. These are now being used extensively for zonal isolation and conformance management in horizontal multistage fracturing, as a core component of intelligent completions, and as a remedial solution to provide hydraulic isolation in various downhole components. Fiber-optic technology is now transforming our ability to visualize the subsurface and manage well performance, including multiphase-flow monitoring through distributed temperature sensing. A related technology, distributed acoustic sensing, is providing advanced downhole monitoring that enables us to better understand sand production and improve the effectiveness of hydraulic-fracturing operations and wellintegrity management. In the area of perforating technologies, improvements in the understanding of dynamic underbalance perforating and integration of abrasive-jet perforating in hydraulic-fracturing operations are helping us to optimize well productivity from theoutset. I hope you enjoy reading more about how these and other technologies are positively affecting the reliability and performance of our completions today. We have come a long way in the past 30 years. I would like to close by particularly welcoming all the newly recruited engineering and wellsite staff to our exciting industry. Your vision and innovative thinking will shape our continuing journey to achieve morewithless.JPT

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Advancements in Completion Technology Increase Production in the Williston Basin

ver the years, hybrid systems have been installed in horizontal wellbores to increase the number of compartmental sections for hydraulic fracturing because of the limitations of ball-actuated fracture sleeves. Experimenting with hybrid systems provides operators with the ability to optimize spacing of fracture stages along the horizontal section when sleeve technology alone does not allow for the desired number of stages. The costs are higher for operators to perform a hybrid-type completion, however, and this has driven enhanced sleeve technology to allow for allsleevecompletions.

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA Member Extents: Upper Shale Middle Member Lower Shale

Nesson Apt Elm Bakken Type Log Coulee Antelope

ss Cro

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Overpressured Area

NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA

MONTANA

WILLISTON BASIN

Introduction

The Bakken shale located in the Williston basin covers an area that includes portions of North Dakota and Montana in the US and Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada (Fig. 1). An unconventional reservoir, the Bakken formation is one of the last giants to be discovered in North America. The US Geological Service estimates that the undiscovered US portion of the Bakken formation holds 3.65 billion bbl of oil, 1.85 Tcf of associated gas, and 148 million bbl of naturalgas liquids. Advances in horizontal drilling of extended-reach wells and in completion techniques have increased the amount of recoverable oil and gas. Wells drilled in the Bakken are typically drilled horizontally across two 640-acre sections, with laterals that can extend more than

Schematic Structural Cross-Section

Elm Cou lee A
Nesson Anticline

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Antelope Field

Lo Thr

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Three

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Fig. 1Location of the Bakken shale in the Williston basin, with a structural cross section.

9,000 ft. Two completion methods known for cost-effectiveness and high well efficiency that are used in these wells are the openhole-packer system and the sleeve one-trip system.

Openhole-Packer and Sleeve Completions

Openhole completions performed in the Bakken are commonly run as a one-trip system on drillpipe containing the fol-

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 159586, Advancements in Openhole-Completion Technology Increase Efficiencies and Production in the Williston Basin, by John Paneitz, Whiting Petroleum, and C. Christopher Johnson, Matthew White, and George Gentry, Baker Hughes, prepared for the 2012 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 810 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

lowing equipment: a hydraulic or mechanical running tool, liner-top packer or liner-hanger system, openhole packers, fracture sleeves, and float equipment. Once the system is in position, the appropriate fluid is displaced, and the linertop-packer is set; the running tool is disconnected from the system and removed from the well. The openhole packers provide compartmental isolation along the horizontal wellbore with fracture sleeves placed at each stage, forming a pathway for stimulation fluid and the production of hydrocarbons. When the pumping equipment is mobilized, a series of balls is dropped (in order of smallest to largest) that will land on corresponding ball seats starting at the toe of the well, isolating previous-

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Liner Hanger System

Casing Section for Plug and Perforation

Openhole Frac Float Float Packer Sleeve Collar Shoe

Fig. 2Illustration of an openhole-packer/sleeve hybrid completion.

ly fractured sections and shifting open the fracture sleeves. After the pumping is completed, the well can be placed on production. During the production phase, the balls that were pumped down the wellbore and used to open the fracture sleeves will flow off the ball seats and back up the wellbore. Components placed in the open hole are specifically developed for multistage applications. The openhole packers are manufactured with a swellable elastomer, which reacts to oil-based fluids (diesel) and expands out to the wellbore, creating zonal isolation. Fracture sleeves contain specifically designed ball seats that are pinned closed using shear screws when installed in the well. Through the use of fracture balls, a differential pressure is created across the ball seat, allowing for an increase in tubing pressure that shears the shear screws, shifting the sleeves open to expose the fracture ports. The pump rates and types of fracture fluid need to be known before the fracture sleeves are installed to allow for the correct number of shear pins to be placed in the sleeves. A differential pressure is created across the seats from the high flow rates in the wellbore. In some cases, the smallerinternal-diameter fracture sleeves placed closest to the toe of the well will require a higher actuation pressure than those placed toward the heel of the well to compensate for the forces created during the fracturetreatments. The positive impact realized from a faster hydraulic-fracture process is a localized wellsite benefit. On a larger scale, the operator realizes monetary benefits as well. The wellsite impact from spending fewer days on location during the hydraulic fracturing is considered from both a health, safety, and environmental standpoint and an operational-risk and cost-reduction standpoint. A short-

er fracture time minimizes disturbances to local populations and lowers the amount of CO2 emissions. The operator experiences more-effective use of companypersonnel. Fracture sleeves have proved to be reliable and conserve water and time between fracture stages. The cycle time between wells and the additional number of wells that can be completed from the reduced number of days spent on location allow operators to increase production across the field by bringing more wells on line.

Recent Advancements in Technology

In 2007, a new packer technology was combined with existing fracture-sleeve capabilities to provide the necessary components for a multistage, one-trip completion in the Sanish field. This new packer technology was a swellable elastomer wrapped and bonded to casing joints. Depending on the choice in elastomer, the reaction will occur in either oilor water-based solutions. It is common in the Williston basin to use elastomers that react with oil to swell and create annular seals. The initial fracture-sleeve application was deployed in November 2007. Upon reaching the target setting depth with the completion, diesel was displaced along the horizontal section containing the openhole packers. Behind the diesel, a ball was pumped to a ball seat for setting the liner-top packer and releasing the running tool from the bottomhole assembly. With the completion in place, the rig was moved from location and preparations for hydraulic fracturing began. Downhole temperature for this well was 210F, requiring 3 days for the packers to form a seal against the formation. The hydraulic-fracturing operations began by opening the pressure sleeve.

A pressure of 4,000 psi was applied to shift the pressure sleeve. The first stage of the fracture was pumped through this sleeve. The remaining seven stages were pumped through ball-actuated fracture sleeves. The entire fracturing treatment was completed in less than 12 hours. Fracture specifics included the use of 1,800,000 lbm of natural-sand proppant and 18,000 bbl of water pumped at rates of 30 to 40 bbl/min. The initial production for this well was 1,323 bbl of oil and 2 MMcf of gas during a 24-hour flow test. During the next 30 days, the well averaged 818 B/D of oil production and 828 Mcf/D of gas production. In the winter months, the use of conventional perforating guns and composite plugs would have caused the completion process to take a minimum of 4 days. Throughout 2008, the number of stages in the one-trip openhole- packerand-sleeve completions increased to 10. Engineers realized that production could be increased if the spacing between sleeves/packers (stages) could be reduced. In 2009, this was accomplished by creating and deploying hybrid completions consisting of two technologies: the use of fracture sleeves for the toe section of the wellbore and the use of composite fracture plugs for isolation and perforating guns for communicating with the formation during the remaining stages (Fig.2). The installation of the hybrid completion was relatively unchanged. For the sections of the wellbore that were to use a plug-and- perforation method, openhole packers were spaced out with casing joints. The operator would be able to benefit from the fracture-sleeve efficiencies during the first 10 stages, but would then need to pump down composite fracture plugs and perforate each section for the remaining stages. In October 2009, new fracturesleeve technology was deployed that increased the number of stages in a onetrip openhole-packer/sleeve system to 24. In 2010, the hybrid-system approach was expanded to include more stages as the optimal spacing in different parts of the Sanish field was evaluated. During this time period, additional components of the wellbore evolved with industry-adopted pressure-

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Monitoring Multistage Fracturing

Fig. 3Microseismic image of Sanish-field Bakken drainage area.

integrity-verification requirements and with longer- lateral drilling. Liner-toppacker- and liner-hanger-system choices are reviewed on the basis of vertical or horizontal tool settings, pressure-rating requirements (pressure-integrity-test requirements), and combined loading of installed equipment during hydraulicfracturing operations. Software models are generated, and separate calculations are performed to determine resultant loading conditions from pressure-testing and hydraulic-fracturing operations. Recloseable Fracture Sleeves. These sleeves have been designed to shift open and lock into the open position. During the life cycle of an unconventional reservoir, there are opportunities to refracture

complete wells or wellbore sections to re-establish production. In June 2009, a packer/sleeve completion system was installed with recloseable fracture sleeves. The proposal included hydraulicly fracturing the well to produce hydrocarbons before returning to the well for in-field refracture development. The ball seats would need to be milled out before shifting the fracture sleeve to the closed position and isolating the fracture ports. This would provide the full-bore internal diameters required to install composite fracture plugs and refracture each section by use of the plug-and-perforation method. Since the installation, additional information has been gained in regard to required spacing between compartments, and the refracturing has not occurred.

Proper spacing of the compartments created by openhole packers along the horizontal section is determined through analytical methods. One such method uses microseismic tools, where geophone arrays monitor shear failure along pre- existing natural fractures on the basis of acoustic signatures. Monitoring of the fracture propagation provides data that can be used to verify decisions made regarding spacing changes between compartments and wells across lease sections (Fig. 3). A more-complex configuration, which provides additional data regarding the reservoir and hydraulic fracturing, includes the use of downhole flow and temperature sensing. This type of monitoring can be achieved with distributed- temperaturesensing (DTS) or permanent-downhole- monitoring (PDHM) systems, which are either electrical- or fiber-optic-based. In April 2010, a 10stage openhole- packer/ sleeve system was installed with DTS and PDHM systems. Afterward, pressures and temperatures were monitored during the fracture of surrounding wellbores, real-time monitoring occurred during the fracturing, and post-fracture monitoring was available to validate the performance of the openhole systems, providing data needed for drilling plans in the Bakken and Three Forks formations. Other methdevelopment ods applied during field- planning include drillstem testing, core analysis, and implementation of logs to characterize thereservoir.JPT

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North American Completion Technologies Unlock the Amin Tight Gas Formation
he careful planning and successful execution of a multistage-fracturestimulation completion in one of the first horizontal wells (KZN-F) drilled in the Amin formation in north central Oman instigated a step change in initial production rate and long-term deliverability from this tight-gassandstone reservoir. The operator and service company worked as a team, modeling the fracturing program after North American practices.

100 km

Introduction

Most of the natural gas in the Amin formation is locked up in low-permeability, extremely hard sandstone formations in very deep reservoirs. Drilling times of 3 to 4 months are typical for vertical wells, and fracture stimulation is necessary. BP acquired the concession from the Sultanate of Oman in 2007 to engage in an appraisal of the block (shown in Fig. 1). Following appraisal, a full field-development license may be granted to develop the block. The objective of the appraisal project is to evaluate the delivery potential of gaseous hydrocarbons from four reservoirs: Barik, Miqrat, Amin, and Buah. There were two wells drilled by BP that tested the Amin formation in the field before this investigation. The KZN-C well was stimulated with a conventional crosslinkedgel fracture treatment, and the KZN-E Amin well was stimulated by use of a hybrid technique. The only other fracturing technique that had not yet been

Fig. 1An image of north central Oman, illustrating the location of the block and surrounding fields. Also visible are the various dune seas and the Hajar Mountains along the northern part of the Sultanate of Oman. (Background digital-elevation model from ASTER.)

introduced to the Amin formation was a high-rate water fracture (HRWF), also known as a slickwater fracture. This technology, widely used in North America, had originally been planned for use in the Amin reservoir and had already been used successfully in the Miqratreservoir. Pumping and chemical costs are lower for an HRWF than for crosslinkedgel fracture treatments.

Challenges and Solutions

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 164008, Adopting North American, Multistage Fracturing and Horizontal Completion Technologies Starts To Unlock the Amin Tight Gas Formation in the Sultanate of Oman, by Robert Clark, SPE, BP, and Kevin Mullen, SPE, and Stevanus Kurniadi, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2013 SPE Middle East Unconventional Gas Conference and Exhibition, Muscat, Oman, 2830 January. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Zone Selection. Six target intervals were selected for flow testing in the KZN-F well, with the goal of evaluating the efficacy of different reservoir-access and stimulation technologies, as well as determining which formation conditions would contribute to flow. These intervals were identified by use of a combination of mud logs, conventional openhole logging, and a microimaging log. Gamma-ray, resistivity, and porosity logs were used to differentiate zones in the Amin reservoir that might present more-promising targets. The microimaging log proved to be valuable for identifying fractures in the reservoir that could be targeted for stimulation. Fractures were categorized as faults, natural fractures (cemented or uncemented), or

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130 JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

DrillingInduced Fractures

Open Conductive Fractures BedBoundary Breakout

Fig. 2Example of drilling-induced natural fractures and breakout at bed boundaries in a horizontal borehole in the Amin formation.

Electric-line tractors use two to six drive sections, operated by electrical power from the surface, to move the tractor into the wellbore. Perforating, logging, and setting bridge plugs can be performed with an electric-line tractor while being monitored from the surface. This method has the advantage of excellent depth correlation, but it has limited ability to put significant force downhole, and it is also very expensive. The electric-line-tractor method was shown to have the best ability to perforate and set plugs at the preferred depth, but leftover fracture sand in the tubulars caused several major delays during the operation. In electric-line-tractor operation, the cause of the problem is the downhole force limitation of the tool. Zone Isolation. There are two conventional methods that industry adopts in a cemented-liner completion in a horizontal well to achieve zone isolation: sand plugs and bridge plugs. In North America, the most common method used today for isolation in cemented completions is bridge plugs run with pumpdown guns. A bridge-plug method for zone isolation was planned for KZN-F to avoid intervention delays while running the electric-line-tractor. Six bridge plugs were set inside the wellbore. All of them demonstrated the ability to withstand fracturing pressures during operation. Apart from six that set perfectly, two more bridge plugs were not run successfully. One bridge plug was set while running in the hole, which required a milling operation. A second plug was accidentally set in the riser before running in the hole. Analysis of that event determined that the tension on the gripper elements was too low, which probably contributed to setting the first bridge plug accidentally. Depth Accuracy. Compared with CT, an electric-line tractor offers much better control of depth accuracy. The operator can perforate, log, or place bridge plugs with excellent accuracy with a tractor. Furthermore, a tractor-set bridge plug provides excellent depth correlation for CT operations. If the bridge plug can be placed using electric-line measurement, the CT can tag that plug with reasonable accuracy. This was demonstrated

drilling-induced fractures on the basis of their appearance on the log. Fig. 2 illustrates some of the data available from the microimaging log used to target key wellbore objectives. Reservoir Access for Stimulation. The liner was cemented in place with five fracture sleeves preinstalled to provide multiple access points for possible stimulation. These were conventional fracture sleeves designed to be operated in either uncemented or cemented completions using a ball to shift the sleeve to an open position for stimulation. However, in this case, a backup method for operation was used, implementing a shifting tool, run on coiled tubing (CT), to activate the ports. These sleeves were placed in approximate positions in the liner to target zones with increased evidence of fracturing. Overall, three reservoiraccess technologies were planned for this well: sliding sleeve, explosivejet (shaped-charge) perforating, and abrasive-jet perforating. Fracture Interference. One of the objectives in drilling a horizontal well, especially in low-permeability reservoirs, is to facilitate conducting multiple transversefracture stimulations along the lateral section. However, each fracture may be subject to fracture interference. In the KZN-F well, because there were other considerations used to select the perforations, perforation clusters were spaced in a single fracture interval

between 27 and 53 m apart, depending on the interest of the zone. The overall interval of each fracture stage was approximately 100 m, simulating typical North American operations. At every fracture interval planned with multiple sets of perforations, HRWF treatments were executed successfully. The actual perforation set that does eventually fracture within a given fracture interval may be influenced strongly by reservoir quality at that particular depth (e.g., by the stress or fracture gradient at different perforation clusters within a given interval). This tends to support the theory that multiple sets of fractures are unlikely in a fracture interval if that length is less than the fracture height. Wellbore Access. Both CT and electricline-tractor technologies were evaluated in the KZN-FH2 well after considering which options for achieving wellbore access were practically and financiallyfeasible. CT intervention is already wellknown as a robust method of conducting intervention operations. This method holds advantages such as rapid mobilization and rig up/rig down, live-well intervention, and the ability to perform nearly all intervention services except real-time electric logging. The disadvantages of this method are depth accuracy, which is especially important during the appraisal phase of a project, and high daily costs.

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in the abrasive-jet perforations in Stage 4, which were on depth within 0.5 m on the basis of the known depth of the previously tractor-set bridge plug.

Technology-Comparison Results

In North America, evaluating the optimum system to use by a trial-and-error approach would involve trialing technologies in several wells. However, to shorten this process, several comparisons were made in KZNF, which included fracturing technique, proppant treatment volume, and reservoir-accesstechnique. Fracturing Technique. To maximize the stimulation treatment, a technique that would maximize fracture half-length, but would attempt to limit the height growth, would be optimal for this formation. The potential for uncontrolled height growth would most likely accompany a conventional crosslinked-gel fracture treatment, so a hybrid fracturing technique or an HRWF has appeal. A hybrid fracture, in this application, refers to the use of a linear pad stage, whereas the proppant-carrier fluid is a fully crosslinked polymer gel. An HRWF refers to treatment using water and friction reducer; proppant-carrying capacity highly depends on the pumping rate and is not considered to be a significant contributor to flow conductivity.

There were six fracture treatments performed along the horizontal wellbore: one using a crosslink-gel fracture (Stage 1), one using a hybrid technique (Stage 5), and the rest using HRWF technology (Stages 2 through 4 and Stage 6). From a production standpoint, the HRWFs performed significantly better than the crosslinked-gel fractures, producing 12 MMscf/D vs. 0.5 MMscf/D. Treatment Volume. Measuring proppant volume per net pay zone could give an indication of fracture conductivity. In the KZN-FH2 horizontal well, which has the same formation properties along the majority of the horizontal wellbore, sensitivity to proppant volume can be compared between Stage 2 and Stage 3 fractures. Stage 2 was treated with 287,600lbm of proppant, while Stage 3 received 196,600lbm of proppant. Both were stimulated with an HRWF technique. Following a commingled-flow test, multiphase production logging showed that there was no additional production achieved by using larger proppant mass. Stage 3 did have many more clusters of natural fractures to target, as well as the interval with 50 bbl of mud lost while drilling. Furthermore, Stage 6 produced approximately the same gas rate as Stage 2 despite having zero proppant used throughout the job.

Reservoir-Access/Perforation Technique. Three different access or perforation techniques were compared in KZN-FH2: cemented fracture sleeves, explosive-jet perforating, and abrasivejet perforating. Explosive-jet perforating demonstrated superiority to cemented fracture sleeves when Stage 1 and Stage 3 were compared. Assuming the same magnitude of tortuosity per stage, Stage 1 had a total near-wellbore (NWB) friction pressure of 2,400 psi at 36.5 bbl/min after acid-wash treatment. This compares with Stage 3, which had total NWB friction pressure of 2,200 psi at 64.5 bbl/min after shooting only four sets of perforations, demonstrating a 28bbl/min increase in injection rate at the same NWB friction pressure. Stage 3 and Stage 4 were intended to compare explosive-jet and abrasive-jet perforation techniques. Both of the stages used four sets of perforations. There might be a slight advantage with abrasive jetting, in that it is more likely to cut a slot or elongated oval shape instead of a hole. In any event, Stage 4 measured NWB friction pressure of 2,250 psi at 73.2 bbl/ min, which is approximately the same NWB friction pressure value as Stage 3, but with a further 9-bbl/min increase in rate. Depth control was much better for Stage 4 because the nozzle was landed on a bridge plug set just below the target interval by an electric-line tractor. JPT

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Intelligent-Well Completion in the Troll Field Enables Feed-Through Zonal Isolation

tatoil, operating the Troll field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, wished to run a deep sidetrack from the main bore in a multilateral well that would exit through the liner in the reservoir. Several zonal-isolation methods had been evaluated, but on the basis of previous experience Statoil decided to use swellable-packer technology. Testing revealed that this type of completion would exceed the necessary requirements. The installation was performed from a semisubmersible rig ahead of plan.

Introduction

The Troll field lies approximately 65 km west of Kollsnes, near Bergen, Norway. Although the field historically has produced large amounts of oil, it is now primarily a gas producer and contains approximately 40% of the total gas reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf. The gas reservoirs, which are 1400m below sea level, are expected to produce for at least another 70 years. The massive Troll A platform produces gas, while Troll B, a floating process and accommodation platform with a concrete hull, and Troll C, a floating process and accommodation platform with a steel hull, produce from thin oilbearing layers in the Troll West reservoir. The thin oil layer is between 22 and 26 m thick in the Troll West oil province and is between 11 and 13 m thick in the Troll West gas province. In order to recover oil from the thin layer, it has been necessary to develop advanced drilling and produc-

Fig. 1Illustration of swellable packer with cable-feed-through capability in an intelligent-well configuration.

tion technology. All of the more than 110 production wells to be drilled are horizontal wells. This process requires twophase drilling. The first phase drills down to the reservoir, 1600 m beneath the sea bottom, and then the second phase drills to 3200 m in a horizontal direction through the reservoir. Twenty-eight of the wells are multilaterals that have two or three horizontal laterals. The well in question faced several challenges normally not seen in Troll multilateral completions, including standalone-screen completion with zonal isolation, well paths with doglegs and a completion total depth (TD) of more than 6000 m, top completion with zonal isolation and zonal control for four zones, and the need for dual pressure and temperature monitoring for all oil zones.

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 160060, First Intelligent-Well Completion in the Troll Field Enables FeedThrough Zonal Isolation: A Case History, by Bjrn Olav Dahle, Statoil, and Peter E. Smith, Geir Gjelstad, and Kristian Solhaug, Halliburton, prepared for the 2012 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 810 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

The lower completion had been designed with specially developed inflowcontrol-device screens that had been designed to allow running of a 43in. top-completion inner string. Consequently, the reservoir had to be drilled with a 9-in. hole. Three 78-in. swellable packers were designed for integration in the screen blank pipe, isolating the reservoir into three separate oil zones and a separate gas gap. Screendrag simulations revealed helical buckling for a one-stage lower completion to TD. Hence, a lateral-liner wash-down system (LLWDS) was adopted for a two-run installation. Using the LLWDS, 1000m of drillpipe-conveyed 6-in. screens could be run to TD and dropped off in the toe of the well. The remaining 3500 m of screens and blank pipe with zonalisolation swellable packers could then be strung into the openhole liner top, providing complete sand control. The top completion was designed with three dual gauges. Also, three 34-in. cable swellable packers were spaced out in the top- completion inner string in accordance with the external lower-completion swellable

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136 JPT SEPTEMBER 2013

Fig. 2Test sample (2.875-in.4.2-in.0.1 m) and test units for swelling-speed testing.

ackers. Three 3-in. hydraulic flowp control valves were integrated into the top- completion inner string to allow individual-zone control inside the sand screens. Additionally, a hydraulically operated six-position gas lift valve was installed below the production packer, allowing natural gas lift.

Feed-Through Swellable-Packer Technology

Packer Design and Relevant Applications. Swellable-packer technology comprises standard oilfield tubulars with layered rubber chemically bonded along their lengths. Once exposed to hydrocarbons, the rubber element swells to form an effective annular seal through an absorption process known as thermodynamic absorption (Fig. 1). The swellable-packer/cable system is an annular-isolation cable-feedthrough packer for both openhole and cased-hole completions that improves on the conventional approach to running feed-through lines through completion packers by completely eliminating the requirement to cut, strip, and splice

in control and communication lines for the feed-through process. Instead, the swellable-packer/cable system is manufactured with custom molded grooves through the element to fit the control lines that will be run through it. A slit is then cut in the element down to the depth of the groove so that it can be accessed during the wellsite installation. An engineered running tool is used at the wellsite during installation, and the control lines are fed continuously into the element by the tool as the packer is run through the rotary. The self-healing properties of the swellable-packer rubber ensure sealing around the control lines and against the casing as the packer swells and seals downhole. This enables the passage of individual control lines, flatpacks for downhole monitoring, and control devices through the packer.

(65C crude oil) to verify swelling speed (Fig. 2). The test showed that the time to first seal for the packer in a 6.16-in. hole would be approximately 24 days. A 3.55.78-in. SP OS packer was found to reach 6.16 in. in approximately 24 days at 65C. Stage 2: Full-Scale Differential-Pressure (DP) Testing. A full-scale test packer on 3-in. base pipe with an outside dia meter (OD) of 5.78 in. and an element that is 2 m in length with two 2312-mm flatpacks and one 1111-mm controlline feed through (Fig. 3) was tested for DP capacity in a 6.16-in.-inside diameter (ID) test unit. The temperature was set to 100C to speed up the process. After 4 days, the testing personnel noted that the swellable packer had started to seal the 6.16-in.-ID test unit, as DP over the rubber element was observed. After 7 days, the swellable packer held the required 70 bar of DP, and Statoil agreed to continue testing until failure of the rubber element occurred. After 21 days, the packer sustained a stable 202-bar DP. The SP OS L was subjected to a maximum DP of 231 bar, at which point the element failed.

Testing

Stage 1: Small-Scale Swelling-Speed Testing. A standardized test sample, 2.875 in.4.2 in.0.1 m, with two layers of Type A delay barrier representing the packer, was tested at well conditions

Results

Fig. 3SP OS L (3.5-in.5.78-in.2 m) before test start.

Stage 1: Small-Scale Swelling-Speed Testing. The standardized Stage 1 test sample was prepared with L 2A design (swelling delay as designed in the computer software program used to predict swelling) before inserting it into the test unit filled with well fluid. Temperature

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was held constant at 65C for the entire test period. The test was run with an automatic display sensor and was monitored continuously. The swell test showed that the 3.5-in.5.78-in.-OD packer with L 2A design sealed the 6.16-in. hole within 24 days. The simulation provided a sealing time frame of 19 days. The test results and simulations were quite close up to approximately 6 days. After 6 days, the test sample swelled at a slower rate than the simulation had anticipated. The deviation between simulated and test results is caused by a test effect, volume dependence, often seen when testing in crude oil. The results are similar when the crude oil is fresh, but, in time, swelling will slow down as the rubber takes up the lightest and fastest- swelling C- components first. In a well, where there are unlimited volumes available, a slowdown in swelling speed such as that seen in the test will not occur. Therefore, the swell test verifies simulated swelling speed for the first 5 days, and the simulated curve should be used to derive long-term swelling speed.

The actual test results were significantly slower than the simulations after 56 days, which indicates that the lighter components of the crude oil were used, and that the test sample started swelling more quickly when the heavier components in the crude became available. This effect will not occur in a real well situation, where the swellable packer will have a near-infinite amount of crude available. Stage 2: Full-Scale DP Testing. After the initial swell-speed test, a full-scale test was prepared to show that the swellable packer had the capacity to seal at the 70-bar DP required. To speed up the testing, there was no delay barrier placed on the rubber element, and the test temperature was set to 100C. Testing showed that the packer held 202 bar, which is approximately three times the required pressure. The test result was 28% higher than the simulated capacity of 157 bar for this design. With elevated temperature and no delay barrier, the packer started to seal against the 6.16-in. test unit within 4 days. The 70-bar DP was reached within 8 days. After approximately 21 days, the

packer held a DP of 202 bar. Maximum pressure observed before breaking the element was 231 bar.

Case-History Installation

The operation in the Troll field was performed from a semisubmersible rig without the occurrence of any health, safety, or environmental incidents. An average drilling rate of penetration of 288 m/d was achieved while drilling the 4440-m, 9-in. reservoir section. Drilling and completion were completed by 9 September 2011, and the complete job was performed within 32 days (8 days ahead of schedule). The entire swellable-packer installation, involving feed through of continuous control lines and cables, took only 45 minutes per packer. For comparative purposes, standard hydraulic-set packers requiring splicing and testing above and below the packer will normally require at least 12 hours per packer. All downhole valves and gauges are functioning properly. Zonal isolation has been confirmed by selective closure of the flow-control valves. JPT

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Evaluation of Established Cleanup Models in Dynamic Underbalanced Perforating

ynamic underbalanced (DUB) perforating is a process that creates a negative pressure differential, or underbalance, causing fluid to move toward the wellbore even in an initial overbalanced static condition. A DUB condition can be controlled by understanding and carefully managing the temporal pressure transients by use of multiple methods within the wellbore during and after gun-system detonation. Recently, a series of instrumented perforation experiments demonstrated that existing cleanup models do not accurately predict perforation cleanup when perforating in a DUB condition.

Cement Casing

Damaged Permeability, From Drilling, Production, or Injection, kd

Undamaged Permeability, k

Open Perforation Charge and Core Debris Pulverization Zone Grain-Fracturing Zone Compacted Zone With Damaged Permeability From Perforating, kc Fig. 1Perforation crushed zone surrounding the open perforation.

Introduction

Underbalanced perforating methods have been applied successfully since the 1950s, shooting both wireline and tubing- conveyed perforating guns. As shapedcharge jet-perforator systems became more advanced, using powdered metal liners, performance steadily improved. The art of minimizing the compacted and damaged area surrounding the perforation tunnel, commonly known as the crushed zone (Fig. 1), began shortly afterward. Much of the initial work involved shooting charges into prepared Berea sandstone cores while documenting the effect of a differential pressure toward the wellbore upon perforation efficiencies. As the benefits of an underbalanced pressure differential were observed, extensive testing established criteria for flow volumes and differential pressures required to remove or minimize the crushed zone created dur-

ing the perforating event. Specifically documented was the role of trapped atmospheric pressure inside a perforating gun surrounding the shaped charge and components, known as free gun volume (FGV), which enabled the formation pressure to act as a differential and expel charge and crushed formation into the gun. As perforating research and field observations continued, a series of widely used and accepted formulas was established to document the magnitude of differential pressure required to ensure cleaned perforation tunnels. This paper reviews the effectiveness of each of these models, originally developed for a static underbalanced condition before perforating, to predict cleaning and removal of the crushed zone in a series of tests with a dynamic pressure differential. The test series uses an advanced perforation-flow labora-

tory to detonate an 11.1-g deep-penetrating shaped charge. Each charge will perforate a 24-in.-long, 7-in.-diameter Berea sandstone core with 3,950-psi applied pore pressure; 9,950-psi simulated overburden stress; and 4,900-psi wellbore pressure, creating a static 950-psi overbalance. Although the initial static condition will be overbalanced, a DUB condition will be established by wellbore and pore fluids filling the FGV upondetonation.

Testing Apparatus

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 159413, Evaluation of Established Perforation-Cleanup Models in Dynamic Underbalanced Perforating, by Dennis Haggerty, G.G. Craddock, and Clinton C. Quattlebaum, SPE, Halliburton, prepared for the 2012 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 810 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

The testing apparatus used to simulate downhole perforating conditions for this work is an advanced perforation-flow laboratory at the Jet Research Center, which is modeled after an API 19B Section IV test-vessel apparatus (Fig. 2). The test setup uses a simulated gun module that contains a single shaped charge, a detonating cord, and a sufficient amount of FGV that can be regulated relative to the actual gun system being evaluated. FGV for an API 19B Section II or IV test can be calculated by determining the total system FGV and dividing by the total number of charges, thus providing the FGV on a per-charge basis. The FGV

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Core 09

Core 11

Simulated Formation Simulated Wellbore

Gun Volume/Surge Chamber

Fig. 2The Jet Research Center perforation-testing apparatus.

can be increased to simulate the downloading of a gun system, the incorporation of surge chambers, or a variety of other methods. The gun module is set inside a simulated wellbore volume. After detonation, the shaped charge penetrates the gun module simulating the gun scallop; crosses a defined clearance between the gun and casing wall through the pressurized wellbore fluid; and then penetrates the casing wall, cement, and finally the pressurized target rock. The FGV within the simulated gun module can be modified by using inert material, such as shatter-resistant steel bearings. These can be placed inside the void space around the shaped charge to match the specific FGV relative to the system used downhole. Rock cores used are dried to constant mass at 200F and then vacuum saturated in odorless mineral spirits, enabling the gravimetric porosity value to be calculated. Each core is then mounted in the pressure vessel in which the overburden pressure is applied, and steadystate flow through the core is achieved to determine permeability. High-speed pressure sensors, capable of sampling at 115,000 data points per second, are attached to the simulated wellbore to measure the wellbore pressure response during and immediately after detonation. The result is a profile of the transient pressure in the wellbore during the perforating event, capturing the inherent or engineered DUB condition if created.

Laboratory Testing

An extensive testing program was conducted to evaluate the effect of FGV on creating a DUB condition and the clean-

up of perforation tunnels. Observations were made to determine whether established models for static underbalance could predict perforation cleanup when only a DUB condition is achieved. Fig. 3 presents a comparison of two test shots from the series, each with different FGV. As expected, the greater FGV created a larger DUB condition. Core 09 was perforated using 241 cm3 of FGV, creating a maximum dynamic underbalance of 2,280 psi, which resulted in only 3.30in. of open perforation tunnel or 38% of total-core penetration. Core 11 was perforated using 905 cm3 of FGV, creating a maximum dynamic underbalance of 2,590 psi, which resulted in 8.10 in. of open perforation tunnel or 100% of total-core penetration. Immediately after the perforation tunnel is created, the surrounding wellbore fluids enter the perforation tunnel in an attempt to equalize the wellbore and pore pressures (overbalanced condition). However, the wellbore pressure decreases beyond the pore pressure, thus establishing an underbalanced pressure differential where one did not exist initiallya classic example of the DUB condition. Although Cores 09 and 11 were exposed to an underbalanced pressure greater than the minimum required by the presented models to achieve a clean perforation tunnel, only Core 11 was cleaned sufficiently. Core 09 was exposed to a 2,280-psi underbalance and was cleaned only partially. Fig. 5 in the complete paper shows that the maximum underbalance for Core 09 lasted for a much shorter period of time than that for Core 11, suggesting that there is a time dependence to achieve cleanup not considered in the models evaluated. The re-

Fig. 3Perforated cores using different FGVs, resulting in different amounts of open perforation tunnel. Low-melting-point-temperature eutectic fills the open portion of the perforation tunnel.

sulting DUB effect is related directly to the amount of the FGV increase in the simulated perforating gun in the experimental data.

Discussion

In a perforation event, a charge punches a hole from the gun into water, through casing, then into rock. This action is followed by a bubble of explosive mixed with water, air, and other materials gathered along the way. The charge creates a perforation tunnel filled mostly with explosive gas. This gas, along with the liner, compresses the material on the tunnel boundary. Because the pressure in the perforation cavity is high, flow does not occur until the gas relaxes in pressure. Gun volume plays a role in the relaxation. The bubble then escapes the tunnel. This gas rush precedes any underbalance effects and will begin the underbalance process as soon as the gas pressure is below the pore pressure. Because the gun is already at high explosive pressure, the bubble of explosive gases will flow into the region between casing and gun or into the gun if the pressure is relaxed quickly enough. As the cavity clears, the pressure underbalance forces pore fluid to migrate rapidly to the wellbore. The first region to experience the effects of the low-pressure wellbore fluid is near the perforation-tunnel entrance. Removal comes from two mechanisms. The first involves the flow through

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the crushed zone that then entrains and removes lower-porosity particles. The second mechanism entails the tip eroding away and then flow along the cavity erodes material off the walls. These two mechanisms can occur at the same time. The tip effect would benefit from a rough cavity wall. The uniform case is less sensitive to the rough cavity wall, but the uniform case is more sensitive to particle size in the crushed zone. The first region to experience the underbalance is near the tunnel entrance; consequently, cleanup can, in principle, occur at both ends of the cavity: at the throat as a result of an early start and at the tip as a result of the weaker crushed zone. Previous work has focused on solving the pressure equation and then populating a flow equation, such as the Darcy equation. A rock-strength threshold was used. First, the layer crushed-zone thickness is estimated for an 11.1-g deeppenetrating charge by shooting into a standard quality control setup with dry sand as the target. The result showed a high-density region around the tunnel cavity of 0.2 to 0.5 cm. This result correlated with physical measurements made

of the perforated cores. A thin layer of material is assumed along the conical structure. A slab model is initially assumed, but the model can be extended to a cylinder if necessary. Next, it is assumed that the flow moves a boundary of material, which in turn alters the pressure gradient. As the flow increases, instabilities break up the flow; these instabilities transition to eddies, which in turn transition to smaller eddies. This is the socalled cascade to smaller scales. Using a tensile strength of 600 psi, the cleanup occurs quickly, starting at flows of 200 cm/s. The crushed zone is separated from the tunnel wall in approximately 300 microseconds, and the flow pushes the now-free material out of the perforation cavity in roughly a few milliseconds. Now, consider the case of the tip. In this case, the tip of the perforation tunnel has the lowest tensile strength. The flow then can predominate along the length of the perforation tunnel. This flow would clear the crushed material by friction at the surface. This is a less-efficient mechanism than pushing through

the crushed material. For smooth-pipe flow, the surface friction coefficient is from the Blasius equation. The tip mode of perforation operation begins with a jet model. A jet will have an angle (from centerline) of approximately 12.5. Inside the cone, the flow is fast. Outside 12.5, flow significantly decreases. Thus, to optimize cleanup with this model, the tip of the perforation cavity should have a shallow angle.

Conclusions

1. The greater the FGV of a perforating system, the greater the DUB condition achieved. 2. FGV is a natural occurrence in any perforating-gun system and can be optimized to increase DUB. 3. Established underbalance models presented in this work do not appear to accurately predict perforation cleanup on the basis of laboratory results. 4. Proposed models linking fluid velocity to perforation cleanup seem reasonable, but need further study. JPT

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TECHNOLOGY

J.C. Cunha, SPE, is drilling manager for Ecopetrol America in Houston. Previously, he was the well-operations manager for Petrobras America. A former associate professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada, Cunha has served on several SPE committees and is currently chairman of the SPE Technical Communities Coordinating Committee. He holds a civil engineering degree from Juiz de Fora Federal University, Brazil; an MS degree from Ouro Preto University, Brazil; and a PhD degree from The University of Tulsa, the latter two in petroleum engineering. Cunha has authored many technical articles, including more than 30 SPE papers, and has coauthored two recently published SPE books, Advanced Drilling and Well Technology and Fundamentals of Drilling Engineering. He was a 201011 SPE DistinguishedLecturer.

drilling management and automation

Recently, while preparing to present a seminar on deepwater-well-construction optimization, I tried hard to find a word or a phrase that could be seen as the secret for a safe and optimized drilling performancesomething very simple that would summarize what must be done to achieve success in an activity that, besides being the most visible face of the oil industry, is also simultaneously the most vulnerable andcriticized. What I was trying to do was encapsulate what is a very complex task, the successful management of drilling operations, in just a few words. This proved to be a futile exercise. After many hours of trying, I ended up not succeeding in obtaining my catchphrase. On the other hand, that helped me a lot in obtaining the main message for the seminar. There are no quick fixes. The management of a large group of people operating very sophisticated equipment, under restricted conditions, and within a limited space is a mission filled with complexity. But it is our mission, and we should strive not only to succeed but also to improve our performance constantly. As I mentioned in my last article, a flawless operation is a result not only of good management but also of careful planning. In the seminar, I ended up concentrating on a few pointsbefore, during, and after the operationthat should be viewed as fundamental for the success of the job. In the planning phase, make sure that you are aware of all details involved in the operation and what the risks and possible contingencies are. Then, while executing the operation, be aware of all developments. Use your real-time data as an efficient tool to verify what is going well and what needs to be corrected and to predict what is coming. Finally, after concluding the operation, make sure to capture the lessons learned. This is at least as important as the planning process. To emphasize the importance of using lessons learned, I would like to conclude with one of my favorite quotes, attributed to Peter Drucker, widely viewed as the inventor of modern management: A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge. JPT

Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

SPE 163302 Intelligent Real-Time Drilling-Operations Classification Using Trend Analysis of Drilling-Rig Sensors by A. Arnaout, TDE Thonhauser Data Engineering, et al. SPE/IADC 163510 Advanced Dynamic Training Simulator for Drilling and Related Experience From Training of Drilling Teams With Focus on Realistic Downhole Feedback by Sven Inge degrd, eDrilling Solutions, et al. SPE 163489 Operational Control and Managing Change: The Integration of Nontechnical Skills With Workplace Procedures by J.L. Thorogood, Drilling Global Consultant LLP, et al. SPE/IADC 163515 Advances in RealTime Event Detection While Drilling by R. Wong, Schlumberger, et al. 146

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Design of an Automated Drilling-Prediction System

ata-mining processes are fundamental in obtaining the predictive benefits of real-time systems and have been progressing from descriptive to predictive optimization methods. These methods are enhanced by real-time and historic data. Advancedsensor technologies, improved data-quality control, wellsite information-transfer standard-markup-language (WITSML) data advantages, and virtual real-time drilling-optimization concepts have been assimilated into the design and implementation of predictionsystems.

Second, the status of a particular event or well is constantly changing as key drilling factors change, and monitoring engineers must review all data in detail before manually defining the new status of a system. Third, a complete update of a general well-operations status report is time consuming. The operations status for a set of wells being drilled and monitored can change dramatically from one minute to the next and therefore requires the constant participation of an engineer. Such a report should be automated to derive maximum benefit from the best realtime and historic data.

nentially more meaningful and more efficient for monitoring purposes. Because real-time data are properly related to drilling-program and well-correlation data, it is possible to develop models for predicting future outcomes through new software systems that automatically relate, set apart, and announce a potential drilling challenge.

Application of the Traffic-Light Methodology

Introduction

Drilling-Data Mining

As technologies evolve and the WITSML standard allows data exploitation by many specialized applications, moreaccurate and reliable drilling data are available at real-time operation centers (RTOCs) to analyze and mitigate drilling issues. This enhances and speeds up the drilling-optimization process, and allows a small group of highly skilled drilling engineers to support several wellbore constructions simultaneously. However, the traditional tasks of monitoring drilling parameters are still constrained by the constant need for human intervention. First, the particular field-operations knowledge gained by RTOC monitoring engineers is very valuable but fragile, because it requires the continued participation of team members. To ensure that nothing is overlooked, that knowledge should be gathered and used by an intelligent system.

The drilling industry is aware of the importance of pattern analysis and past performance of correlation wells. It has looked to similar drilling-well experiences to predict the probability of a particular event or drilling outcome. This has been achieved effectively with human intervention, despite the fact that multiple data families that needed to be taken into account were difficult to access for different reasons. As well complexity has increased, computer data-processing technologies, telemetry instrumentation, and real-time data-acquisition systems have advanced, providing the ability to use computer power to choose and examine an increasing volume of more- complex data. This has enabled discovery of previously undetected drilling patterns from correlation wells and known potential events from ongoing drilling programs, making real-time data expo-

To reduce the time engineers invest deciding where to focus their attention on conventional real-time consoles, the event or well status is defined by intuitive colors used on the system interface. They are predefined as green for stable, or on the program; yellow for alert, or near the limits of the program; and red for critical, or outside of the program. This applies to a particular drilling aspect and to a general drilling-operations dashboard able to reflect the status of several wells being drilled concurrently. The criterion and color definition are automatically applied by the system as new real-time values, and trends are constantly renewed and compared with relevant historic information. The status can be modified manually by the monitoring engineers if necessary.

More-Accurate Alerts

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 163709, Design of an Automated Drilling-Prediction System Strengthening-While-Drilling Decision Making, by Samuel R. Prez Bardasz, SPE, Edwin David Hernndez Alejadre, and Armando Almeida Len, Petrolink, prepared for the 2013 SPE Digital Energy Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 57 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

Traditionally, alerts have been prepared by monitoring engineers at RTOCs. However, most of them were triggered by engineers data visualization or alarms displayed by the real-time systems. This is inefficient, because it demands significant time from monitoring engineers to validate the accuracy of the alarm before an alert is posted. Therefore, alarms in the c omputerdriven system were automated under the premise that all should be as accurate and important as the data make possible. Hence, algorithms were developed

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JPT SEPTEMBER 2013 147

mum revolutions per minute; minimum/ This console is complemented with maximum rate of penetration (ROP); a depth-based well-correlation panel and minimum/maximum pump pres- that provides gamma-ray, resistivity, and sure, flow rate, torque, type, diameter, lithology-column information that enand total flow area. These parameters hances the decision-making process to are filtered, related into a database, and trigger an alert. displayed on a console. If a real-time Adding a degree of importance to value is outside of the range defined by each one of the described-in-detail inthe program, the system will send au- formation tracks, it is possible to dedible and visible alarms. This is com- fine a general-parameter status by use plemented and supported by a depth- of complex algorithms, resulting in a based plot on which real-time data of traffic-light expression. Each data famROP, resistivity, and gamma ray are ily is used as a macro or rule that specivisibly compared. fies how a certain input sequence should This information is complement- be mapped to a replacement input seequipment quence, and how much impact it should ed with downhole-drilling- features if available, either from a have on the general well status. It is conventional-motor or a rotary-steerable important to mention that other famsystem. The data taken into account are ily data such as trajectory or cementing maximum tool temperature, hours of data can be taken into account for the motor life, and motor brand and model. anticipation of drilling issues and fast, An indicator of formation temperature accurate alertgeneration. vs. motor temperature completes the inThereafter, two other well-status formation immediately available to the screens enter the process: one that takes monitoring engineer before an alert into account the set of events such as isposted. kicks, total loss, and friction and torque Drilling-fluids aspects taken into issues that occurred on the correlaaccount include program values for tion wells; and one that takes into ac density, plastic viscosity, yield point, count the current well-operation status. salinity, water/oil fraction, filtration, These provide easy-to-read key informa emulsion stability, equivalent circulat- tion to the monitoring engineer, who is ing density, loss, and gasification. All now able to focus more on data-trend program values are uploaded to the sys- analysis than on data validation and tem, where specific algorithms are ap- data-trend identification. It is imporplied to compare them with real-time and tant to mention that the automated stanear- real-time fluid data. This results in tus can be edited manually by the mona display that quickly shows which pa- itoring engineers if the status shown rameter requires attention; each has a is not what the operator or the rigsite traffic-lightindication. staff confirms. Rock-formation and lithology- column information can be compared General RTOC Dashboard using the real-time data stream and static Ironically, RTOC status reports are not data stored in the system. Data available commonly available in real time. Infrom correlation wells and from the drill- stead, this task is performed from time Anticipating Events ing program are matched with logging- to time, depending on the operator comwhile-drilling data and near-real-time panys interests, because it demands full and Trouble Zones The design of an automated drilling- lithology data, if available. The era, for- attention of monitoring engineers for prediction system was started by cover- mation, and lithology description are re- significant periods of time. All real-time ing drill-bit performance, fluid changes, lated to measured depth below the rotary plots must be reviewed by the monitorand varying rock formations. These three table, to true vertical depth below mean ing engineers around a specific time, points have data in the form of a program sea level, and to measured depth and looking for deviation from the plan as as well as in real time. measured bed thicknesses. Once these trends change for the wells being moniDrilling performance has a direct static data are related with the real-time tored at the RTOC. Combining the three relation to drill-bit efficiency. Therefore, data, a traffic light is displayed on the main statuses of all wells monitored at drill-bit information is used to moni- console, indicating at least whether, for the RTOC into a unique automated dashtor the well, taking into account start/ a specific measured depth, the rock era, board makes the status-report update end depth; casing-stage diameter; ini- formation, and lithology match those in an efficient task requiring almost no humanintervention.JPT tial/final weight on bit; minimum/maxi- the program. pecifically to assess a limited set of s the most recent data points for temporal trends, and to compare them with those expected on the basis of the drilling program and correlation wells from the WITSML database. This reduces the number of false alarm emissions coming from data-point outliers that sometimes are part of a log curve or from a data-transmission failure (such as noise). Algorithms have been intentionally designed to avoid system alarms being triggered if the transmission system is missing family data at a certain time or depth interval, if one value is outside of the program range, or if a block of received data is outside of the range at a depth or time where it is expected to be that way. Alarms are triggered taking into account two data sources (real-time stream and historic database). Thus, alerts represent warnings derived not only from surface potential issues or imminent downhole threats being identified in real time, but also from potential wellbore issues identified through correlation wells or as predefined in the drilling program. Because this process requires data to be compared by a unique computer application, the drilling-data standard WITSML was put in place, as well as a system of measurements for downhole and surface parametersthe set of units that operators use. Similarly, new features related to the fluids data displayed were developed for the pre-existing application. All drilling-program data must be available in a standardized format to be uploaded to the system. More-accurate automated alarms maximize the decision value of the alerts that are finally prepared by the monitoring engineers.

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Management Strategies Optimize Drilling and Completion Operations

y 2010, all applicable drilling solutions had seemingly been applied to the Castilla field in Colombia. But new problems were identified, and a model of management strategies was implemented to reduce drilling and completion timing. During the resulting optimization process, the Castilla field became the model for the rest of the fields in the company portfolio. It is believed that this model might also be applied successfully to other fields.

operational problems in the field were to be found at approximately 1,000-ft TVD, at the shale formation found immediately above pay zones. Optimization Model. The optimization process had three principal stages: implementation, consolidation, and optimization excellence. The development of each well had involved five steps during the drilling process: planning, implementation, control, feedback, and optimization. The drilling engineer had to plan the well; implement, explain, and communicate the plan; control the drilling while continuously monitoring parameters, ensuring compliance with the plan and the application of the lessons learned; catalog the lessons learned; and apply these lessons to new optimizationplans. The working optimization model was designed around several major strategies, all developed on the basis of technical limits related to health, safety, and environment (HSE): continuous monitoring of indicators; establishment of only one line of communication; application of short-, medium-, and longterm well vision; and organization based onengineering. During the measurement phase, new indicators and methodologies, such as the Boston Consulting Group matrix for NPT classification by severity and frequency, were included. These methodologies were not only part of the initial stage of the process, but over time they also became tools for control and monitoring of trends. The initial evaluation

was focused on four main areas: management indicators, time to optimize, human resources, and oilfield characteristics. The Boston matrix was used to identify the severity and frequency of NPT. Several technical and operational tools were used to identify characteristics of the oil field, including maps of Castilla losses of drilling fluid and inflows of northern and southern areas; geological maps to identify formation-top depths, faults, dipping layers, and drainage areas of wells drilled; and existing geomechanical analyses. Evaluation Results. A centralized type of drilling engineering management was developed in which well engineering was applied from a central unit that served several fields at the same time. Perhaps this strategy might have worked in a stable operation, but with the high operational activity that Ecopetrol was carrying out (and taking into consideration that its goal for production growth for 2010 was 12% over the previous year), it was impossible for this strategy to work. Growth was experienced in all business areas: exploration, production, oil exports, and proven reserves. The drilling program was a document of almost 100 pages. Too much time was needed to read it, and still it offered little operational detail. As for roles and responsibilities, it was noted that drilling engineers, directly responsible for the drilling operation, were spending most of their work time on receiving calls and only a small portion of their work time on engineering tasks such as planning and monitoring the well, resulting in important decisions being made hastily by staff not seasoned in the Castilla field. Furthermore, service companies were making changes to engineering procedures or proposals without the input of Ecopetrol. Because of this post-event methodology, the field lead-

Introduction

In a May 2010 evaluation, several facets of Castilla field operations were assessed: current processes, operations, and technologies; the state of drilling operations by use of management indicators; nonproductive time (NPT); field characteristics; and roles and responsibilities of personnel. The objectives were to prioritize processes by importance, create a process guide, develop a new manpower plan, improve communication, and apply technologyefficiently.

Optimization Evaluation Results

Field Characteristics. The Castilla field is 200 km from Bogot in the Llanos basin. This field has three formations of heavy oil (T2, K1, and K2) to 7,500, 8,000, and 8,500 ft in true vertical depth (TVD), respectively. Most of the wells are drilled to approximately 9,500ft in measured depth. The majority of the wells are J-shaped, with inclinations from 30 to 70. The most common

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 165325, A Successful Optimization Case of Drilling and Completion Operations Through Management Tools and Strategies, by Oscar R. Silva, Guden O. Silva, and Luis I. Valderrama, Ecopetrol, prepared for the 2013 SPE Western Regional and AAPG Pacific Section Meeting and Joint Technical Conference, Monterey, California, USA, 1925 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

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

Drilling Engineer and Leaders

Well Field Operations Ecopetrol Rep (Night) Rig Superintendents (Day)

Planning and Optimization Engineer No Drilling Surprises NPT Reduction HSE Planning Risk Management Technology Contract Management Completion Planning Cost Management

Lessons Learned and Feedback Office Operations Field Operations

Fig. 1Information-flow model for improvement performance.

er was spending much of his time solving NPT problems. In addition, the direct responsibility for HSE issues had been handled by one person not working directly for Ecopetrol. Thus, there was no strict monitoring of HSE i ssues. Finally, a number of specific drilling problems were identified, ranging from administrative (poor management of permits) to technical (unnecessary wiper trips and cementation)concerns.

Engineering-Based Organizational Strategy

Although the drilling leader hired new staff for the optimization process, the same organizational structure was retained in the rigs. However, the leader used an engineering-based strategy to reorganize the roles and responsibilities of all positions (Fig. 1). The most important change took place in the operations engineer position of each rig. This position was retitled drilling engineer and became a planning position, directly responsible for planning, monitoring, and operations of the well. Some duties of the operations engineer, including the logistics of tools and personnel, were delegated to assistant engineers. The Ecopetrol representative in charge of drilling operations in the field kept his normal duties, but was expect-

ed to adhere to the plan previously established by drilling engineers. If they wanted to change the plan, they were required to call the operations center in Bogot and provide an engineeringbased justification of their request. Each service company must submit its engineering products in advance for review by the drilling engineer. Seven optimization engineers were hired, dedicated to supporting specific tasks such as monitoring NPT, managing maps of wiper trips and fluid loss, updating operations, implementing new technologies, and performing several other activities aimed at optimizing the operation.

of each operation, its parameters, time limits, and lessons learned. This document was not made at the whim of site leaders but instead was an important feat achieved with the participation of all involved in the operation. A regular video meeting was established in which the Bogot offices were in conference with the personnel of six drilling rigs. At 4p.m., every rig delivered a report. A complete communications room was implemented in the Bogot offices. Cameras were installed in the Bogot communications room and all rig offices to facilitate thesemeetings. Each service company maintains personnel within the same field, but it is not necessary for these staff members to remain in the same drilling rig. New staff could not handle operations unless they met adaptability and recognition guidelines to stay in the field. Thus, the dynamics of drilling, created over several months, could be guaranteed, and the lessons learned during this time were not lost. This process notably improved the working environment. Personnel confidence increased, and interdependence was strengthened.

Vision Strategy for the Short, Medium, and Long Term

Single-Communication-Line Strategy

Many of the observed problems were caused by a lack of specific responsibility. To ensure communication processes, tools were implemented by use of all existing channels. Written communication was key, but it would be supplemented by audiovisual communication andteleconferencing. The wasteful and unproductive drilling program was replaced by an easy-toread document with strong engineering content. In fewer than 20 pages, the main well data were summarized. The drillingwell-on-paper scheme ensured the detail

When the Castilla optimization implementation began in 2010, many of the targeted problems had their causes in well planning, including construction of negative and nudge sections, problems of collision between wells, very short or very long vertical sections for the angle of arrival at the target, sudden changes in the angle of arrival at the target, landpurchase issues for the cluster, problems with union strikes in certain sectors of the field, and flooding problems in thefield. A goal was therefore set for a single well in advance (short term), a cluster in advance (medium term), and well campaigns in advance (long term) as fundamental parts of the optimization between 2013 and 2016. By planning far in advance, the planning of the next well begins when starting to drill the current well. This allowed a reasonable time to apply lessons learned and operational practices, and to adjust for-

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mation tops, directional profiles, and bottomholeassemblies. Likewise, when drilling began on the first well of a cluster, the next cluster was planned, which involved purchasing land, setting targets to optimize directional plans, monitoring civil works for locations, acquiring permits from the government (which required a minimum of 30 days from the filing of documents),

and engaging in socially conscious interaction with the community, among othertasks.

Results

The total drilling and completion time of the Castilla field for 2010 was reduced by 35%, from an average of 29 days to 19 days. The days/1,000 ft indicator was decreased from 4.2 to 1.9. Completion

times were reduced by 40%, from an average of 6.7 days to 3.7 days. The cost savings was greater than USD 50 million for the campaign. The level of commitment, awareness, and knowledge in HSE rose at all levels. The frequency of HSE incidents did not rise despite the man-hours in field operation increasing by50%. JPT

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Integrated-Technology Approach Enables Successful Prospect Evaluations in Malaysia

he central Luconia gas province located offshore Sarawak houses numerous carbonate reservoirs (Fig. 1). Some of these reservoirs are characterized by the presence of karsts and fractures, contributing to total mud losses. Implementing the variant of managed-pressure-drilling technology called pressurized mud-cap drilling (PMCD) allowed targeted total depths (TDs) to be reached on several wells. However, reaching TD alone is insufficient for conclusive evaluation. Integration of technology applications is paramount in increasing the success rate of data delivery.

Introduction

Well-known for highly varying formation properties even within small sections of reservoir, the recently discovered Malaysian carbonate formations present a risk of drilling-fluid losses. Conventionally, these wells were drilled with overbalanced mud and losses were cured with lost-circulation materials (LCMs) or cement plugs to enable restoration of overbalanced condition for future drilling. Drilling a multiple total-losses zone conventionally proved to be highly uneconomical and likely to jeopardize the safety of the operation. To mitigate this inefficiency and associated safety risks, the PMCD technique was implemented and made ready for all of the operators carbonate drilling operations. Since 2010, PMCD equipment and personnel

Fig. 1Area of operations.

have been mobilized for 11 wells, but have been used only in six wells.

Introduction to PMCD

PMCD is applied in the total-loss condition. Once sufficient loss rates are encountered, the annulus is displaced from overbalanced drill-weight mud to underbalanced light annular mud (LAM). The LAM is generally designed to be underbalanced to the formation pressure at the topmost fracture by approximately 100 psi. This enables gas migration into the wellbore to be monitored closely.

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 164576, Integrated-Technology Approach To Explore Carbonate Reservoirs in Malaysia Enhances PMCD Potential and Enables Successful Prospect Evaluations, by M. Noreffendy Jayah, SPE, Intan Azian A. Aziz, SPE, Zulhilmi Drus, SPE, Thanavathy Patma Nesan, Wong Han Sze, SPE, Abdel Aziz Ali Hassan, and Pungut Luntar, Petronas, prepared for the 2013 IADC/SPE Managed Pressure Drilling and Underbalanced Operations Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 1718 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.

After casing pressure has increased to a limit, LAM is injected into the annulus to bullhead the migrated gas back into the formation. Upon each injection, the casing pressure will be restored to the original 100 psi. Drilling operations are performed while injecting seawater continuously down the drillstring and intermittently injecting LAM down the annulus. Drilled cuttings will be carried by seawater and fed into the fractures. Planning for successful PMCD operations not only revolves around equipment and engineering, but also depends on well placement and architecture, well engineering, rig equipment, training, andlogistics.

Successful PMCD Implementations in the KUN2 Well

This well was drilled in August 2012 by use of a semisubmersible drilling rig. Upon drilling 11 m into the carbonate

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RCD Riser SSBOP

LAM 9 in.

SAC Fluid

1
Drill to TD in PMCD.

Strip out of hole. Close BOP to handle BHA.

3
Make up CBP.

RIH and set CBP. Displace kill mud. POOH.

Make up liner and RIH to CBP. Drill CBP.

Continue running liner to TD.

Fig. 2Running sequence for setting and drilling the CBP. RCD=rotating control device; SSBOP=subsea blowout preventer; SAC=sacrificial fluid; RIH=run in hole; POOH=pull out of hole.

section, a total loss of drilling fluids was experienced. Loss rate was recorded at approximately 1,200 bbl/hr. The well was successfully drilled to TD in PMCD mode. Once at TD, the bottomhole assembly (BHA) was stripped out and a composite bridge plug (CBP) was run into the hole and set inside the production casing (i.e., several joints above the shoe). The well was then displaced to kill fluid before the running tool was retrieved to surface. A drill-in liner system was then run into the hole and used to drill the CBP. The well was converted back to PMCD mode once the CBP was drilled out, and the liner was then run to TD. The well was secured upon setting of the liner-top packer.

Solutions

Main Challenges

The main challenges faced in drilling carbonate exploration wells include determining the top of the carbonate to enable the correct setting depth for production casing, ensuring efficient PMCD operations, acquiring pore-pressure data, isolating the well after drilling to TD in PMCD mode, and determining an optimum well-killing method after performing production testing.

Optimization of Carbonate Prediction With Seismic-While-Drilling (SWD) Technology. To ensure successful PMCD operations, a hole section has to be dedicated to the carbonate section. The presence of shale within this section will introduce borehole-stability risk once the drilling operation is converted to PMCD. To prevent shale exposure in the PMCD section, determining the correct section depth for the hole section before carbonate is of great importance. To accomplish this goal, SWD was used in the KUN2 well. During SWD runs, vertical seismic profiles were initiated during pipe connection and waveforms were transmitted to the surface during drilling operation. The result can be analyzed by the project geologist and geophysicist on site to produce an updated top-of-carbonate depth prognosis while the hole is being drilled. The accuracy of the prognosis will increase as seismic is initiated deeper and closer to the targetformations. Ensuring Efficient PMCD Operations. One of the main challenges in ensuring successful and efficient PMCD op-

erations is drilling in one bit run. This will significantly minimize consumption of LAM and eliminate the exposure to well-control risk when the BHA has to be tripped out of hole under a total-loss condition in the middle of the operation. From past experience, the main problem hindering this goal is LWD failure caused by vibration and drill-bit wear. While the latter definitely requires a bit trip, LWD failure during PMCD drilling also mandates a trip out because LWD is the only viable means of obtaining openhole formation evaluation once total losses areencountered. Acquisition of Pore-Pressure Data in Total-Loss Condition. Because of the inability to perform openhole wireline logging after converting to PMCD mode, the operator deployed a formationpressure-while-drilling (FPWD) tool in PMCD/total-loss mode. The challenge of obtaining a good pressure point in PMCD mode derives from the absence of mudcake (with seawater being used as drilling fluid) and from the potential existence of fracture lines across the borehole wall. In KUN2, borehole imaging while drilling was included in the BHA

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to facilitate the selection of a good pressure point. Throughout the reservoir section, 25 pressure points were taken, with the majority failing to achieve good seals. When the few valid points were compared with data obtained from the production test, it was found that the measurements from FPWD were inconsistent with the production-test data. Because there is higher confidence in the reliability of data from production testing, it was concluded that the FPWD data were questionable, which could be attributed to the abnormal and unconventional wellbore conditions observed in PMCD mode. Because of the challenges involved in obtaining pore-pressure data when the well is converted into PMCD mode, an alternative measurement method is proposed in the KUN2 well using annular-pressure-while-drilling (APWD) measurements. In theory, the use of pressure-while-drilling capability will enable estimations of pore pressure in the reservoir section in PMCD mode. The idea is to measure equivalent-static- density data from the APWD tool during connections, when there is no LAM being pumped into the hole. It is assumed that, when left static for a sufficient time, the fluid in the borehole will gravity segregate, with an LAM column fully supported by the pressure at the topmost fracture. Isolations of Wellbore Against Total Losses. From past experience, repeated attempts to prevent losses with concentrated LCM pills of up to 120 lbm/bbl

will be unsuccessful, the key reason being the nature of the loss zones themselves (i.e., cavernous/vugular). Cement plugs were tried but demonstrated a poor success rate, mostly achieving success only upon the seventh attempt or even later. Because of the failure of these methods, the gunk-plug option was explored. Gunk plugs, in theory, seemed to have ideal characteristics, providing temporary isolation while not plugging the vugs. Though the first pilot test of gunk plugs in early 2012 was largely unsuccessful, gunk plugs seemed to be a likelysolution. In addition, CBPs were used as an isolation solution. CBPs are made of substantially nonmetallic components, usually composed of a fiber-and-resin mixture such as fiberglass or of highperformance plastics. Because of the nature of the composite materials, the CBP is drilled out easily in a single-pass operation. After the CBP is set, the well will be displaced to kill fluid to overbalance the pressure below the plug once it has fully flipped to gas. Previously, the operator had twice used the CBP successfully as a temporary isolation method for carbonate wells. In KUN2, the CBP was not set after five attempts. On the last attempt, the string was turned and reciprocated as an attempt to clean the casing wall, which eventually allowed the CBP to be set successfully. (See Fig. 2 for the CBP-runningsequence.) linerA third solution, a drill-in hanger system, was used in KUN2 in combination with a premium high-

torque gas-tight connection and sixbladed drillshoes. In KUN2, a CBP was drilled with LAM pumped through the drillstring. After approximately 15 minutes of drilling, a total-loss condition occurred as the CBP was drilled through and PMCD mode was activated again. Fluid injection was switched to seawater, and the liner was reamed down to TD. After TD, the liner was set hydraulically. Because of a persistent total-loss state, achieving good cementation was almost impossible. To ensure well integrity for testing, the operator had practiced installing three floats for the liner and a tieback packer to provide seal redundancy at the liner lap. Well Killing After Production Testing. This process is a major challenge. Experience has shown that even pumping a massive volume of LCMs will not cure the losses, so it has been agreed that no attempt will be made to cure the losses after a production-test operation. The wellbore will only be isolated from the losses zone with a mechanical device. To date, the operator had implemented this strategy successfully in several wells where an expandable bridge plug had been run through the test string and set above the perforation zone. Cement plugs were then set above the bridge plug with several dump bailer runs and allowed to harden before being pressure tested. The well was then displaced to kill fluid to allow retrieval of the testingstring. JPT

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Real-Time Analysis for Remote Operations Centers

rilling, completion, production, and general surveillance are all areas that benefit greatly from remote real-time analysis. However, several challenges to remote services exist, including communications issues, fear of job loss, and working outside ones comfort zone. What is considered an important development goal for a business might be regarded as a threat to an individual, leading to reduced development within remote services.

Traditional Manning Personnel per Rig Rig 1 Rig 2

Remote Ops and Remanning Personnel per Rig Rig 1 Rig 2

X-Training

2 X DD 6x ML/SC/Loggers

2 x MWD (1 x RPS) 2 x DDx 2x ML/MWD 2 x SC/Loggers on Demand

OPS Center Remote Ops Team Global/Regional Ops Support

Remote-Operations Business Model

24/7 Ops.Tech Support LWD & DD Expert Advisory

Remote MWD / LWD Crew Remote Dir. Drilling Crew Applications Engineer

Global /Regional Ops Support 24/7 Ops. Tech Support LWD & DD Expert Advisory

A remote-operations business model removes geographic location and physical distance in all phases of oilfield-service delivery. It reduces the cost of delivering services, increases geographic reach, and improves safety. Remote operations, in essence, are real-time workflows that integrate personnel at rigsites and at assembly and maintenance and overhaul (AMO) facilities; at remote operations centers; or at real-time operational centers (RTOCs) anywhere in the world. Remote operations are the acquisition of sensor data from rigsite equipment and instruments, and the transmission and processing of those data from remote locations. Monitoring, alarm, or advisory services are delivered in real time with global delivery models, increasing the capability to move work from the point of service to another lo-

IO Drilling Engineer

Fig. 1Restructuring the traditional drilling services by introducing remote centers and changing workflow and processes.

cation, where it can be performed more safely, more quickly, and at a lower cost. Infrastructure, while critical, is only an enabler. The true sources of efficiency and competitive advantage come from the organizational redeployment of the workforce and the re-engineering of workflows. Providing on-demand expertise enables service providers to deploy new technology faster and deliver high-end services in areas with few local qualified resources. Customers also benefit from bundled services, which require the integration of different disciplines and expertise that may be in shortsupply.

The Digital Oil Field

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper IPTC 16999, Remote Real-Time AnalysisA Game Changer for Remote Operations Centers, by Erland Saeverhagen, Arve Thorsen, Jan Ove Dagestad, Nic Spanovic, and Kate Cannon, SPE, Baker Hughes, prepared for the 2013 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Beijing, 2628 March. The paper has not been peerreviewed. Copyright 2013 International Petroleum Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission.

Improved connectivity through radio link, fiber optics, and satellite systems has opened a new world of opportunities for operation optimization. Real-time operations monitoring occurs from any office, accessing data streams through Web portals. New downhole tools and software have been developed on the basis of these new abilities, and new service levels have resulted, leading to new and interesting jobs, improved well placement, high service quality, and reduced nonproductive time (NPT). Some of the most important contributions to drilling analysis include real-time services as a function of new downhole tool technology, improved telemetry, and fast access to near-real-time downhole data; oilfield standardization for data aggregation and transfer (WITS/ WITSML/PRODML); and new engineering software. In the early stages, most real-time monitoring was used only by field personnel. However, as real-time data were displayed in the service-provider

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Data
Visualization and Set-Limit Surveillance Data Analysis and Statistics Physical Models Updated in Real Time

Experience
Indexing and Active Recall of Human Experience

Keyword Search

Data Communication and Storage (WITSML Server)

Knowledge Management Systems

Rig

Rig

Rig

Rig
Historical Real-Time Data Best Practices Drilling Reports Other Documents

Fig. 2Data flow for case-based reasoning.

or oil-company offices, new processes and services were established and were conducted remotely in newly developed remote operations centers or in both parties offices. Field personnel were remanned, and field job functions were integrated through specialized cross-trainingprograms. A 24/7 operations cycle was implemented for key services in the operations centers; specific field functions that were conducted in front of a PC were physically reallocated from the field to the remote center. The model provided the means of reducing the number of field personnel significantly [especially for drilling services, where measurement-while- drilling (MWD)/logging-while-drilling (LWD) and surface-logging services could be conducted remotely]. The idea behind the model was to reduce personnel at the rigsite and to transfer the job tasks to a remote operations center. Fig. 1 shows the change in personnel needed in the traditional work model compared with multiple rigs with remote personnel, and the reduction in personnel that need to be transported to any rigsite. The increased support level is also illustrated, and the expertise level within the support organization is alsoenhanced.

Remote Real-Time Analysis

The connectivity, real-time data display, and reliable communication flow of fully equipped remote operations centers and RTOCs set the stage for the future of remote services. Important areas exist in which oil companies and service provid-

ers can improve their operations significantly, such as prejob planning and drilling execution. Achieving superior drilling performance requires more than merely selecting the appropriate drill bit and bottomhole assembly (BHA); recommendations often relate to all aspects of the drilling operation. Drill-bit design, BHA setup, and the analysis of borehole geometry vs. formation zones, hole cleaning vs. pressure, and fluid and vibration patterns all form the drilling environment. The drilling-optimization adviser has a wide range of knowledge about drilling practices, but without the correct rock-property analysis, that knowledge is insignificant. Measurements must be accurate and timely to ensure that adequate changes are made as necessary. Verifying measurements is the first step in automated drillingthe input parameters must be correct. Remote automated drilling-advisory service, which recognizes potential drilling problems before they occur, is an additional tool for the drilling adviser/ engineer. The adviser/engineer provides their best operational advice on the basis of continual real-time surveillance and interpretation of all available data in addition to the automated decision support from the case-based reasoning software. This integrated solution, built on the premise that similar problems have similar solutions, delivers constant surveillance, interpretation, and advice within a collaborative environment to reduce uncertainty, minimize NPT, increase safety, and enhance efficiency.

Case-based reasoning software automatically identifies events and trends. When the system identifies a potential problem, it is brought to the attention of the drilling adviser/engineer. The best course of action is determined and necessary personnel are notified with recommendations for correction. Fig. 2 depicts the case-based reasoningworkflow. In addition to the remote drillingadvisory services, there are a number of other tasks that can be conducted remotely. In this context, it is important to mention real-time pressure or equivalent-circulating-density management, pore-pressure prediction, and wellbore stability as tasks that can be performed continually from a remote operations center or clients RTOCs. Collecting and analyzing borehole cuttings and evaluating possible cavings are tasks that must be performed at the wellsite. Proper use of photography and scales enables the caving evaluation to be performed remotely, thus delivering a more advanced scan of the caving. Real-time data are also extremely important in the planning phase for reviewing, improving, developing, and following up on field-specific best drilling practices. All available data, including real-time drilling-fluid parameters, are used in this type of analysis, predicting situations at any well depth with current parameters. Advice is given to help avoid stuck pipes, lost circulation, and hole collapse, and to stay within predetermined operational envelopes. Continuous operation monitoring is required during tripping in and out, where running speeds are estimated on the basis of analysis of available real-time and historical data. The reaction of adjusting the mud-weight window up or down is dependent on the mode of failure interpreted from 1D geomechanical analysis. By integrating drilling experiences, the geomechanical model can be calibrated, providing an optimized geomechanical analysis. Reservoir navigation is another concern that has moved from the field to remote operations centers without navigation suproblems. The reservoir- pervisor primarily works from the clients office; reservoir-navigation engineers perform continuous drilling- progress and LWD-log-response analysis, updat-

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ing the Earth model while drilling. When there are recurring differences between the premodeled expected physical properties of the reservoir and the actual observed measurements, the objective is to ensure that changes made are kept to a minimum to maintain consistency with otherdata. Prejob modeling is required to provide road maps for what can be expected during section drilling, where real-time data and subsequent analysis dictate the well path to be drilled. Discrepancies between a prejob Earth model and projections being made on the basis of real-time data can immediately halt the drilling process; a thorough analysis of the real-time data and the model determines future actions. In some instances, the model is altered, and drilling commences. In other cases, the discrepancy is accepted or leads to sidetracking, and new well profiles must be drilled. The process is labor intensive and requires a clear and streamlined communicationsplan. In production, significant achievements have been made in optimizing electrical submersible pumps (ESPs), such as improving pump life cycles and detecting scaling and other problems. Production is controlled remotely from an operations center, where thousands of pumps are monitored and operation sequences are analyzed simultaneously on the basis of real-time data. The automatic analytics determine the ESPs condition, and appropriate action is taken. Automatic chemical injection of, for example, scale inhibitors is also conducted remotely. The automated analytics and alarms provided by the software enable repair and workover field crews to be established in a controlled atmosphere. The latest addition to the remoteoperations domain is the situationalawareness and operational-visualization system, which triggers specific workflows to be followed. The system integrates data, visual feeds, and audio chan-

Fig. 3All sources of information are recorded by the situational-awareness software, which immediately selects the appropriate sources of information during an event, providing workflows for mitigating action and associated procedures.

nels, providing operations traceability. The system engages all operations participants, providing a comprehensive view for coordinating actions and responses. It also contains recall and replay functions of all information sourcfter-action review. All acquired es for a data are stored in a black box at the rigsite in case of an unexpected event, and are also displayed in real time in a continuously manned RTOC or operations center. Fig. 3 shows one possible operations-center layout. Visual remote- information from the wellsite is shown through cameras, and sound is transmitted through open-communication channels, avoiding phone calls as much as possible. The circle is completed in the operational environment, giving feedback to the real-time operationscrew.

Benefits and Challenges

For more than a decade, remote operations have been implemented in the oil and gas industry, with significant progress made through workflow and process design, enabling remote monitoring, execution, and control.

Drilling contractors have swiftly implemented automation, with manual work being replaced by machines and smart software. In the service industry, remote subject-matter experts have replaced field engineers. These initiatives have contributed significantly to reducing operational cost and have improved service quality and reduced NPT. The challenge, however, is the human capitalthe individual reaction to continuous change and where jobs are being moved. Human nature resists change and prefers the known, and therefore change processes are sometimes impeded by a workforce comfortable with the status quo. Key personnel that would be the preferred candidates for remote positions often prefer rotation cycles in the field. Therefore, intense management focus is required to cause the workforce to commit to the newly developed operations model. Communication and workforce inclusion in all stages of the pre-engineering process are key factors to success. JPT

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SPE HONOREES

Legion of Honor
SPE welcomes 83 members into the Legion of Honor, which celebrates 50 years of consecutive membership in the Society. Each honoree becomes dues exempt and receives a certificate marking the milestone. The honorees are listed below under their respective sections.

Austin Cleon L. Dunham Don R. George Robert C. MacDonald Balcones John D. Boxell William R. Locklear Dan A. Magee Thomas H. Yates Jr. Calgary Patrick D. O'Connell John E. Squarek Caracas Petroleum Jesus A. Struve Simon J. Antunez Colombian Jose C. Ferrer Dallas T.D. Badgwell James H. Lyon Milton D. McKenzie John T. Moore Avinash G. Nangea A.W. Ritter Tommy L. Sprinkle Fred I. Stalkup James C. Trimble Delta Charles V. Cusimano Rex C. Hughey
166

Denver Jack A. McCartney Forrest M. Moore James D. Walker East Texas James H. Smith Evangeline Joy C. Cleveland Jr. Michael J. Veazey Gulf Coast Walter W. Allen Nathaniel G. Beard Douglas H. Burgess Nolan E. Cannon Elmond L. Claridge Fielding B. Craft Joseph R. Harris Edward D. Holstein Clyde G. Inks Robert L. Kennedy K.T. Koonce Herbert A. Lesser Gary J. Mabie William J. McDonald David G. Nussmann Charles R. Peck Paul E. Pilkington Frank H. Richardson Wayne A. Schneider Robert S. Singer David K. Smith Robert H. Steffler Philip R. White

Los Angeles Basin Richard D. Finken Willis B. Wood Jr. Mid-Continent Ronny G. Altman James P. Brill Alan W. Carlton Charles A. Ellis Oran L. Hall E.L. Thomas National Capital E.H. Herron North Texas Edward W. Moran Jr. Ohio Petroleum Leo A. Schrider Oklahoma City Charles F. Blackwood Roy M. Knapp Jeffrey B. Robinson John D. Stacy Rodney W. Ylitalo Permian Basin Barry A. Beal Billy J. Feagan Adam Praisnar Jr.

Pittsburgh Petroleum Robert G. Smith Robert W. Watson Salt Lake Petroleum Donald C. Condie Saudi Arabia Omar J. Esmail Southwest Texas Joaquin V. Arredondo Jerry F. Priddy Trans-Pecos Michael J. DeMarco UnassignedEastern North America David W. Keefe Neal Rudder Unassigned Southwestern North America Ron J. Byrd UnassignedWestern North America Edward R. McDowell Wyoming Petroleum Norman R. Morrow

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PEOPLE

PATRICK ALLMAN-WARD, SPE, was appointed chief executive officer of Dana Gas. He has more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and has held several senior level positions. He joined the company in 2012 as the general manager of Dana Gas Egypt. Allman-Ward began his career with Shell where he gained experience in a wide range of departments, including exploration; planning; business development; commercial negotiations; and health, safety, security, and the environment. He earned a BS in geology from Durham University and a PhD from the Royal School of Mines, University of London. ROB BUCHAN, SPE, was appointed Aberdeen general manager at GDF SUEZ E&P UK and will oversee the companys developments and operations across the UK. Before joining the company in 2008, he worked with Dowell Schlumberger on international assignments and with BP for 24 years in drilling and operations management roles in Aberdeen and London. He earned a BS in geology from Aberdeen University and an MBA from Robert Gordon University. GREGORY K. GRAVES, SPE, was promoted to senior vice president at DeGolyer and MacNaughton. He will continue to lead the Houston office and direct a team that works on projects in North America. Graves specializes in reservoir engineering and has a geology background coupled with experience in investment banking, finance, and economics. Before joining the company, Graves worked with a number of energy companies, including Devon Energy, where he served as the supervisor of international exploitation for the Middle East and Asia regions. He is a licensed professional engineer in Texas. He earned a BS in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and completed post-baccalaureate studies in microeconomics and macroeconomics at the University ofHouston. JAY HOLLINGSWORTH, SPE, has joined Energistics as its chief technology officer. Hollingsworth has more than 20 years of upstream oil and gas industry experience. He held technical management positions at Oracle, Schlumberger, Landmark, and Mobil Oil. His experience includes a wide range of data architecture and database engineering technologies as well as knowledge of geosciences and engineering. Hollingsworth earned a BS in chemical engineering from Tulane University and a BS in computer science from the University of Texas at Dallas.

DILHAN ILK, SPE, was promoted to vice president at DeGolyer and MacNaughton. He joined the company in 2010 and specializes in well performance evaluation and forecasting. Ilk has written more than 30 articles in well test analysis, analysis/interpretation of production data, and general reservoir engineering and has carried out field projects analyzing well performance data in fields in Venezuela and North America. He earned a BS in petroleum engineering from Istanbul Technical University and an MS and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University. ARUN KHARGHORIA, SPE, was promoted to vice president at DeGolyer and MacNaughton. He joined the company in 2009 and has directed and contributed to projects in Russia, Algeria, Malaysia, Colombia, Ghana, and the US. Before joining the company, Kharghoria worked for several oil and gas consultants in positions including reservoir engineering adviser and senior reservoir engineer. He has carried out research assignments for Texas A&M University and the University of Tulsa. Kharghoria earned a BS in technology from the Indian School of Mines, an MS in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa, and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University. He was given an Outstanding Technical Editor award by the SPE Editorial Review Committee in2008. JAMES J. KLECKNER, SPE, was promoted to executive vice president of Anadarko Petroleum. Previously, he was the vice president of operations for Anadarkos Rocky Mountain region, overseeing the companys operations and development activities in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Kleckner has more than 30 years of global technical and leadership experience. He began his career in the oil and gas industry with Sun Oil and has held management positions in the North Sea, South America, China, the Gulf of Mexico, and the US. Kleckner earned a BS in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. IGOR P. MOSKVIN, SPE, was promoted to vice president at DeGolyer and MacNaughton. He joined the company in 2005 and specializes in reservoir engineering and simulation studies and estimating hydrocarbon reserves. His prior experience includes working for Yukos in the Department of Technological Project Appraisal at the Moscow Technology Center and working for a major Russian oil and gas company on an annual reserves update that included an analysis of 88 fields. He earned a BS in petroleum engineering from the Tomsk Poly-

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PEOPLE
technic University and an MS in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University. GARY C. ROBINSON, SPE, was promoted to vice president at DeGolyer and MacNaughton. He joined the company in 2009 as a geologist who works on reservoir studies projects worldwide. Before joining the company, Robinson worked for geophysical companies, including Denver Geophysical, CGG, RC Squared, and Veritas as well as oil and gas companies, including Saudi Aramco and Eastern American Energy. He coauthored 21 technical papers, holds two patents for seismic applications, and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He earned a BS in geology from Stanford University and an MS in geophysics from the University of Houston. JAMES A. WATSON, SPE, will join ABS as president and chief operating officer of its Americas division. In his new position, Watson will oversee activities in North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. Before joining ABS, he served as director of the US Bureau of Environmental Safety and Enforcement and as the director of prevention policy for marine safety, security, and stewardship at the US Coast Guard. Watson earned a BS degree in marine engineering from the US Coast Guard Academy, MS degrees in mechanical engineering and in naval architecture from the University of Michigan, and an MS degree in strategic studies from the Industrial College of the ArmedForces.

Member Deaths
William D. Carson, Naperville, Illinois, USA K.J. Feyhl, Billings, Montana, USA J.V. Fredd, Plano, Texas, USA Jesse P. Johnson, Richardson, Texas, USA Leonard McCasland, Prosper, Texas, USA

In Memoriam
GEORGE P. MITCHELL, SPE, a pioneer in developing methods to produce shale gas economically, died 26 July in Galveston, Texas. He was 94. Mitchell earned a BS in petroleum engineering with an emphasis in geology from Texas A&M University. After graduation, he worked for a few years at Amoco before serving as a captain in the US Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. Afterward, he joined a wildcatting company. He later bought out his partners, and the company evolved into Mitchell Energy and Development, which became one of the nations largest independent oil and gas companies. In 2002, it merged with Devon Energy. Mitchell is best known for his involvement in combining hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in the Barnett Shale development that led to the current shale gas revolution. Big oil companies knew the upside potential of shale gas, and many were working to economically extract the gas from the shale without much success, Mitchell said in an interview with The Economist magazine. Many people were trying to make hydraulic fracturing work better, but they were not able to get the cells to give up the gas. We knew there was gas in some of these shale fields. We would measure the volume of gas in the reservoir and it was very high methane (25-40% methane). You could get to the methane, but you could not get it to leave the cells until you fractured it, and that was the majorbreakthrough. We invested approximately USD 6 million over a 10-year period in the 1980s and 1990s to make fracturing an economically viable process. I never considered giving up, even when everyone was saying, George, youre wasting your money. As a result of his contributions to the oil and gas industry, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gas Technology Institute. George Mitchell, more than anyone else, is responsible for the most important energy innovation of the 21st century, said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of consulting firm IHS and a Pulitzer Prize winning author on energy. Before his breakthrough, shale gas had another nameuneconomic gas. It was thought that there was no way to commercially extract it. He proved that it could be done. His breakthrough in hydraulic fracturing, when combined with horizontal drilling, set off the revolution in unconventional oil and gas that we see today. But it did not come easily. It took a decade and a half of conviction, investment and dogged determination. In the face of great skepticism and refusing to accept no as an answer, Mitchell dramatically changed Americas energy position. As such, he also changed the world energy outlook in the 21st century and set in motion the global rebalancing of oil and gas that is now occurring. Mitchell also led real estate and community development projects. In 1974, his company developed The Woodlands, a 27,000-acre forested, master-planned community north of Houston. He also founded the Houston Advanced Research Center, a collaboration among eight universities and research groups dedicated to sustainable development. Mitchells wife, Cynthia, died in 2009. He is survived by three daughters, seven sons, a sister, 23 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

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SPE NEWS

SPE SERVICE DIRECTORY

SPE Online www.spe.org Awards Program Tom Whipple, twhipple@spe.org Phone: 1.972.952.9452 Book Sales Phone: 1.800.456.6863 or 1.972.952.9393 books@spe.org Continuing Education/Training Courses Chiwila Mumba-Black, cmumba@spe.org Phone: 1.972.952.1114 Distinguished Lecturer Program Donna Neukum, dneukum@spe.org Phone: 1.972.952.9454 Dues, Membership Information, Address Changes, Copyright Permission Phone: 1.800.456.6863 or 1.972.952.9393 service@spe.org Insurance/Credit Card Programs Liane DaMommio, ldamommio@spe.org Phone: 1.972.952.1155 JPT Professional Services Evan Carthey, ecarthey@spe.org Phone: 1.713.457.6828 JPT/JPT Web Advertising Sales Craig Moritz, cmoritz@spe.org Phone: 1.713.457.6888 JPT John Donnelly, jdonnelly@spe.org Phone: 1.713.457.6816 Peer Review Stacie Hughes, shughes@spe.org Phone: 1.972.952.9343 Professional Development Services Tom Whipple, twhipple@spe.org Phone: 1.972.952.9452 Section Service Phone: 1.972.952.9451 sections@spe.org SPE Website John Donnelly, jdonnelly@spe.org Phone: 1.713.457.6816 Subscriptions Phone: 1.800.456.6863 or 1.972.952.9393 service@spe.org

SPE Implements Staff Reorganization

SPE recently implemented significant changes in its staff structure to maximize staff resources for future growth in programs and services. The new organizational structure regroups and consolidates activities from functional departments as well as SPEs regional offices to provide a more seamless global staff operation. The revised structure will enhance collaboration, effectiveness, and internal communications; provide a more efficient leadership structure; and address operational challenges that have emerged as a result of the Societys rapid growth in recent years. Four members of the staff leadership team were named to new positions in the reorganization, announced 15 July: Georgeann Bilich, Vice President Communications Steve Byrne, Chief Financial Officer Roberto Chiarotti, Vice President Sales and Marketing Stephen Graham, Chief Operations Officer (COO) A fifth new position, Vice President Member and Information Services, will complete the new staff executive team reporting to Mark Rubin, now CEO and Executive Vice President. That new position combines member services and information-technology services into a new division, where Jane Boyce and Walter Jacinto continue as Director Member Services and Director Information Technology, respectively. As COO, Graham leads SPEs global operations team, with emphasis on strategic initiatives and execution of eventsconferences, exhibitions, workshops, and training courses. Named to new positions in this group are: Solange Ferreira, Assistant Director Latin America and the Caribbean Ken Leonard, Assistant Director Global Training Also part of this group are: Waleed Refaay, Managing Director Middle East, North Africa, and India Niki Thomas, Managing Director Russia and Sub-Sahara Africa Cordella Wong-Gillett, Managing Director Asia Pacific A new position for Managing Director North America has yet to be filled. In additional changes, several senior managers were named to new positions: John Donnelly, Director Magazines and Web Content. Donnelly will also remain JPT Editor. Holly Hargadine, Assistant Director Technical Activities Suzette Lawniczak, Assistant Director Human Resources Craig Moritz, Assistant Director Americas Sales and Exhibits Glenda Smith, Director Innovation, Strategy, and Analytics SPE last evaluated its staff structure in 2007 and implemented changes to meet the changing landscape. Since then, the Societys growth has been dramaticdoubling the number of staff positions, adding 37,000 new members, more than doubling revenue, and adding many new programs and activities. Additional organizational changes within departments to streamline processes and responsibilities are under way.

Americas Office 222 Palisades Creek Dr., Richardson, TX 75080-2040 USA Tel: +1.972.952.9393 Fax: +1.972.952.9435 Email: spedal@spe.org Asia Pacific Office Level 35, The Gardens South Tower Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +60.3.2182.3000 Fax: +60.3.2182.3030 Email: spekl@spe.org Canada Office Eau Claire Place II, Suite 900521 3rd Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 3T3 Tel: +403.930.5454 Fax: +403.930.5470 Email: specal@spe.org Europe, Russia, Caspian, and Sub-Saharan Africa Office 1st Floor, Threeways House, 40/44 Clipstone Street London W1W 5DW UK Tel: +44.20.7299.3300 Fax: +44.20.7299.3309 Email: spelon@spe.org Houston Office 10777 Westheimer Rd., Suite 1075, Houston, TX 77042-3455 USA Tel: +1.713.779.9595 Fax: +1.713.779.4216 Email: spehou@spe.org Middle East, North Africa, and India Office Office 3101/02, 31st Floor, Fortune Tower, JLT, P.O. Box 215959, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971.4.457.5800 Fax: +971.4.457.3164 Email: spedub@spe.org Moscow Office Perynovsky Per., 3 Bld. 2 Moscow, Russia, 127055 Tel: + 7.495.268.04.54 Email: spemos@spe.org

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SPEs The Way Ahead Magazine Seeks Young Professionals to Serve as Editors

Are you creative? Do you write English well? Are you passionate about the worlds struggle to find and develop energy sources? Do you love to learn about different perspectives from all over the world? SPEs unique and respected The Way Ahead magazine seeks enthusiastic young professionals to commit to become a member of the magazines editorial committee. You would work from your home base with young professionals worldwide to develop and deliver articles on a wide range of topics. You would plan an article, contact authors or interviewees, edit the article, give monthly progress reports, and be responsible for making sure the work is carried out within the time allotted and to high standards. Here is how to apply for a position on The Way Ahead editorial committee:  Prepare a single-page rsum that includes SPE and other volunteer activities that reflect your ongoing commitment to serve as a volunteer.  Write a concise, 200-word essay stating the main reasons that drive you to apply to participate. Then just send your application and any questions to editorTWA@spemail.org.

SPE Dallas Section 2013 Mid-Continent Regional Awards were presented in June at the monthly section meeting at Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, Texas. Brian Chacka, left, accepted the Distinguished Corporate Support Award on behalf of Denbury Resources, located in Plano, Texas. Michael Tunstall (current Mid-Continent Regional Director) and Dan Auces both received Service Awards; Brad Robinson received the Completions Optimization and Technology Award; Kelly Blackwood received the Young Member Outstanding Service Award; and Ricky Williams received the Production and Operations Award. Also pictured is Terry Palisch, the Dallas Section Chair. PV (Suri) Suryanarayana, not shown, received the Drilling Engineering Award.

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SPE EVENTS
WORKSHOPS
2324 September Bogota Petroleum and Unconventional Resources Reserves: Understanding the Economic, Technical, Environmental, and Regulatory Aspects 2426 September IstanbulEnergise Your Future: Building Blocks for Future Oppotunities 69 October Kota KinabaluChemical EORIndustry Best Practices and Latest Advancement 1618 October BanffProduction Forecasting 2122 October DubaiPetroleum Reserves and Resources Estimation and its Impact on Business DecisionsPRMS Applications Guidelines Document 2223 October GalvestonWater Lifecycle 2730 October Ho Chi MinhReservoir Modelling and SimulationChallenges and Latest Development 2829 October Abu DhabiFlow Assurance: Challenges and Integrated Solutions for Mature and Green Fields 2829 October DohaEmerging Trends in Corrosion ManagementStretching the Envelope 2830 October DubaiAddressing and Solving the Petrophysical Challenges Specific to Middle East Reservoirs 57 November LisbonNorth Sea and Europe Area Stimulation 67 November San AntonioHydraulic Fracture Flowback 68 November DenverCollision Avoidance and Well Interceptions 1314 November Oslo,Norway Flow Assurance: Tackling Tomorrows Challenges 1214 November Rome Real-Time Decisions While Drilling 1719 November BanffThermal Well Integrity 1720 November Kota Kinabalu Offshore Facilities 1720 November LisbonBeyond Closed Loop Integrated Monitoring 1820 November MumbaiDeepwater: Promising PotentialDifficult Dynamics 1820 November BangkokYoung Professionals Workshop 2427 November PhuketArtificial Lift SystemsGet the Maximum from your Wells 2527 November Larnaca Unconventional Gas Fracturing: Integrating Disciplines to Develop Regional Best Practices 2628 November TyumenWaterflood Optimisation on Mature Fields 13 December Kuala LumpurSPE Workshop on R&D 25 December LisbonIntegrated Water ManagementBrownfield to Greenfield and Back Again 811 December BaliInstitutionalising Smart/Digital Fields Capability 1113 November BrisbaneSPE Unconventional Resources Conference and ExhibitionAsia Pacific

FORUMS
1318 October VilamouraAdaptive Well Construction 2025 October VilamouraManaged Pressure DrillingNiche Technology or the Future of Drilling? 2025 October Rancho MirageArtificial Lift in Deepwater 1922 January 2014 DohaInternational Petroleum Technology Conference 16 21 February 2014 VilamouraZonal Isolation to the Extreme

CALL FOR PAPERS

Improved Oil Recovery Symposium Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Deadline: 26 September 2013 SPE EOR Conference and Oil and Gas West Asia Muscat, Oman Deadline: 5 October 2013 SPE International Oilfield Scale Conference and Exhibition Aberdeen, UK Deadline: 7 October 2013 SPE Hydrocarbon Economics and Evaluation Symposium Houston,Texas,USA Deadline: 17 October 2013 IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference Bangkok,Thailand Deadline: 8 January 2014 Middle East Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainable Development Conference and Exhibition Doha, Qatar Deadline: 6 February 2014 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition Adelaide, Australia Deadline: 10 January 2014 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition Amsterdam, the Netherlands Deadline: 27 January 2014

conferences
30 September2 October New Orleans SPE Annual Technical Conference andExhibition 79 October DubaiSPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference andExhibition 710 October Kuwait CitySPE Kuwait Oil and Gas Show and Conference 1517 October MoscowSPE Arctic and Extreme Environments Technical Conference and Exhibition 2123 October AlexandriaCarbon Management Technology Conference 2224 October JakartaAsia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition 2830 October DubaiIntelligent Energy International Conference and Exhibition 2931 October Rio de Janeiro OTC Brasil 57 November CalgarySPE Unconventional ResourcesCanada

Find complete listings of upcoming SPE workshops, conferences, symposiums, and forums at www.spe.org. 176 JPT SEPTEMBER 2013