M AY 2 0 1 6 V O L U M E 6 8 , N U M B E R 5 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

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CONTENTS
Volume 68 Number 5

14 GUEST EDITORIAL CREATING VALUE FROM FLARED

NATURAL GAS
Capturing flared gas presents an opportunity to reduce
environmental impact and generate an additional revenue stream.
DNV GLs study shows that economically viable solutions for
carbon abatement and development of flared gas for societal use
are possible.

30 UNCONVENTIONAL MEASURES FOR SHALE

RESERVOIRS
An array of new in-well testing methods involving drill bit
geomechanics and DNA sequencing are coming to the market.
These new technologies provide unconventional producers with
low-cost rock property data from the wells they fracture.

39 PRESSURE TEST FOR E&P INNOVATION

For innovators, the oil price crash offers an opportunitycustomers
willing to try new methods they would not have in better times.
By analyzing the DNA make up of
The downside is, they can only sell to the survivors. microbes living in shale reservoirs
along different points in the
44 SEISMIC SHIFTS IN OKLAHOMA LEAD TO STRICTER wellbore, operators may be able
REGULATIONS to generate production profiles for
Oklahoma officials have ordered their tightest restrictions yet on a lower cost and improve future
completion designs. Image courtesy
disposal wells, ones that may impact production, in an effort to of Biota Technology.
reduce the high rate of earthquakes rattling residents.

50 OTC ASIA REVIEW

Highlights from the OTC Asia conference recently held in
KualaLumpur. The conference reflected Asias position as a
globalprovider of E&P technology. More than 15,000 energy DEPARTMENTS
professionals representing 2,500 organizations and 60 countries
attended theconference. 6 Performance Indices
8 Regional Update
54 MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMING THE UPSTREAM 10 Presidents Column
SERVICE INDUSTRY TO INCREASE OPERATOR 12 Comments
MARGINS
18 Technology Applications
In the current downturn, operators and service providers alike are
rethinking the way they work. Companies can no longer afford 22 Technology Update
business as usual. It takes a conscious decision and strategic vision 26 E&P Notes
to improve operator margins sufficiently to survive, indeed, thrive. 96 People
98 Professional Services
99 Advertisers Index
100 SPE Events

An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Printed in US. Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
 Solutions for the Life Cycle
of Your Well
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

58 DEEPWATER PROJECTS
Morten Iversen, SPE, Well Integrity Section Head, BG

59 Advancing Deepwater Kick Detection

62 CLOV Project: Overview
64 Riser-System Design in Water Depths Greater Than 3000 m
67 Subsea Production Optimization in Field BC-10 Offshore Brazil

70 INTELLIGENT FIELDS TECHNOLOGY

John Hudson, SPE, Principal Production Engineer, Shell

71 Flow-Control Optimization Maximizes Accuracy of Multiphase-Flow

RateAllocation MAKING
74 Geology-Driven Estimated-Ultimate-Recovery Prediction With
DeepLearning
EVERY
76 Machine Learning Applied to Multiwell-Test Analysis and Flow-Rate
Reconstruction

79 MULTILATERAL/EXTENDED-REACH WELLS
TRIP
Bernt S. Aadny, SPE, Professor of Petroleum Engineering,
University of Stavanger COUNT.
80 Innovative Tool Improves Hole-Cleaning Efficiency in Extended-
ReachWells

83 New Rotary Shouldered Connection Expands Capability of ERD Operation

ZeroTime is a game-changing
86 Magnetic Referencing and Real-Time Survey Processing Enable Tighter logging-while-working solution
Spacing of Wells
that eliminates stand-alone
diagnostic surveys by adding
88 CEMENTING/ZONAL ISOLATION intelligence to routine trips
Gunnar DeBruijn, SPE, Standards and Knowledge Development Manager,
Schlumberger
in hole. ZeroTime enables
operators to plan their next
89 New Approach Tests Cement-Sheath Integrity During Thermal Cycling move in total confidence with
zero-added rig time.
92 An Integrated Approach to Solving Sustained Casing Pressure in the
Cana-Woodford Shale

94 Design Procedure for Cementing Intercalated Salt Zones - Minimise risk

- Maximise efficiency

- Minimise costs

www.zerotime.info
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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 SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
2016 President
Nathan Meehan, Baker Hughes
2015 President
Helge Hove Haldorsen, Statoil
2017 President
Janeen Judah, Chevron
Vice President Finance
Roland Moreau, ExxonMobil Annuitant
REGIONAL DIRECTORS
AFRICA
Adeyemi Akinlawon,
Adeb Konsult
CANADIAN
Darcy Spady, Broadview Energy
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Bob Garland, Silver Creek Services
GULF COAST NORTH AMERICA
J. Roger Hite, Inwood Solutions
MID-CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA
Michael Tunstall
MIDDLE EAST
Khalid Zainalabedin, Saudi Aramco
NORTH SEA
Carlos Chalbaud, ENGIE
NORTHERN ASIA PACIFIC
Phongsthorn Thavisin, PTTEP
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NORTH AMERICA
Erin McEvers, Clearbrook Consulting
RUSSIA AND THE CASPIAN
Anton Ablaev, Schlumberger
JPT STAFF
Glenda Smith, Publisher
John Donnelly, Editor
Alex Asfar, Senior Manager Publishing Services
Pam Boschee, Senior Manager Magazines
Chris Carpenter, Technology Editor
Trent Jacobs, Senior Technology Writer
Anjana Sankara Narayanan, Editorial Manager
Joel Parshall, Features Editor
Stephen Rassenfoss, Emerging Technology Senior Editor
Stephen Whitfield, Staff Writer
Adam Wilson, Special Publications Editor
Craig Moritz, Assistant Director Americas Sales & Exhibits
Mary Jane Touchstone, Print Publishing Manager
David Grant, Electronic Publishing Manager
Laurie Sailsbury, Composition Specialist Supervisor
Dennis Scharnberg, Proofreader
SOUTH AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Anelise Quintao Lara, Petrobras
We give
SOUTH ASIA
John Hoppe, Shell
SOUTH, CENTRAL, AND EAST EUROPE
Matthias Meister, Baker Hughes
SOUTHERN ASIA PACIFIC
you the
superpowers
Salis Aprilian, PT Badak NGL
SOUTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Libby Einhorn, Concho Oil & Gas
WESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Andrei Popa, Chevron youve
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
DRILLING AND COMPLETIONS
always
dreamed of.
David Curry, Baker Hughes
HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENT,
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Trey Shaffer, ERM
Introducing the worlds
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION
J.C. Cunha first X-Ray technology
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS
Jennifer Miskimins, Barree & Associates
for oil wells.
PROJECTS, FACILITIES, AND CONSTRUCTION VISURAYs revolutionary VR90
Howard Duhon, GATE, Inc.
not only finds downhole blockages
RESERVOIR DESCRIPTION AND DYNAMICS faster, it lets you see 2D and 3D
Tom Blasingame, Texas A&M University
reconstructions of the obstruction.
DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIA Well illuminate the problem, youll
Dan Hill, Texas A&M University eliminate the problem. Better yet,
AT-LARGE DIRECTORS youll eliminate downtime and
Khaled Al-Buraik, Saudi Aramco increase profitability.
Liu Zhenwu, China National Petroleum Corporation
Contact us for a
demonstration
visuray.com
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EDITORIAL POLICY: SPE encourages open and objective
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Society publications shall contain no judgmental remarks
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Canada Publications Agreement #40612608.
 PERFORMANCE INDICES

WORLD CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION1+ HENRY HUB GULF COAST NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE

THOUSAND BOPD
6
O PEC 2015 JUL AUG SEP OCT
Algeria 1370 1370 1370 1370 5 USD/million Btu
Angola 1890 1910 1800 1810 4
Ecuador 538 537 539 538
3
Iran 3300 3300 3300 3300
Iraq 4375 4275 4425 4275 2
Kuwait* 2550 2550 2550 2550
1
Libya 400 360 375 415

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

2016
JAN

FEB

MAR
Nigeria 2270 2320 2320 2370
Qatar 1537 1537 1537 1537
Saudi Arabia* 10290 10290 10190 10140
UAE 2820 2820 2820 2820 WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)
Venezuela 2500 2500 2500 2500

TOTAL 33840 33769 33726 33625 2016

AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR
Brent 46.52 47.62 48.43 44.27 38.01 30.70 32.18 38.21
THOUSAND BOPD WTI 42.87 45.48 46.22 42.44 37.19 31.68 30.32 37.55
NON-OPEC 2015 JUL AUG SEP OCT
Argentina 532 529 529 535
Australia 361 360 335 330 WORLD ROTARY RIG COUNT
Azerbaijan 867 867 867 872
Brazil 2466 2547 2395 2406 2016
REGION SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR
Canada 3821 3912 3412 3581
US 848 791 760 714 654 532 478
China 4263 4278 4317 4259
Canada 183 184 178 160 192 211 88
Colombia 947 968 1009 1030
Latin America 321 294 284 270 243 237 218
Denmark 154 157 154 157
Europe 109 108 108 114 108 107 96
Egypt 524 511 510 509
Middle East 396 403 419 422 407 404 397
Eq. Guinea 250 250 250 250
Africa 96 93 90 91 94 88 91
Gabon 215 215 215 215
Asia Pacific 218 213 208 198 193 182 183
India 754 768 757 758

Indonesia 801 777 800 801 TOTAL 2171 2086 2047 1969 1891 1761 1551

Kazakhstan 1592 1593 1594 1595

Malaysia 599 591 652 619
WORLD OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND2
Mexico 2308 2291 2306 2314
Norway 1611 1599 1581 1685 MILLION BOPD 2015 2016
Oman 1001 990 985 980 Quarter 2nd 3rd 4th 1st
Russia 10200 10180 10150 10140
SUPPLY 95.50 96.39 96.52 95.47
Sudan 257 254 255 257
DEMAND 93.11 94.81 94.21 93.76
Syria 30 30 30 30
UK 838 788 862 912
USA 9433 9407 9460 9347
INDICES KEY
Vietnam 343 307 348 333 + Figures do not include NGLs and oil from nonconventional sources.
Yemen 22 22 22 22 * Includes approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production.

Other 2496 2479 2517 2509 1 Latest available data on www.eia.gov.

2 Includes crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas plant liquids, other hydrocarbons for refinery feedstocks,
Total 46685 46670 46312 46446 refinery gains, alcohol, and liquids produced from nonconventional sources.

Total World 80525 80439 80038 80071 Source: Baker Hughes.

Source: US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration.

6 JPT MAY 2016

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 REGIONAL UPDATE
AFRICA
Tullows Cheptuket-1 well in Block
12A ofnorthern Kenya has encountered
goodoilshows over an almost 2,300ft
interval, the company reported. The
first well to test the Kerio Valley Basin,
Cheptuket-1 was drilled to a final
depth of10,114 ft. The results indicate
the presence of an active petroleum
system with significant oil generation,
the companysaid.Post-well analysis
now underway will affect future basin
exploration decisions. Tullow is the block
operator with a 40% interest. Delonex
Energy (40%) and Africa Oil (20%) are
theother participants.
ASIA
Rosneft has spudded the PLDD1X
exploration well in Block 06.1 of Vietnams
Nam Con Son Basin, the first Rosneft-
operated international offshore drilling
project. Lying in 532 ft of water, the
well hasa design depth of 4,528 ft.
The company said the PLDD geological
structure is expected to hold recoverable
reserves of 444.9 Bcf (12.6 Bcm) of
natural gas and 0.6 million metric tons
(5.4millionbbl) of gas condensate, which
can be developed by subsea completion
and tiedback to the Rosneft-operated
LanTay platform. The company has a
35%stake in the block with Petrovietnam
(20%) and ONGC (45%) holding
theremainder.
AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA
Mosman Oil and Gas said that its
Amadeus Basin project in Australias
Northern Territory holds trillions of
cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. A
report by SRK Consulting on the basins
resourceprospects within permit EP 145,
in which Mosman holds the sole interest,
highlights the potential for conventional
gas in proven reservoirs of the West Walker
Anticline and unconventional gas in the
Horn Valley Siltstone. According to the
report, there are unrisked prospective
recoverable resources of 12.44 Bcf
of conventional gas and 1.4 Tcf of
unconventional gas within both plays.
Chevron began liquefied natural gas
(LNG) and condensate production and
8 JPT MAY 2016
LNGexports from the Gorgon Project on
Barrow Island offshore Western Australia.
The USD 54-billion project produces gas
from the Gorgon and Jansz-Io fields off
Australias northwest coast. Gorgons hasdelivered up to 44 MMscf/D of
major facilities include a Barrow Island
LNG plant with 15.6 million metric tons of
annual capacity, a CO2 injection project,
and a domestic gas plant. Chevron, the
fieldoperator, holds a 47.3 % interest in
Gorgon. Other participants are Exxon Mobil
(25%), Shell (25%), Osaka Gas (1.25%),
Tokyo Gas (1%), and Chubu Electric Power
(0.417%). Gorgon is Australias largest
single resource development ever. With
production from Gorgon and other projects,
Australia will surpass Qatar as the worlds
largest LNG exporter in 2018, the Australian
Petroleum Production & Exploration
Association said.
EUROPE
Eni has started production from the
Goliat field on Production License 229 in
the Barents Sea offshore Norway. The first
oil field to produce from the Barents Sea,
Goliat was developed through the use of
the worlds largest floating production,
storage, and offloading (FPSO) system
with a storage capacity of 1 million bbl.
Field output will reach 100,000 B/D from
22 subsea wells, of which 17 are now
completed. Goliats reserves are estimated
at 180 million bbl. Eni is the operator with
a 65% interest in the license, with Statoil
holding the remainder.
UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG)
said that the Horse Hill-1 onshore
discovery wellin Petroleum Exploration
and Development License (PEDL) 137 in
southern England has shown North Sea-
like oil flows. Located in the Weald Basin
near Gatwick Airport, the well flowed at
a stable rate of 323 B/D of oil in its latest
production test. With the inclusion of
earlier results, the well has achieved a
total aggregate stable dry oil flow rate of
1,688 B/D from three tested zones. In an
independent study, Schlumberger has
reported that a mean of almost 11 billionbbl
of oil in place is embedded within the
PEDL 137 and PEDL 246 Horse Hill licenses.
UKOG and Solo Oil hold 20.163% and 6.5%
stakes in PEDL 137, respectively. Horse
Hill Development, the operator, holds the
remaining stake.
MIDDLE EAST
Enis Zohr 2X well in the Zohr field
oftheShorouk Block offshore Egypt
naturalgas during production tests.
Thewell, which was constrained by
surfacefacilities, has an estimated
production capacity of 250MMscf/D
(46,000 BOE/D), the company said.
Eni,thesole interest holder of the block
license, plans to drill three additional
wellsin the field this year.
NORTH AMERICA
Northcote Energy said that the
LutcherMoore (LM) No. 21 well at the
Shoats Creek field in southwestern
Louisiana will be spudded May 16 as part
a fully funded work program. Following
completion operations, the LM No. 22
well will be drilled. Preparations are under
way to drill the LMNo. 23 well in the third
quarter. Potentially five Shoats Creek wells
will be producing by year-end, the company
said. Northcote is also doing geophysical
and engineering work in preparation
for high-grading drilling prospects in
the deeper Cockfield formation in the
samevicinity.
SOUTH AMERICA
Petrobras reported that its early
production system in the Sepia area
(formerly the Nordeste de Tupi area) has
begun operations in the Santos Basin pre-
salt layer offshore Brazil. The FPSO vessel
Cidade de Sao Vicente is set to produce
about 20,000 B/D of oil during the test
period. Deployed in 7,218 ft (2200m)
of water, the FPSO system is connected
to the 1-RJS-691 well and will remain at
itscurrentlocation for 180 days.
Shell plans to launch a new exploration
phase of the BC-10 project in the Campos
Basin offshore Brazil, where the company
operates the deepwater Parque das
Conchas oil and gas development. Despite
market uncertainties, Shell wants to
keep investing in Brazil because of its
viable oil reserves, said Andre Araujo, the
chief executive officer of Shell Brazil in
a recent presentation. The company has
invested more than USD 1 billion in the
BC-10Block.JPT
Introducing a new controlled optimization
process for multistage completions




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 IMPROVING PEOPLES LIVES
Hope Is Not a Strategy But Without Hope,
There Is No Strategy
Nathan Meehan, 2016 SPE President
A great benefit of being the SPE president
is the chance to interact with students
and young professionals around the
world. Many are anxious about the future,
but not panicked. I have been asked if this
is the worst time ever in the oil business,
a question that made mesmile.
For some reason, it is natural to try and
scale a current calamity with past ones. For example, finan-
cial recessions are compared with the Great Depression of the
1930s during which the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP)
dropped 15% in 3 years. In comparison, the recession of 2008
2009 saw a 1% drop in worldwide GDP but certainly felt huge.
WTI crude oil prices dropped from USD 145.31/bbl on 3 July 2008
to USD 30.28/bbl in less than 5 months. The US rig count followed
suit, dropping from 1,987 in August 2008 to 895 by mid-2009. It
certainly was not good, but it was relatively short-lived.
Fig. 1 compares US rotary rig activity during the four most
recent significant downturns. Leo Tolstoys quote about fami-
lies may be paraphrased to apply to downturns: Each oil price
downturn is unhappy in its own way, and each downturn and
recovery had different causes. In Fig. 1, I have started with the
peak US rig activity immediately prior to the beginning of the
downturn and normalized subsequent weekly activity to this
peak. Each prior downturn recovered to about 80% of peak ac-
tivity within approximately 2 years after dropping from 45% to
55% of peak activity.
125
Rigs Operating as Percentage of
100
Pre-Downturn Level
75
50
25
0 reduced salaries, bonuses and other benefits have been lowered
0 50 100 150
Weeks From Beginning of Downturn
Fig. 1The relative US rig count vs. number of weeks
from peak rig activity.
To contact the SPE President, email president@spe.org.
10
We are currently at less than 25% of the prior peak activity
level and at an all-time low for the Baker Hughes reported US rig
count dating to 1944. Compare this with the 1980s. In late 1981,
rig activity peaked at 4,530 rigs and in the subsequent ice age,
the rig count dropped to 663, less than 15% of the peak. While
this was a steeper drop from the peak level, current rig activity
is now approximately 70% of that ice age bottom, and future
drops are certainly possible. Current rig activity is lower than
what the US has seen in a very long time.
Is the Current US Rig Count the Lowest Ever?
I have been looking at historical rig activity measures. The Baker
Hughes rig count data from 1944 include only rotary rigs. Before
the 1950s, cable tool rigs accounted for a significant portion of
drilling activity. Cable tool drilling dates to 1806 with horse-
powered rigs. These were replaced in the 1830s by steam engines
to provide rig power, and in 1860 when J.C. Rathbone used a
steam-powered cable tool rig to drill a 100-B/D producer in West
Virginia, cable tool activity took off. During the US Civil War,
many hundreds of cable tool rigs were drilling, primarily in West
Virginia, California, and Pennsylvania. If we include cable tool
rigs, total US rig activity has exceeded 500 rigs since Abraham
Lincoln was the US president, making the rig activity of 464 as of
24 March this year a truly historic low.
When Will It Come Back Up? Is There Hope?
In a recent article in The Way Ahead (TWA 2016), I wrote about
the assumption that we are riding the storm out and pretty
soon things will return to normal. It is impossible to know how
long the status quo may last, or when an upswing will occur.
Hoping that prices will recover soon is not a strategy to deal
with low oil prices. While the TWA article dealt with individuals
strategies for responding to the downturn, I am also concerned
about companies and SPEs strategies.
Few companies took very long to resort to familiar actions.
19972001 Capital expenditures were cut and then cut again. Service com-
20012004 panies were required to lower prices multiple times. Headcount
20082012 reductions now exceed 300,000. Projects are shelved and com-
2014March 2016 pany efforts focus on lowering costs. While few companies have
200 250
or eliminated. Many companies have cut or eliminated divi-
dends. Research and development budgets have been lowered
for larger companies, shifting the focus to technologies with
near-term payoffs. Training and travel budgets were slashed.
JPT MAY 2016
 Service companies reacted early and most dramatically.
Oily independents and highly leveraged companies were
next, followed by larger independents, and then by integrated
companies. National oil companies often had significant capital
contraction even if they had few (if any) layoffs. Every company
is focused on lowering costs and increasing efficiencies.
No company could just hope for the best and keep doing
what they had been doing. This is also true for SPE.
Taking a trip down memory lane, I reviewed copies of JPT
from the downturn in the late 1980s. Noel Rietman, 1987 SPE
president, focused on how SPE was responding, member ben-
efits, company support, and the relevance of SPE to members
who had been laid offall very familiar topics from the past
year of SPE Board of Directors discussions.
SPE has a reserve fund for rainy days like these, to allow us
to maintain continuity in our services for members. However,
since we do not know how long current conditions will last, we
cannot simply continue with business as usual and hope that
conditions improve before funds are exhausted.
SPE receives a large portion of its revenue from attendance
at conferences, workshops, and training courses. Training bud-
gets slashed by operators have led to course cancellations. At-
tendance at our events has been affectedmore in some locales
than othersso we have relocated many events to major oil and
transportation hubs to facilitate ease of attendance. Sponsor-
ships and, to a lesser extent, exhibitions have been affected by
the financial difficulties of the companies who support SPE ac-
tivities. Despite these difficulties, SPE continues to offer events
and training in which members can network, share, and learn.
While times were good, we invested our profits into growing
the portfolio of services offered to our members. Recently, the
Board has had to prioritize services and make cuts in several
areas. SPE offered a voluntary severance package to staff, fol-
lowed by an involuntary severance. The resulting 12% reduction
in the number of SPE employees was a sad first in ourhistory.
Nonetheless, there are many reasons for hope. At SPE, the
number and quality of technical papers remain high and the
brand is solid. This reflects in no small measure our greatest as-
sets, the members whose voluntary service and participation has
never been greater. With more than 165,000 members and vast
technical resources available through OnePetro (onepetro.org)
and PetroWiki (www.petrowiki.org), we continue to be the most
significant place where upstream energy professionals collect,
disseminate, and exchange technical information.
Most importantly, SPE remains focused on supporting our
members through good times and bad. We provide eMentoring
services, free web events, dues waivers for up to 2 years for
members in transition, a competency management tool, health
insurance, networking opportunities, free admission on one
day of many conferences, and most importantly, a way to stay
current with evolving technology. JPT

Reference
Meehan, N. 2016. Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Way Ahead.
12(1): 45. http://www.spe.org/news/article/should-i-stay-or-
should-i-go-young-professionals-and-the-industrys-future.

JPT MAY 2016

 COMMENTS EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Bernt Aadny, University of Stavanger
Syed AliChairperson, Schlumberger
Tayfun Babadagli, University of Alberta

Technologies of the Future

William Bailey, Schlumberger
Mike Berry, Mike Berry Consulting
Maria Capello, Kuwait Oil Company
John Donnelly, JPT Editor
Simon Chipperfield, Santos
Nicholas Clem, Baker Hughes
Alex Crabtree, Hess Corporation
The future of technology in the global energy industry will be Gunnar DeBruijn, Schlumberger
driven by cost pressures, the scope of government regulation, Mark Egan, WesternGeco
and increased digitization. DNV GLs Technology Outlook 2025
Mark Elkins, ConocoPhillips
report, released last month, lists six emerging technologies
Alexandre Emerick,
that it predicts will have a significant impact on the upstream Petrobras Research Center
sector over the next decade. Niall Fleming, Statoil
While the technologies are not necessarily new to oil and gas,
Ted Frankiewicz, SPEC Services
they are likely to be adopted at an accelerated pace and more
Stephen Goodyear, Shell
broadly than currently. The report predicts these technologies will be increasingly in
Omer M. Gurpinar, Schlumberger
use over the next several years because of economic, regulatory, and environmental
factors, and continued strong demand for hydrocarbons. A.G. Guzman-Garcia, Retired

The first technology, fully automated drilling operations, has the potential to Greg Horton, Consultant
improve the speed and safety of drilling operations and greatly reduce costs. But its John Hudson, Shell
widespread adoption will require a complete redesign of drilling processes in order Morten Iversen, Karachaganak Petroleum
to gain all of the benefits. It will also require the use of related technologies such as Leonard Kalfayan, Hess Corporation
automated drillpipe handling, managed-pressure drilling, single-trip drilling, and bet- Tom Kelly, FMC Technologies
ter monitoring and diagnostic capabilities. Automated drilling could cut both drilling Thomas Knode, Statoil
time and costs by up to 50% compared with conventional operations, the report says.
Sunil Kokal, Saudi Aramco
Smart completions, including better monitoring and more precise control of pro-
Marc Kuck, Eni US Operating
duction zones to maximize recovery, should be heavily adopted by the industry. Low-
Jesse C. Lee, Schlumberger
cost smart completions, reconfigured without a rig, could potentially boost addition-
al output from complex reservoirs, such as thin oil pay zones. Silviu Livescu, Baker Hughes

Subsea systems will rely more on monitoring and data analytics to enhance pro- Shouxiang (Mark) Ma, Saudi Aramco
duction stability. That will help better predict flow-related problems and ensure con- John Macpherson, Baker Hughes
tinuous flow from the well. Improved monitoring and analytics, with more sensors Casey McDonough, American Energy Partners
and higher computing power, will drive simpler field development through the use Stephane Menand, DrillScan
of longer tie-ins and simpler designs, said Pierre Sames, DNV GLs group technology Badrul H Mohamed Jan, University of Malaya
and research director. This will improve leak detection, inspection, maintenance, and Lee Morgenthaler, Retired
repair, all contributing to uninterrupted flow and better integrity, he said.
Michael L. Payne, BP plc
Rigless plugging and abandonment could be a particular boon in the North Sea,
Zillur Rahim, Saudi Aramco
which has 8,000 wells that need attention. Current practice for plugging and abandon-
Martin Rylance, BP GWO Completions
ment involves costly permanent plugging, accounting for up to half of the total decom- Engineering
missioning expenses. Plugging without the use of a rig would require that plugging and
Otto L. Santos, Petrobras
abandonment be performed with the well tubing in place, according to thereport.
Luigi A. Saputelli, Hess Corporation
Autonomous inspection of pipelines and the use of biodegradable polymers for
Sally A. Thomas, ConocoPhillips
enhanced oil recovery also should be in full operation by 2025. Autonomous under-
water vehicles are more efficient than remotely operated vehicles in performing reg- Win Thornton, BP plc

ular pipeline inspection and will be equipped with sonars, cameras, and sensors. Xiuli Wang, Baker Hughes
Unmanned aerial vehicles will be used for onshore pipelines, but regulations will need Mike Weatherl, Well Integrity, LLC
to clarify their further use in civil airspace. Rodney Wetzel, Chevron ETC
DNV GL forecasts the world to be consuming up to one-fifth more energy by 2025 Scott Wilson, Ryder Scott Company
than it does now. With operational cost pressures and oil price volatility, there will be Jonathan Wylde, Clariant Oil Services
a need to drill new wells more efficiently, highlighting the need for such technologies Pat York, Weatherford International
as fully automated drilling and smart completions, Sames said. JPT

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

12 JPT MAY 2016

 GUEST EDITORIAL
Creating Value From Flared Natural Gas
Martin Layfield, Global Segment Leader Gas Value Chain, DNV GL
Approximately 5% of world annual on real locations and field conditions as
gas production is being flared or vent- most flaring occurs at either aging and/
ed. This is equivalent to approximately or remote locations.
110140 billion m3 (Bcm) of gas, and
equates to the combined gas consumption Understanding the Challenges
of Central and South America in2013. A number of factors can affect the drive
The World Bank estimates that flar- and desire to undertake a reduction in
ing 140 Bcm would cause more than gas flaring. Existing solutions are mature
350 million tonnes of CO2 release into for large-scale applications, but fewer
the atmosphere. If this could be har- technologies have been used commer-
nessed for power, for example, it could cially at a small scale. This is perhaps due
produce 750 billion kW-hr/year, more to uncertainty in the industry about the
than Africas entire annual consumption. technical and economic viability of cap-
Capturing the flared or vented gas turing the gas at these levels.
presents an opportunity for operators Retrofits and transportation of recov-
to reduce the environmental impact as ered gas to processing facilities can be
well as provide an economic opportu- costly. Without a global cost penalty for
nity to generate an additional revenue emitted carbon there is seen to be little
stream. The World Banks Zero Rou- benefit to capture the flared gas, particu-
tine Flaring by 2030 initiative is call- larly in countries with developing econ-
ing on governments and companies to omies. Similarly, different geographies
achieve this target within the next 15 conjure various technical, regulatory,
years. To address both the need to end and economic drivers and limitations.
routine gas flaring and tackle climate Access to funding to develop projects
change concerns, DNV GL has conducted and the implementation of technologies
research titled Natural Gas Capture is also a major factor.
Clean and Economic, which examines Where there are carbon emissions reg-
the viability of alternative solutions and ulations in place, there is obviously more
their revenuepotential. incentive to capture the waste from gas
The conceptual study looked at four flaring. In the US, there are limits in
existing oil and gas facilities, onshore place for gas flaring that penalize opera-
in North Dakota, Algeria, and Russia, tors through the curtailment of produc-
and offshore Vietnam, which provided tion for missing targets. As a result, new
a variety of volumes and rates of gas technologies are emerging with a variety
being flared. This enabled the model- of solutions. Since issuing its research,
ing of a range of diverse technologies DNV GL has had a number of companies
Martin Layfield is the global segment leader of the gas value
chain for DNV GL. He has more than 25 years of commercial
experience in industry and more than 10 years with DNV GL in the
oil and gas industry, developing solutions and securing and
managing contracts and relationships with a range of major
international clients. He holds a degree in business administration
from Coventry University.
14
approach for assistance with the quali-
fication process to help establish tech-
nologies in the market. The North Dako-
ta Petroleum Council has set targets to
reduce flaring. These were set to 26%
by the fourth quarter of 2014, 23% by
the first quarter of 2015, 15% by the first
quarter of 2016, and 10% with the poten-
tial for 5% by the fourth quarter of 2020.
Technology Solutions
Gas flaring releases toxic components
and greenhouse gases into the atmo-
sphere that can have harmful effects on
the health and wellbeing of local com-
munities as well as contributing to
climatechange.
Proposed technology solutions are
largely dependent on the flow rate, gas
compositions, and distance to market,
and the viability of different technologies
will vary accordingly. During the con-
ceptual study, our company considered
the technoeconomic viability of 19 dif-
ferent conversion methods. These were
considered at different flow rates, gas
composition, and the distance to mar-
ket. More than 150 suppliers/vendors
and their technologies/methods were
researched. By examining the most cost-
effective ways of transporting and con-
verting the gas into products of a higher
value, they were able to identify opportu-
nities to produce valuable product alter-
natives like ammonia, ethanol, gas-to-
liquids, and hydrogen.
More novel techniques examined how
to bring the market closer to the source
of the flaring and the opportunities to
capture in-situ. These included water
desalination, gas-to-power, liquefied-
petroleum-gas and natural-gas-liquids
recovery, and carbon black. The technol-
ogy solutions and means of transporta-
JPT MAY 2016
 Manara
PRODUCTION AND RESERVOIR
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Water cut
Fluid flow rate
Pressure
Water cut Temperature
Fluid flow rate
Pressure
Temperature

Increase production and manage inflow with

real-time information and control in every zone.
With patented inductive coupler technology that provides power and telemetry, the Manara* production and reservoir
management system can be deployed in conventional or extended-reach wells, in two or more sections, or across any
number of lateral junctionsall with a single control line. Using the Manara system to monitor and control previously
unattainable zones, operators can now immediately identify problematic areas, pinpoint the cause, and make the
necessary adjustments to maintain the well at optimal production.

Find out more at

slb.com/manara

*Mark of Schlumberger. Copyright 2016 Schlumberger. All rights reserved. 15-CO-87356


Assess gas
Source of
flow rate and
associated gas
product demand
CNG Compressed natural gas
LPG Liquefied petroleum gas
Fig. 1Technology selection methodology flow chart.
tion explored can also be applied to the
following.
Monetization of small-scale
stranded gas fields
Monetization of associated gas from
extended well tests
Resolving demands at remote areas
where there is no infrastructure
Capturing vented gas
In some North American shale regions
that experience a lack of infrastructure
and remote exploration and production
activities, as much as 30% to 40% of
gas is being flared. Installing transpor-
tation infrastructure is often costly and
so looking at more economic and flex-
ible solutions is highly attractive. As well
as generating a valuable revenue stream,
converting the gas can be highly ben-
eficial to local populations. The fractur-
ing process used in onshore shale gas
extraction generates a great deal of pro-
duced water. Desalinization can clean
that water and make it useable for local
communities as a water source. Although
some solutions might be immature for
near-term implementation, current
applications such as micro liquefied nat-
ural gas, compressed natural gas, natural
gas hydrates, and conversion methods
can deliver significant benefits, and are
key in shale gas regions where regula-
tions will drive flaring reductions.
Many of the novel techniques explored
in the study, particularly for small-scale
16
Select suitable
products from CNG,
Offshore
gas-to-wire, LPG/
NGLs, and batteries
Assess technology Assess technology
solutions and maturity, safety,
distance to market and reliability
Selected suitable
Onshore products from the
diagram
NGL Natural gas liquids
Capex Capital expenditure
capture of natural gas, are maturing well
in the US. Many are at the pilot stage at
least. However, few are yet to be adopted
elsewhere. Innovation is largely driven by
the US shale industry, where many of the
wells in North Dakotas Bakken Basin are
already implementing affordable alter-
natives to flaring through connections to
existing gas-gathering networks. These
handle associated liquids-rich gas from
more accessible drilling areas which are
being used to produce propane, meth-
ane, butane, natural gasoline, and indus-
trial feedstock ethane.
By using the four case studies with
small-scale gas flow rates, the study
proved that economically viable solu-
tions to assist in carbon abatement and
the development of flare gas for soci-
etal use are possible. It is a complex
process to determine suitable technol-
ogy solutions as alternatives to flaring
and the flow chart (Fig. 1) shows the
methodology used in carrying out the
conceptualstudy.
Future for Gas Flaring
Though support for the World Banks
Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative
is gaining momentum, greater aware-
ness and understanding of the technical
and economic possibilities for gas flar-
ing, beyond operational modification, is
needed to encourage commitment from
operators and policy makers. Many of
the existing policy and technology devel-
Assess Capex,
Select technology
Opex, NPVs, and
solution
economic viability
Opex Operational expenditure
NPV Net present value
opments are focused on reducing carbon
emissions, rather than using the flared
gas to benefit society.
If the industry is serious about ending
routine gas flaring and addressing climate
change concerns, it also needs to over-
come the nontechnical hurdles such as
financial investment, time and resource
commitment, and the requirement for
regulatory and legal frameworks.
Major political forces will be a vital
component to progress. Although crit-
ics of the Obama administrations cli-
mate change plan are determined to
oppose it, the US has already made prog-
ress toward reaching its emissions tar-
gets. Obamas plan proposes a 32% cut
in carbon emissions from power plants
by 2030 on 2015 levels. However, emis-
sions from power plants have already
fallen by 15% between 2005 and 2013
without regulatory incentive. There has
been some criticism of the emphasis
that Obama has placed on renewables,
given that natural gas still has much fur-
ther to go to displace coal as a friend-
lier carbon-based energy source. How-
ever, this emphasis on renewable growth
should only serve to increase the envi-
ronmental and sustainable credentials
of natural gas given the improvements
being made to reduce emissions in gas
production. Tapping into the opportuni-
ties to create value from flared gas will
drive emissions targets further, both in
the US andglobally. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
AP_PumaFlow_206x276_Bis:Mise en page 1 17/03/2015 15:08 Page1

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 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor
Production-Measurement
System
Production logs have been an industry
standard for many years, but by them-
selves they are not a reliable way to evalu-
ate the complicated flow regimes in mod-
ern multistage wells. Production logs
work well at determining the phases of
flow in horizontal or vertical wells, but
determining from which stage or cluster
the production is originating is more of a
challenge. The Refrac Road Map Focused
Production Measurement System from
Tech-Flo measures fluid entry and the
phases of flow while in the hole (Fig. 1). It
uses the flexibility of a hydraulic jet pump
to produce and stabilize the well while
each zone or stage is isolated between
straddle packers. It is movable and reset-
table. It increases and measures a flowing
wells production, produces and measures
a dead wells production, and can produce
a zone or stages absolute openhole poten-
tial. It measures three-phase flow, tem-
perature, static bottomhole pressure, and
flowing bottomhole pressure to deter-
mine a wells in-flow performance. It can
be run in real time or memory mode. Con-
veyance methods include jointed pipe,
coiled tubing, or fiber coiled tubing. Sug-
gested uses of this system include post-
fracturing evaluation, pre-refracturing
evaluation, and evaluation of vertical
wells with stacked pay.
For additional information, visit
www.tech-flo.net.
Fig. 1Schematic of the Refrac Road Map from Tech-Flo. Left inset: jet pump;
right inset: pup joint with Doppler production-logging tool.
18
Vibration-Monitoring Platform
The ClampOn LPHP vibration-
monitoring platform combines high
sensitivity with low power consump-
tion, resulting in a standalone vibration-
monitoring and data-logging system that
can run continuously for weeks using
only a small battery pack. At the core
of the LPHP platform are three state-of-
the-art microelectro-mechanical-system
(MEMS) accelerometers in a three-axis
configuration. The platform includes sev-
eral other sensors, such as a three-axis
gyroscope, a three-axis magnetometer
that can be used as a compass, and an
additional low-power accelerometer for
longer battery life. MEMSs are tradition-
al mechanical systems on a microscopic
scale. An MEMS accelerometer consists
of a system of springs and masses, and
uses capacitive sensing to measure the
position of the proof mass. MEMS accel-
erometers offer several advantages over
traditional piezoelectric accelerometers,
including small size, low power consump-
tion, and low price. Together, all the sen-
sors can be used for so-called inertial
navigation. Inertial navigation is accu-
rate for small movements, but the meas-
ured absolute position will tend to drift
over time. Combined with knowledge
about expected movements, or other sen-
sor inputs, the position measurements
can still become very precise.
For additional information, visit
www.clampon.com.
Fig. 2Weatherfords ComCAM-
20/160-SL bucking machine.
Bucking Machine
The ComCAM-20/160-SL bucking
machine from Weatherford enables fully
rotational, high-torque makeup and
breakout operations of tubulars. It can
be controlled remotely, which enhances
safety by reducing the number of per-
sonnel and avoiding manual tubular han-
dling. The open-head design enables
side loading to minimize space require-
ments (Fig. 2). With only three sets of
easily interchangeable clamping jaws, the
machine reduces the number of required
jaw changes and enhances operational
efficiency. It can reverse from makeup to
breakout mode instantly, and the grip-
ping force can be adjusted on the basis
of tubular material. During makeup or
breakout, the free-floating backup sys-
tem design compensates for bending
and shearing forces to reduce strain. The
bucking machine can be used for all types
of tubulars, including premium connec-
tions, with diameters ranging from 4.5
to 22 in. It is capable of generating torque
up to 160,000 lbf-ft. According to ATEX
regulations, the system can operate safe-
ly in Zone-2 hazardous areas. This unit
operates in conjunction with a Weath-
erford integrated pipe-transport system,
and the combined equipment is compact
enough to fit within limited pipe deck
space. The machine is compatible with
the companys TorkPro3 torque/turns
analyzing software, which records, ana-
lyzes, and evaluates data from premium
connections in real time.
For additional information, visit
www.weatherford.com.
JPT MAY 2016
 HyFleX
SUBSEA TREE SYSTEM

Based on field-proven components and designed for

operational flexibility to reduce life-of-field costs.
The HyFleX* subsea tree system provides benefits of both vertical and horizontal conventional trees without the usual compromises.
Designed so that the tubing hanger and tree can be installed and recovered independently of each other, the HyFleX subsea tree system
can provide significant cost savings with multiple installation and recovery options.
Based on field-proven components, the patented HyFleX subsea tree system offers functional flexibility and the ability to batch set wells,
mitigates risk, and can help deliver operators significant cost savings in field development over the life of the field.

Learn more about our leading technology at

onesubsea.slb.com/HyFleX

All referenced trademarks are owned by or licensed to Schlumberger. 2016 Schlumberger. All rights reserved. OSS-1062

Fig. 3Self-propelled transport trolley from Protea.
Pneumatic Trolley
Over the past 15 years, Protea has sup-
plied a range of pneumatically driven
winches, predominantly for use on off-
shore drilling rigs and floating produc-
tion units. The Protea pneumatic-drive
system ensures precise and reliable load
control and that the equipment can be
used in hazardous areas per ATEX regula-
tions. Previous projects include a coiled-
tubing-handling system comprising an air
winch, transport trolley, and control sys-
tem that was installed on the Aseng float-
ing production, storage, and offloading
vessel currently on charter to Noble Ener-
gy. Protea has recently developed a self-
propelled transport trolley with an inte-
grated pneumatic-drive system (Fig. 3).
A self-propelled trolley is a versatile solu-
tion because it can be used at multiple
locations, requires less deck space, and is
simpler to commission, because there is
no need to install a separate winch system
complete with tow lines. The new trolley
incorporates a proven pneumatic-drive
system and can transit loads of up to 50 t
at an average speed of 12 m/min. The first
unit is currently completing a program of
extensive testing at Proteas production
facility in southern Poland.
For additional information, visit
www.protea.pl.
Dissolvable Fracturing Ball
Phenoms patent-pending Wraith Frac
Ball is a metallic dissolvable fracturing
ball designed to provide zone-successive
isolation for fracturing plugs, fracturing
sleeves, and static-isolation subs (Fig. 4).
Its high shear strength allows it to main-
20
tain integrity and isolation during high-
pressure fracturing. The Wraith Frac Ball
dissolves at controllable and predictable
rates, to allow production from all treat-
ed zones. Cast and machined from an alu-
minum base, the Wraith Frac Balls high
shear strength is suited for high-pressure/
high-temperature applications and hori-
zontal and extended-reach operations.
The Wraith Frac Ball requires only expo-
sure to fresh, salt, or produced water
at temperatures greater than 100F to
begin dissolving; however, faster dissolve
rates may be achieved through the addi-
tion of corrosive fluids or an increase in
temperature. Phenom has developed an
empirically proven equation that accu-
rately and reliably predicts the dissolve
rate of the Wraith Frac Ball in water on
the basis of its (compound and physical)
Fig. 5Graphic of Stone Ridge Technologys ECHELON reservoir simulator inuse.
Fig. 4The Wraith Frac Ball
dissolvable fracturing ball from
Phenom.
properties and specific bottomhole tem-
peratures. Phenom offers two versions
of the Wraith Frac Ball, solid and hollow,
each currently available in five different
formulations to accommodate a variety of
operatorrequirements.
For additional information, visit
www.phenom-us.com.
Reservoir Simulator
Stone Ridge Technology has introduced
ECHELON, an ultrafast extended black-
oil reservoir simulator supporting major
engineering features. ECHELON runs on
graphics processing units (GPUs), the
current generation of which provides 5X
or more memory bandwidth than cen-
tral processing units and a similar advan-
tage in computing throughput, both crit-
ical to a simulators performance. By
combining the extreme computation-
al power and bandwidth of GPUs with
JPT MAY 2016
recent advances in solver algorithms and
modern software design, ECHELON is
able to achieve unprecedented run times
with only a modest hardware footprint
(Fig. 5). With ECHELON, models up to
35 million active cells can now be run
on a single desktop with turnaround
10 to 50 times faster than that of exist-
ing solutions that require big clusters.
The ability to simulate very large mod-
els allows the use of highly detailed geo- Fig. 6Baker Hughes BASTILLE HP/HT removable production packer.
logic descriptions without the need for
upscaling. The fast run times and capabil- pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) leaves the outer packer wall intact. When
ity to handle very large models provide a removable production packer creates a the production tubing is pulled uphole,
powerful and cost-effective tool for engi- reliable seal between the casing and tub- the inner mandrel follows. This action
neers to handle multiple realizations for ing while the well is flowing, and just as releases the bottom slips and relaxes the
uncertaintyquantifications. reliably disengages when well interven- elastomer. As pulling continues, specially
For additional information, visit tion is needed (Fig. 6). The BASTILLE designed segments break loose, the pack-
www.stoneridgetechnology.com. chassis has been engineered specifical- er wall flexes inward, and the upper slips
ly to separate from the casing wall when pull free from the casing wall. This reduc-
Removable Packer released, even after prolonged exposure es friction and separates the packer from
Removable production packers can elimi- to temperatures up to 400F (204C) the casing. On its way uphole, shoulders
nate nonproductive time, costs, and risks and differential pressures as high as on the mandrel catch the outer packer
during well-intervention operations, 17,500psi (1207 bar), an industry first at wall, and the entire assembly is retrieved
but can become permanently set when these ratings. When intervention is need- with the production tubing. JPT
exposed to high pressures and tempera- ed, a mechanical pipe cutter severs the For additional information, visit
tures. The Baker Hughes BASTILLE high- inner mandrel below the bottom slips, but www.bakerhughes.com.

SameDrift. A More Efficient Way

To Get Through Trouble Zones.
Enventures SameDrift lets you extend a casing string to
isolate trouble zones, while keeping the same ID. You can
either tie back to the previous casing or simply clad the zone
or both. This ground-breaking technology will help you get
through trouble zones more efficiently than ever before.
The results?

s Youll reduce NPT.

s Youll start production sooner.
s Youll increase production rates.

To find out more about Enventures ground-breaking

SameDrift technology, visit us at OTC booth 9053.

www.EnventureGT.com/SameDrift
 TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
Mature Flood Surveillance Using Streamlines
Rod P. Batycky, SPE, and Marco R. Thiele, SPE, Streamsim Technologies
With the recent drop in oil prices, oper-
ators are shifting to optimization of
existing assets with minimal costs. For
mature floods (water, chemical, and
CO2), one low-cost optimization strat-
egy is the intelligent adjustment of well-
rate targets. While it is easy to identify
high-water-cut or high-water-rate pro-
ducers, it is not obvious to identify which
injectors are contributing to oil produc-
tion or fluid cycling. This makes setting
injection targets a guessing game at best
without a calibrated reservoir (simula-
tion) model.
However, detailed calibrated reservoir
models require simulation expertise, are
time-consuming to build, and can even
be considered overkill for short-term res-
ervoir management. Reservoir surveil-
lance techniques sidestep this problem
by using measured well data combined
with simpler models to create a feedback
loop that is informative and valuable for
reservoir management.
The starting point for any improve-
ment of an ongoing flood is the proper
identification of well patterns and reli-
able pattern metrics. Which patterns
have historically outperformed and
which have underperformed? How much
oil is being recovered from each pat-
tern for each unit of volume injected into
thepattern?
Being able to answer these questions
with confidence enables target rates to
be set that will improve sweep and reduce
fluid cycling. And as new production/
injection data are collected, rate targets
are realigned to ensure that field recov-
ery remains close to optimum.
Streamlines as a Solution
Streamlines, which represent flow from
injectors or aquifers to producers, offer a
22
powerful solution to define injector pat-
terns and associated key production met-
rics. Advances in streamline-based flow
modeling since the early 1990s allow
streamlines to be traced in 3D, account for
complex geological descriptions, include
all well geometries, and incorporate a
wide range of flow physics. However,
applying streamlines for surveillance
requires only a subset of these extensions
and is much simpler toimplement.
Most floods are driven by pressure gra-
dients rather than absolute pressure, and
at reservoir conditions, it can be assumed
that the fluids are nearly incompressible.
This is certainly true for water/polymer/
chemical floods. Even CO2 at high pres-
sure behaves like a liquid.
For surveillance purposes, the calcu-
lation for the total velocity field needed
to trace the streamlines can be signifi-
cantly simplified. Specifically, the veloc-
ity is solved conditioned to a) measured
(historical) total injected and produced
volumes at the wells; b) a description of
the subsurface geology, including faults
and flow barriers if available, and if not,
a homogenous box can be used; and c) an
assumption of in-situ fluid distributions
if available, and if not, a uniform satura-
tion distribution will do.
Although these assumptions seem sub-
stantial, they are reasonable for surveil-
lance because the primary objective is to
identify current well pairs and allocation
factors rather than forecasting.
Model Calibration Not Needed
The assumption of fluid incompressibil-
ity implies that the past spatial pressure
distribution and gradients are immate-
rial to the solution of the current velocity
field, and so streamlines can be extract-
ed for any moment in time without the
need to calibrate the model to the past.
Using measured historical produced and
injected total rates implies that the veloc-
ity field will properly reflect the influ-
ence of wells relative to each other in
terms of production/injection volume
and spatiallocation.
An often overlooked detail is that his-
torical well data implicitly contain infor-
mation about reservoir connectivity
high injection/production volumes are
usually indicative of good pay and sup-
port compared with low injection/pro-
duction volumes. This is the reason why
bubble plots are popular among engi-
neers looking for clues to the spatial
quality of a reservoir. By using historical
measured rates to solve for the current
spatial pressure gradients, the result-
ing velocity field will implicitly reflect
suchconnectivity.
It is possible to add a spatial descrip-
tion of geological properties such as per-
meability, porosity, or net to gross, etc.,
as well as transmissibility barriers, such
as faults and shale barriers, to further
condition the velocity field. Special con-
sideration should be given to flow barri-
ers, as these will radically affect the flow
field and tracing of streamlines. Local
permeability/porosity modifications, on
the other hand, are a lesser factor.
Defining Injection Patterns
Once the total velocity is known, tracing
streamlines from injectors to produc-
ers automatically defines patterns and
injector/producer pairs. For example, a
pattern may be defined as an injector
(light blue bubbles displaying injection
rates in Fig. 1) and all the producers
connected to that injector by stream-
lines. Alternatively, one can define a
pattern as being centered on a produc-
JPT MAY 2016
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 Fig. 1(left) Injector-centered well allocation factors (WAFs) and (right) producer-centered WAFs, determined by the
streamlines and displayed using a patented flux pattern map, where connection thicknesses can be used to display
each wells production allocation factor in addition to using a label. The bubbles represent injection (light blue) and
production (water=dark blue, oil=green) rates. All images courtesy of Streamsim Technologies.

er with associated injectors connected
by streamlines. There are usually fewer
injectors than producers, and because
the goal of a flood is to produce oil by
sweeping it with injected fluid toward
the producers, centering patterns on
injectors has proven to be a good, prac-
tical choice.
To extract pattern metrics, it is useful
to consider each streamline as being the
center of a streamtube carrying a frac-
tion of the total flow rate of the wells to
which it is connected. The sum of all the
streamlines ending or starting in a well is
therefore expected to equal the total flow
rate of that well.
Similarly, summing up the rates of the
streamlines between any injector/pro-
ducer pair will quantify the total rate
between the well pair (Batycky et al.
2008). That allows estimation of the well
allocation factors (WAFs) as the ratio of
the total rate of an injector/producer pair
to the total well rate of either the injec-
tor or producer on either end of the con-
nection (Fig. 1). Furthermore, as produc-
tion history changes, the streamlines are
updated, the WAFs are recomputed, and
the patterns evolve through time.
Estimating Pattern Efficiency
With WAFs in hand, it is straightforward
to estimate the efficiency of each pattern
(injector), which is simply the oil pro-
duction rate of all the connected produc-
ers weighted by the respective produc-
er WAFs and then divided by the water
injection rate. In other words, it is pos-
sible to associate oil production with an
injector (as shown in the left frame of
Fig. 2). It should be reiterated that all
the calculations are based on historical
observed well ratesfrom the derivation
of the streamlines to the final calculation
of the WAFsgiving a summary plot of
good vs. poor use of injected fluids based
on measured data.
It is also possible to estimate the
cumulative oil produced by each pattern
(injector) by properly accounting for the
changing production rates and WAFs
over time (as shown in the right frame
of Fig. 2). The plots in Fig. 2 are a power-
ful diagnostic view of the flood, quanti-
fying the relative efficiency of each pat-
tern historically (right) and currently
(left). This is what makes the stream-
line-based surveillance model so unique
and useful.
The final goal is to estimate future well
target rates based on the streamline-
based pattern metrics. A crucial value is
the efficiency of each injector/produc-

1.4106
0.40
220
Cumulative Oil Produced (rm3/d)

200 1.2106
Rate Oil Produced (rm3/d)

180 0.30 1.0106

160
140 8105
120 0.20
100 6105
80
0.10 4105
60
40 2105
20
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 1106 2106 3106 4106 5106
Rate Water Injected (rm3/d) Cumulative Water Injected (rm3/d)

Fig. 2(left) Each triangle represents one injector with current water injection rate on the x-axis and allocated offset
oil production on the y-axis. The diagonal lines represent efficiency thresholds. (right) Cumulative oil production
associated with each injector as a function of cumulative injected (water) volume, gives a historical rank of pattern
efficiencies.

24 JPT MAY 2016

er pair, the fraction of oil produced at a Summary rics, such as WAFs and efficiencies, and
well due to a fraction of volume inject- Mature pattern floods can benefit sig- (4) being applicable to water, CO2, and
ed by the associated injector. With this nificantly from streamline-based sur- chemicalfloods. JPT
information, well rates can be modified veillance-type workflows, allowing engi-
to promote higher efficiency connec- neers to make decisions quickly and References
tions and demote lower ones (Thiele and efficiently to manage short-term oil pro- Batycky, R.P., Thiele, M.R., and
Batycky 2006), which amounts to a data- duction. Surveillance models are easy to Baker,R.O. et al. 2008. Revisiting
driven approach to improve sweep. build and can be used in real time, rather Reservoir Flood-Surveillance
than requiring months to assemble and Methods Using Streamlines. SPE
Connection Efficiency calibrate as with classic reservoir simula- Res Eval & Eng 11(2): 387394.
The ability to identify efficient vs. inef- tion models. The limitation of a surveil- SPE95402-PA. http://dx.doi.
ficient connections across the injector/ lance model is that it cannot be used for org/10.2118/95402-PA.
producer networkthe flux pattern forecasting, but the wealth of informa- Kornberger M. and Thiele M.R.
map (Fig. 1)is what makes stream- tion on injector patterns, well pairs, and 2014.Experiences With an
line-based surveillance unique. Opera- allocation factors can be used in a real- Efficient Rate-Management
tors know not only which producers are time feedback loop to continuously man- Approach for the 8th Tortonian
high-water-cut or high-water-rate wells, age the reservoir. Reservoir in the Vienna Basin.
but now which injectors are contribut- Streamline-based surveillance is an SPERes Eval & Eng 17(2): 165
ing to the offset oil production and the alternative to other surveillance work- 176. SPE 166393-PA. http://dx.doi.
efficiency of this contribution. It is a flows and distinguishes itself by (1) org/10.2118/166393-PA.
fundamental improvement over the clas- defining patterns automatically from Thiele, M.R. and Batycky, R.P.
sic rate-target management workflow of the production/injection data through 2006. Using Streamline-Derived
predefined fixed patterns and the adjust- the use of streamlines that connect Injection Efficiencies for Improved
ment of rates to maintain the fixed pat- injectors and producers; (2) accounting WaterfloodManagement. SPE
tern voidage replacement ratio, which for the dynamic nature of fluid flow and Res Eval & Eng 9(2): 187196.
usually does little to promote sweep or allowing patterns to change in time; (3) SPE 84080-PA. http://dx.doi.
avoid fluid cycling. extracting per-injector/-producer met- org/10.2118/84080-PA.
As well rates and water cuts change
over time with updated well-rate tar-
gets, the patterns and injector efficien-
cies will also change. Because there is
no assumption about fixed patterns, the
streamline-based surveillance metrics
should be updated routinely, resulting
in new rate targets. Using this feedback
loop, the field is nudged toward improved
sweep as the good injector-producer con-
nections are promoted and the bad ones
are demoted, subject to operational con-
straints, such as injection volumes and
pump capacities.
Operators have shown that using a
streamline-based surveillance approach
to update rate targets can lead to incre-
mental oil production increases above
base decline rates, ranging from 1% to
10% of fieldwide daily oil rate, with mini-
mal effort. In Oman, an operator has seen
a 2% increase in the fieldwide oil rate for
a heavy oil flood as a result of the intel-
ligent redistribution of injected water.
In Austria, OMV has achieved a 30%
increase in oil rate for a three-pattern
portion of a waterflood (Kornberger and
Thiele 2014). The improvements in both
cases came at minimal cost.

JPT MAY 2016 25

 E&P NOTES
Drilling Down On Particle Size Analyzers
Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer
Automated particle-size analyzers are
something you will not see on most
drilling rigs, but some think this out-
side-the-oil-field technology will play
a big role in the future of the drill-
ingsector.
They are routinely used in a number
of industrial processes for quality con-
trol, including agricultural plants and
mines to measure things such as the size
of corn kernels or to identify materi-
Particle-size analyzers deliver precise measurements of drilling fluids, which allow drillers
to quickly determine wellbore conditions and avoid problems. Photo courtesy of J.M. Canty.
26
als that might damage a rock crusher,
forinstance.
On a rig, particle size analyzers would
generate value by making drilling under
difficult conditions significantly easier,
and they may also help move automated
drilling efforts forward.
As drilling fluids circulate thousands
of feet through a wellbore, the bits of
material that flow back up to the sur-
face can be a telltale sign that the oper-
ation is running smoothly, or running
intotrouble.
Directly measuring these particles
would give rig crews and engineers an
unprecedented ability to quickly deter-
mine how the well is really holding up
and react if things head south. Fully
automated analyzers would go one
step further by acting on the data to
make precise adjustments to the fluid
mix, creating a savings opportunity on
drillingchemicals.
Eric van Oort, a professor of petro-
leum engineering at the Universi-
ty of Texas (UT) in Austin, believes
the adoption of such technology is in
the early stages, but he sees immedi-
ate benefits for operators and con-
tractors who commit to using it. He
coauthored a technical paper on the
subject that was presented in March at
the SPE Drilling Conference and Exhi-
bition in Fort Worth, Texas, which out-
lines the capabilities of various analyz-
er technologies.
Van Oort, also the director of UTs
automated drilling research consor-
tium, explained that analyzers will
improve upon how drillers currently
monitor and make decisions in main-
taining the quality and size of lost con-
trol materials (LCMs)substances used
to plug fractures in wellbore walls that
may lead to the partial or total loss of
the drilling fluid, otherwise known as a
loss circulation event.
Addressing these areas could help
avoid or mitigate lost circulation events,
which still account for billions of dol-
lars in [nonproductive time] annually
across the industry, van Oort said.
A critical characteristic of LCMs is
that they tend to break down inside the
well, a process known as shear degra-
JPT MAY 2016
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 dation, which ultimately renders them
less and less effective. Industry stan-
dard methods to deal with shear degra-
dation involve the manual use of sieves
for measurement and a sacks per hour
criteria for mitigation. Simply put,
such imprecise methods are not suffi-
cient for automated drilling operations
and as mentioned above, have a severe
financialimpact.
The longer-term objective is much
bigger, van Oort went on to say, adding
that he predicts analyzers will eventu-
ally enable the automation of key mea-
surements including how much fluid is
being lost into the formation.
Future systems, he said, will allow us
to fine-tune [particle size distributions]
for optimum fluid loss control and tai-
lor them to the requirements of any par-
ticular well, in a way that is much more
appropriate than the current, high-
ly indirect fluid loss measurement that
uses paper as a filtration mediumand
how much paper do we drill around
theworld?
One caveat is that the analyzers must
be able to leave the laboratory and
the static environments of processing
Simplification Key To Delivering Efficient Projects
in Low-Oil-Price Climate
Stephen Whitfield, Staff Writer
To survive in the current low-price
environment, exploration and produc-
tion (E&P) companies must better han-
dle the complexities inherent in their
projects through practices that pro-
mote capital effectiveness and col-
laboration. Owners and operators
must emphasize the long-term viabil-
ity of their assets over high returns, an
expert said.
In a presentation hosted by the SPE
Gulf Coast Section Projects, Facilities,
and Construction Study Group, Neer-
aj Nandurdikar discussed the collec-
tive actions the industry should take to
improve project efficiency. Nandurdi-
kars presentation, Journey Towards
Efficiency, was the fourth install-
ment of the study groups Spring Event
Series, Delivering Projects at Less
28
plants, and demonstrate a strong per-
formance in the oil field and be easy to
use and maintain. Otherwise, the ben-
efits of the technology evaporate quick-
ly, van Oortsaid.
Among the systems studied by UT,
top marks for accuracy went to a device
built by J.M. Canty, a Buffalo, New York-
based firm that develops process tech-
nology for a number of industries.
Whereas other systems depend on
lasers to gather their measurements,
Cantys relies on high-resolution cam-
eras. We see whats there and measure
exactly whats there, thats why were
spot on, said Miles Priore, a business
development leader with Canty.
In the UT study, the Canty device
used was a laboratory model and since
then, the company has developed
a field-hardened version that is fully
automated. But due to the down mar-
ket, only one of the new devices has
been installed on a working rig for an
undisclosedcontractor.
Priore said the system is equipped
with automated valves controlled by
software which eliminates the need for
much human involvement in the devices
Than USD 50/bbl. He is the direc-
tor of the E&P practice at Independent
ProjectAnalysis.
Nandurdikar said that while simpli-
fication is key to developing efficient
projects, the task itself is harder for
E&P companies now because they do
not engage in enough cross-disciplinary
collaboration. In addition, with nation-
al oil companies (NOCs) and service
companies managing their own proj-
ects, and NOCs partnering with spe-
cialists in other countries outside of
their home base, the role of a tradi-
tional multinational E&P company is
in flux. Nandurdikar said these com-
panies can only determine the ways in
which they can simplify their opera-
tions after they determine their roles in
a low-priceenvironment.
operation. Setting up the analyzer has
also been simplified. Once installed, the
device is calibrated and the user just has
to press start.
The critical components include a
LED backlight, a flow cell, and a micro-
scopic lens attached to a high-perfor-
mance camera that captures images of
the fluids passing by. As the software
detects changes, it can alert a remote
monitoring center via the Internet or it
can take action by sending commands to
an operational system on the rig.
By adding a hard drive to the system,
the images can be recorded and ana-
lyzed later. Priore said that in the event
of a problem, You can look at the video
footage of the particles at that exact
time and see if there is a correlation.
One of the unique features about the
companys device is that the flow cell
that allows the fluid and particles to
be observed is built by fusing glass to
metal, a process that allows glass to be
used at extreme pressures. Canty says it
has used the technology to develop the
sight glasses on space shuttle fueling
lines and is the only company using it in
the oil and gas industry.
If we want to achieve efficiency,
weve really got to attack complexity, he
said. We have to attack it everywhere
we see it, and all aspects of complexity
that we see. The reason is because com-
plexity, or specialization, creates the
illusion that we are headed in the right
direction. We think were solving the
right problems, but oftentimes, until the
fog clears, we dont know whether this is
the best project to do.
Nandurdikar said there are three
types of complexities that E&P com-
panies face in their operations: techni-
cal, political, and organizational. Tech-
nical complexities typically revolve
around the geological aspects of a project
such as water depth and reservoir pres-
sures and volumes. He said the indus-
try has learned how to handle most of
JPT MAY 2016
these issues, but areas remain in which ture shift is necessary in the current on government issues or local content
it can improve. An example he gave is economicenvironment. issues, trying to make sure projects are
technological redundancy on facilities, Yes, you are all competitors working done safely. Were going to bring that
such as the use of unnecessary valves for different goals. Chevron, Shell, BP, same culture that drove safety to now
orseparators. and Exxon are competitors, but guess drive costs, and thats not going to hap-
Political complexities arise when what? Theyre also working together, pen unless competitors are willing to
dealing with the local conditions of a or they should be working together, cooperate, hesaid. JPT
given project. These include local con-
tent requirements, government regu-
lations, and the requirements of other
stakeholders such as joint industry proj-
ect partners. Organizational complex-
ities are the additional departments, Basic Emulsifiers
functions, and specializations present
in companies that did not exist in pre-
vious years.
Nandurdikar said organizational
complexities may not have a particularly
negative impact by themselves, because
adding functions and departments cre-
ates additional jobs. However, when
combined with technical and political
complexities, they may wreak havoc
onprojects.
To solve organizational complexi-
ties, Nandurdikar suggested that E&P
companies not think of themselves in
a transactional manneras operators
putting out projects and dictating needs
WHY PAY FOR THIS,
to the supply chainand start thinking
of themselves as part of a larger, symbi-
otic ecosystem with service companies,
subcontractors, and suppliers. WHEN ALL YOU NEED IS THIS?
There is no single company, no sin-
gle supplier, that can do a project any-
more, Nandurdikar said. There are
these divisions. Any ripple effect cas- The same goes for your emulsifier purchases.
cades down the line, and you create XPLORTM Basic emulsifiers offer an economic alternative by meeting
problems down the entire supply chain. rudimentary performance requirements combined with the quality you
Until we start thinking of this as an eco- expect from the emulsifier experts, Georgia-Pacific Oilfield Chemicals.
system, I doubt were going to get the
kind of innovation we need.
Political complexities require the
adoption of a concept called co- Meet the requirements, meet the budget.
opetition, or competitive competition. Get the job done. Dont pay for unnecessary features.
He said it is possible for companies to Available for both mineral oil and diesel solvents.
embrace a collaborative spirit on issues
like local content requirements in a
region while still being mindful of their
competinginterests. Contact us at 1-866-447-2436 or
Nandurdikar used safety as an exam- visit www.gp-chemicals.com/JPT5
ple. The industrys push for increased
safety in its operations in recent years
is the result of a cultural shift that was XPLOR, the XPLOR logo and the Georgia-Pacific logo are trademarks owned by or licensed to Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC.
accepted by owners, operators, and 2016 Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC All rights reserved.

the supply chain. He said such a cul-

JPT MAY 2016 29

 Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
O
ne of the biggest ways to lower
the cost of production from
shale would be to identify
zones that are productive, or not, before
fracturing them.
There is a growing group of companies
selling new ways of cutting the cost and
time required to gather data while drill-
ing, which will allow completion engi-
neers to reduce the number of stages pro-
ducing little or nothing.
I think better placement is where
the money is, said Vikram Rao, execu-
tive director of the Research Triangle
EnergyConsortium.
While the methods and data points
vary, these new ventures are all seeking
to gather data or samples during normal
operations that can be quickly turned
into a report on a limited number of data
points, which can be used to improve
fracturing productivity.
Customers want it cheap, want it fast,
and want to see a return quickly, said
Chuck Matula, a board adviser for Drill-
2Frac, a startup company created by
Vorpal Energy Solutions, that uses data
recorded while drilling to compare rock
hardness along a wellbore.
30
It is competing with another newcom-
er, Fracture ID, whose website describes
what it does as drill bit geomechanics.
Both are selling rock property analysis
methods that are lower-cost alternatives
to accepted methods, such as well logs,
whose price limits their use in unconven-
tional plays. But the cost, data-gathering
method, and output of these two methods
differsignificantly.
Others are relying on readily available,
alternative sources of data: cuttings, fluids,
or well pressure readings. They are hitting
the market at a time when low oil prices
have created an appetite for newideas.
Definitely we are exploring lots of
technology options right now. Anything
to drive down our dollar per foot comple-
tion cost, said Kevin Wutherich, direc-
tor of completions for Rice Energy. We
are even looking at stuff that could save
USD 20,000 a well. We have a program
that might yield 70 wells a year, so that
is about USD 1.5 million. That might not
have been too big a deal (when oil was at
USD 100/bbl) but these days we will chase
that down.
Based on favorable tests, Rice Energy
is moving toward using Drill2Frac data
to design completions for gas wells in
theMarcellus.
The methods vary, as do the scale,
options, and prices, but they share some
common traits. They are offering ways
to gather information that do not affect
operations at a price and pace that allow
targeting the most productive spots dur-
ing fracturing.
Ingrain, which is the most established
of the group but still a young technology
company, sells a competitively priced ser-
vice analyzing rock cuttings with chemi-
cal and elemental analysis testing to mea-
sure total organic content, mineralogy,
and brittleness, as well as scanning elec-
tron microscopic (SEM) imaging down to
the pore scale.
Biota is doing DNA analysis of drill cut-
tings and produced oil to identify sourc-
es of oil along the wellbore. Each well
can generate more than 50 million data
points that can be used to decide where
fracture stages should be placed and
which stages in an existing well should
be refractured.
The technology used has only recent-
ly become affordable enough to use on
a large scale. If you were to do a DNA
JPT MAY 2016

sequence of a cup of coffee it would have
cost you USD 100,000 5 years ago
today its a hundred bucks, said Moji
Karimi, the business development man-
ager at Biota.
A spinoff from Statoil, Reveal Energy
Services, is looking at the fractures pro-
duced. It is taking what it learned from
converting available pump pressure data
during fracturing to map fracture net-
works and working to turn it into a busi-
ness. All are aimed at answering ques-
tions that can be answered in other ways
using tools such as well logging, micro-
seismic testing, or core samples.
A growing part of Ingrains unconven-
tional rock business is testing drill cut-
tings to see if they can be readily bro-
ken when hydraulic pressure is applied
and if they have the organic content
that can make them likely to fracture.
What makes it different is its analysis
of a select group of samples using a
SEM to see if kerogen is found in the
pores, and the geometry of the pore net-
work, which help determine if it will
be productive.
Almost every well we look at is sur-
prising in some way. The amount of
heterogeneity in a lateral wellbore can
be really, really high, said Joel Walls,
director unconventional technology at
Ingrain. He said some layers of the
Wolfcamp shale play in the Permian
Basin, for example, are so thin that the
rise and fall of the wellbore along a lat-
eral can put it in multiple zones with
differentcharacteristics.
The Point
The value of these ventures will depend
on their ability to increase production.
Our whole goal here is to provide
information that allows operators to
optimize fracturing at each stage by
matching rock properties with the stim-
ulation design, said Chris Neale, presi-
dent of Fracture ID.
The business plans assume that the
industry needs diagnostic systems that
can be used regularly while drilling in
formations prone to abrupt changes from
well to well.
The products need to be reliable, cost-
effective, and high resolution, Neale
said. The goal is to offer detailed data,
JPT MAY 2016
Three stages, each with three perforations spaced
50 ft apart, will encounter different stresses based on 1 4 7
Poissons ratio, which is a rock mechanical property
that affects stress.
2 5 8
3 6 9
Fracture modeling, based on rock property data gathered during drilling by
Fracture ID, shows how the performance of three stages will likely vary due
to distinctly different rock properties. The nine figures on the right predict
how fracs will develop at each of the perforations. The numbered pictures on
the right predict what is likely at the numbered locations along the yellow
horizontal well shown on left. Courtesy of Fracture ID.
which now are obtained using logging Much of the testing was done in the
tools that are too expensive for regular Bakken Shale. Darren Schmidt, a princi-
use and present risks, such as getting pal engineer in Statoils shale oil and gas
stuck in a horizontal wellbore. research and technology group, said, It
New rock testing methods are hitting is a simple, quick, relatively inexpensive
the market at a time when the industry way to come in and verify your model as
has slowed to a crawl and is reconsider- to what is happening.
ing how it completes its wells. All of the companies mentioned are
Prior to the crash they never slowed working on field tests comparing their
enough to do any science, Matula said. results with standard diagnostics to con-
The erratic results from designs stim- vince users of the value of their informa-
ulating regularly spaced spots along a tion. The ultimate endorsement would
wellbore, known as geometric fractur- be a paper from an operator laying out
ing, has led to a lot of energy put into how data from one of these diagnos-
how to do the best placement of perfora- tic methods were used to significantly
tions, he said. improveproduction.
The value of the new methods will Those sorts of details are hard to come
hinge on the willingness of companies to by. Statoil said fracture images based on
diverge from their habit of using geomet- pressure data led it to makes changes
ric designs, and the ability of fracturing such as altering the size mix of the sand
crews to precisely target stages. used, but did not provide further details
There is an increasing number of ref- it says are proprietary.
erences in the literature of companies In the real world of unconventional
doing geological spacing of fractures, development, the alternative is often no
Walls said. It will become more common testing at all.
as we move forward. The trends are in the Cost has long been a barrier. Well log-
right direction. The data are more widely ging costs have been sharply discounted
available. The penalty for doing it wrong since the oil price downturn. Matula said
is quite high. There is such a small margin logging, which once cost USD 350,000
in these wells at these prices. a well for the service and rig time need-
As with the drill bit data companies, ed to deploy it, now costs half that
Reveal is commercializing a lower-cost much, but in this market that is still a lot
diagnostic method for unconventional ofmoney.
formations using readily available data. No one is logging a well anymore
Selling it will require convincing users because of the expense and risk of run-
that significant insights can be gained ning a tool into a long horizontal well,
from using this new method in conjunc- Matula said. These are little technolo-
tion with other data. gies fit for the times.
31
 Getting a Feel for the Rock
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
T he force required to drill through a
rock is a direct test of its strength
and stiffness. Anyone who has ever used
a power drill to drill through plaster
and then hit a wooden beam can feel
thedifference.
Turning those feelings into a reliable
measure of the properties of rock based
on the force required to drill a long lat-
eral is a large challenge.
Two startups, Drill2Frac and Frac-
ture ID, are selling services that do that,
though their methods vary based on the
sources of the inputs and the outputs
offered to customers. Both are offering
an option that can become a routinely
used diagnostic method by those design-
ing fractures by providing information
comparable to that from a sonic log, but
at a significantly lower price.
Rock property information was also
often a missing piece for those doing
microseismic testing, which images the
impact of fracturing based on the sound
produced during certain types of frac-
turing. Users wanted better rock prop-
erty information to improve the inter-
Trajectory Plot
10,570
10,580
10,590
Total Vertical Depth (ft)
10,600
10,610
10,620
10,630
10,640
10,650
10,660
10,670
10,800
Based on data gathered while drilling, Drill2Frac creates a wellbore map showing variations in hardness along a
wellbore. Image courtesy of Drill2Frac.
32
pretation of the changes in microseismic
data gathered around a well, said Chris
Neale, president of Fracture ID, which
uses downhole drilling data for imaging.
When I was deep in the microseismic
world I was very frustrated. I could not
tell them what microseismic was telling
them. There was no in-well data to corre-
late the microseismic, said Neale, who
was a cofounder of MicroSeismic Inc.
We needed an inexpensive data stream
that could give us high-resolution rock
properties for every well drilled.
Data gathered while drilling offer a
measure that avoids the time and logisti-
cal challenges of running a sonic logging
tool into a horizontal wellbore or setting
up surface receivers for microseismic.
These companies are building on
work going back decades on formulas
to quantify rock properties based on
data gathered while drilling and rock
propertyanalysis.
In a recent paper (SPE 178842), BP
described a formula that it developed
to estimate pore pressures using drill-
ing data. The work improved on formu-
12,000 13,500
Lateral Length (ft)
las dating back to the late 1960s and
early1970s.
That approach is based on the theory
that the energy spent at the bit to remove
a volume of rock is a function of the
differential pressure (wellbore pressure
minus pore pressure) that a rock is sub-
jected to while drilling, the paper said.
A key measure in that approach and
others is mechanical specific energy
(MSE). It is a number calculated using
measurements such as the torque, rev-
olutions-per-minute, weight on bit, and
the penetration rate while drilling.
Drillers use it as a measure of how effi-
ciently they are working, and to measure
the efficiency of various combinations
of hardware and settings while drilling.
Experts in geomechanicswhich apply
mechanical engineering techniques to
rocksuse it as a measure of the force
required to break up those rocks.
Mechanical Factors
The changing condition of the rock and
the drill bit both affect these measures.
For example, as the bit wears, the rate of
15,000 16,300
JPT MAY 2016
penetration will slow as if it were cutting
through stronger rock. The challenge for
those measuring the rock properties is to
tell one from the other.
Another obstacle is that the drilling data
gathered are different based on where the
measurement is done. This becomes par-
ticularly difficult in horizontal wells.
For example, measures of torque done
at the surface are often considerably
higher than measures done near the drill
bit. The difference is due to the energy
lost to friction as the drillpipe comes in
contact with the surrounding hole, and
the force required to twist a pipe that is
miles long. Maneuvers required for drill-
ing a curved well also affect the output.
Drill2Frac gets its data from the sur-
face drilling data recorder, including
units sold under the Pason and NOV
Totco brands. The data are transferred
into a cloud computer system that can
return a report within hours. To gather a
downhole measure of torque, it uses the
differential pressure and standpipe pres-
sure as well as the mud motor pressure,
Hardness Index
Color Hardness MSE
HD1 015K
HD2 15K30K
HD3 30K50K
HD4 50K75K
Hardness Increases
which offer an estimate of the force at the
drill bit. It also uses proprietary formu-
las to estimate the impact of bit wear and
identify when the bit is sticking or slip-
ping, which affects the readings.
To avoid the challenges that come with
correcting surface data, Fracture ID gath-
ers downhole data using sensors located
directly behind the drill bit in a 12-ft- long
carrier sub. Placing sensors right behind
the drill bit allows us to directly measure
the forces on the bit, rather than estimat-
ing them from surface data, Neale said.
Its equipment records data with every
turn of the drill bit to detect changes
in rock strengthYoungs modulus
and its ductilityPoissons ratio. Abrupt
changes in the rock properties are used
as an indicator that fractures are present.
Fracture IDs analysis is designed to
adjust the data to filter out differences
caused by changes in the tool condition,
which can quickly go bad during short-
lived incidents. The data are retrieved
from the sensors when the drillstring
ispulled.
Both companies are offering reports
on well sections after they have been
drilled, and are working on ways to deliv-
er reports in real time. Real-time drill-
ing data could serve double duty, because
MSE can also be used by drillers to maxi-
mize drilling efficiency and monitor the
condition of the bit.
On the drilling side, the idea of using
downhole information to improve the
rate of penetration and monitor the con-
a newer version of the software with sig-
nificant changes, Matula said.
The tool attracted the interest of Rice
Energy as a possible lower-cost alterna-
tive to sonic logs, which it uses to identify
spots with similar rock properties to tar-
get during fracturing.
Based on data and logs from old wells
the tool appeared to offer data which
are comparable to the sonic logs. The
company plans to test how it performs
on a four-well pad compared to a sonic
log, with two wells fractured based on
log data and two based on drilling data,
said Kevin Wutherich, director of com-
pletions at Rice Energy.
Fracture ID reports it has worked in
four unconventional basins, and it has
been doing tests comparing its results
with dipole sonic logging in horizontal
wells. Those tests will help validate the
output, but their goal is to convince users
to make these tests a regular part of the
process when planning completions.
The cost is low compared with the
alternative, with Drill2Frac charging
USD 10,000. The output shows differ-
ences in the strength in the rock along
the wellbore.
For Fracture ID the cost per well is about
USD 30,000, which Neale describes as
well within the noise level of drilling and
completion costs on wells. The report
looks at changes over much shorter spans
than Drill2Frac, and offers added detail,
including locations of significant frac-
tures intersecting the wellbore.

HD5 75K100K dition of the bottomhole assembly is get- The drilling data analysis companies
HD6 100K125K
ting a lot of uptake in this environment, are hitting the market at a time when
Neale said. there are numerous theories as to why
HD7 125K150K performance varies widely from stage
HD8 150K175K
Checking Value to stage. More data may help answer the
Selling drill bit geomechanics will require question Why do results vary so much?
HD9 175K200K convincing users it generates reports as The initial sale process is to the 10%
HD10 200K225K
accurate as the established methods, and to 15% of the companies leaning forward
offers valuable insights. and using more science, Neale said.
HD11 225K250K Drill2Fracs methods have been used to At this stage the users are looking
HD12 250K300K
evaluate about 200 wells for 25 operators for correlations between the data gath-
over the past 18 months, Matula said. ered and their fracturing results. If users
HD13 300K400K Some of those jobs were by C&J Energy find ways to turn drill bit rock-property
Services, which was an early partner in reports into even modest gains, it could
HD14 400K500K
development of the software that Matula catch on.
MSEMechanical specific energy said is no longer involved. It still shares On a completion, if we can help them
ownership of the first version of the soft- get just a 3% to 4% increase in the ulti-
Drill2Frac measures the hardness of
the rock along the wellbore. Image ware, which was used for work covered mate recoveries everyone is a hero,
courtesy of Drill2Frac. in paper SPE 174839. Drill2Frac is using Neale said.

JPT MAY 2016 33

 DNA Sequencing: A New Diagnostic
Tool for Shale Wells
Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer
F or the past 2 decades, the use of
DNA sequencing technology has
largely been relegated to the domains
of criminal forensics and the health-
care industry. The company betting that
the shale industry soon will join that
list is Biota Technology, a California-
based startup.
Founded in 2013, Biota says DNA
sequencing technology can help max-
imize production in horizontal shale
wells by directing operators where to
Mean Production
Biotas DNA-Based Oil Potential Score
Oil Frac Tracer % Contribution
For the application of production profiling, same-well comparisons have shown
that microbial DNA sequencing is about as accurate as chemical tracers, and
it provides usable data over the life of the well, not just the life of the tracer.
Graphic courtesy of Biota.
34
place the wells, and how they should
becompleted.
We are addressing questions that our
customers cant answer today across mul-
tiple scales: Where are the sweet spots
and producing intervals for each stage,
what is the fracture height for each well,
and what is the connectivity between
multiple wells? said Ajay Kshatriya,
chief executive officer of Biota.
Biota so far has used its technology
on 60 wells operated by six different US
producers. Its novel approach involves
analyzing the DNA of tiny microbes that
coexist with the oil, water, and rock in
the subsurface. There are hundreds of
thousands of different microbes living
inside a formation but certain species
are associated with hydrocarbons tend
to stand out.
Their unique signatures and locations
along the wellbore allow Biota to gener-
ate a production profile which can then
be used to design engineered comple-
tions in subsequent wells, or to identify
refracturing opportunities.
Think of the DNA as a tracking
device, said Kshatriya. It is a high-
resolution data source that provides 4D
analysis across the production life cycle,
which doesnt introduce environmental
risk or require downhole tools.
During a drilling operation, as many
as 600 samples may be taken from a sin-
gle well. These samples come from drill-
ing mud and cuttings and provide base-
line data needed to characterize the well
as production begins and comingles all
of the microbial DNA.
More samples are taken during com-
pletion operations and then from pro-
duced oil and water during production.
To screen for contamination, Biota sam-
ples several sources of DNA, including
the humans working on the job and any
dirt at the drillsite that may be swept
into the well duringoperations.
All this information is com-
piled and sifted through by the com-
panys data scientists and its machine
learning software to find the most
importantcorrelations.
Among Biotas largest investors is a
multibillion dollar company called Illu-
mina, a leading DNA technology devel-
oper that credits itself as a pioneer in
the effort to drive down sequencing
costs from around USD 100,000 per
sample to about USD 100 in just 5 years.
As it continues to build a track record
and demonstrate its value proposition
JPT MAY 2016
to the industry, Biota has yet to disclose
its pricing structure.
But the company notes that it was
founded on the idea that the new and
dramatically lower price point meant
shale producers could now afford to
use DNA sequencing as a diagnostic
technology in each and every wellan
aspect that the company hopes will dis-
tinguish it from the established technol-
ogies it is competing against.
Production logs are generally viewed
as expensive and they require wells to
be shut in for a period of time until the
tool run is completed. Biotas sampling
process is done at the surface, from a
shale shaker or a flowline for instance,
and requires no shut-ins or anything to
be sent downhole.
Tracers and microseismic are also
great tools, noted Kshatriya. But you
cant get that 4D snapshot along the life
cycle of the wellyou get an initial point
in time and thats their reallimitation.
Stuck with a packer you
thought was removable?
We are addressing
questions our customers
cant answer today across
multiple scales.
Ajay Kshatriya,
Chief Executive Officer, Biota
Biota is also putting its technolo-
gy next to downhole fiber-optic sys-
tems which have gained wide accep-
tance in the industry for their ability to
deliver high-resolution data. Like DNA
sequencing, fiber-optic systems provide
data for months after installation, if the
fiber remains intact, but their biggest
downside is cost. At around USD 1 mil-
lion per installation, fiber-optic systems
are generally used only on pilot projects
and science wells.
Perhaps the most similar technolo-
gy to DNA sequencing in terms of data about 23weeks.
output is geochemistry testing. DNA
sequencing and geochemistry tests can
be run at any point in time to analyze the
makeup of a wells production stream
and depend on the presence of organic
materials to generate usableinsights.
Biota says its DNA data line up with
geochemistry tests, per independent
studies. But the company points out that
DNA sequencing provides 1,000 times
more data than a geochemistry test,
which allows it to detect much smaller
variations in production behavior.
The company has also explored DNA
sequencing applications for convention-
al wells and offshore production facili-
ties. In the short term, Biota has goals
to integrate DNA data with other sub-
surface data sets that companies rou-
tinely use. Farther down the road, it
hopes to develop new ways to analyze
the DNA data in real time. Current lead
time from field to laboratory results is
Unlike other removable packers,
the VO-rated BASTILLE production
packer stays removableeven after
maintaining a gas-tight seal for years
in a 400F, 17,500-psi well.
Visit Bakerhughes.com/BASTILLE to
learn more about this industry-leading
HP/HT removable production packer.
2016 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 44216 04/2016
 Grinding Out Big Data
From Tiny Samples
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
W hen describing what Ingrain does
for oilfield clients, the rock-test-
ing companys director of unconvention-
al technology, Joel Walls, points out that
it is not just forscience. are some of the best in the industry,
He brings it up repeatedly because the
company, known for being a pioneer in
methods built on imaging ultratight rock
at the core level, has built a business test-
ing drilling cuttings to help identify pro-
ductive, fracturable rock to help opera-
tors design bettercompletions.
The pricing and turnaround time is
designed to fit into the industrys need to
sharply increase the productivity of wells
Vertical Direction
An image of a microscopic rock sample shows the different sources of oil and
gas. There is kerogen (green) making up 22% of the volume, while pores with
kerogen in them (red) make up 8.6%, and water filled pores (blue) 0.2%. The
permeability is from 0.3 to 0.9 microdarcy. Courtesy of Ingrain.
36
using better diagnostic testing at a time
when drilling has greatly slowed.
The asset teams and technology that
remain in these (operating) companies
well data. But there is a limit on the time
Walls said. With the slowdown there is
time to consider what they need to do,
plan, and do more testing. The testing
is guided by the realization that produc-
tion performance varies widely from well
to well, and from stage to stage due to
unpredictable variations in the rock.
Before the oil price crash, companies
commonly would optimize a drilling
program by doing a few heavily moni-
1 m
tored science wells to establish a standard
design for the many wells thatfollowed.
Wide performance variations made a
case for the value of adding individual
and money available to do so.
The objective is to do it relatively inex-
pensively on every well drilled, he said.
To deliver on that Ingrain had to develop
a system to scale up that process to deliver
results in time to be used to adjust com-
pletion designs based on field-scale data.
The trend is doing it quickly and
doing it in a repeatable fashion on a com-
mercial scale using current technology,
Walls said.
The turnaround time can be days, but
it is normally about a week, for a price
that he said is in the same range with
other new testing methods costing less
than USD 100,000 per well.
The cutting testing program uses min-
eral and elemental tests to measure brit-
tleness, which can highlight if sections
can be effectively broken using hydraulic
pressure, and a look at pore-scale imag-
ing to quantify the hydrocarbon-filled
pores, which provides a good estimate
ofpermeability.
Everyone is interested in drill cuttings,
Walls said, adding the qualification, They
may be doubtful we can get information
they want from rock samples so small.
That points to the toughest challenge
facing those selling wide area analysis
based on testing tiny rock chips drawn
from cuttings gathered every 30 ft in lat-
erals often 10,000 ft long. To select 10 to
20 representative samples, Ingrain has
developed a machine learning algorithm
capable of recognizing patterns along
the wellbore and identifying which spots
could offer a view of the big picture.
The data from these high-resolution
scanning electron microscope imag-
es, and similar observations from other
wells in the area, are used to spot trends
and relationships in the rock properties
and estimate the reservoirvolume.
JPT MAY 2016
 The 2016 generation Anti Stick-Slip Tool (AST) uses a new
counterforce solution for balancing the load on the PDC cutters
in both axial and angular directions. This makes it possible to land
any PDC drill-bit on hard rock without risk of impact damage.

HARD ROCK NEWS

The better protection of the PDC cutters in the first contact 3D & LAYOUT: RENDER.NO
NEW XC-AST
with the bottom of the hole has already delivered impressive
results. An operator in South-Eastern Europe recently drilled
a deep 6.0 inch section in one bit-run with excellent ROP.
The bit drilled for 235 hours to a local TVD record of 5350m
(17500). Back on surface, the bit was graded 1-3-WT.

A similar result was obtained by a major operator drilling on

the UK shelf where the planned turbine and impregnated bit
The counterforce upgrade enables the new XC-AST to
was replaced by a conventional PDC bit and the AST solution. continuously balance the loading on the cutters. This
prevents the onset of damaging vibrations when the
Contact us: cutters are lowered to fast on to hard rock or when the
bit bites too deep in to a new formation layer.
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Stavanger: +47 51 95 11 70
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www.tomax.no
 Mapping Fracturing
With Pressure Change
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
A service using pressure data from a
few nearby unconventional wells to
map fracturing will soon be for sale.
Statoil developed the method, and has
used it to improve how it completes wells
in three US unconventional plays, said
Matt Dawson, investment manager at
Statoil Ventures, which created a com-
pany to market the method, called Reveal
Energy Services.
The approach assumes that in forma-
tions where most of the hydrocarbons
are trapped in a dense, nearly imper-
meable matrix with a limited number
of fractures, the pressure of the flow
through those pathways can be measured
in nearby wells.
The signalsa poroelastic pressure
responsecan be 10100 psi, said Daw-
son, who also helped create the method.
The extremely limited flow in the for-
mation, and the fact the monitoring wells
are pressurized with water to protect
This rig is drilling in the Eagle Ford for Statoil, which has been using a method
it developed to track the impact of hydraulic fracturing using wellhead
pressure data at several nearby wells. It is now marketing the test to others.
Photo courtesy of Statoil.
38
them from the fractures growing from
the well to be stimulated, ensures that the
measurements are of the pressure pro-
file in the stimulated fracture, he said.
With multiple surface measurements
of pressure changes during fracturing
data from at least two wells are required,
and more is betterDawson said it is
possible to measure the largest fractures
length, height, and angle.
The method developed to track fluid
flows through fractures has been used to
evaluate Statoil wells in the Bakken, Eagle
Ford, and Marcellus shales, and Daw-
son said we are confident it will work in
those three.
More than one-third of the companys
wells in the Bakken were tested over a
12-month period, he said. Within a year
he said they hope to be able to gather and
interpret the data quickly enough for it
to be used by crews as they are fractur-
ing the well.
When Statoil researchers asked engi-
neers in the field if they could try the test
during fracturing in the Bakken, there
were questions about how much it could
complicate fracturing.
It really turned out to be not very dif-
ficult to accommodate into normal oper-
ations, said Darren Schmidt, a princi-
pal engineer in Statoils shale oil and
gas research and technology group. The
method requires setting plugs at certain
times while fracturing, but if you are
zipper fracturing a well, you can fit this in
normally on a multiwell pad and then get
some good information, said Schmidt,
who was then doingcompletions.
Fracture analysis based on pressure
readings has been compared by Statoil
against 11 other diagnostics, includ-
ing tracers, shut-in interference tests,
and production rate transient analysis.
Reveal is currently running a field test
for an operator comparing its results
with microseismic imaging, fiber optics,
and electromagnetic imaging, he said.
The service, which has been used by
several customers already, will likely be
priced at the high end of the range from
USD 10,000 to USD 90,000, Dawsonsaid.
The method requires a pressure re-
sponse from a limited number of frac-
tures. It will not work in a conventional
reservoir or in unconventional ones with
extensive natural openings for fluid flow,
such as the Barnett. A strong fracture hit
into an adjoining well means data from
that stage cannot be used.
Adding what has been learned about
fracturing using pressure analysis to other
observations led to changes in fracturing
methods, from a shift in the sand size mix
to better prop smaller openings to earlier
deployment of diverter to more effectively
limit growth of the largest fractures.
Fracture mapping is another tool to
help us better understand our fracture
geometry with minimal cost incurred,
said Wesley Zurovec, a completions engi-
neer for Statoil in the Eagle Ford.JPT
JPT MAY 2016
 PRESSURE TEST
for E&P Innovation
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
O
il prices are so low that the oil
industry is having to consider
doing things differently. It is a
hopeful sign for the future for innova-
tors who have been struggling to keep
going and have potential customers with
little to spend and a lot to worryabout.
What we see is a lot of consolidations
and slowdowns now. A lot of risk-averse
folks out there who do not know if their
companies will survive from one day to
the next, said Chuck Matula, who is a
board adviser and founder of a company
called Drill2Frac, which offers services
aimed at unconventional producers.
2015 was an absolute blur. Abso-
lutely everyone was trying to keep an
oilfield operation afloat, there was so
much indecision and uncertainty, Rich-
ard Broderick president and chief exec-
utive officer (CEO) of Fountain Quail
Water Management, said during a ses-
sion at the recent IHS CERAWeek con-
ference in Houston.
Demand for the water company and
others has slowed as drilling and com-
pletion work plummeted in shale fields
where the cost of adding production
exceeds the price of oil, which dipped
below USD 40/bbl in early April.
Those still on the payroll have power-
ful motivation to consider how to reduce
operating costs or increase production
enough to pump profitable barrels if oil
edges toward USD 50/bbl.
Those with likely answers to that
question were getting some traction
when prices where high, but not as
much as they are now, said Vikram Rao,
executive director of the Research Tri-
JPT MAY 2016
angle Energy Consortium. Sales are lim-
ited because they can only make that
point to survivors.
Rao divides the market into three
groups based on their financial needs.
At the top are the companies with
secure financial futuresthe majors
and the strongest of the independents
and at the bottom are those in serious
financial trouble. The rich have resourc-
es to spend, though it is limited by their
drive to reduce costs; but their survival
is not at stake. That is the issue for com-
panies at the other extreme, which have
no money to spend because they are
focused on dealing with creditors.
In the middle are those companies
with some money to spend and a great
sense of urgency. Their long-term future
depends on quickly lowering their cost
per barrel enough to survive with oil
selling for less than USD 50/bbl. And
they will not be able to get there by
squeezing suppliers for more discounts.
What is happening is, basically, inno-
vate or perish for anyone in between,
Rao said. They have 2 years to show they
can survive, and 3 years to makegood.
They cannot keep doing things the
same way and they are looking for new
solutions, said Mark Wilkinson, a vice
president for GroundMetrics, which is
trying to convince companies that they
can better understand what is going on
in the ground by using electromagnetic
imaging to track water and carbon diox-
ide flooding, or spot missed oil reserves.
Faced with similar cost pressures,
and an equally awful economic envi-
ronment in the 1980s, Rao said opera-
tors did manage to quickly reduce the
cost of production, frequently employ-
ing innovations from the service sec-
tor. The industry embraced 3D seismic,
subsea completions, horizontal drilling,
and logging while drilling (LWD).
Dogged persistence is an essen-
tial trait for oilfield innovators in
good times and bad. Most operators
are not adverse to new technologies,
but few can afford to be new technol-
ogy leaders, said George King, distin-
guished engineering adviser at Apache
Corp. High on his long list of obstacles:
Most new technology promoters do
not appear to know how to effectively
introducetechnology.
The comment speaks volumes to
Pradeep Anand, a consultant who teach-
es Strategic Marketing in the Energy
Industry to a class of graduate students
at Rice University, drawing on his experi-
ence marketing oil and gasinnovations.
We are dealing with a very risk-
averse industry that is very measured
in its adoption of new technologies and
rightfully so. Add to it, the increasing
reluctance to change corporate and pro-
cess habits over time and we have a
seemingly immovable object, he said.
The key is to win support from the
select group of companies whose busi-
ness is built on innovation. Rather than
developing an infinite force to move this
immovable object, technology innova-
tors have to work on the fringes, which
are firms that have good reasons to
adopt new technologies to create com-
petitive advantages in their markets,
Anandsaid.
39
 While working as Halliburtons chief
technology officer, Rao said the compa-
ny tracked which customers were most
likely to use new technology. Because the
list of innovative operators was short,
they paid close attention to the top five,
four of which were big independents.
A few oil companies are much more
aggressive about innovation. It differen-
tiates them. Their culture is based on it,
said Rustom Mody, chief engineer enter-
prise technology for Baker Hughes.
Pioneer Natural Resources is an
example of a company that has contin-
ued to invest in new technology through
the downturn.
Technology innovation is one of
Pioneers key paths for growth in the
coming decades, said Sha-Chelle Man-
ning, director of corporate innovation
atPioneer.
Pioneer estimates the value of its inno-
vation program is USD 500 million over
the next 10 years, which will foster greater
efficiency, reduced general and adminis-
3,000
2,500
Left axis
2,000
Number of Firms
1,500
1,000
500
0 0
1977 1980 1983
Oilfield service companies have taken over as the big spenders on research and development in exploration and
production after oil companies reduced their role during the 1980s oil bust. Both groups significantly increased their
outlays until cuts in 2015. Chart courtesy of IHS.
40
trative expenses, increased competitive-
ness, and improved estimated ultimate
recoveries, Manning said, adding that
with low prices, the need for investment
in innovation is moreurgent.
Shock Treatment
Oilfield innovation is talked about as if
it were an endangered species. That is
understandable after waves of layoffs
and budget cuts. One technology consul-
tant, who asked not to be named, said,
One of the concerns we have heard, and
it is a very real concern: Have we cut so
much we will not be able to restart the
industry again?
Those selling innovation are waiting
uncomfortably for a rebound. I do not
see that new technology is going into
use like it was in cycles past. I cant
say why. Perhaps because it was such a
rapid downturn, said Richard Spears,
vice president of Spears and Associ-
ates, which has also invested in a couple
ofstartups.
1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001
Year
E&P Firms Oilfield Services Firms
Service company layoffs repre-
sent the largest number of the more
than 250,000 workers laid off in 2015,
according to a survey by John Graves,
a Houston oil industry consultant. Big
service company budget cuts have hit
research and development (R&D). For
service companies I am seeing double-
digit reductionsaround about minus
15% in R&D budgets, said Carolyn
Seto, director of upstream technology
and innovation atIHS.
A review of company annual and finan-
cial reports for 2015 shows a 9.1% drop
in research and engineering spending at
Schlumberger, a 29% drop at Hallibur-
ton, and reductions at Baker Hughes and
Weatherford of around 20% each.
All those were well short of the rev-
enue declines that led to deeper cuts in
operational budgets. As a result, Halli-
burtons spending on long-term technol-
ogy development rose in 2015 to 2.8%
of its 2015 revenues, up from 2.4% the
year before, and Schlumbergers rose to
175
Left axis
150
125
Oil Price (USD/bbl)
100
75
Right axis 50
25
2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
Oil Price
JPT MAY 2016
3.1% of revenues last year, from 2.5%
in 2014.
Pessimists warn of a repeat of the
1980s, when the lingering slump led
to many years of R&D spending cuts.
But the structure of technology devel-
opment has changed. Back then, big oil
companies were the biggest spenders on
R&D. Now the service sector is the lead-
er by a widemargin.
The transition period resulted in low
R&D spending for a time. It took until
the mid-1990s, when the large service
companies grew through consolidation,
for service company spending to sur-
pass what oil companies were doing.
Service sector R&D spending has
grown sharply since then, with a surge
beginning in 2010. Inflation-adjusted
R&D spending in the industry is far high-
er now than the peak in the early 1980s
boom, even with last years dip. Service
company R&D outlays are nearly double
what oil companies spend, which is also
up from where it was early thiscentury.
SPE COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT TOOL
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is an investment in your self-assuranceand your future.
The question this time around is, if
the slump continues, will service com-
panies continue cutting R&D spending
as oil companies did in the 1980s. While
the pressure is there to spend less, deep
cuts in innovation programs now come
with significant downsides for service
companies in the long term.
For them, a productive technology
development program is a competi-
tive weapon. At a time when buyers are
demanding, and getting, deep discounts
for most products and services, a new
offering which is able to lower the cost
per barrel of production can still sell for
a premium price, Rao said.
On the one hand, service compa-
nies must keep up with the biggest
names in the business; on the other
is the threat to margins posed when
prices are set by low-cost producers or
commoditymarkets.
Carbo Ceramics has committed to an
innovation program to add value to the
ceramic grains of proppant it sells, in a
Are you on track?
Or way off course?
Where are you? Find out now.
www.spe.org/training/cmt
business where the price of plain prop-
pant is set by competition with low-cost
international manufacturers, and even
lower-cost sand.
The company is creating a growing
line of products that add new functions
to the ceramic grains that go beyond
propping the reservoir, such as one that
delivers a controlled release of scale-
reducing chemical in a reservoir. Its
most ambitious project, which moves it
into the geophysics business, is a prop-
pant with a coating that shows up in
electromagnetic images. That ground-
breaking initiative has required that a
company whose expertise is in ceramic
manufacturing create methods to detect
it and data-processing algorithms
forimaging.
Keeping technology development
going in this downturn is not easy, said
Terry Palisch, global engineering direc-
tor for Carbo. We have committed to
this project. It is tough. Customers are
not willing to spend much money.
International Human Resources Development Corporation
 learned from that technical achieve-
Data Survey ment and reduce its cost and complexity
enough to make it a widely used option.
DNV GL recently asked 900 senior oil and gas professionals about Making what is technically possible a
data use now and in the future. The survey shows that they are profitable fact of life is the challenge fac-
interested, but have theirdoubts. ing large segments of the industry now,
20% considered operations highly digitalized today such as US shale operators. We know
36% plan significant or moderate investment in big data and what to do, we just need to do it cost-
analytics in 2016 effectively, Rao said.
45% see solid or high potential for data and analytics to make the Industrywide there is a lot of room
industry more efficient for productivity improvement. Over the
Cost constraints and uncertainty about the cost-saving potential past 10 years, a four-fold rise in global
are two factors that are limiting spending E&P spending yielded only 15% more
produced oil, according to Schlumberg-
The certification body identified these opportunities: er. The largest service company uses
Condition monitoring for more effective maintenance and that statistic as an argument for a great-
inspection programs, dictated by industry, historical, and real-time er role in managing projects in a way
data, leads to reduced downtime, with preventive maintenance that selects and integrates technology
based on early warnings from sensor data. more productively.
Instant information from fields can provide timely decisions on Others offer interpretations of the
underperforming wells and other potential issues, which could commercially and psychologically com-
lead to enormous costs if not dealt with. plex relationship between those who
Detecting anomalies during drilling and operation can lead to own and operate wells and the compa-
more effective decisions for cost savings. nies competing to equip and help man-
age them. But there is little argument
that the key performance measure is the
cost per barrel produced.
It is a well-supplied world. Everyone
But the commitment is seen as an pany in the near term, Seto said. With will have to compete on that cost-of-
essential piece of its business strategy. the low oil price there is a greater focus supply basis and margins will be king,
If you are going to be a tech company on R&D innovation that has a more clear said Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhil-
and you do not spend money on technol- line-of-sight path to benefits within an lips, speaking during a session at IHS
ogy, you have a gap in your program, 18- to 24-month time frame. CERAWeek.
he said. Statoil has shown what is possible in We have instrumented about every-
Long-term commitments are required 24 months, with a cost-cutting drive to thing we have in the business, and we
because technology development re- trim the bloated cost of offshore devel- are learning how to sift through all those
quires professionals with hard-to-find opment, which reduced the average cost things, he said. One goal is to reduce
skills mixing technical skills and the of development from USD 70/bbl to downtime and extend the life of equip-
ability to create products that profitably USD41/bbl last year, and it is seeking to ment, like compressors, with results so
solve difficult problems. push it lower. predictable it will be possible to extend
It takes years to build it. The skill Most people think of innovation the warranties.
sets, the personnel, the know-how, as new technology, said Margareth
Mody said. When a program is shut vrum, executive vice president tech- Data Points
down, that talent will be quickly hired nology, projects, and drilling for Statoil. Ask what is new and hot, and the answer
elsewhere, he said, adding, it is exper- But she said it can be existing technol- is data. They offer a path to quick sav-
tise you better protect. ogy used in another way. ings using an available technology
Statoils project included some ambi- from another industry and a little used
Quick Fixes tious efforts to leapfrog the existing way assetdata stored and ignored.
In an industry where marketers love to of doing things. vrum has long been For Christopher Robart this looks like
claim they are selling the next game- committed to developing subsea facto- a great opportunity. He and his brother
changing technology, operators are ries that move processing from offshore Alexander Robart, who previously built
just looking to play the game better platforms to the seafloor. Last year, the a shale data consultancy firm called Pac-
andcheaper. company demonstrated it could success- West Consulting Partners and sold it to
Research and development spend- fully locate a large gas-compression sys- IHS, are partnering with a private equi-
ing, and innovation spending, must tem on the seabed. Now she said the ty firm to build an oil and gas software
align with the strategy of the com- company is working to take what was company through multiple acquisitions.

42 JPT MAY 2016

 The timing couldnt be better to be a
buyer buying low and selling for higher
valuations. It is perfectly timed for valu-
ations, said Robart, who wants to start
with a handful of established opera-
tions that offer cash flow and customer
lists to support later acquisitions. The
initial focus is on companies enabling
operators to produce better, faster,
andcheaper.
The goal is to build and sell the com-
pany in 5 years, but the upside is limit-
ed compared with Silicon Valley, where
investors brag about finding unicorns
companies worth USD 1 billion or more.
Digital E&P applications sell to a lim-
ited group of customers with special-
ized functions, time-consuming test-
ing requirements, and the need for
significant support after the sale. While
the thinking is that combining single-
product companies into an operation
able to sell a wider range of products to
a larger group of customers can create
significant value, there is a limit. As he
put it: There will be no unicorns in oil
and gassoftware.
We have no illusions it is easy or sim-
ple, Robart said. It is all about getting
in a position for a pretty significant up-
cycle in 2 to 3 years.
Startups
An invention does not become an inno-
vation until someone buys it. Big leaps
require a customer willing to commit
the time and effort needed to prove that
something new works, fit it into their
operation, and tell others how it can help.
During the 1980s, Anand had the crit-
ical role of finding the initial customers
for one of the big technical leaps of the
era, the LWD tool made by NL Indus-
tries Sperry-Sun division.
I got thrown out of more offices, he
said. I knew one guy extremely well. He
asked me to leave. He said, There was
no way I would risk my credibility on
yourtool.
That point of his story explains why
much of what is sold as new is actually
an update of what is available.
Most service companies sell incre-
mental (gains) because that is what most
buyers want. Not what they need, but
what they want, Rao said.
JPT MAY 2016
Pioneer Resources Drilling Ideas
Pioneer stands out because its culture has long emphasized the value
of innovation and the company has the cash on hand now to support
it at a time many others do not. Its projects include the following:
Rig Power Optimization: Partnered with a rig operator to pilot
and scale a power system to offset peak load from generators. The
potential benefits are reduced generator stack maintenance and fuel
use, as well as the ability to better track power use for analysis.
Real-Time Communications: Piloting and improving real-time
communication services required to improve rig communication
services and real-time analytics.
Analytics for Improved Team and Rig Performance: Partnering with
a software company to provide analytics to compare and understand
rig performance differences and share improved practices. This has
yielded an efficiency gain of half-a-day per well.
Improved Performance of Drilling Tools: Partnered with suppliers
to improvethe design of a directional drilling component to reduce
failure rate by 50%. A partnership with a private lab is investigating
drilling-data-acquisition techniques.
Rao joined Halliburton when it and lighter than metal, will not cor-
bought Sperry-Sun, then part of Dress- rode, and could reduce the cost of off-
er Industries, after it proved LWD could shore installations. Its shareholders
be a highly profitable business. And include Shell and Chevron. Yet, when it
while he worked there, he saw that pat- comes to finding customers, lead ini-
tern repeated many times as it acquired tiation has been relatively easy. Lead
startups with promising technology. conversion is very, very difficult, Eric
The truth is that most new oilfield van der Meer, CEO of Airborne, said
technology comes from four guys leav- during a session at the IHS CERA-
ing a company. They are impatient Week conference.
with their inability to pursue their idea The downturn in demand is a factor.
where they are working so they quit Like many startups, Airborne struggles
to start something in their garage, to find jobs in which it can demonstrate
Spears said. what it can do in the field. It has worked
The flood of talented people out of with two joint industry projects to prove
work now could create a flood of start- that its pipe is capable, which took time,
ups from some of these involuntary and still there is resistance.
entrepreneurs. Industry experience is We find an asseta flowline to
a plus. Veterans in the field know the replacesomeone says I do not like it
problems that plague operations, and [Airbornes pipe] or trust it, it is not
what it takes to build something that qualified enough, or I would like to see
stands up to field use. But selling a new it somewhere else, and then it stops,
idea is still a slog. he said.
An example of that is Airborne Oil The barriers are not a sign of the times.
and Gas, which is trying to convince Based on what he expected after a 25-year
operators that flowlines made of ther- career at Shell, it has proved almost
moplastic composite pipe are stronger exactly as difficult as I thought.JPT
43
 Seismic Shifts
Waste Water
inOklahoma Disposal Well

Leadto Stricter
Regulations
Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer

I
ndustry regulators in Oklahoma have rolled out broad new
restrictions on more than 600 disposal wells as part of the
largest action of its kind taken in response to earthquakes.
An additional 118 wells have been included in an area of
interest and face increased reporting and monitoring require-
ments. Altogether, the plan affects approximately 20% of the
states disposal wells and marks a major change for the fourth-
largest oil- and gas-producing state in the US.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the states industry
regulator, spent a year issuing volume reductions and shut-ins
at a number of specific disposal sites, efforts that failed to slow
the rising rate of earthquakes. Then on 13 February, the third-
strongest earthquake in Oklahoma history shook homes across
the state and was felt hundreds of miles away by residents of
three neighboring states. No serious damage or injuries were
reported. But just days after the 5.1 magnitude trembler, reg-
ulators abandoned their pinpoint approach and announced a
regional earthquake response plan that covers approximately 7,000 ft
10,000 sq milesan area twice the size of Qatar.
For the foreseeable future, no new disposal well permits will
be granted in the restricted zone, and operators must curtail
fluid injections into existing wells by 40% of their 2014 average
rate. Based on last years figures, that means a reduction of fluid
injection of approximately 300,000 B/D.
Because water disposal is a necessary component of oil and
gas operations, the immediate scarcity of disposal wells may
drive up fees at sites operated by third parties. Recycling or
trucking the water outside of the restriction zone are expensive
options that few operators can afford right now.
If there are no feasible alternatives, ongoing production
declines may accelerate in the Mississippian Lime, the most sig-
nificant play affected by the order. The play is a carbonate for-
mation, and unconventional techniques are used to recover oil
and gas from it. Last year, production in the Mississippian Lime
was estimated to be around 100,000B/D, which accounted for a
quarter of the states overall production.

Scientists and regulators in Oklahoma have concluded

that the high-volume injections into the subsurface are
increasing the pore pressure inside the rock along the
faults, which creates a greater risk of the faults slipping.
Graphic courtesy of Steven Than/Stanford University.

44
 The play is notable for being the leading water producer in the
state. To handle all the produced water, along with much smaller
fractions of drilling and fracturing fluids, operators have spent
millions of dollars on drilling a vast network of disposal wells.
Producing Wells As they do around the world, disposal wells in Oklahoma
allow companies to efficiently and cheaply dump billions of bar-
rels of waste water a year deep into the ground. In most loca-
Waste Water Pipelines tions, this is a safe and standard practice.
But when the volume of water being injected in Oklahoma
soared to new levels, so did the rate of earthquakesnow 600
times higher than it was before 2008, according to the Oklaho-
ma Geological Survey (OGS). The consensus among regulators,
scientists, and many industry experts is that wastewater injec-
tions are the root cause of the earthquakes, a process termed
r induced seismicity.
te
Wa It could take several months for regulators to decide if their
k ing
Drin current plan has worked. If it fails, then some experts expect
to see even tighter rules or an outright moratorium on injec-
tions. There are also those who believe that reductions are
not the solution; instead, a better understanding is needed of
where disposal wells will have little or no chance of triggering
fault slips.

Mississippian Lime in Trouble

Only 4 years ago, the Mississippian Lime was hyped up as the
next Bakken Shale, a bold prediction that missed the mark by a
rs wide margin. Operators have struggled to make the play a com-
L aye mercial success and though the latest restrictions seem to cast
cing
du more dark clouds over the Mississippian Limes future, low oil
Pro and gas prices are likely to mask any immediateimpact.
Richard Zeits, founder of Zeits Energy Analytics, researches
shale operators for investors and said a number of producing
wells are likely to be shut in as a result of the new constraints.
But he also noted that production in the area is already on
course to decline by 20% or more by the end of this year.
Even without regulatory restrictions, he said, there are
many questions with regard to what threshold oil price might
be required for [the Mississippian] Lime to be a profitable play.
n
a tio Initially, the Mississippian Lime was seen as a perfect appli-
Form cation for horizontal drilling, according to an OGS report writ-
le
uck ten in 2012 when activity levels were starting to ramp up. A year
Arb later drilling activity peaked and several companies sold off
their entire positions at fire-sale prices.
The plays largest producer and operator of a number of dis-
Fault posal wells, Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy, doubled
down around that time and acquired more core acreage leases.
m ent 16,000 ft
ase In March, the company said it may not survive for much longer.
eB If that is the case, SandRidge would be the largest shale produc-
llin
sta er to file for bankruptcy protection since the downturn began.
Cry Operators competed for large swaths of the play that spans
both Oklahoma and Kansas knowing it had higher than nor-
mal water cuts. In addition to high oil prices, they believed the
water handling costs would be offset by lower drilling and com-
pletion costs. Many areas of the Mississippian Lime are consid-
ered shallow compared with other plays (between 1,600 ft and
7,000 ft) and since it is a carbonate as opposed to a shale, it is

45
 Arbuckle Disposal Wells 20122014
OK Earthquakes 20142016, magnitude
<2
23 Map by: Sam Limerick
34 samlimerick@gmail.com
Date: 4/4/2016
5.1
Water Injection Volume Reduction Areas
Central Plan Est. 3/7/2016
Western Plan Est. 2/16/2016
Area of Interest for Study
After a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in February, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has taken its biggest steps yet to
mitigate the growing earthquake problem in the state. Graphic courtesy of Sam Limerick.
easier to drill through and requires lower
horsepower rigs.
But the more operators got to know the
Mississippian Lime, the less they liked
it. Wells depleted too quickly and due to
its remoteness, companies faced spend-
ing tens of millions of dollars on power
lines needed to run pumps for lifting
anddisposal.
And the water cuts were not just high-
er than normal, they were often extraor-
dinarily high. Newly completed oil wells
have been known to pump out as much as
98% water at a rate of thousands of B/D.
Those who have worked the Mississip-
pian Lime sometimes quip that it is really
a water aquifer with just a little bit of oil
sitting on top.
Even if prices rise enough to make the
play profitable, the disposal limits will
essentially act as a cap on future oil pro-
duction. And as bad as things are now,
46
they could always get worse if further
limits are put in place. Zeits said the big-
gest risk facing operators is the uncer-
tainty about how the situation will play
out and whether the response plan meets
its objective.
If there are more big earthquakes, the
regulators may have little choice but to
impose even stricter rules, he said. I am
not saying this will happen, but if it did,
the impact on production and cash flows
would be potentially a lot more severe.
Legal Faults Widening
The spike in Oklahomas seismic activ-
ity prompted the US Geological Survey
to recently issue its first 1-year forecast
for earthquake hazards in the continen-
tal US. The federal agency, whose seis-
mic risk assessments are used to develop
building codes and guide policy mak-
ers, said Oklahomans face a 5% to 12%
chance of incurring minor home dam-
age such as fallen plaster or cracks in
the walls due to an earthquake induced
by injections. It is the same risk level
assigned to naturally occurring earth-
quakes in the seismically active state
ofCalifornia.
Keith Hall, a professor and director
of the Mineral Law Institute at Louisi-
ana State University, presented a tech-
nical paper on the legal risks associated
with induced seismicity at last years SPE
Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Con-
ference. He said that since then, there
have been more earthquakes, more regu-
lations, and more lawsuits filed by home-
owners. The one thing I am seeing less
of is skepticism about whether there is
really a problem, he said.
Hall added that environmental groups
have begun using the issue as a legal
wedge that may affect future permits,
JPT MAY 2016

especially for those on federal lands.
And so far, two class-action lawsuits have
been filed in state court against disposal
well operators in Oklahoma.
While most of the earthquakes have
caused little damage, Hall said if enough
homeowners report small cracks and too
many sleepless nights, then you could
get significant [monetary] damages, even
though no particular plaintiff suffered
that much.
Research Looking for Details
The latest research has moved past prov-
ing that the earthquakes are induced
and is focusing on unanswered questions
such as why some areas with lower injec-
tion volumes have more seismic activity
than areas with higher injectionvolumes.
There is a lot more than just injection
that is needed to cause earthquakes
you might think of it as a perfect geolog-
ic storm, said Rall Walsh, a PhD candi-
date at Stanford Universitys department
ofgeophysics.
At the center of that storm is the deep-
est sedimentary rock layer in Oklaho-
ma called the Arbuckle formation, the
primary target for most of the states
disposal wells. Walsh published a wide-
ly circulated study last year that found
that between 1997 and 2013 injection
volumes doubled to 160 million bbl
per month, most of which went into
theArbuckle.
Much in the way that accountants will
follow the money, we followed the water
through Oklahoma, he explained.
The Arbuckle lies below the hydrocar-
bon layers and just above the fault-laden
basement rock. It has been described as
the ideal formation for disposal. Due to
its low pressure, it eagerly vacuums up
incredible volumes of water, and vast
networks of natural fractures, vugs, and
caves provide plenty of extra real estate
for the injected water to reside in. Or so
it was thought.
Because the formation is not hydrauli-
cally isolated, Walsh and other research-
ers believe excess fluid pressure is
migrating into the basement layer where,
in some cases, it spreads out for a mile or
more. And when the pressure on a fault
exceeds the pressure holding it in place,
it slips, causing an earthquake. Walsh is
JPT MAY 2016
Behind the Oklahoma Earthquakes
Earthquake swarms are occurring over approximately 15% of the state
where injections of produced water have risen significantly in recent years.
The majority of produced-water injections are taking place in the Arbuckle
formation that overlies the crystalline basement rock.
Most of the earthquakes are happening within the crystalline basement
rock that is much deeper than oil and gas operations.
High-bulk permeability sections within the Arbuckle allow pressure from
injections to be transmitted several miles away from a disposal well.
The high density of disposal wells in central and north-central Oklahoma
and the geologic characteristics of the Arbuckle make attributing specific
wells to specific seismic activity difficult.
Source: Oklahoma Geological Survey
now analyzing the known faults in Okla- what all of your neighbors are injecting
homa to determine which are close to down their wells too that matters.
slipping and which ones you couldnt
make slip if you tried. New Modeling Efforts
He added that through his research it One way to observe the pressure regime in
is becoming increasingly clear that the the Arbuckle would be to use decommis-
problem in Oklahoma is not about indi- sioned disposal wells as monitoring wells.
vidual wells but a combination of many The first person to lead such an effort is
wells that all contribute to pushing sensi- Kyle Murray, a hydrogeologist at OGS.
tive faults past their limits. As part of an agreement between Sand-
One thing weve told the operators is Ridge and Oklahoma regulators, Mur-
that it is no longer just about what they ray will have access to five nonoperating
are injecting down the well, he said. Its disposal wells. He plans to install pres-
2500
magnitude 2.5+ earthquakes
2000
Cumulative number of
1500
1000
500
0
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
200 Injection and earthquakes in Oklahoma 6
SWD
Earthquake magnitude
Unknown
150
EOR 5
barrels per month
in millions of
Injection rate
100
4
50
3
0 2.5
2000 2005 2010 2015
Using statewide data, researchers have shown a correlation between the
number and rising strength of earthquakes and disposal well injection volumes
in Oklahoma (data available up to 2014). SWDsaltwater disposal; EOR
enhanced oil recovery. Graphic courtesy of Rall Walsh/Stanford University.
47
 Chance of damage based on the average of horizontal spectral response acceleration for 1.0-second period and peak ground acceleration

Based on results from the 2014 Based on results from this study
National Seismic Hazard Model
Chance of damage from an earthquake in 2016

<1% 1%2% 2%5% 5%10% 10%12%

The US Geological Survey (USGS) issued a map showing parts of Oklahoma are now considered as seismically
hazardous as areas of California where natural earthquakes occur regularly. Graphic courtesy of USGS.

sure transducers just below the fluid line
inside the wells to take measurements
on a second-by-second basis and build
hydrogeological models with the data.
He is hoping that the transducers
will identify a pressure front moving
through the Arbuckle formation and said
such information could help operators
find safer locations to drill disposal wells
in the future, as well as where it would be
a bad idea.
This is the raw data that has been miss-
ing, he said. We think that the Arbuckle
disposals are related to seismicitywe
think that it is pressure propagating away
from those wells and reaching basement
faultsbut until someone starts measur-
ing that pressure in the Arbuckle, and
possibly in the basement rock, we wont
ever be able to documentit.
The project is being funded by industry
partners and emergency funds released
by Oklahomas governor to address the
earthquake situation. Murray said his
ultimate goal is to establish a network of
at least 12 monitoring wells.
Another modeling approach to the seis-
mic situation is to take emerging geome-
chanical modeling technology designed
to predict the effects of hydraulic frac-
turing at the wellbore level and use it to
predict fault behavior on a regionallevel.
Ahmed Ouenes, chief executive offi-
cer of the geomechanical modeling firm
FracGeo, believes that injection reduc-
tions alone will not solve the problem.
The problem is not about injection vol-
umes only he said. Its really all about
where you inject.
He recently coauthored an SPE paper
outlining how his companys software
can identify the existing stresses involved
with regional fault networks and put
them into two categories: those with low
induced-seismicity potential, and those
with a high induced-seismicity potential.
The difference between the two categories
could help explain why some areas with
high injection volumes observe few earth-
quakes and others that have low injection
rates experience manyearthquakes.
Geomechanically, it is very simple,
Ouenes said. When we see these high
injection volumes happening in the low
induced-seismicity potential areas, and
we dont see earthquakes, that confirms
that the location is more important than
the volume. JPT
For Further Reading
SPE 173383 On Liability Issues
Concerning Induced Seismicity in
Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments
and at Injection Disposal Wells:
What Petroleum Engineers Should
Know by Keith Hall, Louisiana State
University et al.
SPE 180461 The Effects of Faults on
Induced Seismicity Potential During
Water Disposal and Hydraulic
Fracturing by Nick Umholtz and
Ahmed Ouenes, FracGeo.

48 JPT MAY 2016

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CONFERENCE REVIEW
OTC Asia
Highlights
Industry
Achievements
Stephen Whitfield, Staff Writer,
and Adam Wilson, Special Publications Editor
More than 15,000 energy professionals
representing 2,500 organizations and 60
countries gathered from 21 to 25 March
in Kuala Lumpur for the Offshore Tech-
nology Conference (OTC) Asia. With the
theme Excellence in Asia, the confer-
ence builds upon the highly successful
inaugural OTC Asia held in Kuala Lum-
pur in 2014.
The conference reflects Asias position
as a global provider of exploration and
50
production (E&P) technology, in which
cultural and geographical diversity foster
collaboration and innovation.
Opening Session
The prime minister of Malaysia, Dato Sri
Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, gave
the keynote address during the opening
ceremony. Speaking about Malaysias role
in both the Asian oil and gas industry and
the global economic market, the prime
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri
Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak,
center, officially opens OTC Asia
with Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan
Ariffin, left, chairman of the OTC
Asia Advisory Committee, and Arnis
Judzis, right, chairman of the OTC
Asia Oversight Committee.
minister said the country was in position
to further develop a diverse economy and
become a central figure in an industry
undergoing volatile change.
Najib said the industry must have a
realistic perspective on its immediate
future. He said crude oil prices will like-
ly remain low because of several external
factors, including the continuing supply
of shale oil in the US, Irans re-entry into
the oil and gas market, and the intransi-
gence of the Organization of the Petro-
leum Exporting Countries in cutting pro-
duction to limit supply.
Despite this immediate outlook, Najib
said the Malaysian economy is in position
to withstand the aftereffects of the low-
price environment in large part because
of his governments push for greater eco-
nomic liberalization during his 7 years in
office. The prime minister cited his MYR-
67-billion stimulus package in 2009 as a
significant driver of economic growth.
Since I came in office, the [Malaysian]
government has been making the nec-
essary steps to have in place important
measures to ensure that our economy
remains resilient, to buffer our economy
so as to weather any significant systemic
shocks from domestic as well as external
sources, he said.
Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, chair-
man of the OTC Asia Advisory Committee
JPT MAY 2016
and president and group chief executive
officer (CEO) at Petronas, said that Asia
is positioned to play a leading role in the
global hydrocarbon market. The conti-
nent accounts for nearly one-third of the
global economy, and he estimated that it
will deliver two-thirds of global econom-
ic growth over the next 4 years.
Notwithstanding the current slow-
down, Asia will continue to drive [the
industry], spreading its sphere of influ-
ence across the globe, he said. Dur-
ing the 19971998 Asian financial crisis,
Western economies suffered little from
the ripple effects. However, today, they are
no longer immune to Asias oscillations.
Zulkiflee said that one side effect
of Asias economic push is that it has
opened the floodgates of innovation
and technological development.
On all fronts, Asia is striving for excel-
lence. For the oil and gas industry, cur-
rently adapting to a fundamental shift,
this mindset and drive for excellence will
be critical to adapt to the challenges at
hand and to ensure long-term robust-
ness, he said.
Executive Plenary Sessions
Two executive plenary sessions were the
highlight of the conference, giving execu-
tives a platform for discussions about the
industry in Asia in particular and leader-
ship in general.
At the first executive plenary session,
the panel discussed the steps needed to
approach sustainable growth in the midst
of low oil prices. The session, titled Off-
shore Technology and Excellence in Asia,
also touched on possible technology gaps
between Asia and the rest of the world.
Andy Brown, upstream internation-
al director at Shell, said that deepwater
projects still represent the most econom-
ical path for the industry in a low-price
environment primarily because of their
prolific production output per well. In
addition, because the sector is more
established, deep water offers the most
opportunities for owners and operators
to deliver innovative technologies and
keep costs down.
Its looking at the unit costs of these
projects, Brown said. We have to have
projects that will deliver the best. That
is the important thing, our ability to be
JPT MAY 2016
The second executive plenary session examined the prevailing traits of leaders.
at the lowest cost on the overall cost
curve and not be the marginal cost com-
pany. Thats why deep water is going to
be an important part of our portfolio
goingforward.
The panelists also discussed the role
of collaboration in the current econ-
omy and whether it is a useful tool in
increasing project efficiency. Jeffrey
Miller, president and chief health, safe-
ty, and environment officer at Halli-
burton, said collaboration is only effec-
tive if the involved parties are willing
to change their procedures in the pur-
suit of a better outcome. I would say,
in the current commodity environment,
that were having better discussions
around what collaboration might look
like and how it might reduce costs, but,
at its heart, it needs to define an out-
come that we can achieve as opposed to
defining how we achieve that outcome,
Miller said.
The panelists also discussed Malaysias
role in the industry and whether develop-
ment in the country and the Asian conti-
nent is lagging behind other parts of the
world. Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, senior
vice president of upstream Malaysia at
Petronas, said many investors see the
region as a low-cost opportunity. How-
ever, he said, continued investment will
help the region catch up to the tech-
nological developments seen elsewhere.
Anuar pointed to Petronas investment
in carbon dioxide sequestration, separa-
tion, enhanced oil recovery, and imagery
as examples.
In the region, I think its a mixed and honesty.
bag of development along the technol-
ogy space, Anuar said. By far, in Asia,
we are very much being used as a place
to build manufacturing facilities, almost
a low-cost labor position. But were going
up the curve.
Brown and Miller disagreed with
the notion of Asia being purely a low-
cost opportunity for owners and opera-
tors. Miller said it is a mistake to equate
increased manufacturing in Asia with
purely cost-cutting motives and that
research and development efforts in the
region have been just as important to the
industry as any cost savings. Brown said
Malaysia, in particular, was a great place
for innovation.
The second executive plenary session
of the conference gathered three leaders,
who also happen to be bosses, on stage
to talk about the distinction between the
two titles.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, group CEO
and director of Air Asia; John Rice, vice
chairman of General Electric; and Rajeev
Peshawaria, CEO of the Iclif Leadership
and Governance Centre, were the speak-
ers at the session, titled Achieving Excel-
lence in Asia: Leadership Stories. The
session was moderated by Satish Shan-
kar, managing partner of Bain and Com-
panys Southeast Asia region.
While the three speakers appeared to
have differing leadership styles, as evi-
denced by the suits worn by Rice and
Peshawaria compared with the jeans
and T-shirt worn by Fernandes, they all
seemed to recognize common traits that
differentiate leaders from bosses. These
traits, they agreed, were transparency
Our best leaders do two things
always, Rice said. They are who they
51
 say they are, and they do what they say
they are going to do.
Fernandes continued the thought. I
think too many leaders are not transpar-
ent and poor communicators, he said.
So there is suspicion between the team
they lead and the leader himself.
Rajeev, who wrote the book Too Many
Bosses, Too Few Leaders, took the dis-
tinction further. To me, leadership is not
a title or a position, which is what a lot of
people confuse leadership with. To me,
leadership is a burning desire to create a
better future.
That better future is created, from a
leadership perspective, through empow-
ering people, the panel said. Leadership
is about turning raw diamonds into dia-
monds, Fernandes said. You are only as
good as the people behind you.
Bosses use position power, Pesha-
waria added. Bosses use their title to
coax people. Leaders use the power of
their values and their purpose to influ-
ence, not their position. Leaders look to
the future. Bosses cling to the past.
The panel was able to offer a perspec-
tive of the oil and gas industry from the
outside because none of them work with-
in the industry. Fernandes pointed out
that the low oil prices were actually good
for his airline business. However, he said,
his company does not act differently dur-
ing the good times than it does in the dif-
ficult times.
The first page of the playbook is its a
cycle, Rice said. Thats Rule 1. Rule 2 is
communicate. Youve got to be out front
talking to people.
In a downturn, its the people that
suffer the most, Fernandes said. And
the message to organizations here is
that your biggest asset is your people.
And that should be the last thing that
52
you want to cut, really, because you have
invested hundreds of millions of dollars
in developing these people.
Panel and Special Sessions
In addition to the plenary session, the
conference also presented 10 panel ses-
sion and six special sessions. These ses-
sions are designed to be highly relevant
to the industry in the current climate, as
it deals with the impact of low prices,
said Muhammad Zamri Jusoh, vice presi-
dent of Malaysia Petroleum Management
at Petronas and chairperson of this years
program committee. Taken together,
the sessions provide a holistic view of the
challenges and opportunities facing the
industry and what it can achieve by get-
ting things right.
The fifth panel session of the conference
encapsulated that concept of challeng-
es and opportunities. After an introduc-
tion that presented the current depressed
state of the oil and gas market, indus-
try leaders from service, production, and
consulting companies found room for
cautious hope, reminding attendees that
oil and gas is a long-term business.
Speakers James Taylor, vice president
of consulting and project management
at Halliburton; Brian Truelove, senior
vice president of global offshore at Hess;
Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, senior vice
president of upstream Malaysia at Petro-
nas; Max Bellotti, managing director at
Saipem Asia; Shah Hakim Zain, CEO at
Scomi Group; and Dan Young, senior vice
president and head of consulting, Asia
Pacific, at Wood Mackenzie, presented
their views on the industrys future at the
panel discussion Oil Price Volatility and
Implications to Industry.
The panel members agreed that the
current market volatility will not last. The
only question, said Zain, was when the
market would recover and at what price
point. Zain was the least optimistic of the
panel members, saying the current sub-
USD-40/bbl market will last for the next
5 years. He went on to point out that the
current situation was only bad in light of
the USD 100/bbl companies had grown
accustomed to.
When asked if he thought the party was
over, he said, Its still a party. At USD 40,
its still good. In the 1990s, we all made
money at USD-20 oil. Everybody lived
very happily, and we had great lives.
The panel agreed that preparation
and vigilance are necessary during times
of a strong market, and, although the
panel increasingly found a hopeful tone,
hope is not a strategy, Truelove said.
So we try not to focus too much on
predictingprice.
Hess, he pointed out, was in the for-
tunate position of recently having gone
through a major reorganization in 2013,
selling assets it did not consider core
to its portfolio and implementing lean
processes. We did all that when oil was
USD100/bbl, so we entered the downturn
with very low debt and a good amount of
cash on hand, he said. The result has
been that Hess has not had to eliminate
positions or cancel any major projects.
Not all firms have been as fortunate.
One problem that appeared with the
healthy market was a sense of complacen-
cy that led to a trend away from efficien-
cy. When oil was USD 100/bbl, True-
love said, it was almost too easy to make
money, and people got a little bit lazy.
The struggle now is for firms to find
the efficiency that was not tended to dur-
ing the higher-price market. Once in a
while, Taib said, the industry does need
to be recalibrated. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
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 MANAGEMENT

Transforming the Upstream Service Industry

To Increase Operator Margins
Jeff Spath, Texas Oil and Gas Institute, University of Texas System

From organizational structures to pro- flow throughout the entire E&P value project design, customization, decreases
curement strategies to engineer staffing chain. Part of the reason for this is an in equipment reliability, and the misuse
and development, the upstream explo- extended period of underinvestment in or nonuse of appropriate technology.
ration and production (E&P) industry the previous 3 decades. More important- One of the overarching objectives of
is undergoing a transformation. Opera- ly, the aging production base requires my term as SPE president was to increase
tors and service providers alike are not more investment to fight decline, and the extent with which our industry col-
just tweaking, altering, and fine-tuning the newer resources such as pre-salt and laborates with other industries. We have
in this most recent downturn, they are unconventionals are more complex and much in common with and much to learn
completely rethinking the way they expensive in terms of cost per barrel. from industries such as the automotive,
work. Our business of finding, develop- Eighty percent of the global upstream aerospace, and biomedical industries
ing, and producing oil and gas profitably, research and development (R&D) spend to name just a few. It is clear that adopt-
dependably, and in an environmentally is devoted to maintaining existing pro- ing technologies and processes from
responsible manner is facing unparal- ductionarresting decline. these sister industries is one way in
leled challenges. One additional statistic that powerfully which we can improve our own technical
In conversations with many chief exec- summarizes the situation is that over the and financial performance.
utive officers during my term as presi- past 10 years, global upstream spend has In this article, I describe several addi-
dent of SPE, the most common concern increased more than 400% while pro- tional areas of focus, primarily within
I heard expressed was cost control. And duction has increased a mere 15%. Much the service providers domain, which
that was before the downturn. In fact, it of this production increase came from when taken individually or collective-
has been a concern for management for relatively expensive new frontiers such ly, can significantly reduce costs and
most of the past decade. as shale oil and deep water. However, improve efficiency levels and operating
The combination of escalating find- there have been significant cost increas- companyreturns.
ing and development costs, relatively flat es throughout the upstream industry due
global oil production, and a steep decline to such factors as labor costs, materi- Innovation
in commodity prices has put significant al costs, inefficiencies in supply chains The largest oilfield service company in
pressure on profitability and free cash and logistics, as well as the complexity of the world, Schlumberger, began actively
transforming its business in 2008well
Jeff Spath, SPE, is chief executive officer of the newly formed before the downturn. The first phase of
Texas Oil and Gas Institute, based in Houston. Before assuming the companys transformation focused on
this position, Spath was part of the Schlumberger executive boosting the performance of its technol-
management team with past positions that included president of ogy R&D organization in several areas,
the Reservoir Management Group and president of Data and including shortening time to market and
Consulting Services. He joined Schlumberger as a well testing speeding up the rate of innovation.
field engineer in 1984 and held various global positions of Why start there? Because as the indus-
increasing responsibility in reservoir engineering, research, and try has matured, both technical and
executive management. financial challenges have become enor-
Spath serves on the Deans Advisory Council at the College of Engineering at Texas
mous. Mistakes in todays highly com-
A&M University and the University of Utah and is on the Petroleum Engineering
Industry Advisory Board at Colorado School of Mines. Active in SPE, he has served
plex, often hostile environments can cost
as technical director for Management and Information on the SPE Board of Directors, billions of dollars.
as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer on production enhancement, and was the 2014 Many oil and gas projects have become
SPE President. Spath has published 26 technical papers and holds 14 patents on so capital intensive that evolutionary or
the subject of oil and gas production. He holds BSc and MSc degrees in petroleum incremental changes in tools, equipment,
engineering from Texas A&M University and a PhD in reservoir engineering from software, and systems are no longer suf-
Mining University of Leoben, Austria. ficient to keep our heads above water.

54 JPT MAY 2016

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 We need revolutionary new solutions
in other words, innovations and break-
throughs in technology design, develop-
ment, and deployment.
Reducing the number of engineering
iterations required to develop new tech-
nology, hence, shortening time to mar-
ket, was one of the main motivations and
is being achieved in two ways:
Through more extensive use of
software and computer simulation
modeling to perform rapid
prototyping
Through developing comprehensive
catalogs of standard technology
building blocks that can be shared
and reused throughout the R&D
organization.
Significant acceleration in the rate of
technology innovation is being achieved
in two ways. First, by giving scientists
and engineers greater flexibility and
freedom in how they pursue fundamen-
tal research. Second, by complementing
internal sources of innovation with exter-
nal sources such as universities, other
industries, and targeted acquisitions.
My new role at the newly formed Uni-
versity of Texas System Texas Oil and Gas
Institute is capitalizing on this second
trend by combining faculty, graduate stu-
dents, and industry experts to facilitate
collaboration between industry and aca-
demia to more efficiently provide solu-
tions to industry problems. This type
of collaboration is proving increasingly
essential to innovation. No single com-
pany, university, or government today
has all the expertise it requires. We all
need to leverage one anothers strengths.
Another way this can be done is by
geographically locating service company
centers of innovation close to the types
of resources they intend to exploit, and
close to operators who have deep under-
standing of those particular challeng-
es. For example, an innovation center
for complex carbonates was established
in Saudi Arabia. Carbonate specialists
from around the world were brought
there to join forces with local experts
and speed the development of new tools
andtechniques.
Another means of increasing the rate
of innovation is by partnering with estab-
lished experts outside the industrytake
56
nanotechnology, for example. Numerous
potential applications of nanotechnolo-
gy exist in oil and gas, from drilling fluid
modification to robotics and nanosen-
sors for enhanced oil recovery. It makes
much more sense, however, to collabo-
rate with a leading nanotechnology think
tank such as the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT)as Schlumberger
has donethan to try to recreate that
highly specialized knowledge and skill
from scratch within our industry.
Reliability
If upstream service companies could
improve the reliability and performance
of their downhole tools, rig equipment,
petrotechnical software, and other criti-
cal technologies, oil and gas companies
could significantly improve the turn-
around time and financial performance
of complex projects.
Boosting reliability can, in fact,
increase the profitability of both operator
and service provider. How? By reducing
or eliminating the need for redundancy
extra backup tools and systems in the
event of failurewhich has such an obvi-
ous impact on everyones bottomline.
As a methodology, reliability begins
with better design up front. Traditionally,
reliability improved only through a long,
brute-force process of trial and error.
The service company would develop and
introduce a new tool. An operator would
try it in the field, frown, and send it back
for round two.
A more optimal design process, on the
other hand, would engage both the ser-
vice provider and operators as early as
possible, reducing the total number of
iterations and minimizing the tendency
to customize tools for specific end users
and settings.
Using a modern data-driven approach,
the design phase should include the
tools failure patterns, the operators
performance objectives, and expect-
ed operating environments. To enhance
performance out of the box, technical
complexity should be minimized, while
the quality and sophistication of labora-
tory testing and field qualification rigs
and facilities should be maximized. Final-
ly, appropriate maintenance strategies
should be developed both to monitor and
assess the health of new technologies in
real or near-real time during operations.
Achieving optimal reliability requires
dedicated, multidisciplinary collabora-
tion throughout both design and training
processes. Benefits include greater utili-
zation of every tool, decreased mainte-
nance costs, lower nonproductive time,
and higher overall service quality.
Efficiency
Another key transformational strate-
gy for reducing both the service pro-
viders and operators costs is efficiency.
This can take several forms, the most
important of which is people productiv-
ity. Schlumbergers goal is to increase
productivity at least 20% by borrowing
best practices from other industries. One
example is the companys recent tran-
sition from a highly distributed service
model to a hub-and-spoke model that has
been proven for many years by experts in
logistics and distribution, such as FedEx
and UPS.
In this model, the vast majority of
trained specialists work out of one or a
handful of centralized hubs, rather than
dozens or hundreds of locations. Not
only does this streamline the distribu-
tion of goods and materials, but also it
requires far fewer experts to serve a par-
ticular geographic market.
Consider proppant fracturing services.
In the past, if there were, say, 25 districts
throughout the lower 48 US states, each
would be staffed with its own proppant
expert and stock its own inventory. How-
ever, demand varied from district to dis-
trict. Some locations were slow, experts
were underutilized, and excess inven-
tory sat untouched. Others were busy,
experts were overworked, and supplies
ran short. Both scenarios proved unnec-
essarily costly.
Shifting to the hub-and-spoke model
over the past 2 years effectively consol-
idated both inventory and intellectual
capital. Today, a much smaller number
of multiskilled specialists can efficient-
ly handle proppant fracture operations
across the US from one of two major hubs.
This has dramatically improved people
productivity while lowering inventory
costssavings now being passed along
to operators nationwide.
JPT MAY 2016

Innovation
Reliability
Efficiency
Integration
Areas of focus to improve operator margins. Image courtesy of Schlumberger.
Integration
Given the increasing scale, speed, and
complexity of oil and gas projects, one
way to reduce the ultimate cost per bar-
rel of oil equivalent is to increase the inte-
gration of various facets of the project.
Historically, operators tender most
oilfield products and services separate-
ly. Individual suppliers and service lines
within the large service companies sub-
mit separate pricing for each of their dis-
crete services. As a result, any project
requiring the cobbling together of mul-
tiple services quickly becomes unwieldy,
inefficient, and costly.
To control costs and minimize down-
time, operators may solicit tenders for
bundled services, lumping several dis-
crete offerings from a single supplier for
a lower total price tag. However, this
approach often fails to boost efficiency,
especially when all the product lines and,
in many cases, individual service provid-
ers continue to function independently.
The solution lies in transforming iso-
lated products and services into truly
integrated operations. An integrated
operation is one in which the interactions
among the parts are fundamentally dif-
ferent than they have been in discrete or
bundled service operations. All the prod-
ucts, services, and personnel are stream-
lined and coordinatedacross tradi-
tional domain boundariesas a cohesive
system with a single objective.
As an industry, not only do we need
to integrate services in the field, we also
JPT MAY 2016
Extending technical performance with
game-changing technology
Learning from other industries and
adopting new ways of working
Optimizing the support platform and
leveraging scale
Aligning technical and commercial
interests across the E&P value chain
need to integrate technologies and work-
flows back in the office.
In the Eagle Ford Shale, for example,
the integration of geological, geophys-
ical, petrophysical, and geomechani-
Volunteering
cal models enabled an operator to space
fracture stages geologicallythat is, in
looks good
zones of similar qualityrather than
geometrically, as in the past. In the first on you.
eight laterals completed this way, perfo- In the new SPE League
ration cluster efficiency jumped from less
than 64% to an average of 82%.
of Volunteers, giving
Integrated operations have, in fact, back suits you well.
been around for years. But the total per- As a volunteer for SPE, you
centage of truly integrated operations in
the industry remains relatively low. Over- provide the energy that makes
coming the inertia of old, familiar ways our Society work. When you
can be tricky. It takes a conscious decision join and give back, you are
and strategic vision to begin integrating supporting your peers and
technologies, workflows, services, disci-
plines, and organizations that have long the future of E&P. You are also
been segregated or merely bundled. enhancing your leadership and
collaborative skills and expanding
Bottom Line your professional profile as you
To improve operator margins sufficient-
ly to survive, indeed, to thrive in this showcase your knowledge and
severe downturn, we must rethink the talents to the industry.
fundamental ways in which we do busi-
ness. In this article, I have described four Engage. Support. Contribute.
areas that have the potential to signifi- Learn more and join us at
cantly improve operator margins when
www.spe.org/volunteer.
exercised by the service provider. The
bottom line is that we can no longer
afford business as usual and these four
areas should be a part of an entire ser-
vice industry transformation, perhaps
longoverdue.JPT
Share your story: #SPElov
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Deepwater Projects
Morten Iversen, SPE, Well Integrity Section Head, BG

The high costs surrounding deepwater must cease; industry needs to develop
If deepwater operations
developments and the low price of oil are a more-cost-effective good enough
a challenging combination for operators are to survive going mindset.
and service companies today. forward, the luxury of By simplifying, standardizing, and
Considering transportation, services, industrializing deepwater technologies,
qualifications, permitting, and infra- unnecessary customization 2530% reductions in lead time and
structure costs, capital-expenditure of facilities and individual costs are possible, but there are limits to
costs for deepwater developments are how much this can save.
much higher than they are for onshore
company specifications of The resources we are developing no
developments. Similarly, operating in components must cease. longer come from massive fields, which
remote locations, where risk must be limits the economic and cost-saving
low and safety and preparedness must potentials. Second, the industry cannot
be high, operating-expenditure costs are In addition, operators were able to create a commodity industry like the
also much higher for deepwater projects justify designing operations that were automotive industry.
than they are for those onshore. more flexible and could respond to a These issues may be overcome with
Industry has recognized that, even at greater number of scenarios. How- the willingness of the deepwater indus-
USD 100/bbl, the costs of some deep- ever, this resulted in complex designs, try to continue investing in technology
water developments were not sustain- which involved more engineering and developments, and, in particular, tech-
able, and, when it comes to USD 30/bbl greatercosts. nology and constant innovation are what
oil, it is obvious that the operator cannot However, in the current cost environ- will bring us acceptable economic prof-
justify this capital and operating cost. ment, the operator must now work with itability, which will allow us to continue
During the first decade of the 2000s, the service companies to discuss what deepwater development.JPT
escalating oil and gas prices were the ris- acceptable specifications are. If deep-
ing tide that lifted all boats. It essential- water operations are to survive going
ly bailed out many floundering projects, forward, the luxury of unnecessary cus- Recommended additional reading
masked poor project performance, and tomization of facilities and individual at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
bred profligacy and complacency. company specifications of components
SPE/IADC 168048 New Applications
of Cementing Valve Technology for Gulf
of Mexico Deepwater Operations
Morten Iversen, SPE, graduated from the University of Stavanger
byJim McNicol, Archer Oiltools
in 1981 and has worked throughout the world for different opera-
tors and for several service companies. He works for BG in the OTC 25802 Deep Offshore Gas Fields:
Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) development in A New Challenge for the Industry
Kazakhstan as the Well Integrity Section head responsible for byE. Gyllenhammar, Aker Solutions, et al.
well integrity for all wells within the KPO development. Iversen OTC 25868 Lucius and Hadrian South
holds several patents, including a patent for a tubing-conveyed Projects: Development Overview
perforating-shot detection system and a deepwater-blowout- byM. Lamey, Anadarko, et al.
preventer system for riserless light well intervention (RLWI). He has worked on imple- OTC 25896 Developing Megaprojects
menting the RLWI technology from its infancy in the late 1980s and later as a global Simultaneously: The Brazilian Presalt
subsea adviser for Welltec, optimizing the use of RLWI technology to increase well Case byFlavio Gonalves Reis Vianna Filho,
recovery in subsea wells. Iversen serves on the JPT Editorial Committee and can be Petrobras, et al.
reached at ivermi@kpo.kz.

58 JPT MAY 2016

Advancing Deepwater Kick Detection

N umerous developments in
automation have made the modern
mobile offshore drilling unit a marvel of
engineering achievement and a model
of efficiency. Yet, even with the surge in
advancements, kick detection, which
can be comparatively elementary for
a fixed drilling unit, has proved to be
significantly more difficult to master
on a vessel subject to wave motion
and currents. This paper describes
experiences, challenges, and approaches
to solving the problems related to
creating an advanced early kick-
detection system suitable for floating
mobile offshore drilling units.
Enhanced Kick Detection
The complete paper provides a discussion
of conventional approaches to kick detec-
tion. However, managed-pressure drilling
(MPD) has surfaced as a natural response
to drilling in unconventional or otherwise
difficult fields, and the need for an en-
hanced kick-detection system has been
established somewhat naturally from the
imposed needs of MPD systems. MPD is
based upon the most fundamental prin-
ciples of drilling; balancing the equivalent
circulating density to formation pressure
minimizes influx and stabilizes the well-
bore. The MPD system aims to drill a well
within a margin of the balanced pressure
of the formations being drilled. To accom-
plish this goal, a rotary head or other an-
nular sealing device is coupled with an ac-
tive drilling choke that can automatically
adjust the casing pressure. Though config-
urations of the MPD system may vary, the
primary feedback mechanism for the MPD
system in all cases is the return flow rate.
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 167990, Advancing Deepwater Kick Detection, by Austin Johnson,
Christian Leuchtenberg, Scott Petrie, and David Cunningham, Managed
Pressure Operations, prepared for the 2014 SPE Drilling Conference and Exhibition,
FortWorth, Texas, USA, 46 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
When bottomhole pressure (BHP) is lower
than formation pressure, influx of forma-
tion fluid occurs.
Closing the system with an annular seal
offers many benefits. The closed system
creates a fixed, known well volume that
is a function of the casing and bit diame-
ters and the volume occupied by the drill-
string. With fluid in the wellbore being
mostly incompressible, the pressure up-
stream of the choke and the flow rate
through the return line become valuable in
determining the size and severity of kicks.
Sealing the wellbore has also led to the use
of meters that can measure multiphase
flow accurately. Conventionally, wellbore
and fluid characteristics are determined
by analyzing trends and catching samples
after the fact, whereas a closed-loop sys-
tem allows a higher level of automation,
real-time automated analysis, and action-
able data on the basis of which engineers
can quickly make decisions.
These solutions have undoubtedly re-
duced the amount of time required to trig-
ger an alarm. But there still exists a void in
terms of what is done with the feedback
from the closed-well system. To compli-
cate this matter, deepwater drilling pres-
ents challenges to kick detection to which
fixed offshore installations are not sub-
ject. Additionally, deepwater formations
tend to be some of the most prolific in the
world, often displaying high productiv-
itydesirable for production, but risky
from a drilling perspective.
Fortunately, an advanced, robust kick-
detection system can be constructed from
many components that are already avail-
able and, in many cases, already used in
the downstream sector of the industry.
well and the processing equipment is ad-
mediately downstream of the diverter. The
Deepwater Kick Detection
(DKD)
Besides adding smart meters to conven-
tional pressure/volume/temperature (PVT)
systems, the DKD system must account
for vessel movement, wellbore effects, and
changes in rheology and drilling parame-
ters, and it must feed information directly
to the MPD system. This may be done in
such a way as to be evolutionary and natu-
ral, as opposed to revolutionary and inco-
herent, with the larger-rig-design philoso-
phy. Ultimately, DKD should be achieved
in such a way as to refine and automate ex-
isting drilling-data measurements and en-
hance proven practice with the addition of
accurate flow measurement.
In the effort to modernize the mud-
processing system, the conventional PVT
system provides a firm foundation upon
which to build. In order to detect a small-
volume influx or loss, reduction of error
in the current format is the key. At least
two approaches exist: One may reduce
error by increasing accuracy of the in-
strumentation involved, and one may re-
duce error through discretizing the larg-
er system into more-manageable pieces.
Specifically referring to the mud-
processing system, it has been the case
historically that the well, the pits, and all
processing equipment are grouped togeth-
er when drilling with a closed-loop con-
figuration. This approach is reliable when
detecting large volume changes but suffers
in small-volume-change detection because
of precision errors. In the process of dis-
cretizing the system, the next logical step
is to separate information coming from
the well from information coming from
the mud-processing equipment. In accom-
plishing the aim of decoupling the well
from the mud-processing plant, it may be
seen that defining boundaries between the
vantageous. A suitable boundary on the re-
turn side of the system is the flowline im-

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

JPT MAY 2016 59


100
90 RGH Riser Gas Handling
PD Predictve Driller
80
Kick Volume (bbl)
70
60
re
, Inc
50 sk
r Ri
we
40 Lo
30
20
RGH
10 +DKD
MPD
PD
1 2
Fig. 1Reducing kick volume increases operational efficiency.
ideal boundary for defining the inlet to the
well would likely be at the topdrive.
With boundaries and volume set, the
next step is to understand the flux across
these boundaries. Conventional PVT sys-
tems detect influx on the basis of volumet-
ric accounting. But volumetric flow rate
is not the only lens through which a kick
may be spotted. Here, knowledge of the
mass-flow rate is beneficial. Direct mea-
surement at the mud pits allows for some
confidence in the type and quality of mud
being pumped downhole. Hardware and
controls improvements to the PVT system
will serve to enhance the base further.
It is important to note that improve-
ments in the accuracy of instrumentation
alone will not provide the full DKD solu-
tion; process is as important as precision
and accuracy, if not more so. One of the
root causes identified in the Macondo
blowout was that simultaneous opera-
tions interfered with the crews ability to
recognize the influx. A simple calculation
comparing the number of pump strokes
with the tank level could have been used
to identify the influx.
Risers pose unique challenges and
unique opportunities for offshore drill-
ing operations. On one hand, risers are
large, heavy, and time consuming to run,
and they do not often protect against
high pressure. On the other hand, ris-
ers allow for instruments to be present
in the annulusa luxury that traditional
casing strings cannot offer. Spaced along
the length of the riser, multiple pressure
60
Operational Improvement
Conventional
ty
afe
e dS
as
os
ts
gC
in
Drill
Riser Gas er
w other. In field trials, accelerometers have
Handling Lo
Drilling and
Tripping
Drilling
3 4 5 6 7 8
Time To Recover After Kick (days)
readings allow for density measurement
as the fluid is returning to the surface.
The type and the spacing of the pressure
transducers are important. Over long
distances and large pressure changes, a
simple comparison may be performed
between two independent transducers.
However, as the distance shortens and
the change becomes smaller, the read-
ings are unusable because of the resolu-
tion required. Diaphragm-type pressure
transducers are favorable over a shorter
distance. As far as downhole pressure
readings are concerned, an incorpora-
tion of BHP would be desirable. Pressure-
while-drilling tools do make this possible,
but careful consideration should be given
as to how such data areincorporated.
Concerning floating rigs specifically, an
account must be given for the effect of
wave motion. Accurate measurement of
flow and pressure is vital, but it is also
vital to have an understanding of what the
flow and pressure should be. It is known
that wave motion has a noticeable effect
on riser volume because of the use of a
telescopic slip joint. In the case of a high-
pressure diverter or rotating control de-
vice installed above the slip joint, a direct
measurement can be made of the riser
heave through use of a laser range finder
or similar device. With the known dimen-
sions and displacement of the slip joint, a
slip-joint correction factor may be applied
to the known displacement, resulting in
a real-time calculation of riser volume as
a function of wave motion. With a known
riser-heave displacement and a volumetric
correction factor applied, the DKD system
may anticipate nonsteady-state conditions
and send alarms when anomalies occur.
With the onset of pumped riser systems
and the possibility of riserless systems, an
alternative form of riser-heave measure-
ment must be achieved in the event that
the telescopic slip joint is not installed.
Global positioning offers one solution,
while installing accelerometers offers an-
not yet proved reliable when compared
with the laser range finder. In cases where
the return flow is routed through a hose
(as opposed to the riser), considerations
should be made to account for any pos-
sible lag caused by using a hose.
Drilling parameters such as drillpipe
rotational speed, rate of penetration, and
weight on bit can affect BHP. The DKD
then must contain a robust control and
data-processing system.
An automated DKD system mitigates
risks and delivers value to the drilling
operation by alerting the crew to small,
manageable problems before these have
the chance to become large, unwieldy
problems. When considering kick man-
agement through conventional means,
considerable volumes of formation fluid
may enter the well before a problem is
suspected. A considerable amount of
fluid may further be invited into the well
while performing a conventional flow
check. It is not uncommon to see kicks of
50 to 100 bbl or more in deepwater envi-
ronments. It is evident that the best way
to reduce the amount of corrective work
is to reduce the magnitude of the event.
This concept is illustrated in Fig. 1.
Conclusions
A DKD system will require a holistic ap-
proach to sufficiently meet the challenges
posed by drilling in deep water. In addition
to traditional volumetric flow accounting,
a mass-flow accounting approach should
be implemented, as well as modeling to ac-
count for fluid and wellbore effects. By de-
tecting kicks earlier, less work is required
to resolve the event. Reduced kick volume
results in significant time savings, which is
realized through a reduction in total circu-
lating time. Ultimately, the need for high-
specification pressure-control equipment
may be reduced if the source problem, gas
influx, is mitigated. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
 KBC Adv_ SPE JPT_FINAL May2016.pdf 1 3/29/2016 10:56:44 AM

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 CLOV Project: Overview

T his paper describes the CLOV

deepwater megaproject in
Block 17 offshore Angola. This major
development encompasses four separate
oil and gas accumulations in waters up to
1400 m and aims to recover 505million
bbl of both light and heavier oil plus
associated gas in quantity sufficient
to require an export solution to shore
for inclusion in the Angola liquefied-
natural-gas (LNG) project.
Introduction
The CLOV megaproject of USD 8.4 bil-
lion (to first oil) in Block 17 offshore An-
gola is the fourth in a series of deepwater
developments. The cluster of fields that
gives the megaproject its nameCravo,
Lirio, Orquidea, and Violetais 140 km
off the coast of Angola and is west/north-
west from the earlier developments at
Girassol, Dalia, and Pazflor in waters
ranging in depth from 1100 to 1400 m
(Fig.1). CLOV came on stream on 12 June
2014 and reached its production plateau
3 months later.
The four fields have recoverable re-
serves expected to be produced over a
20-year period. The oil is a mixture of
good-quality light Oligocene crude (75%
of recoverable reserves) and lower-
quality Miocene crude. The presence of
the latter has had a material effect on the
development scenario for the complex.
Exploration Development
The complex of fields was first discov-
ered in the summer of 1998 when the
Lirio-1 well was drilled, finding a signifi-
cant Oligocene accumulation with a large
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper OTC 25789, CLOV Project: Overview, by Genevive Mouillerat, Total, and
Francisca Silva, Sonangol, prepared for the 2015 Offshore Technology Conference,
Houston, 47 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Copyright 2015 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission.
gas cap. The oil-bearing reservoirs in the
northeast compartment of the structure
were confirmed by the Lirio-2 appraisal
well, which also further delineated the
size and extent of the gas cap.
The following year, Cravo-1 confirmed
further light-oil reserves before the first
appearance of the heavier Miocene oil at
Orquidea-1. Additional exploration wells
further revealed the complicated nature
of the reservoirs at the location. Violeta-1
added to the Miocene reserves, but the
Orquidea-1 well, drilled into a deeper ho-
rizon and 15 to 20 downdip of the main
reservoir, revealed more light oil, which
would provide an additional challenge at
the well-design stage as a result of diffi-
culty in defining well objectives.
Subsurface work continued, and re-
vised reservoir models indicated that
the reserves for Cravo-Lirio would ex-
ceed the 245 million bbl given by an
earlier estimate. The question remained
whether the reserves warranted a
standalonedevelopment.
The first conceptual studies for these
accumulations were carried out in spring
2005 to give some definition to subsea
architecture, topside design, and a cen-
tral facility. After the Lirio-2 appraisal
well (drilled later that year) increased re-
serves, preproject studies were launched
on the assumption that Cravo-Lirio would
constitute a standalone hub with a float-
ing production, storage, and offloading
(FPSO) vessel, with the Miocene finds as
a later tieback.
A year later, following additional in-
tegrated geological and geophysical
studies of the Miocene finds, which in-
cyclones, operating in parallel, removes
cluded data from two more appraisal
wells (Orquidea-2 and Violeta-2), it was
decided to choose a development con-
cept that incorporated the Oligocene and
Mioceneaccumulations.
Concept
The development scheme for the CLOV
complex closely followed the path that the
organization had established on its three
earlier Angolan projectsa large FPSO
with an extensive subsea infrastructure
but with a few differences, including inno-
vative oil processing and power systems.
The FPSO is 30561 m with a stor-
age capacity of 1.78 million bbl and is
secured to the seabed with a spreading
mooring system of 16 lines. There is a
single processing train for commingled
Oligocene and Miocene crudes, capable
of handling 229,000 B/D of total liquids
and 160,000 B/D of annual average oil
production and providing 319,000 B/D of
water for injection purposes.
The processing system uses a wash-
tank system and continuous settling for
oil/water separation, a concept the op-
erator had used previously on a project
in Nigeria (Usan) but not in Angola. The
system uses two large below-deck wash
tanks, operating in parallel, with water
continuously siphoned from below and
oil flowing over a weir and pumped away,
with the degassed well stream refilling
the tanks. The oil is then desalted in two
settling tanks. With a high gas/oil ratio
and a no flaring policy, the topside is
equipped with compression capacity of
6.5 million/d.
Produced water (122,000 B/D), which
can be used for injection purposes, trav-
els through a multistage purification
process. Treatment through two hydro-
the last of the oil, after which two desand-
ing cyclones remove particles to 10 m.
Seawater supplements produced water,
with the onboard lifting pumps capable

The complete paper is available for purchase at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

62 JPT MAY 2016

 Violeta
Lirio
Orquidea
Cravo
Rosa
Jasmin
Girassol
Fig. 1Block 17.
of providing up to 1,400,000 B/D. It
is coarse filtered then ultrafiltered to
remove fine particles. Sulfate removal
with a membrane system is followed
bydeoxygenation.
Power generation is developed
through three aeroderivative turbo gen-
erators rated to produce 28 MW each.
This power-system design, initially de-
ployed on a Nigerian project, drives an
all-electric machinery concept based on
variable-frequency drives.
Well System
One of the major enterprises on this
project is the drilling program of almost
2,500 days: 34 wells to be drilled by two
drillships: West Gemini and Ensco DS-1.
By first oil, they had drilled and installed
the completions in 14 wells (11 produc-
ers and three water injectors), which al-
lowed the design peak (168,000 B/D) to
be reached on 30 September 2014.
The vast majority of the wells (32) are
of a horizontal design with a maximum
length of 1800 m, with the other two
being deviated. As with the geology of
the other Block 17 developments, the Oli-
gocene reservoirs are highly faulted and
thin. In order to ensure a full understand-
ing of the structure of the reservoir, a
pilot well and the two deviated wells were
drilled initially to calibrate vertical un-
certainties and plan the remaining hori-
zontal wells.
As with all of the Block 17 reservoirs,
there is potential for significant sand
production, which required either sand
screens or gravel packs in all of the wells.
Fourteen production wells and 13 of the
water injectors have standalone sand
JPT MAY 2016
Perpetua
Anturio
Gulf of
Hortensia Guinea
Tulipa
Zinia
Block 17
Dalia
Acacia
Atlantic Ocean
Camelia Atlantic Ocean
screens, while the remaining five pro-
ducers and two injectors have selective,
or intelligent, completions.
Subsea Production System
The subsea production system of 34 wells
(19 producers and 15 water injectors) is
typical of systems implemented by the
operator in west Africa, but its deliv-
ery was designed to raise the local con-
tent of the project compared with earlier
ones. A much higher level of assembly of
subsea trees and fabrication of under-
water structures took place in Angola
compared with earlier projects, a signifi-
cant part of the operators commitment
to an increase in local activity.
The subsea-tree system on this project
is not dissimilar to those that the opera-
tor has deployed in the past (10,000-psi-
rated vertical tree weighing 39 t). Each
tree is equipped with a chemical-injection
valve, an insert choke valve, and a mul-
tiphase flowmeter installed on the well
jumper. There are eight production mani-
folds, four 12-in. four-slot manifolds at
Cravo and Lirio and four 10-in. four-slot
manifolds on Orquidea and Violeta.
Two features of the subsea-production-
system concept for the CLOV complex set
it apart from the operators other west Af-
rican projects. First, fiber-optics commu-
nication was adopted for the subsea con-
trol system. Each of the eight manifolds
is equipped with a subsea router module
that handles the flow of data between the
subsea production wells and the master
control station on the FPSO. The other
differentiating feature of CLOV is the ap-
plication of a multiphase pumping system
driven by helicoaxial pumps to provide
flow boosting for the heavier Miocene oil
produced at Orquidea and Violeta. These
Africa
Indian Ocean
fields have both low reservoir pressure
and a high-viscosity wellstream.
The subsea umbilical, riser, and flow-
line system installed at the CLOV com-
plex is described in the complete paper.
Health and Safety
The CLOV project team achieved out-
standing health, safety, and environmen-
tal performance on this development,
aided by its contractors. A particular
highlight was the achievement by Dae-
woo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineer-
ing (DSME) in its work executing half
of all the man-hours performed by con-
tractors on the project. DSME performed
its 17 million man-hours without a sin-
gle lost-time injury at the Okpo yard in
South Korea and has already received two
awards as a result.
Angola and the Future
While the description of any project such
as CLOV is based on discussing technolo-
gy, it is necessary to make mention of the
drive to maximize the amount of work
to be done in the nation and to bring
a new well-trained local workforce into
theproject.
While five local fabrication yards were
used to fabricate a variety of project
structuresincluding manifolds, pipe-
in-pipe stalks, and at least one module
for the FPSOit was the overall quan-
tity of work done in country that was the
target for the operator. At the turn of the
century, when Girassol was being devel-
oped, 1 million man-hours of work was
performed in Angola, primarily at one
fabrication yard. For the CLOV develop-
ment, however, 10 million man-hours of
work was performed in Angolan fabrica-
tion facilities. JPT
63
 Riser-System Design in Water Depths
Greater Than 3000 m
T he offshore industry anticipates
the need for production-riser
systems in ultradeepwater fields.
The development of these fields [this
paper considers a field located in the
central Gulf of Mexico (GOM)] leads
to many challenges with respect to the
selection of the riser concept; in some
instances, such applications may require
extending riser technology beyond its
current limits. This paper evaluates the
feasibility of a number of production-
and export-riser configurations for
ultradeepwater applications.
Riser-Wall-Thickness Sizing
Please note that riser-design criteria,
methodology, and data (riser functions
and associated pipe sizes; riser internal-
fluid properties; and riser-strength assess-
ment) are provided in the completepaper.
Production Risers. Steel-catenary-
riser (SCR) wall-thickness sizing is ini-
tially carried out when considering
X65 line pipe. For a design pressure of
5 ksi, the wall thickness of the produc-
tion riser is primarily driven by collapse
because of external hydrostatic pres-
sure. The maximum wall thicknesses re-
quired for 8-, 10-, and 12-in. pipes are
1.51, 1.85, and 2.17 in., respectively, and
are driven by burst owing to the 15-ksi
internal design pressure. It should be
noted that these wall thicknesses are de-
signed to resist only the burst and col-
lapse pressures. The longitudinal-load
and combined-load design checks are
performed after the sizing is performed
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper OTC 25840, Frontier Deepwater Developments: The Impact on Riser-System
Design in Water Depths Greater Than 3000 m, by N. Saglar, B. Toleman, and R.
Thethi, 2H Offshore, prepared for the 2015 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston,
47 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Copyright 2015 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission.
The complete paper is available for purchase at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
64
for collapse and burst. For ultradeep
water, the longitudinal-load design crite-
rion becomes a limiting requirement. For
3000-m water depth, the production ris-
ers meet both the longitudinal-load and
combined-load design criteria. Buckling
caused by combined bending and exter-
nal pressure is also checked with the cal-
culated wall thicknesses. The allowable
bending strains of all the production ris-
ers are determined to be greater than
the assumed maximum bending strain
of 0.5%.
The field-proven thickest wall to date
for conventionally welded X65 single-
pipe wet-tree production-riser systems
is 1.65 in. In this paper, the maximum
wall thickness that can be welded for off-
shore fatigue-sensitive riser systems is
assumed to be 1.9 in., on the basis of ex-
isting tests. Only the wall thickness re-
quired for a 12-in. production riser with
a design pressure of 15 ksi exceeds the
1.9-in. limit.
Export Risers. SCR wall-thickness siz-
ing is initially carried out considering
X65 line pipe with a design pressure of
5,000 psi. The wall thickness of the ex-
port riser is first calculated to resist
the burst and collapse pressures. It is
determined that the wall thickness re-
quired for collapse is higher than the siz-
ing based on burst for all water depths
and outer diameters. However, the wall
thickness driven by collapse does not
meet the 0.5% allowable bending strain
considering the combined bending and
external-pressure criterion. The wall
thicknesses of the export risers are in-
creased to maintain the allowable bend-
ing strain of 0.5% in the pipe. Therefore,
the wall thickness of the export risers
is driven primarily by buckling because
of the combined bending and external-
pressure criterion. The wall thicknesses
of the export risers are shown in Fig. 1.
The maximum wall thicknesses required
for 16-, 20-, and 24-in. pipes are 1.55,
1.95, and 2.32 in., respectively, and occur
at a water depth of 4500 m.
When considering the longitudinal
load from the static tension in the flood-
ed condition at the top of the riser in
water depths of at least 3750 m, the ef-
fective tension exceeds the 60%-of-yield
tension capacity. For ultradeep water, the
longitudinal-load design criterion be-
comes the limiting requirement.
Water-Depth Limitation
After wall-thickness sizing is carried out,
an optimum water depth is calculated for
each SCR configuration while meeting
all of the American Petroleum Institute
(API) RP 1111 criteria. Water-depth limi-
tations of each riser are determined con-
sidering both X65 and X70 steel grades.
X70-grade pipes result in thinner wall
thicknesses compared with risers with
X65-grade pipe. X70-grade pipe also re-
sults in a lighter static riser weight at the
top of the riser because of a thinner wall
thickness and hence extends the water-
depth limit. The maximum water depths
for the X65 8-, 10-, and 12-in. produc-
tion risers considering a 5,000-psi de-
sign pressure are 3617, 3495, and 3422 m,
respectively. As the riser design pressure
increases, the water-depth limit decreas-
es. The maximum water depth for the
production risers is 3,903 m considering
X70 8-in.-outer-diameter (OD) pipe and
5,000-psi design pressure.
As with production risers, higher
water depths can be achieved with X70
pipe, with a maximum water depth of
JPT MAY 2016
 X65, Wall Thickness at Range of Water Depths X65, Tension Ratio at Range of Water Depths
(Design Pressure of 5,000 psi) (Design Pressure of 5,000 psi)

Static Effective Tension/Yield Tension

2.40 1.00
2.20
Existing Technology Limit=1.9 in.
2.00
Well Thickness (in.)
0.80
1.80
1.60
1.40 0.60
1.20
1.00 0.40
0.80
0.60
0.40 0.20
0.20
0.00 0.00
16-in. OD 20-in. OD 24-in. OD 16-in. OD 20-in. OD 24-in. OD
Pressure (psi) Pressure (psi)
3000 m 3750 m 4500 m 3000 m 3750 m 4500 m

Fig. 1Oil-export-riser wall-thickness-sizing summary: X65 line pipe.

3340 m. The maximum water depth does the conventionally welded SCR systems. Strength Assessment
not change significantly for different Weldability of thick-walled X80 line pipe Strength analysis is carried out for the
ODs. It should be noted that these water- offshore is not qualified in the industry following three riser configurations:
depth limits are obtained for the riser- yet for sour-service conditions; there- X65, 8-in. production SCR, 0.67-in.
top angle of 12. fore, it is not considered in this paper. wall thickness, 5-ksi design
SCRs are constructed from conven- Riser-wall-thickness sizing performed pressure, 3617-m water depth.
tionally welded line pipe. A typical steel on the basis of API RP 1111 indicates that X65, 10-in. production SCR, 1.85-in.
grade used in the SCR applications is X65. an advantage can be gained by increas- wall thickness, 15-ksi design
However, X70 pipe is also used in some ing wall thickness along the top section pressure, 3283-m water depth.
SCR projects in the GOM. X80 welded of the riser instead of specifying a single X65, 16-in. oil-export SCR,
line pipe has not been used to date for wall thickness along the entire riser. 1.17-in. wall thickness, 5-ksi

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JPT MAY 2016 65


78 June 2016 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
BMO Centre at Stampede Park
www.spe.org/events/choc/2016
2016 SPE CANADA EVENTS
AND TRAINING COURSES
1416 March SPE Thermal Completions
and Workover Operations
Workshop
Met Centre, Calgary
5 April SPE/CHOA Slugging it Out
BMO Centre, Calgary
78 June SPE Canada Heavy Oil
Technical Conference
BMO Centre, Calgary
9 June SPE Oilsands Well Pad Life
Cycle Workshop
BMO Centre, Calgary
2021 September SPE Caprock
Integrity for Thermal Applications
Workshop
Calgary, Alberta
28 November1 December SPE
Thermal Well Integrity & Design
Symposium
Banff Springs Hotel, Banff
Upcoming Training Courses:
56 April Screening and Field Piloting
for EOR Project Development
Calgary, Alberta
1214 April Unconventional Resource
Assessment and Valuation
Calgary, Alberta
1822 April Evaluation of Canadian Oil
and Gas Properties
Calgary, Alberta
312 May Complex Well Core
Competency
Calgary, Alberta
For more information visit www.spe.org/canada
designpressure, 3100-m water
depth.
Preliminary analysis shows that the
SCRs exceed the allowable stress ratio of
0.67 in 10-year-winter-storm operating
conditions. This is because 60% of the
pipe-stress use is already taken by the
static effective tension of the riser. With
the addition of bending moments caused
by vessel dynamic motions and hoop
stress caused by operating pressure, the
SCRs do not meet API RP 2RD criteria in
the maximum operating environment.
The SCRs do not meet the allowable
stress ratios in the 100-year-hurricane
condition. For the 100-year hurricane
survival condition, only the 8-in. produc-
tion SCR does not meet the criteria. Dur-
ing the 1,000-year-hurricane condition,
the stress in the riser exceeds the yield
capacity of the pipe at the touch-down
point (TDP) because of high bending mo-
ment induced by compression loads.
The SCRs experience compression in the
touch-down zone because of the high
heave motions of the deep-draft semi-
submersible at the longer wave periods in
a 1,000-year-hurricane condition. In ad-
dition, an 8-in. production SCR is a rela-
tively lightweight riser and extends into
3617-m water depth, which makes the
riser very slender and susceptible to the
heave motions of the floater. Because of
this, excessive compression and stress-
es above yield are observed in the touch-
down zone of an 8-in. production SCR.
On the basis of the dynamic response
of the risers, it is seen that an X65-grade
SCR attached to a deep-draft semisub-
mersible with a flexible joint presents a
significant challenge to provide accept-
able strength behavior in water depths
greater than 3000 m.
Steel-Lazy-Wave-Riser (SLWR)
Strength Assessment
Because of the challenges faced by tradi-
tional SCRs to stretch into water depths
greater than 3400 m and to provide ac-
ceptable strength behavior, an assess-
ment is performed with an SLWR. This
is a special SCR with a segment of its
length equipped with external buoyancy
modules; its upward buoyancy force in
water is greater than its downward grav-
ity force. Because of this buoyancy force,
the top tension of the riser at the vessel
hang-off reduces significantly.
As with the SCR strength analysis, a
preliminary strength analysis is also car-
ried out with an SLWR configuration for
the 10-in. production riser with 15-ksi
design pressure in 4500 m of water.
A buoyancy section of 5,250 ft is in-
stalled above the TDP, which isolates
the porch-heave motions from the TDP.
On the basis of the analysis results, the
SLWR meets the design-strength cri-
teria for all load conditions consid-
ered. The maximum von Mises stress
does not exceed the yield strength for
a 1,000-year hurricane, demonstrating
the robustness of the SLWR system. No
compression is observed along the lazy-
wave riser.
On the basis of the dynamic response
of the risers, it is seen that the SLWR
configuration leads to more-viable glob-
al response in water depths greater than
3000 m because of its lower top tension
and its ability to control the dynamic
heave response along the riser.
Conclusions
The 12-in.-OD production risers con-
structed from X65-and X70-grade pipe
with a design pressure of 15 ksi result in
wall thicknesses greater than 2 in. and
are not feasible for a welded-line-pipe
solution. 24-in.-OD export risers lead to
wall thicknesses greater than 2 in. be-
cause of high external collapse pressures
and very high static axial loads; hence,
they are not feasible for conventional-
ly welded SCR applications in ultradeep
water. The maximum water depths ob-
tained by large-OD (16- to 24-in.) export
risers with conventionally welded SCRs
are less than 3400 m. It is determined
that SLWR systems are a feasible op-
tion for water depth beyond the reach of
SCRs because of additional uplift forces
obtained from the buoyancy modules.
As the water depth increases, the
mixed-mode axial and bending excita-
tion frequencies of the risers tend to
move into the range of wave energy and
increase the likelihood of exciting the
risers in small-period sea states that tend
to drive long-term fatigue life. If a float-
er has a heave response even with small
amplitudes at a mixed-mode excitation
frequency matching that of the riser, it
would be sufficient to induce significant
dynamic motions in a suspended riser
and increase fatigue damage. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
Subsea Production Optimization
in Field BC-10 Offshore Brazil

T he BC-10 asset, located in

deepwater offshore Brazil,
produces heavy oil in the range
only three oil-production trains and one
gas separator on the host.
The Ostra field has seen good pressure
support through the first 5 years of op-
eration because of a strong support-
of 16to24API. Mudline caisson Ostra Field ing aquifer, and it currently produces
separators with electrical submersible Ostra consists of seven produc- 60,000 to 70,000 B/D gross. Gas dis-
pumps (ESPs) are used to process er wells, with production collected posal was performed through an injec-
fluids frommultiplewells and by two manifolds and routed through tion well deeper in the Ostra aquifer
boost them to the receiving floating two 8-in. intrafield flowlines to the while gas export was commissioned.
production, storage, and offloading artificial-lift manifold (ALM), which
(FPSO) vessel.There aresignificant houses four caisson separator MOBOs. Subsea-Processing System
flow-assurance challenges in The operating philosophy is to run three The MOBO system is composed of sev-
operatingtheasset. In this paper, units out of four, leaving the fourth unit eral major components. The top-end as-
twoexamples ofproduction as a standby in case of MOBO failure. sembly (TEA) is the structure on the top
optimization for this fieldwill be Because the ALM is not located with of the caisson and contains the inlet-
provided (further examples are permanent vertical access, MOBO inter- and outlet-isolation valves and actua-
available in thecompletepaper). ventions require the use of a rig capable tors, the subsea control module, and
of pulling the 140-t unit to surface. For injection points for methanol and one
BC-10 this reason, having an installed spare is other chemical. The electrical and hy-
BC-10s production comes from four critical. The production manifolds allow draulic connections are also made to
fields located in water depths ranging one of two routings per well, which al- the TEA.
from 1650 to 1920 m and is dependent lows a flowline to be aligned to one, The caisson itself is a 32-in.-inner-
on artificial lift. This summary focus- two, or more MOBOs; full bypass of the diameter, 80- to 100-m-long section of
es on optimizations involving the Ostra MOBO; and routing of hot oil for MOBO pipe with a reduced diameter at the base
field. The subsea architecture that en- startup and planned shutdown from the to act as an accelerator for the fluid flow,
abled the development of these separate surface by a dedicated choke. It is also to prevent solids buildup.
reservoirs consists of multiple drill cen- possible to allow the 4.5-in. hot-oil sup- Inside the caisson, suspended on
ters coupled to production manifolds. ply line to be used for production. The 5.5-in. pipe, is the ESP hanger and
Manifolds are routed to caisson ESPs. 8-in. gas line features a common choke 13-in. ESP shroud. The function of
These caisson ESPs will henceforth be on the ALM to control backpressure these components is to force fluid down
referred to as MOBOs (derived from the on the MOBOs and a surface choke at the caisson to the base, cooling the
Portuguese acronym for pump-boosting the FPSO vessel as a second means of motor as it passes. The caisson may
module). To minimize equipment costs, control. In practice, to avoid a well trip be operated in one of two modes: sep-
each field has only two production flow- causing a rapid loss of MOBO pressures arated and nonseparated. In separat-
lines routed to the host: one is for pro- (with corresponding well-rate increas- ed mode, the caisson flow rate is con-
duction, and the second is for hot-oil es), the subsea-gas-line choke is used trolled indirectly by a level controller,
displacement and production. In the only in special circumstances, with daily which aims to maintain a constant level
case of Ostra, a third riser for gas sepa- control being performed by use of the inside the caisson by use of the level de-
rated subsea is also present. This design topside boarding choke, which allows rived from the pressure gauges. With the
reduces the number of risers required. a much larger gas-storage volume and nonseparated caisson, level is no longer
In line with this philosophy, there are hence limits rapid pressure transients. controlled and instead floats depend-
ing on the temporary balance of inflow
and outflow. The pressure in the cais-
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
son, however, must be controlled, be-
of paper OTC 26220, BC-10: Optimizing Subsea Production, by N.C. Sleight and cause this determines what the wells
N.Oliveira, Shell, prepared for the 2015 Offshore Technology Conference Brasil, Rio will produce.
de Janeiro, 2729 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The TEA is connected to the ALM with
a multibore hub that features bores for
Copyright 2015 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. inlet, gas outlet, and oil outlet. For cais-

The complete paper is available for purchase at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

JPT MAY 2016 67

 Manifold
Caissons
MOBO
TEA
Caisson
Fig. 1Schematic of the entire caisson and ALM (top left); the support structure, 42-in. conductors, and the manifold on
top (top right); ALM populated with four MOBOs (bottom right); closeup of the TEA, showing it attached to the 32-in.-
inner-diameter caisson; this forms the MOBO (bottom left).
son control, there are three pressure
gauges situated along the length of the
caisson. These allow a liquid density in
the caisson base to be measured and, in
combination with the top gauge, allow a
level to be calculated on the basis of this
determined density.
The entire MOBO is retrievable and
is supported on the manifold, which, in
turn, is supported on the conductors;
these also serve to provide a slot inside
which the caisson can sit (Fig. 1).
Optimization 1: Embracing
Foaming Operation
Early on in the life of Ostrathe only lo-
cation of separated MOBOs in BC-10
the criticality of subsea defoamer in-
jection was identified. Without it, the
liquid in the caisson became very frothy
and started to carry over and also limit
the pump because of reduced boost ca-
pacity. However, at some point, the na-
ture of the foam changed from liquid
in gas (early life) to a gas in liquid. The
change was observed during an event in
68
Manifold
Conductor
Spacer
which the defoamer injection was un-
able to suppress the formation of foam
in the lower caisson during transient
operations. At this point, it was noted
that the defoamer was not effective, so
it was taken off line to see whether this
was causing the foaming. Once the tran-
sient passed through the system, it was
noted that the gas at the top of the cais-
son was still dry (no free liquids) and
that the density of the liquid in the cais-
son was lower than before, suggesting it
was holding more gas.
On the basis of these observations, it
was decided to try not injecting defoam-
er on the other caissons to see if they
could operate without liquid carryover
and with higher gas volume fraction
(GVF). In all cases, the caissons man-
aged to maintain gas dryness, but there
was a decrease in pump performance
(head) with the increased GVF.
In the field, the additional gas enter-
ing the main oil line through the MOBOs
caused a dramatic reduction in flowline
backpressure because of the gas lifting
effectapproximately 15 bar, which,
given that the MOBOs boost in the field
was approximately 120140 bar, rep-
resented a 1012% reduction in boost
and, hence, load.
The increase in capacity over the
threeunits was approximately 5,000B/D
gross. Furthermore, the defoamer
chemical was the most expensive used
in BC-10 on a volume basis, so the re-
quirement to stop continuous injection
saved approximately USD 4 million on
an annual basis.
Optimization 2: Nonseparated
Operation on Ostra
With the Ostra MOBOs now operating
without defoamer, there was still some
unrealized well potential in the field be-
cause the MOBOs were still constrained
with respect to power. To increase ca-
pacity, and in light of the experience
gained operating with higher GVFs on
the pump without defoamer, it was de-
cided to try operating one of the MOBOs
in Ostra nonseparated so as to further
JPT MAY 2016
increase the gas entering the oil riser,
T ED ELS EES
with the expectation that this would N OT D
OU ND ATTE
reduce boost requirements and, again, H N
C
free up some ESP power.
The first step was to select the MOBO DIS TS A CE
T
H
with the lowest gas feed and convert L IG LL A
F A
this to an in-situ GVF for the pump. R
Then, the pressure in all the MOBOs FO
was increased to 85 bara (suction) to
allow power to be freed up. Finally, the
level inside the caisson was increased to
allow a buffer of liquid. The gas-outlet
valve on the MOBO was then closed, and
the control scheme was switched from
level to pressure control. The level in Society of Petroleum Engineers
the caisson slowly started to rise until
it filled the entire caisson; during this
time, inflow and outflow were roughly
Annual Technical
similar and suction pressure remained
at the target of 85 bar. Over successive
Conference and Exhibition
days, the pressure was reduced in the
caisson to stimulate additional well pro-
duction and, as this happened, the level
2628 September 2016
in the caisson diminished, indicating Dubai World Trade Centre
that, for a given GVF, there is an equi-
librium level at which point enough gas Dubai, UAE
is carried under with the liquid to equal
the amount flowing in from the wells.
As the pressure was reduced, additional
gas broke out of the oil phase, causing
the GVF to increase.
The second MOBO was then also con-
verted to nonseparated mode, and its
suction pressure was adjusted down-
ward to maximize the aligned well ca-
pacity. Finally, the remaining MOBO,
still in separated mode, had its suction
pressure increased until as much en-
ergy from the wells was used as possi-
ble. In effect, this meant that instead of www.spe.org/go/atce2016
throttling the wells over the production
chokes to keep strong wells at a reduced
target and maintain the weak wells on
target through a lower pump-suction
pressure, the boost required for these
stronger wells was much reduced. As be-
fore, the reduced boost requirement led
to a reduction in power required, allow-
ing additional well beanups. In the case
of the remaining separated MOBO, the
pressure increased from 75 to 115 bar,
reducing boost by 40 bar and allowing
an additional 10,000 B/D gross to be
pumped. This, combined with the extra
gas lift from the nonseparated MOBOs,
increased total capacity, allowing 1 mil-
lion bbl of additional oil production
in201314. JPT
See 2628
September
you in 2016

JPT MAY 2016

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Intelligent Fields Technology

John Hudson, SPE, Principal Production Engineer, Shell

Over the last couple of decades, we have While we push model steer our exploration and appraisal pro-
seen a steady stream of intelligent cesses. While we push model integration
innovations go from ideas to infancy to integration (e.g., between (e.g., between static and dynamic and
catalog solutions. Advances in metering, static and dynamic and for for entire production systems), artificial
measurement, control, automation, and intelligence will be working behind the
modeling have changed our daily rou-
entire production systems), scenes to find model inconsistencies, to
tine such that our decisions are better artificial intelligence will narrow uncertainties, and to improve
informed, and, as a result, we produce be working behind the our forecasts and option assessments.
in more-challenging environments, at These advances are coming at an
lower cost, and with better recoveries. scenes to find model opportune time in that they can support
Whether deployed in the office or in inconsistencies, to narrow better decision making in some of our
the field, the majority of these advances most-costly decisions (e.g., helping us to
have pertained to improvements in our uncertainties, and to improve our productive drilling rates and
organizations, in our production facili- improve our forecasts and demonstrating the real costs of deviating
ties, and in our wells. While still not from reservoir-management plans). The
option assessments.
routine, tools based on artificial intel- papers highlighted in this section provide
ligence, large-scale model integration, clear illustrations of how some of this will
and automated data/model integration that take the next step into the reser- be achieved.JPT
are finding their way into the typical voir and across solution types and dis-
practitioners toolbox. What is clearly cipline boundaries. In the coming years,
emerging now are practical solutions artificial-intelligence applications will Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
John Hudson, SPE, is a principal production engineer with Shell. OTC 26209 Proactive and Reactive
He has more than 25 years of experience in multiphase-flow Strategies for Optimal Operational Design:
research, flow-assurance design of deepwater production sys- An Application in Smart Wells byA.C.A.
tems, and development of model-based real-time operations Abreu, PUC-Rio, et al.
decision systems. Since joining Shell, Hudson has held technical SPE 176760 Leveraging Intelligent-Field
and managerial positions in Europe and North America, including Data for Full-Field Pressure-Transient
leading a team that developed a model-based cloud computing Analysis byB. Al-Wehaibi, Saudi Aramco,
solution that was deployed globally to gas plants with a total pro- et al.
duction capacity in excess of 10 Bcf/D. He currently provides production-engineering SPE 177829 Smart Proxy: An Innovative
support for the development of a next-generation simulator. Hudson holds a PhD Reservoir-Management Tool; Case Study of
degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois. He serves on the JPT a Giant Mature Oil Field in the UAE byS.D.
Editorial Committee and can be reached at www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonjohnd. Mohaghegh, Intelligent Solutions, et al.

70 JPT MAY 2016

Flow-Control Optimization Maximizes
Accuracy of Multiphase-Flow Rate Allocation

T he value added by intelligent wells

(I-wells) derives from real-time
reservoir and production-performance
monitoring together with zonal
downhole flow control. Unfortunately,
downhole sensors that directly
measure the flow rates and phase cuts
required for optimal control of the
wells producing zones are not typically
installed. This paper describes an
active monitoring technique that uses
a direct search method to optimize the
sequence of interval-control-valve (ICV)
positions during a routine multirate test
in an I-well.
Introduction
I-well completions include both down-
hole flow-control tools and monitor-
ing sensors. Reservoir inflow is con-
trolled by means of passive devices
[inflow-control devices (ICDs)], active
valves (ICVs), and self-adjusting devic-
es (autonomous ICDs and autonomous
ICVs). Reservoir and well-performance
properties should be monitored regular-
ly to support flow-control decisions ef-
ficiently. Various physical quantities, in-
cluding temperature, pressure, flow rate,
acoustics, strain, and seismic, are cur-
rently measured by electronic, radioac-
tive, and fiber-optic sensors to assist the
multiphase-flow rate allocation in I-wells.
Producing from only a single well or
zone during a test is a common prac-
tice. This delivers a single flow-rate value
measured at a particular time. However,
this approach is inefficient, resulting in
lost production and possible difficulties
when trying to restart the closed-in wells
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 173873, Flow-Control Optimization To Maximize the Accuracy of
Multiphase-Flow Rate Allocation, by Reza Malakooti, Khafiz Muradov, and David
Davies, Heriot-Watt University, and Alexander Kuznetsov, Weatherford, prepared
for the 2015 SPE Bergen One Day Seminar, Bergen, Norway, 22 April. The paper has
not been peer reviewed.
or zones. A costly production-logging
well intervention is a possible alterna-
tive; it does provide an inflow rate and a
phase-cut profile, but only at a specific
time without the possibility of deliver-
ing the current phase cut and production
rate continuously.
The alternative is to use (continuous)
passive indirect measurements. Such
soft-sensing techniques are used widely
in (surface) facilities and process plants
where extensive, complex networks of
sensors can be implemented relatively
easily. They are now being introduced for
reservoir and well applications.
A multiphase soft sensor consists
of (1) an estimation technique, (2) a
multiphase-flow model, and (3) the mea-
surements. The multiphase-flow model
relates the measurements to the parame-
ters required for the estimation of down-
hole flow rates. The estimation technique
is used to compute these parameters by
minimization of the mismatch between
measured information and predicted
values. Published soft sensors have used
both stochastically and deterministically
based optimization methods as the esti-
mation technique. The complete paper
provides a review of recent research and
developments in this field.
Soft-sensing techniques are subject-
ed to multiphase-flow-model errors and
measurement uncertainties. The latter
refers to variance of the values attrib-
uted to a measured quantity. For this
reason, a new approach is required to
overcome the limitation of the passive
soft-sensing techniques used to allocate
downhole flow rates. To accomplish this
goal, an active multiphase-flow-rate soft-
sensing method has been developed to
design an optimum series of flow tests.
The soft sensor obtains the most accu-
rate estimate of the zonal properties by
use of the deformed-configuration (DC)
method to optimize the flow-test con-
ditions (the ICV flow area in multizone
I-wells or the wellhead-choke position
for multiple conventional wells). To the
authors knowledge, this work is the first
publication to demonstrate the applica-
bility of the DC optimization method in
well soft-sensing problems.
Active Multizone Multiphase-
Flow Rate Soft Sensing
The main principle of the active soft
sensing is similar to that of passive soft-
sensing, where the optimal zonal prop-
erties required for the estimation of flow
rates are calculated through minimiza-
tion of the mismatch between the mea-
sured parameters and predicted ones.
In addition to this optimization level,
active soft sensing performs a second
optimization that designs the optimum
ICV settings for a sequence of flow tests
to maximize the reliability of these esti-
mated zonal properties. Zonal proper-
ties are the search variables of the for-
mer optimization problem, while the ICV
settings are the control variables of the
latter optimization problem. A flow test
with the specified ICV positions is de-
signed and implemented, and the esti-
mated zonal properties are updated with
the new measurements. The work flow
is repeated, and the next flow test is de-
signed with DC optimization if the analy-
sis indicates that a further test is justified
to increase the estimated accuracy of the
zonal properties.
Integrated Measurements. A wide
range of measurement sources can be po-
tentially incorporated in the active soft-
sensing work flow. It is convenient to

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

JPT MAY 2016 71

 categorize the complexity of the I-well
measurements and their analysis into
five levels:
Level 0: Well-production flow rates
(oil, water, and gas) and a single
stabilized pressure measured in the
upper well completion
Level I: Measuring well-production
rates and the stabilized zonal-
annular pressures
Level II: Level I data plus stabilized
zonal tubing pressures and annulus
temperatures
Level III: Level II data plus stabilized
tubing temperatures
Level IV: Level II data plus transient
zonal-annular pressures of any
pressure-buildup (PBU) test
The first combination of pressure/
temperature (P/T) downhole-gauge read-
ings and well-production flow-rate mea-
surements is the simplest in terms of the
downhole data requirements. The sub-
sequent, higher levels benefit from an
increased understanding of the reser-
voir and reservoir-fluid properties plus
a richer downhole data set. This allows
more-complex models to be used and al-
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72
lows a greater spectrum of estimated res-
ervoir parameters. For example, annular
P/T measurements are combined to cal-
culate fluid properties such as density,
formation volume factor, viscosity, and
compressibility for all the phases that
contribute to the pressure-drop estimate
across the ICVs (Level II) and to model
transient PBU (Level IV).
All levels result in the calculation of
the zonal parameters (e.g., reservoir
pressure, productivity index, water cut,
and in-situ gas mass fraction in the an-
nulus) used to estimate the multiphase-
flow rates. However, the higher levels use
more-complex flow models that use the
data more efficiently, achieving a given
reliability level for the estimated values
with a reduced number of flow tests.
In addition, Level IV data add extra
value to the active soft-sensing work flow
through estimation of the zonal aver-
age pressure and skin values as well as
zonal permeability (both vertical and
horizontal), provided that the appropri-
ate flow regimes are identified in the
PBUanalysis.
Estimation of Zonal Properties. A
dynamic multiphase-flow model is re-
quired to relate the zonal proper-
ties (unknown parameters of the soft-
sensing problem) to the measurements.
The flow model consists of several ana-
lytical equations for calculation of well
rates and changes of pressure and tem-
perature along the wellbore and across
ICVs. For example,
1. Reservoir inflow-performance-
relationship performance and
well rates (linear equation, Vogels
correlation)
2. Pressure [well-testing (pressure-
transient analysis) equations,
pressure drop across ICVs, flow-
pipe correlation]
3. Temperature (heat flows between
formation, annulus, and tubing;
Joule-Thomson effects; mixing
temperature of formation, tubing,
and annular fluids)
Matching of Measurements and Es-
timations. Here, zonal properties de-
fine the estimated variables, while the
total mismatch between the measure-
ments and predictions forms the objec-
tive function. The total mismatch in-
cludes all the measurements of existing
flow tests; its calculation is provided in
the complete paper.
Multirate-Flow-Test Design. The op-
timal sequence of ICV settings in the
multirate test is found with a gradient-
free optimization method, the DC tech-
nique. Note that the DC method uses
only values of the objective function and
identifies the next flow test so as to try
to increase the mismatch in order to ex-
plore the search space better. This pro-
vides new, authentic information to the
estimator and improves the overall esti-
mation reliability.
The DC techniques are based either
on a configuration of simplex, as used in
the active soft-sensing algorithm, or on a
configuration of complex. Deformed sim-
plex optimization requires (n+1) flow
tests to initiate the active soft-sensing
work flow in an n-zone I-well. Here, each
flow test is designed with a fixed combi-
nation of ICV settings.
Conclusions
This paper proposes an active soft-
sensing technique in which different
combinations (levels) of surface and
downhole measurements are combined
with a dynamic multiphase-flow model
to estimate the unknown zonal proper-
ties of the rate-allocation problem in a
commingled-production system. The
active approach of downhole flow-rate
monitoring implies the design of the op-
timum multirate test by regulating down-
hole control valves or surface wellhead
chokes. The multiphase-flow rate alloca-
tion in a multizone I-well was tested suc-
cessfully, but the methodology can be
extended easily to multiple convention-
al wells producing into a common field-
production network.
The methodology was applied success-
fully to multizone I-wells in oil and gas
reservoirs. The required zonal properties
were estimated satisfactorily. As a result,
the zonal multiphase-flow rates would be
calculated. The examples in the complete
paper indicated the use of different data
sets, including annulus transient pres-
sure and stabilized well rate and annular/
tubing temperature and pressure. Also,
the results were promising even when
the measurements were contaminated
witherrors. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
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 Geology-Driven Estimated-Ultimate-
Recovery Prediction With Deep Learning

T he authors present a geology-driven

deep-learning estimated-ultimate-
recovery (EUR)-prediction model for
multistage hydraulically fractured
horizontal wells in tight gas and oil
reservoirs. The novel approach was made
possible by recent developments in the
field of deep learning and by the use of
big data (more than 200,000 geological
data points and more than 800 wells). A
deep neural network (DNN) was trained
to learn the relationship between geology
and the average EUR (estimated by
declineanalysis).
Introduction
Currently, the consensus in the literature
and among geologists is that it is impos-
sible to achieve a good hydrocarbon-in-
place estimate for tight or unconventional
resources by entering geological param-
eters into an equation. Volumetric analy-
sis, for instance, gives only a very crude
estimate and often does not work at all.
This consensus is not wrong, and yet
highly skilled teams of geologists and ex-
ploration engineers manage to make good
guesses as to where the sweet spots are,
even in regions where they have barely
adequate geological data. The answer to
that apparent contradiction is that a sim-
ple mathematical model, such as an equa-
tion, does not come close to the multi-
layered complexity and abstract-analysis
skills needed to solve the problem.
A DNN is a computational model com-
posed of multiple processing layers to
learn representations of data with mul-
tiple levels of abstraction. It uses artifi-
cial neurons from interconnected layers
of software modeled after the columns of
neurons found in the brains cortexthe
part of the brain that deals with complex
tasks, such as vision and language, that
require many levels of abstraction. DNNs
use an iterative algorithm to indicate how
the model should change its internal pa-
rameters used to compute the represen-
tation in each layer from the represen-
tation in the preceding layer. Training is
performed by presenting raw input data
to the DNN and providing desired output
data. The model then learns how to trans-
form its internal parameters in order to
minimize the error between the desired
output and the actual output. This pro-
cess is repeated iteratively many millions
of times until the error stopsdecreasing.
In regard to hydrocarbon estimates
made on the basis of geological data,
one faces a similar problem with a corre-
sponding solution. Before one can make
an educated guess about the hydrocar-
bons in place, one must be several levels of
abstraction above the raw geological data.
Data
The data used to train and test the model
consist of two data sets, one with geolog-
ical data and one with well-production
data. The region covered was a part of
the Eagle Ford shale and included both
oil and dry-gas wells.
The geological parameters primarily
used in the model were thickness, po-
rosity, bulk density, vitrinite reflectance,
water saturation, total organic carbon,
and brittleness, all of which can be esti-
mated at an early stage when evaluating
a new play. When the geological data are
derived from a small number of well logs
and interpolated into a grid, the resulting
grids have low resolution and are quite
smooth. The combination of all geologi-
cal parameters can, however, provide a
much-higher-resolution map for the pre-
dicted variable. The final geological data
set had more than 200,000 data points.
The well data consisted of production
logs for more than 800 wells that have
been producing for several years, so a re-
liable decline-analysis figure for the EUR
could be obtained.
Model
To build a DNN that understands the in-
tricate structures and levels of abstraction
from the geological data, the authors use
a method called stacked denoising auto-
encoders. Rather than trying to predict
EUR from the geological data, the user
sets both the input and the desired output
to the same data. The user then, during
training, corrupts the input data (omit-
ting variables and adding noise), forcing
the DNN to try to reconstruct the original
data and in the process discovering and
building all the levels of abstraction. In es-
sence, such a DNN consists of two parts:
an encoder and a decoder. The encoder
breaks down the data into the intricate
structure with multiple levels of abstrac-
tion, while the decoder transforms this
back to the original format. This paper is
focused upon the encoder, so once an ad-
equate autoencoder is obtained, the de-
coder part of the DNN can be discarded.
As a second step, smaller predictor
DNNs that specialize in a particular task
are attached. For the results given in the
complete paper, the authors created two
predictorsone gas EUR predictor and
one oil/gas-ratio (OGR) predictor.

Testing and Validation

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights To make sure that the model generalizes
of paper SPE 174799, Geology-Driven Estimated-Ultimate-Recovery Prediction well and that it can be applied to new geo-
Using Deep Learning, by L. Crnkovic-Friis and M. Erlandson, Peltarion Energy, logical regions, the authors split the data
prepared for the 2015 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, into three different setstraining, vali-
2830September. The paper has not been peer reviewed. dation, and test (Fig. 1). The training set

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

74 JPT MAY 2016


Fig. 1Division into different data sets.
is used to adapt the model to the data. If
a model is computationally powerful and
data are sparse, there is risk of overtrain-
ing. This means that the model becomes
overly specialized on the training data at
the expense of performance on new data.
The validation set contains data that the
model has not seen before, and it is used to
evaluate the models ability to generalize.
The model is never adapted directly to the
validation data set, but indirect decisions
might be made on the basis of it. When the
training and validation errors are com-
parable, the model is in balance when it
comes to performance vs. generalization.
Although the validation set has never been
used for adaptation, it has been used indi-
rectly to determine if the system general-
izes well. A third data setthe test setis
used as a final independent test.
It is important that this system work
well in new areas, so the authors select-
ed a test set that covers a separate geo-
logical and geographical region, one that
lies between 50 and 100 miles from the
training-set region and contains data
from multiple operators.
Results, Interpretation,
and Accuracy
The model is provided with no knowledge
about how the well was drilled or frac-
tured. Because well and fracture design
affect the EUR, this discrepancy will ap-
pear as noise or uncertainty in the model.
The predictive model will therefore pro-
duce an averagethe most-probable
value considering all known designs. The
geological data are approximate and are
often interpolated from a limited num-
JPT MAY 2016
This can be demonstrated by select-
ing two nearby regions that are relatively
close to each other, but where the model
produces significantly different results.
Future Work
The authors are currently compiling more
geological data and data from other plays
with more-diverse geology. This is im-
portant because, first, the data are need-
ed to validate that the knowledge carries
over to distant locations and even differ-
ent geological horizons; second, the new
data will add to the deep models geologi-
cal knowledge and allow it to increase ac-
curacy and portability (to make use of the
knowledge as it is appliedelsewhere).
The current choice of parameters
ber of wells. This will also be a cause of (thickness, porosity, water saturation,
variation in the output. Hence, the output bulk density, vitrinite reflectance, total
should be interpreted as a baseline EUR organic carbon, and brittleness) is made
estimate, a value one might expect from for historical rather than scientific rea-
an average well or fracturedesign. sons; these were the parameters to which
The predictions are not perfect, but the authors had access when they began
they are still approximately twice as ac- building the models. Some can be re-
curate as type-curve region averages that moved without significant loss of perfor-
require substantial production data and mance, while adding others would likely
do not generalize outside the regions increase accuracy. JPT
they portray.
One can look at the error in absolute
terms or in relative terms. In a data set
that contains large variations in OGR,
it makes sense to look at relative devia-
tions. In an area where the average gas
EUR is approximately 56 Bcf, an error of
1 Bcf can be acceptable, while in an area
with 0.2 Bcf, an error of 1 Bcf is consid-
erable. The standard statistical measure
for this is the mean absolute percentage
error (see the complete paper for a de-
scription of this expression).
The test set was in a separate region
that was between 50 and 100 miles from
the training-set region and used data
from multiple operators.
OGR. The second model trained was one
that predicts OGR from the same geo-
logical data. This was performed to in-
vestigate the role of the resolution of
the geological data. When the geological
data are derived from a small number of
well logs and interpolated into a grid, the
resulting grids have low resolution and
are quite smooth. The combination of
all geological parameters can, however,
give a much-higher-resolution map for
the predicted variable.
75
 Machine Learning Applied to Multiwell-Test
Analysis and Flow-Rate Reconstruction

Results and Analysis

P ermanent downhole gauges
(PDGs) can provide a continuous
record of flow rate and pressure, which
provides extensive information about
the reservoir and makes PDG data a
valuable source for reservoir analysis.
In previous work, it has been shown
that kernel-ridge regression-based
machine learning is a promising tool
to interpret pressure transients from a
single PDG. In this work, the machine-
learning framework was extended to
two applications: multiwell testing and
flow-rate reconstruction.
Introduction
Analysis of PDG data is challenging be-
cause of the inherent characteristics of
the data, including continuously vari-
able flow rate, noise, and the large
data volume. Until now, most efforts
in PDG-data analysis have been con-
centrated on pressure-transient analy-
sis on single wells, although there have
also been some studies on temperature-
transient analysis and multiwall-data
analysis. Recently, however, there have
been some attempts to apply machine-
learning techniques for PDG-data analy-
sis. The fundamental idea is to learn
the patterns behind PDG data, where
the patterns contain the reservoir in-
formation implicitly. A previous study
on single-well pressure analysis showed
that machine learning has the poten-
tial to handle the complexities in PDG-
data analysis, and learn the reservoir
modelsuccessfully.
In this work, the authors use machine
learning as the tool for investigation, but
address two different problemsname-
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 175059, Machine Learning Applied to Multiwell-Test Analysis and Flow-
Rate Reconstruction, by Chuan Tian and Roland N. Horne, Stanford University,
prepared for the 2015 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston,
2830 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
ly, multiwell testing (multiwell pressure-
transient analysis) and flow-rate recon-
struction. Both topics are important
in PDG-data analysis in practical engi-
neering. The authors have developed a
machine-learning model for each prob-
lem and have tested the models on dif-
ferent real and synthetic data sets. The
test results validated the developed ap-
proach, and illustrated the flexibility of
the machine-learning framework for dif-
ferent applications by adapting the fea-
tures and the targets.
Problem Statement. On the basis of the
background information and literature
review, the objectives of this research
were to
Extend the machine-learning
framework for pressure analysis on
a single well to multiwell systems.
The framework should capture the
well interference accurately and
be able to test a greater area of the
reservoir.
Develop a machine-learning model
to reconstruct the flow-rate history
by use of pressure data.
Ensure that both models maintain
the advantages of the machine-
learning-based single-well
pressure interpretation in terms
of the accuracy of prediction,
computational efficiency, and
tolerance to noise.
A review of methodologies, including
machine-learning concepts (linear re-
gression, kernel method, and model reg-
ularization), multiwell testing, and flow-
rate reconstruction, is provided in the
complete paper.
Multiwell Testing. Case 1: Artificial
Interference Testing. In this case, two
wells are producing in a homogeneous
reservoir. The flow rate and pressure of
Well 1 are shown in Figs. 1a and 1b, and
the flow rate and pressure of Well 2 are
shown in Figs. 1c and 1d. The pressure
response at each well was designed to be
affected by the production of the other
well. However, because of the nature
of interference, the small magnitude of
pressure change caused by the other well
is mostly hidden by the dominant pres-
sure change at the well itself. This makes
it difficult for the machine-learning algo-
rithm to differentiate the pressure con-
tributions from other wells.
The flow rate and pressure of both
wells were augmented with artificial
noise before training. After training the
model, an artificial interference testing
was created by computing the response
that would occur if Well 2 had been shut
in while Well 1 had kept producing at
constant rate, as shown in Fig. 1e. Well
1 was used as an active well, and Well 2
was used as an observation well. Fig. 1f
shows the comparison of the pressure
prediction at Well 2 and the true data.
Although the pressure change in the in-
terference test is much smaller in com-
parison with the training case, the al-
gorithm still captured the trend of this
small pressureinterference.
The example of interference testing
demonstrates the ability of the multi-
well machine-learning model to learn
the well interactions, even though the
magnitude of pressure interference is
small. The idea of artificial interference
testing can also be useful because it does
not require additional cost in the field
operations. The observation well is shut
in in the computer program but not in
the field. If PDG data from multiple wells
exist, an artificial-interference test can
be implemented easily by picking one

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

76 JPT MAY 2016

 2,500 0
True Data
Flow Rate (STB/D) 2,000
Noisy Data

Pressure (psi)
500 Prediction

1,500
1,000
1,000
1,500
500 True Data
Noisy Data
0 2,000
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
(a) (b)
Time (hours) Time (hours)
500 100
True Data
Flow Rate (STB/D)

Noisy Data
400

Pressure (psi)
Prediction
200
300
300
200
400
100
True Data
Noisy Data
0 500
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
(c) (d)
Time (hours) Time (hours)
351 0
True Data True Data
Flow Rate (STB/D)

Prediction
5
Pressure (psi)

350.5
10
350 15

20
349.5
25
349 30
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
(e) (f)
Time (hours) Time (hours)

Fig. 1Machine-learning results on Case 1. (a) and (c) show the true flow rate (blue) and the noisy training rate (circle)
of Well 1 and Well 2; (b) and (d) show the true pressure (blue), noisy training pressure (circle), and the pressure
prediction (red) corresponding with the true flow rate of Well 1 and Well 2; (e) shows the flow rate of Well 1 during the
interference test (Well 2 is shut in); (f) shows the comparison of true pressure (blue) and pressure prediction (red) of
Well 2 during the interference test.

active well and observing the pressure
response at other wells.
Case 2: Pressure Forecast. Here, fur-
ther complexity is added to the machine-
learning task by introducing a greater
number of wells and the presence of two-
phase flow. The goal is to forecast the
pressure, given flow-rate controls at vari-
ous well locations. Four production wells
are located at the corners of a homoge-
neous reservoir, and an injection well sits
in the center.
The key idea in multiwell testing is to
expand the feature dimension to include
the contributions from multiple wells.
Adding more wells only means adding
more features. Besides feature expan-
sion, no other treatment was required to
account for the additional wells. To ad-
dress the two-phase issue, the authors
replaced the oil rate by total liquid rate
when constructing the features, thus re-
flecting the physics that the pressure re-
sponse is caused by the flowing of both
phases. A cross validation was applied.
The results showed an accurate match
to the training set and a good predic-
tion on the validation set, although a de-
viation in pressure prediction for the in-
jector was observed. Thus, the authors
conclude that the machine-learning
framework does have the flexibility to
work on multiwell systems with two-
phase flow.
Flow-Rate Reconstruction. Case 3:
Synthetic Data. In this case, the
machine-learning model was trained
with pressure and flow-rate data with
artificial noise. It should be noted that
the direction of the modeling was dif-
ferent, although the training data were
still pressure and flow rate. After train-
ing, two pressure histories were used as
input to generate the flow-rate predic-
tions. A high agreement between pre-
dictions and true data was observed in
both cases, although the zig-zag flow
rate looks very different from the train-
ing rate, demonstrating the ability of
the method to generalize well to un-
known data.
Case 4: Real Data. The machine-
learning approach for flow-rate recon-
struction was tested further on a real
PDG-data set. In the training step, part of
the flow-rate data was hidden to mimic

JPT MAY 2016 77

 the situation of missing measurements.
After training, the complete pressure his-
tory was used as input to reconstruct the
missing flow rate. Usually, continuous
pressure measurements from the PDG
are available, but parts of the flow-rate
measurement are missing or may be un-
reliable. In that case, as long as at least
one period of consistent pressure and
flow-rate measurements is available to
learn the pattern between the two, the
flow-rate-reconstruction technique can
be applied to create an estimate of the
missing flow rates.
In short, a new set of features was de-
veloped to model flow rate with pressure
measurements. Coupled with the kernel-
ridge regression framework, the features
were tested on both synthetic and real
data sets and showed promising perfor-
mance. The results also indicate another
property of machine learning: the flex-
ibility in direction of modeling by adapt-
ing features and targets.
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Conclusions
There are three primary conclusions of
this work:
The machine-learning approach
for PDG pressure analysis was
extended from single-well to
multiwell systems. The multiwell
model was shown to be able
to capture well interactions
accurately, and to differentiate
the pressure contributions from
various wells. The multiwell
model was tested in two
promising applications: artificial-
interference-test creation without
affecting field operation, and
pressure forecasting for multiwell
systems with given rate control.
A machine-learning model
was developed for flow-rate
reconstruction with new
definitions of features and targets.
The model was tested on both
synthetic and real data, and
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showed promising performance.
The machine-learning model
provides an effective alternative
approach to estimate the missing
flow rate compared with earlier
optimization or analytical solution
approaches because the latter
approaches require an assumption
of the reservoir model.
This work demonstrates the
flexibility of machine learning
in solving different applications.
Pressure-transient analysis,
multiwell testing, and flow-rate
reconstruction each have their
own complex physical processes.
Machine learning treats these
different applications with the
same solution procedure, by
adapting features and targets for
each application. This work further
demonstrates machine learning as
a promising technique for PDG-
data analysis. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Multilateral/Extended-Reach Wells
Bernt S. Aadny, SPE, Professor of Petroleum Engineering, University of Stavanger

The development of multilateral wells
and long-reach wells has become impor-
tant to maximizing recovery for many
fields. These technologies are often
applied in offshore environments, where
large reservoir areas are drained from
one or more platforms.
In the late 1980s, long-reach wells
started to use existing infrastructure
better by drilling beyond the design lim-
its of that time. Several major operators
were extending their limits, and, in the
late 1990s, BP Wytch Farm showed that
a horizontal departure exceeding 10 km
was feasible. This had a significant effect
on the industry because offshore plat-
forms now could be designed for up to
10-km reach, as opposed to the early
1980s when 3-km reach was common.
A field could now be developed with one
platform instead of three, resulting in
enormous savings.
Multilateral-well technology also
matured during the past 2 decades.
The main benefit from
directional drilling is the
maximizing of reservoir
recovery. From this
perspective, multilateral/
extended-reach wells may
be considered one of the
more important means of
improved oil recovery.
There were many drivers for this devel-
opment. One of the more important was
the desire to increase production in tight
reservoirs. Another advantage is direc-
tional control. Well stimulation with
fracturing has the drawback that the
fracture direction is controlled by the
in-situ stresses in the rock. Multilater-
al branches, on the other hand, can be
drilled in any direction.
There has been considerable develop-
ment around these technologies. Those
that help clear the challenges, such as
those related to wellbore stability, well-
bore friction, equipment limitations,
and operational aspects, can be consid-
ered mature technologies today.
The main benefit from directional
drilling is the maximizing of reservoir
recovery. From this perspective, mul-
tilateral/extended-reach wells may be
considered one of the more important
means of improved oil recovery.
Although these directional-well con-
cepts have been used for some years,
they were initially costly with a high eco-
nomic risk. There is a continuous tech-
nology development at many levels that
leads to improvements. These result in
more-efficient processes, with increased
field recoveries as a consequence. There-
fore, multilaterals and extended-reach
wells are now common and will be very
important for future cost-effective oil
and gas production.JPT

Bernt S. Aadny, SPE, is a professor of petroleum engineering

at the University of Stavanger, specializing in all aspects of well
engineering, including geomechanics. He worked for major Recommended additional reading
operators in the oil industry from 1978 until 1994, when he tran- at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
sitioned to academia. Aadny has published more than SPE 174035 Technology Qualification
150 papers, holds several patents, and has authored or and Installation Plan of Efficient and
coauthored five books, among them Modern Well Design, Accurate Multilaterals Drilling Stimulation
Petroleum Rock Mechanics, and Mechanics of Drilling. He was Technology for Sandstone Oil Application
also one of the editors of the SPE book Advanced Drilling and Well Technology. byKevin Rice, Fishbones, et al.
Aadny holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University of SPE/IADC 168055 Expanding the
Wyoming, an MS degree in control engineering from The University of Texas at Extended-Reach Envelope at Chayvo
Austin, and a PhD degree in petroleum rock mechanics from the Norwegian Institute Field, Sakhlin Island byVishwas P. Gupta,
of Technology. He was the recipient of the 1999 SPE International Drilling Engineering ExxonMobil, et al.
Award and is also a 2015 SPE/AIME Honorary Member and a 2015 SPE Distinguished SPE 168235 CT Extended Reach: Can We
Member. Aadny is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee and can be reached at Reach Farther? byKen Newman, KNewman
bernt.aadnoy@uis.no. Engineering, et al.

JPT MAY 2016 79

 Innovative Tool Improves Hole-Cleaning
Efficiency in Extended-Reach Wells

S audi Aramco operates a large

offshore oilfield development that
has driven achievements in multilateral
To reduce the frequency and
number of wiper trips
To reduce torque and drag levels
cause of packoff, and ensured cleaner and
more-stable hole conditions.
From 10,828 to 14,000 ft, the off-
and extended-reach directional wells. and make them comparable with bottom drilling torque progressively
One challenge the operator faces is those of offset wells increased from 7,000 to 10,000 lbf-ft
to maintain proper hole cleaning in To reduce drilling cost with an openhole friction factor of 0.22.
extended 8-in. tangent sections at Well A1 resumed drilling from a preset From 14,000 to 17,000 ft, the off-bottom
8587 inclinations, which are drilled 9-in.-casing point in December 2013 drilling torque remained constant at
in excess of 10,000 ft. In an effort to in the Manifa field. The well was drilled 10,000 lbf-ft and the openhole friction
drill efficiently, a new technology to from surface to 30,480-ft MD and into a factor dropped from 0.22 to 0.14. From
increase cuttings removal was trial stratigraphic environment composed of 17,000 to 19,000ft, the off-bottom drill-
tested on Well A1 from an onshore limestone, sandstone, and siltstone. The ing torque increased from 10,000 to
location of the field. objective was to hold vertical from sur- 13,000 lbf-ft, with an openhole friction
face to 1,535 ft, build up to 85 from 1,535 factor of 0.16. From 19,000 to 24,160ft,
Introduction to 11,659 ft, and hold an 8590 inclina- the off-bottom drilling torque slightly
Historically, drilling very long tangent tion to total depth. increased from 13,000 to 14,000 lbf-ft
sections required the use of several tan- The challenges were to clean hole and the openhole friction factor dropped
dem sweep pills, wiper trips, and reaming while drilling the long 8-in. tangent from 0.16 to 0.12.
and back reaming to maintain hole quali- section from 11,659 to 24,160 ft. To ad- The CBI tools contributed to the low
ty and remove cuttings from the wellbore dress these challenges, the tool company rotational openhole friction factor expe-
efficiently. Poor hole cleaning can lead recommended the use of 5-in. cuttings- rienced while rotating off-bottom. The
to tight intervals, increased torque and bed-impeller (CBI) tools at a frequen- openhole friction factor decreased from
drag, and, eventually, stuck pipe. cy of one tool per three stands on the 0.22 at the beginning of the run to 0.12
Extended-reach Well A1 was drilled 5-in.drillpipe. at total depth. Nonrotating drillpipe pro-
to a measured depth (MD) of 30,480 ft The 8-in. tangent section was drilled tectors also were installed on the 5-in.
[8,650-ft true vertical depth (TVD)] into smoothly without any hole-cleaning is- drillpipe throughout the cased hole and
a stratigraphic environment composed of sues (no tight hole or stuck pipe). The contributed to the low rotational friction
limestone, shale, and siltstone. The ob- primary hole cleaning was achieved dur- factor encountered during this run.
jective of the trial test for the tool was to ing drilling, and no secondary hole clean- From 10,828 to 14,400 ft, the on-
improve the drilling efficiency. To obtain ing was required. bottom drilling torque progressively in-
the best possible hole cleaning, a simula- A service company installed a cuttings- creased from 11,000 to 14,000 lbf-ft and
tion was performed by placing the new flowmeter system at the shakers to evalu- the openhole friction factor was 0.18.
tools every three stands along the tan- ate hole-cleaning efficiency and perfor- From 14,400 to 18,800 ft, the on-bottom
gent section in the 8-in.-hole section. mance of the hole-cleaning tools. drilling torque slightly increased from
The goals of the trial test were 14,000 to 15,000 lbf-ft and the openhole
To enhance hole cleaning by Reduced Torque, Friction friction factor dropped from 0.18 to 0.12.
removal of cuttings The placement of 47 5-in. CBI tools in From 18,800 to 19,600 ft, the on-bottom
To reduce the frequency and the drillstring reduced torque and drag, drilling torque increased from 15,000
number of tandem sweep pills limited the chances of getting stuck be- to 18,000 lbf-ft and the openhole fric-
tion factor increased from 0.12 to 0.16.
From 19,600 ft to target depth, the on-
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
bottom drilling torque slightly increased
of paper SPE 175165, Use of an Innovative Tool To Improve Hole-Cleaning Efficiency
from 18,000 to 19,000 lbf-ft and the
in Extended-Reach Wells in Saudi Arabia, by Mike Okot, Marlio Campos, German openhole friction factor decreased from
Muoz, and Alawi G. Alalsayednassir, Saudi Aramco; Matt Weber, Franks 0.16to 0.12.
International; and Zahid Muneer, SPE, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2015 SPE The use of the CBI tools resulted in a
Kuwait Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Mishref, Kuwait, 1114 October. The paper reduction in the rotational friction fac-
has not been peerreviewed. tor from 0.18 to 0.12 while drilling the

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

80 JPT MAY 2016

SOLUTIONS TO TODAYS CHALLENGES
ENSURING TOMORROWS SUCCESS
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67,08/$7,21&2,/('78%,1* (&2,/&2,/'5,//,1*7(&+12/2*,(6
+<'5$8/,&:25.29(5&(0(17,1*,1'8675,$/1,752*(11,752*(1
6/,&./,1( %5$,'('/,1((/(&75,&/,1(:$7(50$1$*(0(17
63(&,$/6(59,&(6:(//&21752/
 Well A1 Cumulative Cuttings Recovery Chart
8-in. Section (10,83224,160 ft)

/2 3
/3 3
/3 3
01 1/13
01 1/14

/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
/0 4
14
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/2 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/2 3
/2 3
12 0/13

/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3
/1 3

Theoretical, Measured by Cuttings Flowmeter, Volume Excess/Deficit

12 9/1
12 9/1
12 0/1

01 1/1
01 2/1
01 3/1
01 4/1
01 4/1
01 5/1
12 1/1
12 2/1
12 2/1
12 3/1
12 4/1
12 5/1
12 6/1
12 6/1
12 7/1
12 8/1
12 7/1
12 8/1
12 9/1
12 9/1
12 0/1
12 1/1
12 2/1
12 3/1
12 3/1
12 4/1
12 5/1
12 6/1
12 6/1

6/
/1

/0
/0
/1
12
120 1,300

110 Cuttings Recovery: 91.6% 1,200

1,100
100
1,000

Cumulative Dry Volumes (bbl)

90
% Recovery 900
80 Sweeps 800
Secondary Recovery 2.6%
Theoretical Openhole
Recovery (%)

70 Volume (bbl) 700

Secondary Recovery 0.8%

Secondary Recovery 2.4%
Actual Recovered

Secondary Recovery 0.7%

Drill (10,83812,865 ft)

60 600

Drill (23,29224,160 ft)

Volume (bbl)
Tripping
Recovery 93.5%

Drill (18,35519,398 ft)

500

Recovery 89.5%
50 Volume Excess/

Recovery 90.7%
Deficit (bbl) 400

Trip
Trip
40

Trip
300
30
Drill (12,86518,355 ft) 200
20 Drill (12,86518,355 ft) Recovery 89.2%
100
Recovery 88.7%
10 0

0 100

23 59
24 50
24 60
60
23 77
23 05
23 92
23 92
23 92
20 57
21 91
21 81
22 22
22 37
14 43
15 13
15 76
16 31
17 2
18 56
18 52
18 55
18 55
19 55
19 15
19 98
19 98
19 62
20 70
11 32
11 35
12 71
12 25
12 66
13 66
13 54

,0
,1

,1

,1
,1
,5

,1

,2
,2
,2
,4
,8
,8
,2
,7
,2
,6
,3
,3
,3

,3
,3
,4
,9
,4
,8
,4
,9
,5
,8
,8
,3
,9

,7
,5
,4
10

Lag Depth (ft)

Fig. 1Hole-cleaning chart showing percentage of cuttings recovery and dry volumes for Well A1.

8-in. tangent section. A major reduc- to the last casing shoe without pump or stuck-pipe events were noticed.
tion in the friction factor was also ob- or rotation was performed four Primary hole cleaning was achieved
served in the last 5,000 ft of the run, times because of tool failures and for during drilling, and no secondary
when the majority of CBI tools covered blowout-preventer tests. hole cleaning was required.
the tangentsection. Pill efficiency was monitored and The cuttings recovery of 91.6%
optimized on the basis of cuttings- showed excellent hole cleaning.
Hole-Cleaning Analysis flowmeter data; only one pill was All short trips and wiper trips
A cuttings flowmeter at the shaker evalu- pumped for every four or five stands were eliminated on the basis
ated hole cleaning. The weight of cuttings drilled, instead of for every 45 ft or of hole-cleaning assurance. Pill
reaching the surface was continuously for every stand drilled. efficiency was also monitored, and
measured and analyzed coming off the With the help of hole-cleaning pill frequency was optimized. As
shale shakers. By comparing measured assurance, up to 1,100 ft was drilled a result, greater than 50% of pill
and theoretical volumes, early detection without pumping any tandem pill. volume was saved compared with
of inadequate hole cleaning and excess Final trip at target depth was smooth, the drilling plan.
returns caused by wellbore instability indicating good hole cleaning and A hole-cleaning comparison between
(caving) or formation damage was possi- stable wellbore conditions, before Well A1 and Well B1, which did
ble. Fig. 1 shows the cumulative cuttings running the 7-in. liner. not use the CBI tools, revealed the
recovery for Well A1. effectiveness of the tools, with an
Conclusions 11.7% improvement in recovery and
Results The 8-in. tangent section from a 50% decrease in pillfrequency.
Drilled 13,332 ft in 8-in. section 10,828 to 24,160 ft was drilled The 47 CBI tools resulted in a
without any hole-cleaning issues and successfully with five bit runs. substantial reduction in the
no tight-hole or stuck-pipe events All bits were pulled out of hole rotational friction factor while
recorded. in excellent and rerunnable rotating off-bottom and on bottom.
Drilled 5,490 ft and 3,895 ft in one condition. The 47 CBI tools The openhole friction factor was
run each. installed in the drillstring met and reduced from 0.22 at the beginning
Primary hole cleaning was achieved exceeded expectations. The CBI of the run to 0.12 at target depth.
during drilling; no secondary hole tools enhanced hole cleaning and The CBI tools showed a significant
cleaning was required. ensuredstable hole conditions while reduction in hookload. The last
Excellent hole-cleaning efficiency, drilling the 8-in. tangent section trips showed a 27.3% increase in
with a cuttings recovery of 91.6%. of Well A1. slackoff weight and an 11% decrease
All planned short trips and wiper The 8-in. section was drilled in pickup weight compared with a
trips were avoided by optimum hole successfully without any hole- simulated hookload with a friction
cleaning, although smooth tripping cleaning problems; no tight-hole factor of 0.150.20. JPT

82 JPT MAY 2016

New Rotary Shouldered Connection
Expands Capability of ERD Operation

E ight of the worlds 10 longest wells

have been drilled by ExxonMobil
as operator of the Sakhalin-1 project
in Russia. Components and drilling
tools involved in the well design are
evaluated and redesigned throughout
the program to maximize penetration
rate and reduce flat time. Drillstring-
torque capacity was recognized as
a limiter for increasing penetration
rateand for reaching total measured
depth capability. The operator
consequently sought an alternative
drillpipe connection with higher
torquecapacity.

Introduction
The Sakhalin-1 project comprises the
Chayvo, Odoptu, and Arkutun Dagi fields
off the east coast of Sakhalin Island,
Russian Federation (Fig. 1). Develop-
ment drilling at the Chayvo field start-
ed in 2003 with extended-reach wells
drilled from an onshore location with Fig. 1Sakhalin-1 field overview.
the Yastreb drilling rig. In 2005, further
development drilling commenced from
the offshore Orlan platform site. Sub- Limiter Identification Torque Limitation
sequently, in 2008, the Yastreb rig was During the first drilling campaign at The existing 5-in. drillpipe connec-
moved approximately 75 km north to the Chayvo, available topdrive torque limited tion used on the ERD wells during the
Odoptu onshore wellsite and drilled nine drilling performance in the long produc- Odoptu drilling campaign had a maxi-
extended-reach-drilling (ERD) wells as tion hole section (>3000 m). Installa- mum makeup torque of 56,600 lbf-ft.
part of the initial-stage development of tion of a new topdrive capable of contin- The subsequent Chayvo drilling cam-
Odoptu. During the Odoptu campaign, uous torque in excess of 90,000 lbf-ft paign had planned wells that predicted
it was determined that a higher-torque at 140 rev/min eliminated this limiter. surface torque in excess of 70,000lbf-ft.
5-in. drillpipe connection with good During the subsequent Odoptu drilling Using the existing 5-in. connec-
runnability was needed. Following the campaign, the 5-in. drillpipe connec- tion for upcoming planned wells would
Odoptu campaign, the Yastreb rig was tion was identified as a new limiter af- have required significant reductions
moved back to the Chayvo onshore well- fecting rate of penetration (ROP) and in ROP to keep surface torque below
site in 2011 for further development and torque operating margin in the produc- the drillpipe-connection torque rating.
infill drilling of the Chayvo reservoirs. tion holesection. The need for increased torque capac-
ity of the 5-in. drillpipe connection
was identified.
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE/IADC 168049, New Rotary Shouldered Connection Expands the Connection Modifications
Capability of World-Record ERD Operation, by S.R. Sanford, SPE, and M.W. Walker, To Increase Torque Capacity
SPE, ExxonMobil; and J.N. Brock, M.J. Jellison, SPE, and A. Muradov, SPE, NOV Examining the parameters affecting
Grant Prideco, prepared for the 2014 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, torque capacity, and the consequences
Fort Worth, Texas, USA, 46 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. of modifying them, quickly limits the

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

JPT MAY 2016 83

 options to increase the torque capacity of
the connection.
Thread-Form Parameters. If possible,
a solution to increase the torque ca-
pacity while maintaining interchange-
ability with the second-generation
double-shouldered connection (DSC) was
preferred. Changing the thread-form
parameters would prevent interchange-
ability and result in only minor improve-
ments in torque capacity.
Increasing Connection Outer Diameter
(OD) and Decreasing Connection Inner
Diameter (ID). With one exception, all
of the area and radius parameters can
be changed easily to increase torque ca-
pacity by increasing the connection OD
and decreasing the connection ID. For a
given makeup stress level, increasing the
area parameters will increase the normal
force on the torque shoulders, increasing
the frictional forces. Increasing the con-
nection OD can limit fishability and in-
crease the equivalent circulating density
in the annulus. Decreasing connection ID
increases frictional pressure losses along
the drillstring, which, in turn, increases
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84
the surface pressure required to maintain
a given flow rate.
Increasing the Coefficient of Friction.
The coefficient of friction is determined
by the thread compound. Rather than
specify the coefficient of friction, the in-
dustry has defined the term friction fac-
tor to compare the frictional charac-
teristics of different thread compounds.
Zinc-based thread compound with API
Recommended Practice 5A3 is the base-
line rotary-shouldered-connection (RSC)
thread compound and has been desig-
nated as having a friction factor of 1.00.
The friction factors of other thread com-
pounds are based on their frictional char-
acteristics as determined by testing in ac-
cordance with API Recommended Practice
7A1. Several good-quality copper-based
RSC thread compounds are available with
friction factors ranging from 1.10 to 1.15,
providing increased torque capacity.
Increasing the Makeup Stress Level.
RSCs typically have 120,000-psi specified-
minimum-yield-strength (SMYS) tool
joints and have recommended makeup
torque equal to 60% of the connections
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torsional strength. Increasing the tool-
joint SMYS to 130,000 psi and increas-
ing the recommended makeup torque will
provide a substantial increase in connec-
tion torque capacity. The consequence
of increasing material yield strength
and makeup torque is a possible reduc-
tion in fatigue life. A balance must be
maintained between tool-joint strength
andtoughness.
Final Connection Design
Considering all of the torque-affecting
connection parameters, the final design
was chosen on the basis of the desire to
maximize torque capacity, to maintain in-
terchangeability with the existing stan-
dard DSC already being used, and to main-
tain ease of use in the field. The design
used tool joints with 130,000-psi SMYS.
Because ERD wells place the drillstring in
a low-tension (shallow true vertical depth)
and high-torque (long measured depth)
environment, the operator was willing to
sacrifice tensile capacity of the connection
in order to increase torque capacity.
A fatigue-resistant thread form was
also incorporated. The enhanced second-
generation DSC provides an additional
JPT MAY 2016
26% in torque capacity compared with the standard second-
generation DSC, while maintaining compatibility with the exist-
ing standard second-generation DSC that the operator has been
using in this field for 10 years. With the use of a good-quality
copper-based thread compound with a friction factor of 1.15, the
makeup torque could be increased evenfurther.

Fatigue Testing
In order to evaluate the fatigue performance of the enhanced
second-generation DSC, comparative fatigue testing was con-
ducted at the manufacturers technology center. Fatigue test-
ing was performed on a harmonic-fatigue-test machine. This
machine applies a cyclic bending stress by exciting the part in a
whirling motion.
Four samples of the enhanced second-generation DSC and
the standard second-generation DSC (baseline) were fabricat-
ed for testing. All samples were tested at a bending moment of
424,000lbf-in., which corresponds to 14,580-psi bending stress
at the outer fiber of the test specimens. The bending stress was
arbitrarily chosen on the basis of previous experience and in an
attempt to perform testing within a reasonable number ofcycles.

Test Results
All samples were tested to failure. Two of the enhanced second-
generation DSC samples failed in the last engaged thread of the
pin, while the other two failed in the last engaged thread of the
box. Three of the standard second-generation DSC samples
failed in the last engaged thread of the pin, while one failed in
the last engaged thread of the box. The enhanced second-gen-
eration DSC samples exhibited better fatigue performance com-
pared with the baseline standard second-generation DSC, failing
on average after 982,300 cycles and 571,276 cycles,respectively.
The test results demonstrate that the fatigue-resistant thread
form incorporated in the enhanced second-generation DSC de-
sign adequately compensated for any potential adverse effects
of the increased makeup torque and also improved the fatigue
performance when compared with the field-proven standard
second-generation DSC.

Field Deployment
The enhanced second-generation DSC has been in use for 18
months on two differentrigs. Initial deployment of this connec-
tion proceeded without issues, and compatibility with the exist-
ing standard second-generation DSC has been successful. The
operator was able to use all existing tools from the standard sec-
ond-generation DSC and maintain complete compatibility with
the new drillpipeconnection.
No failures of the enhanced second-generation DSC have
been observed in operations. Although the new connection is
in a higher stress state than its predecessor when made up, the
operator has seen no fatigue cracks during routine inspections,
consistent with the history of the standard second-generation
DSC. These field data support the laboratory-testing data in
terms of the enhanced connection not being more prone to fa-
tigue failure than the standard second-generation DSC.
Stabbing and making up the enhanced second-generation
DSC have proved to be identical to previous operations with the
standard second-generation DSC.JPT

JPT MAY 2016

 Magnetic Referencing and Real-Time Survey
Processing Enable Tighter Spacing of Wells
W ellbore position is computed
from survey measurements
taken by a measurement-while-
drilling (MWD) tool in the bottomhole
assembly (BHA). The MWD tool uses
accelerometers and magnetometers
to measure the Earths gravitational
and geomagnetic fields. Knowing the
direction of these two fields and using
them as a frame of reference enable
drillers to calculate inclination and
direction (azimuth) of the wellbore.
Local high-resolution in-field
referencing (IFR) models have been
produced for the Permian Basin that
significantly improve the accuracy of
MWD azimuth measurements.
Ellipse of Uncertainty (EOU)
Numerous error sources are associated
with MWD-survey measurements, and
each error source contributes in some
form to the magnitude of uncertainty
that propagates along the computed well-
bore trajectory. The Industry Steering
Committee for Wellbore Survey Accura-
cy (ISCWSA) developed a framework for
quantifying the magnitude of uncertain-
ty. The Operators Wellbore Survey Group
(OWSG), an ISCWSA subcommittee, con-
tinued development on the original error
model and published a set of instrument-
performance models that enables the
computation of EOU for specific survey-
ing methods. This consolidated set is re-
ferred to as the OWSG set of tool codes.
Fig. 1 illustrates the difference between
EOUs for standard MWD vs. advanced
corrections using MWD with IFR and
corrections for sag (MWD+IFR1+SAG).
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE 175539, Magnetic Referencing and Real-Time Survey Processing Enable
Tighter Spacing of Long-Reach Wells, by Stefan Maus, SPE, Magnetic Variation
Services, and Jarod Shawn Deverse, SPE, Surcon, prepared for the 2015 SPE Liquids-
Rich Basins ConferenceNorth America, Midland, Texas, USA, 23 September. The
paper has not been peer reviewed.
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.
86
Generally, one can see that the large
uncertainty of standard MWD can be re-
duced by 11 to 38% by use of IFR, while
further applying multistation analysis
(MSA) can reduce the uncertainty by 50
to 61%. As shown in Fig. 1, vertical
uncertainty can also be reduced
by advanced survey-correction
methods. Bending of the BHA
brings the accelerometer
out of alignment with
the inclination of the
wellbore trajectory.
This effect can be corrected
for by applying corrections for sag.
IFR
The objective of IFR is to use local-
magnetic-field measurements to produce
an accurate 3D magnetic reference model
for the drilled volume. The most cost-
effective method is to use aeromagnetic
surveys, which have been used for more
than 50 years to map geology and tecton-
ic features. Earlier IFR methods used fast
Fourier transforms or equivalent-source
techniques on planar 2D grids. A recent
analysis showed that these grid methods
can lead to significant errors in the decli-
nation and dip reference values because
they assume that the crustal magnetic
anomalies are entirely contained within
the grid. A superior approach is to tie the
grid into the global crustal field inferred
from satellite measurements and repre-
sent the solution in terms of global high-
degree ellipsoidal harmonic functions.
The IFR method used by the authors
first produces an accurate baseline mag-
netic field for a given reference date. This
fore, if the measured total field and dip
angle are compared with the reference
one can assume that any difference in
Fig. 1A
comparison
of the EOU
at a standard
deviation of
2.79 for 95%
confidence for the
tool codes MWD (green)
and MWD+IFR1+SAG (red). The actual
drilled wellbore trajectory is with 95%
confidencewithin the EOU of the
selected surveying method.
baseline for the reference date is supplied
as an IFR model together with an IFR cal-
culator to the drilling engineer. The base-
line can then be extrapolated to any de-
sired drilling date using the main field
model embedded in the IFR calculator.
MSA
MSA is a method for evaluating the qual-
ity of MWD surveys and for correcting
systematic bias and scale errors associ-
ated with the individual accelerometer
and magnetometer sensors. MWD tools
can measure magnetic-field strength and
dip angle regardless of wellbore direc-
tion and inclination. This enables one to
use total field and dip angle as quality-
control parameters to test the accura-
cy of the instrument. When a local IFR
model is used, the accuracy of the mag-
netic reference values is very high. There-
total field and reference dip angle, then
measurements is mostly because of sen-
JPT MAY 2016
sor errors and magnetic interference. particularly effective at identifying and
Comparing these error residuals across removing that type of error. Thus, the
multiple surveys will distinguish system- MWD+IFR1+MS tool code accounts for SI METRIC
atic error from gross, random, and exter- this reduction in interference by reducing CONVERSION FACTORS
nal errors. Once the systematic error is the magnitude of the corresponding axial The list below includes SImetric
identified for each sensor, the error may magnetic-interference errorcoefficient. conversion factors for common
engineering units.
be removed from the measurement in the
form of a survey correction. The combi- Conclusions acre 4.046 873 E+03 =m2
nation of IFR and MSA provides the high- Significant positional uncertainty is asso-
acre 4.046 873 E01 =ha
est level of lateral accuracy and quality ciated with wellbore trajectories comput-
acre-ft 1.233 489 E+03 =m3
control for magnetic MWD surveys. ed from standard MWD measurements.
ampere-hr 3.6* E+03 =C
The standard MWD error is modeled This uncertainty comes from numerous
using the MWD tool code. The error error sources inherent to MWD mea- 1.0* E01 =nm
model makes assumptions about the ex- surements, the largest of which are in- API 141.5/(131.5+API) =g/cm3
pected calibration of the instrument as accuracies in the geomagnetic reference atm 1.013 250* E+05 =Pa
described by the error coefficients for model and drillstring magnetic interfer- bar 1.0* E+05 =Pa
biases and scale factors of each sensor. ence. Using local IFR magnetic models bbl 1.589 873 E01 =m3
If MSA corrections are applied to MWD for computing true azimuth from mag- Btu 1.055 056 E+00=kJ
surveys in conjunction with using an IFR netic azimuth should be the first step to- Ci 3.7* E+10 =Bq
model, then the MWD+IFR1+MS tool ward improving the accuracy of MWD cp 1.0* E03 =Pa s
code can be used, which reduces the size surveys. IFR models use locally acquired cycles/sec 1.0* E+00=Hz
of the EOUs dramatically (see Fig. 1). aeromagnetic data that capture crustal
dyne 1.0* E02 =mN
This result is achieved because MSA ef- magnetic anomalies. Once an IFR model
eV 1.602 19 E19 =J
fectively decreases the magnitudes of the is available, applying MSA corrections
ft 3.048* E01 =m
error coefficients for the bias and scale to raw survey measurements can be very
errorsources. effective at identifying and correcting ft2 9.290 304* E02 =m2
Magnetic drillstring interference is the systematic errors attributed to drill- ft3 2.831 685 E02 =m3
greatest contributor to MWD azimuth string magnetic interference and poorly F (F32)/1.8 =C
error. The steel in drillpipe, drill collars, calibrated MWD instruments. This es- F (F+459.67)/1.8 =K
and mud motors is often magnetized by tablishes a foundation for higher-level gal (U.S. liq) 3.785 412 E03 =m3
magnetic particle inspection and by me- quality control of survey data because hp 7.460 43 E01 =kW
chanical stress in the presence of a mag- the largest sources of MWD error are hp-hr 2.684 520 E+00=MJ
netic field, such as sliding through cas- effectivelyreduced. in. 2.54* E+00=cm
ing. Magnetized BHA components will It is ideal to place wells as closely as in.2 6.451 6* E+00=cm2
disturb the natural magnetic field and possible to the planned well paths be-
in.3 1.638 706 E+01 =cm3
cause inaccurate measurements by the cause the spacing is often determined by
kip 4.448 222 E+03 =N
MWD tool. The effect of this magnetic in- reservoir models that will maximize re-
knot 5.144 444 E01 =m/s
terference can be reduced by mounting covery. Because a large amount of uncer-
the MWD tools inside nonmagnetized tainty can exist in wellbore positioning, ksi 6.894 757 E+03 =kPa
drill collars. However, this will not com- it is reasonable to assume that well spac- kW-hr 3.6* E+06 =J
pletely remove the magnetic interference ing is not always as consistent or accurate lbf 4.448 222 E+00=N
at the tool. The reduction in magnetic in- as engineers and geologists may believe. lbm 4.535 924 E01 =kg
terference is dependent on the length of This creates the risk that wellbores not mL 1.0* E+00=cm3
the nonmagnetic spacing between the placed where they were planned could mho 1.0* E+00=S
MWD sensors and the magnetized com- potentially leave unproduced hydrocar- mile 1.609 344* E+00=km
ponents as well as on the pole strength bons in the reservoir. Inaccurately placed oz (U.S. fl) 2.957 353 E+01 =cm3
of the individual BHA components. It is wellbores lead to unclaimed volume and psi 6.894 757 E+00=kPa
challenging to eliminate magnetic drill- overlap zones. Uncertainty in the well-
psi2 4.753 8 E+01 =kPa2
string interference effectively because it bore position also makes it difficult to
sq mile 2.589 988 E+00=km2
is ideal to place the MWD tool as close to understand production characteristics
stokes 1.0* E04 =m2/s
the drill bit as possible; it is also difficult when the well position is not known to
to estimate the pole strength of the BHA a high degree of confidence. Implement- ton 9.071 847 E01 =Mg
components. As a result, the MWD tool ing IFR and MSA as a standard survey- ton (metric) 1.0* E+00=Mg
code assumes that a certain magnitude of ing practice offers multiple benefits, in- tonf 8.896 444 E+03 =N
drillstring interference is present when cluding reduced collision risk, greater tonne 1.0* E+00=Mg
computing the EOUs. Because magnetic reservoir recovery through accurate well
interference caused by the drillstring is placement, and improved quality control *Conversion factor is exact.

consistent from survey to survey, MSA is of MWD surveys. JPT

JPT MAY 2016 87

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Cementing/Zonal Isolation
Gunnar DeBruijn, SPE, Standards and Knowledge Development Manager, Schlumberger

Is zonal isolation provided by cement? In the last several years, us to double-check our practices, con-
Cementing is central to the discus- tinue effective techniques, and devel-
sion of zonal isolation and well integri- regulations have been op technology where improvements
ty because cement typically provides at updated and rewritten areneeded.
least one barrier in a well and is a com- Technology is also focused on improv-
ponent of the barrier envelope or barrier worldwide. In every ing verification of cement placement and
system during well construction and the jurisdiction, we can point barrier achievement. Cement evaluation,
operational phases of the well. Cement including wellsite observations during
to a regulation or industry
parameters are typically included in cement placement, pressure tests, and
regulations and included as part of the standard that affects logging techniques, are part of the well-
permanent-abandonment requirements drilling and cementing integrity equation. These enhanced
for oil and gas wells. evaluation methods provide confidence
As an industry, installing and maintain- operations. This regulatory that zonal isolation and well integrity
ing the cement barrier and well integrity attention compels us areachieved.
are part of our social license to operate. As an industry and as SPE profession-
Since the first use of cement in oil wells in
to double-check our als, we work to provide energy from
1906, we as an industry have been proud practices, continue wells that use cement as a key compo-
that we have established and continuous- effective techniques, and nent in providing zonal isolation and
ly improved cementingpractices. well integrity. We comply with regula-
There is a long history of industry develop technology where tions, industry standards, and indus-
standards for cementing, with the Amer- improvements are needed. try best practices and continually
ican Petroleum Institute establishing update technology that instills confi-
the first cementing standard in 1948. dence in zonal isolation and well integ-
SPE has also included cementing ses- In the last several years, regulations rity for our industry, stakeholders,
sions at technical conferences for the have been updated and rewritten world- and society. JPT
last half-century. A quick search on the wide. In every jurisdiction, we can point
word cement in the SPE OnePetro to a regulation or industry standard that
database yields 21,133 results, dating affects drilling and cementing opera- Recommended additional reading
back to 1945. tions. This regulatory attention compels at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 172937 Achieving Cementing
Gunnar DeBruijn, SPE, is standards and knowledge develop- Improvement in Horizontal Tight-Gasfield
ment manager for Schlumberger, well integrity (cementing). He Development byPungki Ariyanto, BP, et al.
holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University SPE/IADC 167922 Intermixing of
of Alberta and has 26 years of experience working in the oil Cementing Fluids: Understanding Mud
industry, mostly in cementing. DeBruijn has worked in North Displacement and Cement Placement
America and in deep water around the world supporting cement- byZhongming Chen, Baker Hughes, et al.
ing and well-integrity initiatives. His current focus is on training SPE 175237 A Decade of Self-Sealing-
and competency development for the worldwide cementing Cement Technology Application To
population. DeBruijn serves on the JPT Editorial Committee. He can be reached at Ensure Long-Term Well Integrity byArash
gunnar1@slb.com. Shadravan, ReservoirFocus, et al.

88 JPT MAY 2016

New Approach Tests Cement-Sheath
Integrity During Thermal Cycling

W ell cement is placed into the

annulus between casing and
formation to provide structural support
Casing
pressure
port
Cement
pressure port

and zonal isolation throughout the well Cement-pouring

life cycle. Nevertheless, operators in the ports and other Rubber
measurements sleeve
North Sea have been concerned about the
ability of the cement sheath to maintain Rock
sealing integrity because of the increasing
number of reported failures in mature Confining-
wells. A new laboratory setup is designed pressure
port Annulus
to allow visualization of the development (cement)
of possible leak paths throughout the
cement sheath when exposed to pressure-
Cell sleeve
and temperature-related varying loads. Casing

Experimental Setup Copper-rod base

Copper rod
The new laboratory setup presented in
Oil drain
this work allows pressurization while
maintaining the capability to perform a Fig. 1Cement thermal-cycling cell.
detailed study of the creation and prop-
agation of cement-sheath failures upon allowable temperature range is set The pressurized cell has the potential
thermal cyclic loads. between 1C and 150C. to accommodate other types of measure-
The cell is shown in Fig. 1. All components of the cell can be ments and to test diverse wellbore con-
The applied formation materials reused for several test samples. ditions. For instance, casing eccentric-
were Saltwash North sandstone and ity and mud filter cake may be included
Mancosshale. In particular, the X-ray transparency is in the tests. Moreover, the annular space
Some of the current features of the cell important because it allows for visualiza- between the rock and the surrounding
are specified as follows: tion of leak paths without the need to re- sleeve provides room for the installation
Cell is X-ray transparent. lease pressure from the cell, or remove of additional measurement tools during
Temperature is controlled (from the internal test sample for a computed- thermal loading, such as acoustic emis-
inside the casing) during cement tomography (CT) scan, or perform the tra- sion sensors and thermocouples.
setting and cyclic tests. ditional invasive method of cutting the test
There is independent control of sample cross section. This was achieved Testing Protocol
pressure inside casing on cement by constructing the cell from aluminum, and Sample Preparation
and confining pressure (around the which has suitable radiolucent character- The aim of the current work was to intro-
rock) during cement setting and istics and allows the radiant energy to duce the testing protocol of the new pres-
cyclic tests. pass toward the test sample with little at- surized cell and compare the thermal-
Maximum pressure is set at tenuation. The material also provides a cycling resistance of two well sections,
approximately 35 bar, while the lightweight cell to facilitate handling. Saltwash North sandstone and Mancos
shale. The testing procedure for each
sample is presented here:
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
1.At ambient pressure, the casing,
of paper SPE 173871, Cement-Sheath Integrity During Thermal Cycling: A Novel
rock, and cell components are
Approach for Experimental Tests of Cement Systems, by J. De Andrade, SPE, exposed to 66C (cement-curing
and S. Sangesland, SPE, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and temperature).
J.Todorovic, SPE, and T. Vrlstad, SPE, SINTEF Petroleum Research, prepared for 2. Typically after 1 hours of heating
the 2015 SPE Bergen One Day Seminar, Bergen, Norway, 22 April. The paper has not the cell, cement is poured by
been peerreviewed. gravity into the annulus through

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

JPT MAY 2016 89

 ports thatare closed immediately
afterward.
3. Pressure around the rock and on the
cement is increased to 35 bar.
4. Pressure and temperature are
maintained for 5 days to cure the
cement.
5. The cell is cooled to ambient
temperature (approximately 16C)
while pressure is kept at 35 bar.
6. The cell is disconnected from the
hydraulic system and then placed on
a CT scanner for visualization of the
cement-sheath defects.
7. The cell is coupled again with the
laboratory setup to prepare for
subsequent thermal cycles.
8. Thermal-cycle profile and number
of repetitions are programmed and
executed.
9. The cell is CT scanned as many
times as required following Steps 4
through 6.
Thermal-Cycling Details
Heat is transferred by conduction from
a thermal plate into the copper rod. The
heat is nearly radially transferred to the
pipe/cement/rock sample through a thin
oil layer.
In this study, temperature has not
been experimentally monitored at the ce-
ment sheath. However, numerical simula-
tions of transient heat transfer have been
performed to estimate the temperature
changes through the sample. 3D finite-
element simulations were performed with
commercial software. In the calculations,
heat transfer from the thermal platform to
the copper rod and then toward the sam-
ple and all cell components has been con-
sidered. Heat transfer was estimated as a
conduction process among all the constit-
uents of the test, including the oil film and
nitrogen gas, in order to reduce the com-
plexity of the transient model. Heat con-
vection from the system to the surround-
ing environment was also considered.
Monitoring by CT
In order to obtain detailed 3D informa-
tion on the size, geometry, and location of
the cracks and debonded volumes in the
cement sheath, CT scanning is applied for
initial and post-cycling sample analysis.
To investigate the effect of a single
thermal cycle or consecutive cycles on
cement-sheath failures, the samples are
90
taken to room temperature in order to
create well-known and uniform tempera-
ture distributions for CT scanning.
Results
Both sandstone and shale rock samples
were subjected to 10 thermal cycles. Each
sample was investigated by CT at its ini-
tial condition and after the first and 10th
thermal cycles. Such a comparison can
reveal which sample defects arise during
thermal cycling and which were initially
introduced by the cementing procedure.
Bonding percentage is calculated by
finding the surface of direct casing/
cement and cement/formation contact
for each sample. The area of this sur-
face is further divided by the total avail-
able bonding area. This means that 100%
bonding corresponds to the surfaces
being in direct contact everywhere, while
0% bonding means that there is no direct
contact between the surfaces. The cracks/
voids percentage is defined as the ratio of
their volumes to the total annulus volume.
By comparing the leak-path volumes
for cracks and the bonding percentag-
es, it is clear that crack propagation is
the most significant failure mode when
thermal-cycling loads are applied. Casing/
cement debonding and cement/formation
debonding are less significant, although
more severe for the sandstone sample.
For the thermal loads applied in the ex-
periments, the increment in debonding
has been the result of linking between ad-
jacent debonded areas and cracks/voids
that propagate tangentially from the cas-
ing toward the rock. Several of these fail-
ures were found along the cement sheath,
although with greater amount in the sand-
stone sample. For both samples, only a
few tensile radial cracks were seen to
propagate from the casing toward the
rock. Most of the failures were found to
initiate at and propagate from locations
where voids existed initially.
Discussion
Effect of Hydrostatic Pressure on
Cement-Job Quality. Cement/casing and
cement/rock bonding has been enhanced
especially by hydrostatic pressure. The
presence of pressure seems to aid in ac-
commodating cement volumetric shrink-
age, typically within 2.5 to 3% for Portland
G cement, while maintaining the adhesion
of cement/casing and cement/formation.
The sample cured at ambient pressure
led to a critical situation of poor cement/
casing bonding, with fairly clean microan-
nuli that disable the initial cement-sheath
integrity of this sample. Another interest-
ing observation is that the condition of poor
cement/casing bonding appears to benefit
the adhesion to the formation. Therefore,
the presence of hydrostatic pressure dur-
ing the curing process is recommended to
achieve a cement-sheath condition similar
to that expected from a wellbore condi-
tion, with effective cement-placement de-
sign and casing centralization.
Cement-Failure Mechanisms Upon
Thermal Cycling. It should be noted that
most of the failures upon thermal cy-
cling found from both pressurized sam-
ples have been initiated at and propagat-
ed from initial defects within the cement
sheath. Failures propagate more rapidly
in the cross section than in the longitu-
dinal direction, with cracking being the
most prevalent failure mode found along
the cement sheath. The main origin of
cracking seems to be shear (compres-
sive) failures for both samples. A few ten-
sile radial cracks were found in cement
sheaths of samples and seem to be gener-
ated from initial voids along the casing.
Debonding between cement and casing
has not been significant for any sample.
Furthermore, debonding between ce-
ment and formation appears to be related
to propagation of shear failures toward
the rock, as well as to links between ini-
tial voids along this interface that formed
larger and continuous debonded areas.
These interpretations are the result of
the inspection of 3D reconstructions.
Debonding between cement and for-
mation and cracking increase upon ther-
mal cycling. The first thermal load de-
livered the largest detrimental effect to
the cement sheath, whereas the effect of
the subsequent 10 thermal cycles spread
these failures with a lower but still signif-
icant rate. In addition, the cement-sheath
damage appears to be more severe for the
sandstone sample. Even though the ce-
ment sheaths obtained in the shale and
sandstone samples do not correspond
entirely in initial status, the relatively
larger increment of cracks in the sand-
stone suggests that the sandstone is more
vulnerable to failure propagation upon
thermal cycling. JPT
JPT MAY 2016
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 An Integrated Approach to Solving Sustained
Casing Pressure in the Cana-Woodford Shale

M any wells in the Cana-Woodford

shale suffer from chronic
sustained casing pressure (SCP) because
of poor cement-sheath bonding. Using
simulation software, centralization of
the production casing was evaluated,
and an optimized frictional pressure
hierarchy was then designed. The
engineered placement method ensured
complete cement coverage around the
casing through an optimized frictional
pressure hierarchy. This multilayered
approach using mechanically optimized
slurries with different mechanisms of
action, including self-healing, provided a
comprehensive cementing portfolio that
contained layers of contingency.
Introduction
One of the major operators in the Cana-
Woodford field experienced poor bond
logs and SCP both before and after stim-
ulation, with the greatest number of is-
sues appearing after stimulation. SCP can
be defined as the presence of pressure in
the annulus of nonstructural strings. The
presence of SCP is an indication of a path
of flow of hydrocarbons to the surface.
SCP is typically caused by poorly placed
cement or by not taking into account all
factors in a well, such as stimulation con-
ditions. The cement is placed in the annu-
lus for many reasons, but one of the more
significant is to provide zonal isolation.
The zonal isolation is needed for stage-
to-stage isolation in fracturing; isolation
of the fracture treatment from shallow-
er formations, which are typically in a
lower-stress environment; and for pre-
vention of hydrocarbon flow to surface.
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE 174525, Bridging the Gap: An Integrated Approach to Solving Sustained
Casing Pressure in the Cana-Woodford Shale, by G. Landry, R.D. Welty, SPE,
M.Thomas, M.L. Vaughan, and D. Tatum, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2015 SPE
Well Integrity Symposium, Galveston, Texas, USA, 23 June. The paper has not been
peer reviewed.
This paper presents the methodolo-
gy and specific considerations that were
taken into account to integrate all known
information and causal learnings from
logging to design a system to provide
zonal isolation in the challenging Cana-
Woodford shale.
Field and Design Evaluation
Borehole Geometry. Drilling practices
can have a significant effect on cement-
placement results. Several factors must
be examined when evaluating a wellbore
(e.g., washouts, hole size, dogleg severity,
azimuthal gradients, curve build rates).
All these factors can affect the ability to
remove cuttings properly, to place cen-
tralizers effectively, and to remove mud
efficiently. The operator placed empha-
sis on controlling these factors to help
improve the likelihood of success. An oil-
based mud (OBM) was used throughout
the openhole section to maintain well-
bore stability in the shale formation.
Centralizer Program. The use of cen-
tralizers in horizontal wells is not a com-
mon practice because of a perception
that they might impede the ability of cas-
ing to reach the bottom. With improve-
ments in casing hardware technology
and modeling software, effective cen-
tralization can be achieved in horizontal
wells. Without proper casing centraliza-
tion, the casing will lie on the low side of
the hole. This contact with the wellbore
will make mud removal impossible, and
placement of cement around the pipe
will not be achieved. This can also have
an effect on a stimulation treatment.
the design to determine what to change
on future slurries. It is recommended to
use an ultrasonic-based logging tool that
can measure acoustic impedance (AI) as
Stage-to-stage isolation provided from
cement around the entirety of the casing
is important to ensuring virgin-reservoir
stimulation and preventing communi-
cation between stages with the now sig-
nificantly lower-stress environment. A
reduction in drag force can also be seen
by running centralizers. Centralizers can
keep the casing off formation, thus re-
ducing the points of contact.
The operator ran an aggressive casing-
centralization schedule on these wells.
The typical schedule was to run three
centralizers per two joints of casing in the
lateral to a few hundred feet above kick-
off point (KOP). From KOP to 3,000 ft
above planned top of cement, one cen-
tralizer per joint of casing was run.
Mud Properties. Drilling mud is a key
consideration for a successful cement
job. Typical horizontal-drilling muds
have high yield points to ensure cut-
tings removal and hole cleaning. A thick
mud with high yield is a requirement
before cementing, but this high-yield
mud can be detrimental to mud remov-
al during cementing and can obstruct
cement placement. Proper conditioning
of a mud before a cement job is critical,
although lowering the yield point too
much can make the mud unstable.
Cementing Evaluation. Cement place-
ment was evaluated with a wireline tool
to evaluate the cement bond. Several
evaluation approaches exist in the in-
dustry. A high-resolution logging tool
that can help differentiate channels, sol-
ids, liquids, and gas should be used be-
cause these high-resolution images can
provide causal information on failure
mechanisms to provide feedback into
a minimum. Given the nature of the tight

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

92 JPT MAY 2016

pore and fracture gradients, the mud,
spacer, mud-recovery fluid (MRF), and
slurries can have very similar AI values.
To distinguish between the fluids and
low-impedance slurries better, having a
log that also measures flexural attenu-
ation (FA) is key when there are overly-
ing or very similar AI values of different
fluids and cements in the annulus. Hav-
ing independent high-resolution maps
of both AI and FA provides increased as-
surance in barrier evaluation, especially
in lightweight or contaminated cements.
Proposed Solution
Log Evaluation of Mud Removal. All
evaluations showed poor mud removal.
Several factors must be taken into ac-
count when evaluating the ability to re-
move mud; centralization, density of the
fluids, rheological properties of the fluid,
and the spacer composition are all con-
tributing factors. Through simulations,
the centralization was determined to be
optimized as much as possible. The pore
and fracture gradients dictated that the
optimum fluid-density hierarchy could
not be achieved. Density is not a major
concern in the horizontal section in re-
gard to the ability of one fluid to displace
another, but, as the fluid transitions from
a horizontal orientation to a vertical ori-
entation, the density hierarchy becomes
a major contributor to channeling and
poor mud removal.
Density hierarchy could not be im-
proved because it is governed by the ge-
ology of the field. This also dictates the
rates that could be achieved because the
equivalent circulating density must be
managed to prevent losses. The only two
factors left that could be altered were the
rheological properties of the mud, spac-
ers, and slurries and the spacer compo-
sition. When designing a solution, the
focus of the design in regard to mud re-
moval will be on rheological properties
and spacer composition.
Post-Fracturing SCP. Regardless of
whether SCP is seen before fracturing,
it was almost always seen after fractur-
ing. A solution would have to take into
account how the well will be stimulated.
The forces that a typical Cana-Woodford
stimulation puts on the cement sheath
are significant, and an analysis of these
forces must be completed by use of simu-
JPT MAY 2016
lation software. Parameters such as treat-
ment pressures vs. time, temperature
changes vs. time, Youngs modulus of for-
mation and cement, Poissons ratio, and
thermal conductivity must be gathered
for evaluation in a stress-analysis simu-
lation. The software will use these pa-
rameters to simulate a fracture stage and
evaluate the cement-sheath integrity in
regard to compressional/tractional fail-
ures and the formation of a microannlus.
A simulation was performed on a conven-
tional slurry. The results showed that the
cement sheath would fail in compression
and traction and form a microannulus.
This correlated to what has been seen on
resulting SCP. A cement design that could
account for the stimulation treatment
had to be proposed.
Proposed Design. The objectives of this
design were to account for OBM recov-
ery and mud removal, to produce a good
bond log, and to prevent pre- and post-
completion SCP. An MRF was proposed to
achieve effective OBM recovery. The MRF
is a high-solid-content fluid that does not
have significant cementitious content.
This would be followed by a self-healing
cement slurry placed in the casing-to-
casing section. The self-healing cement
cap was in place to close the fractures that
may occur during a stimulation treat-
ment in the presence of hydrocarbons.
The self-healing cement cap was followed
by a mechanically enhanced slurry that
would better address the stresses that are
seen during fracturing treatments and
during the life of the well.
Conclusion
The process and methodologies dis-
cussed in this paper were shown to be
successful at preventing SCP before and
after stimulation in the Cana-Woodford
shale. The following attributes have re-
sulted in the success of this project:
Evaluation of cement with high-
resolution tools provided key
insights into the root causes of the
SCP and drove engineered solutions
to the issues.
The engineered approach using
modeling tools to predict cement
performance under expected
conditions against the observed
failure mechanisms on past wells
allowed an effective solution to
be developed faster and more
economically than did trial-and-
error methods.
Aggressive centralization schedules
can be used in horizontal wells
effectively, and centralization can
greatly improve the ability to place
critical cement barriers strategically.
Use of an ultrasonic imaging tool
with FA can allow for the analysis
of third interface echoes to evaluate
the actual standoff achieved.
Rheological hierarchy must be
evaluated on a per-well basis
and is critical when operating
in challenging placement
environments.
Cement-slurry designs must take
into account the stress that cement
slurry will see during stimulation
and during the life of the well.
Mechanically enhanced slurries and
self-healing cement slurries are a
vital solution to SCP.
At the time of the writing of this
paper, the engineered approach
had achieved a 95% success rate
at eliminating SCP in the Cana-
Woodford over the past 2 years. JPT
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93
 Design Procedure for Cementing
Intercalated Salt Zones

W ells often require being drilled

through and cemented across
salt formations. In many parts of the
relationship with data from experimen-
tal creep tests.
The type of failure of cement sheath de-
world, salt sections consist of multiple pends on the type of loads exerted on it.
salt types. This analysis shows that For example, compression loads are like-
intercalated salts subject cement sheaths ly to result in shear failure. Similarly, ex-
to a series of tensile and compressive tensional loads are likely to result in ten-
loads whose magnitude depends sile failure. In a typical well-construction
on the size and relative position of process, the in-situ stresses attributed to
different salts. The salt/salt-interface overburden are greater than the hydro-
effects dominate the general tenet of static pressure offered by wellbore fluids,
increasing creep rate with increasing such as drilling mud, cement, and com-
depth. This work demonstrates pletion fluid. Hence, the deviatoric stress
cement design that includes evaluating on salt formations will lead to wellbore
cement-sheath mechanical integrity in closure. The cement sheath thus will ex-
intercalatedsalts. perience compression loads caused by
creeping salts. However, the compression Fig. 1(Left) An axisymmetric view of
Introduction load is not uniform along the axial direc- a virgin open hole consisting of halite
Drilling and cementing challenges as- tion. This is because the creep rate of salt (red), tachyhydrite (yellow), presalt,
sociated with salt formations are well- varies with depth. The variation is severe and post-salt (green) formations.
(Right) The deformed state of this
known. One of the more significant of when multiple salts with different creep wellbore after a finite exposure time
these is the plastic deformation of salt rates are intercalated. Fig.1 shows an ex- to a predetermined mud weight.
attributed to the existence of deviator- ample analysis of openhole closing in the
ic (shear) stress. This deformation is presence of intercalated salts. In such shore Brazil. Analysis is then used to
known as creep. scenarios, the salt/salt-intercalation junc- compare the response of two cement sys-
To determine the role of creep in the tions exert extensional loads on the ce- tems. A validated creep model is used to
mechanical integrity of a cement sheath, ment sheath. The closure is not to scale, strengthen the analysis predictions.
it is necessary to analyze the thermo- and the displacements are magnified for a
structural model of the well-construction better view. Thus, in the presence of inter- Creep-Model Details. There are differ-
process using the creep constitutive rela- calated salt formations, the possibility of ent forms of creep models covering the
tionship. The outcome of the analysis is tensile failure of a cement sheath should three types of creep regimesprima-
the stresses experienced by the cement be investigated in addition to shear fail- ry creep, secondary creep, and tertiary
sheath. It is possible to quantify the risk ure. Evaluating for both shear and tensile creep. This paper uses a two-mechanism
posed by salt creep and other operation- failure requires analyzing a longitudinal creep law to describe the secondary-
al loads to the cement-sheath integrity wellbore model. creep process because this is the domi-
by comparing these stresses to the fail- nant creep regime for downhole applica-
ure properties of the cement. To provide Details tions. Please see the complete paper for a
an accurate quantification of the risk, it is The design procedure is explained by presentation of the creep equation.
necessary to verify the creep constitutive use of a typical example well from off-
Design Procedure. There are two parts
to building a design procedure. The first
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
is building a geometric representation of
of paper OTC 26310, Design Procedure for Cementing Intercalated Salt Zones,
the pertinent part of the wellbore model
by S.R.K. Jandhyala, SPE, and K. Ravi, SPE, Halliburton, and J. Anjos, Petrobras, along with the correct creep character-
prepared for the 2015 Offshore Technology Conference Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, istics of the formations selected. The
2729October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. second is building the analysis proce-
dure that reflects the loads exerted and
Copyright 2015 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. theirsequence.

The complete paper is available for purchase at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.

94 JPT MAY 2016

 Building Geometric Model. The well
being analyzed had small sections of
tachyhydrite and anhydrite intercalated
with long sections of halite. The entire salt
section is approximately 2020 m thick.
Analyzing the entire salt zone is compu-
capacity. It is a measure of the residual
capacity of the cement sheath available SPE SERVICE DIRECTORY
for use, with a linear-elastic-behavior as-
SPE Online www.spe.org
sumption. A remaining capacity of 100%
Awards Program
corresponds to no variation compared Cynthia Thompson, cthompson@spe.org
with the initial situation (i.e., no loading); Phone: 1.972.952.9370

tationally prohibitive. So, a critical section
of interest that forms the geometric model
should be identified. The procedure to
identify the geometric model is as follows:
Identify the tops of each formation.
Determine the average temperature
and in-situ stresses for each
formation.
Calculate the thermal averaged
creep rate from the temperature-
dependent creep properties and
in-situ stresses.
Identify the contiguous layers
exhibiting the fastest creep rate. This
forms the salt section of interest.
To this salt section, add a small
formation above and below to
represent the overburden and
bottom support, respectively. This
forms the geometric model.
Building Analysis Procedure. The
analysis procedure requires the sequence
and duration of each stage during well
construction. The final stress state from
a stage forms the initial stress state for
the following stage. The typical construc-
tion process involves the following stages
in the order that they are defined: drill-
0% corresponds to the onset of non- Book Sales
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modes of response should be compared Continuing Education/Training Courses
because of the axial variation of creep Chiwila Mumba-Black, cmumba@spe.org
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rate. Because of the high resilience of Ce- Distinguished Lecturer Program
ment System 1, the remaining capacity is Cindy Hartley, chartley@spe.org
Phone: 1.972.952.9304
significantly higher than that of Cement
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System 2 at most sections. Copyright Permission
It can be observed that salt/salt- Phone: 1.800.456.6863 or 1.972.952.9393
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intercalation junctions play a critical role
eMentoring Program
by subjecting the cement sheath to a Sandy Wilson, swilson@spe.org
combination of shear and tensile stress- Phone: 1.972.952.9394
es. For example, tachyhydrite is the fast- Insurance Program
Sandy Wilson, swilson@spe.org
est-creeping salt. Therefore, that section Phone: 1.972.952.9394
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ward more than other sections. This will
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the parametric effects of different model John Donnelly, jdonnelly@spe.org
sizes and salt-layering patterns. Regard- Phone: 1.713.457.6816

ing, running casing, cementing, waiting
on cement, pressure testing, and produc-
tion. In each of these stages, the thermal
and structural loads experienced by the
formation, the cement sheath, and the
casing will change. Because of the lon-
gitudinal nature of the wellbore model,
there is an axial variation of stress and
wellbore pressure.
Cement-Systems Details. Tested me-
chanical properties of two cement sys-
tems are compared. The first system, Ce-
ment System 1, is a salt-saturated slurry,
the pumpability of which is not affected
by the contamination of complex salts,
such as tachyhydrite. The second sys-
tem, Cement System 2, is a freshwater-
based slurry used as a reference.
Results
A comparison of the performance of the
two cement systems analyzed for the well
conditions is made in terms of remaining
less of model size, the general behavior
will not change and Cement 1 will per-
form better than Cement 2.
Summary
The important aspects of the design pro-
cedure and the comparison exercise are
as follows:
A systematic design procedure
wasestablished to estimate the
cement-sheath mechanical integrity
in the presence of intercalated
creeping salts.
Obtaining correct salt-creep
properties and accounting for
overburden effects when using a
realistic model size are two critical
aspects for accurate predictions.
On the basis of the results of a
finite-element model, elastic cement
systems perform relatively better
than conventional cement systems
in the presence of both single and
intercalated creeping salts. JPT
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JPT MAY 2016 95

 PEOPLE
ROBERT J. BREWER, SPE, has been ap-
pointed president of Cepstrum Geophysi-
cal, based in Houston. He is responsible for
3D data processing and overall operations
functions, focusing on sales management
and business development. Brewer was
previously region business development
manager for Baker Hughes. He has experience in land and ma-
rine surface and borehole seismic data acquisition, process-
ing, and interpretation, and has played lead roles in projects
in the US Lower 48 states, Canada, and Mexico. Brewer holds
a BA degree in geology from Bowling Green State University.
He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists, Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts,
Member Deaths
Robert C. Berger, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA
Cy A. Schaadt, Berne, Indiana, USA
Thomas E. Williams, Denton, Texas, USA
Nelson Ed Williams, Surprise, Arizona, USA
In Memoriam
EDGAR RANGEL-GERMAN, SPE, com-
missioner of Mexicos regulatory agency
National Hydrocarbons Commission
(CNH) and one of the key members be-
hind the implementation of Mexicos re-
cent energy reform for hydrocarbons,
died 23 March. He was 42.
Rangel-German was a thought leader in Mexicos energy
reform, which brought about constitutional changes in
2013 to open the countrys oil and gas market to private in-
vestments and technical expertise to increase production.
He was appointed CNH commissioner for a second term in
2013 by Mexico President Enrique Pea Nieto, when consti-
tutional changes charged CNH with regulating, overseeing,
and evaluating all hydrocarbons exploration and produc-
tion activities in Mexico.
CNH oversees the tenders the country is offering under
the reform. On the success of the second tender in Round
One in September last year, he commented in a JPT article,
We believe that our mandate of obtaining the best con-
ditions for the Mexican state was achieved. neither the
current oil prices nor the minimum value established by
the minister of finance mattered in the second auction. It
seems to me that materiality ruled the tender. The third
auction last December was even more successful with all
25 onshore blocks offered being awarded.
With technical expertise in petroleum engineering and
experience from Mexicos finance and energy ministries,
96
Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and European Associa-
tion of Geoscientists and Engineers.
SEGUN OMIDELE, SPE, has been appoint-
ed chief executive officer at Erin Energy
Corp. He will assume the role in May after
the companys annual meeting of share-
holders. He was previously its chief operat-
ing officer (COO). Omidele joined the com-
pany in 2011 as senior vice president for
business development and new ventures. From 2008 to 2011,
he was senior vice president of exploration and production at
Allied Energy Corp. Before that, he held senior technical and
management positions with Shell companies in Nigeria, UK,
and the US for more than 28 years. Omidele holds a masters
degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Hous-
ton and is a graduate of Harvard Universitys advanced
managementprogram.
ROBERT TERRELL, SPE, has been appointed regional man-
ager at Aquatic Engineering and Construction and will focus
on growing the companys business in the Americas. He has
Rangel-German made significant contributions to the suc-
cess of the reform. His term with CNH began in 2009, with
his appointment as one of the five founding commission-
ers of the agency by Mexicos president at the time, Felipe
Caldern. Before the CNH appointments, he held other ex-
ecutive roles in Mexican government. He was chief technical
adviser to the undersecretary of hydrocarbons at the secre-
tary of energy, SENER, where one of his early assignments
was to write the first charter for CNH in 2005. He also held
the role of general director for hydrocarbon, electricity, and
water project evaluation at the secretary offinance.
A member of SPE since his student days, Rangel-German
was the president of the SPE Stanford University student
chapter. He continued to be an active volunteer and served
on several SPE committees, including the 2016 SPE Mexico
Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability Symposium;
2014 and 2016 SPE Latin America Heavy and Extra Heavy Oil
Conferences; 2014 SPE Applying the Best Technologies in
Extremely Sensitive Environments Workshop; and 2013 SPE
EORTechnical and Managerial Framework for Engineer-
ing a Successful Implementation Workshop. He was also
the author of several SPE technical papers on topics such as
heavy oil reservoir thermal simulation and economic evalua-
tion, production forecasting for underdeveloped fields, and
temperature-induced sandconsolidation.
Rangel-German held a bachelors degree from the Uni-
versity of Mexico, and masters and PhD degrees from
Stanford University, all in petroleum engineering.
JPT MAY 2016
 more than 30 years of experience in the onshore and offshore
oil and gas industry, with a focus on subsea operations. He has
In Memoriam experience working in West Africa, UK, Brazil, Canada, and
HUBERT (HUGH) L. ELKINS, an industry pioneer in the US, holding business development, sales, and operational
offshore drilling equipment and technologies, died management positions. Terrell holds a degree in international
18March 2016. He was 81. management from Louisiana Tech University.
Elkins is recognized as a subsea innovator and con-
tributed more than 53 years of professional service, VAN WHITFIELD, SPE, COO and execu-
focusing his work on building safe, innovative tech- tive vice president of Cobalt International
nologies. The 6-ft radius technology that he devel- Energy will resign from his position in June
oped for subsea wellhead guide bases and blowout and will continue as a special adviser to the
preventer (BOP) stack guide frames improved deep- company for 6 months. Whitfield has 41
water operations safety and became an industry years of experience leading oil and gas pro-
standard. He held multiple patents on BOPs, control
duction operations and marketing activi-
systems, wellbore pressure controls, and directional
ties globally. He joined Cobalt in 2006 as executive vice presi-
drilling technology.
dent of operations and development and was promoted to
Elkins joined Hydril in 1973 and served in a number
COO in 2011. Before joining Cobalt, he held several executive
of executive positions for 2 decades. He retired as di-
rector of business development from National Oilwell positions in other companies, including senior vice president,
Varco (NOV) in 2009. western operations, at CDS Gas; vice president, power and
He was part of important industry innovations in water, at ExxonMobil Saudi Arabia; senior vice president of BP
drilling. Representing NOV, Elkins contributed to the Global Power; and president and general manager of Amoco
joint industry project supported by UKs Industry Netherlands. Whitfield holds a BS in petroleum engineering
Technology Facilitator that led to the development from Louisiana State University and is a graduate of the execu-
of the continuous circulation system (CCS) tech- tive program at Stanford University.
nology in 2003. For the first time since rotary drill-
ing was introduced, CCS technology enabled drill-
ing of a hole without interrupting circulation while
new joints of drillpipe were added to the drillstring.
CCS also improved safety by reducing the likelihood
of kicks.
Several industry studies and initiatives aimed to-
ward improving the safety of deepwater operations
benefitted from his knowledge and expertise. He was
a member of the equipment subcommittee of the
task force that put together the International Associa-
tion of Drilling Contractors (IADC)/Offshore Opera-
tors Committee Deepwater Well Control Guidelines,
and a member of the drilling vessel and equipment
committee for the IADC Surface BOP Guidelines for
FloatingMODUs.
Elkins was a contributing author of books and train-
ing manuals on offshore technology. He authored
technical papers for SPEs technical journals, includ-
ing SPE Production Engineering and SPE Drilling Dig deeper without
&Completion.
For his specialized work in pressure control, motion leaving your desk.
compensation, and subsea products, he was awarded Too busy to be away from the office? Take yourself to greater
the Exemplary Service Award in 2005 by the IADC. depths right from your desktop with SPE Webinars and Online
In 2010, he was recognized with the Distinguished Education. Join our industry experts as they explore solutions
Achievement Award for Individuals by the Offshore to real problems and discuss trending topics.
Technology Conference, and was included as a Tech- View a list of available webinars at webevents.spe.org.
nology Pioneer in the Offshore Energy Center (OEC)
Hall of Fame in 2003. In later years, he led various
committees of the OECs Hall of Fame initiative and
refined the process for recognition of industry and Connect, share with us on
@SPE_Events
technology pioneers during their lifetime. #SPEWEBINARS

JPT MAY 2016 97

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JPT MAY 2016 99

 SPE EVENTS
WORKSHOPS
1012 May AustinSPE Tight Oil
and Liquids-Rich Gas: Adapting to Survive
in a New Price Environment
1012 May ManamaSPE
Characterisation and Management of
Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs
2324 May Abu DhabiSPE Global
Integrated Workshop Series: Managing
Well Integrity in a Low Cost Oil
Environment
2526 May DubaiSPE Coiled Tubing:
Taking the Lead with Coiled Tubing
Technologies in a Challenging Oil Market
9 June CalgarySPE Oilsands:
Competitive Strategies for In-Situ Well Pad
Development
1820 July BangkokSPE Artificial Lift
Systems for Optimised Production
1921 July Colorado SpringsSPE
Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing for Wells,
Reservoir, and Facilities Management
1516 August Kuala LumpurSPE
Reserves, Resources, and Definition
2021 September CalgarySPE Caprock
Integrity for Thermal Applications
912 October MuscatEAGE/SPE
Workshop on Tar Mats and Heavy Oil
1011 October Kuala LumpurSPE
Reservoir Surveillance & Production
Enhancement through Cost-Effective
Technology Integration and Operation
Efficiency
CONFERENCES
910 May AberdeenSPE Oilfield
Corrosion Conference
1112 May AberdeenSPE Oilfield
Scale Conference
2326 May AnchorageSPE Western
Regional Meeting
Find complete listings of upcoming SPE workshops, conferences, symposiums, and forums at www.spe.org/events.
100
30 May2 June ViennaSPE Europec
Featured at 78th EAGE Conference
and Exhibition
78 June CalgarySPE Canada Heavy Oil
Technical Conference
1315 June Port of SpainSPE Trinidad
and Tobago Section Energy Resources
Conference
14 June LondonSPE London Annual
Conference: Adapting to a Challenging Oil
Price Environment
13 August San AntonioSPE/AAPG/
SEG Unconventional Resources Technology
Conference
24 August LagosSPE Nigeria Annual
International Conference and Exhibition
2224 August SingaporeIADC/
SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology
Conference and Exhibition
2426 August BeijingSPE Asia Pacific
Hydraulic Fracturing Conference
68 September AberdeenSPE
Intelligent Energy Conference
1415 September GalvestonSPE
Deepwater Drilling and Completions
Conference
2122 September MidlandSPE Liquids-
Rich Basins ConferenceNorth America
2628 September DubaiSPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition
1820 October AccraSPE African
Health, Safety, Security, Environment,
and Social Responsibility Conference and
Exhibition
1920 October LimaSPE Latin America
and Caribbean Heavy and Extra Heavy Oil
Conference
SYMPOSIUMS
1718 May HoustonSPE/IAEE
Hydrocarbon Economics and Evaluation
13 June Buenos AiresSPE Argentina
Exploration and Production
of Unconventional Resources
29 November1 December BanffSPE
Thermal Well Integrity and Design
FORUMS
2224 May Kuala LumpurSPE: The Role
of Geomechanics in Conventional
and Unconventional Reservoir
Performance and Management
1216 June San AntonioSPE Processing
Facilities of the Future
1217 June San AntonioSPE Key
Factors for Success in Unconventional
Reservoir Development
1720 October DubaiSPE Well
Construction Fluids 2025: Meeting the
Challenges
CALL FOR PAPERS
SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show
and Conference Bahrain
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SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and
Exhibition Dublin
Deadline: 23 May
SPE Health, Safety, Security,
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New Orleans
Deadline: 24 May
SPE International Conference on Oilfield
Chemistry Montgomery
Deadline 16 June
SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology
Conference The Woodlands
Deadline: 15 August
JPT MAY 2016
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DEEP-SET HEX
Interwells solution for a deepwater well in the Gulf
of Mexico saved the client over $500k in rig time.
The client required a Retrievable Bridge Plug to enable integrity
testing in their challenging well which contained lots of debris and
potential for getting stuck. Interwell ran and set a 180-350
High Expansion (HEX) Mechanical and Retrievable Bridge Plug,
and successfully retrieved the plug in 12 hours with
slickline, saving valuable rig time.

This [plug retrieval] was

highlighted as one of the
highest risk points of the
operation. Mechanical
failures, delivery issues,
solids, pressure etc.,
all could have created
situations difficult to
recover from in the
wellbore. Recovering the
plug gets the operations
past a major hurdle.

GoM Operator

YOUR GLOBAL PARTNER

www.interwell.com

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