A P R I L 2 0 1 8 • VO LU M E 70, N U M B E R 4 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

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CONTENTS
Volume 70 • Number 4

14 GUEST EDITORIAL • COGNITIVE COMPUTING:

AUGMENTING HUMAN INTELLIGENCE TO IMPROVE
OIL AND GAS OUTCOMES
The goal of cognitive computing is not to eliminate humans but allow
highly skilled professionals to spend time doing what’s most valuable
for the company.
30 US GULF OF MEXICO PRODUCTION PROJECTED
TO HIT RECORD HIGH
Falling costs and breakeven prices, improved operational efficiencies,
and favorable government policy are at the heart of a potential
production boon in the US Gulf of Mexico, but how sustainable is it?
A slew of major discoveries may make 2018 a significant turning point
for the industry in the region.
34 COLORADO OPERATORS REAPING REWARDS
FROM STICKING BY ‘PREDICTABLE’ DJ-NIOBRARA
Colorado’s industry lacks the size, variety, and Wild West LLOG Exploration completes
characteristics of Texas, but that is precisely why the Centennial deepwater development operations
State’s oil production is surging to record levels. in the Gulf of Mexico’s Mississippi
Canyon area. The LLOG-operated
39 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING MAKES WAVES Delta House facility, located at
IN INDUSTRY MC 254, maintains a production
handling capacity of 100,000 B/D
Gas turbine blades and large-scale printing machines highlight new of oil, and 240 MMcf/D of gas.
advancements in additive manufacturing that are likely to affect Source: Andy Harris, LLOG
supply chain management in the not-so-distant future. Exploration Company.

42 RETHINKING FRACTURING AT THE POINT OF ATTACK

A small group of engineers are turning a geeky focus on how
to better control the flow of fluids through the holes shot in
DEPARTMENTS
the casing to increase the number of spots stimulated, and
6 Performance Indices
ultimately production.
8 Regional Update
50 OTC AT 50: BOLD VISION LED TO UNIMAGINED 10 President’s Column
SUCCESS 12 Comments
The decision to launch the Offshore Technology Conference in
16 Technology Applications
May 1969 was visionary, but the subsequent success of the yearly
20 Technology Update
conference has exceeded the wildest dreams of the original sponsors.
24 E&P Notes
58 OTC NAMES WINNERS OF SPOTLIGHT ON NEW 100 People
TECHNOLOGY AWARDS
101 SPE News
The Offshore Technology Conference selected 15 technologies for
102 Professional Services
its 2018 Spotlight on New Technology Awards. The annual awards
program recognizes innovative technologies and showcases the latest 103 Advertisers’ Index
advances in offshore exploration and production. 104 SPE Events

An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Printed in US. Copyright 2018, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
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64 OFFSHORE DRILLING AND COMPLETION
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65 All-Electric Subsea Well Brings Benefits vs. Traditional Hydraulic

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68 First Three-Zone Intelligent Completion in Brazilian Presalt:
Challenges and Lessons And like all good
70 Triple-Zone Intelligent Completions Aid Extended Well Tests superheroes, we’ll be
of Exploratory Wells
right there when you
72 NATURAL GAS PROCESSING AND HANDLING need us.
Ehsaan Ahmad Nasir, SPE, Reservoir Engineer, Baker Hughes,
a GE Company VISURAY’s revolutionary VR90®
downhole X-ray diagnostic service is
73 Comparison of Various Offshore Industrial Gas Technologies now available in Europe, the Middle
76 Natural-Gas-Liquids Recovery—Retrofit Breathes New Life Into East, and North America. In the North
Old Scrubber Sea, our groundbreaking technology
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79 Hybrid Solvent Helps Ease Bottlenecking in Natural-Gas Plant
Wherever your well and whatever its
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81 HIGH-PRESSURE/HIGH-TEMPERATURE CHALLENGES
what’s happening and deliver quality
Robert Ziegler, SPE, Global Director, Well-Control Technology,
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82 Integrating Managed-Pressure Drilling Into HP/HT-Well Planning back into operation. You save time and
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84 Ultradeep-Field Study: Extreme-Underbalanced HP/HT
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86 Successful Recovery and Stimulation in a Long HP/HT Horizontal Visit us at DUG Rockies in Denver from
Well in One Intervention April 24-25, and at the Offshore Well
Intervention Conference Europe in
89 HISTORY MATCHING AND FORECASTING Aberdeen from April 24-26.
Alexandre Emerick, SPE, Reservoir Engineer, Petrobras Research Center

90 Rapid S-Curve Update Using Ensemble Variance Analysis

With Model Validation

93 Enhancing Model Consistency in Ensemble-Based History Matching

96 Ensemble-Based Assisted History Matching With 4D-Seismic Fluid-Front
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 SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
2018 President
Darcy Spady, Broadview Energy
2017 President
Janeen Judah, Chevron
2019 President
Sami Al Nuaim, Saudi Aramco
Vice President Finance
Roland Moreau, ExxonMobil Annuitant
REGIONAL DIRECTORS
AFRICA
Adeyemi Akinlawon, Adeb Konsult
CANADIAN
Cam Matthews, C-FER Technologies
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Joe Frantz Jr., Range Resources
GULF COAST NORTH AMERICA
J. Roger Hite, Inwood Solutions
MID-CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA
Chris Jenkins, Independent Energy Standards
MIDDLE EAST
Khalid Zainalabedin, Saudi Aramco
NORTH SEA
Karl Ludvig Heskestad, Aker BP
NORTHERN ASIA PACIFIC
Phongsthorn Thavisin, PTTEP
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NORTH AMERICA
Erin McEvers, Clearbrook Consulting
RUSSIA AND THE CASPIAN
Aizhana Jussupbekova,
North Caspian Operating Company
JPT STAFF
Glenda Smith, Publisher
John Donnelly, Editor
Pam Boschee, Senior Manager Magazines
Chris Carpenter, Technology Editor
Anjana Sankara Narayanan, Editorial Manager
Joel Parshall, Features Editor
Stephen Rassenfoss, Emerging Technology Senior Editor
Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer
Adam Wilson, Special Publications Editor
Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer
Craig Moritz, Assistant Director Americas Sales & Exhibits
Mary Jane Touchstone, Print Publishing Manager
David Grant, Digital Publishing Manager
Laurie Sailsbury, Composition Specialist
Dennis Scharnberg, Proofreader
SOUTH AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Cesar Patino, Ecopetrol
• IMPROVE DRILLING
EFFICIENCY
SOUTH, CENTRAL, AND EAST EUROPE
Jean-Marc Dumas, PCMC • ACCELERATE PRODUCTION
SOUTH ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Tapas Kumar Sengupta, ONGC • MAXIMIZE CAPITAL
EFFICIENCY
SOUTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA
Elizabeth Cantrell, Concord Oil Company
Apply cutting-edge proprietary
WESTERN NORTH AMERICA technologies, advanced
Andrei Popa, Chevron
analytics and a global reservoir
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS management perspective to
DRILLING improve drilling performance.
Jeff Moss, ExxonMobil
HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENT,
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Johana Dunlop
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION
Birol Dindoruk, Shell
COMPLETIONS
Jennifer Miskimins, Colorado School of Mines
PRODUCTION AND FACILITIES
Hisham Saadawi, Ringstone Petroleum Consultants
RESERVOIR DESCRIPTION AND DYNAMICS
Tom Blasingame, Texas A&M University
DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIA
Ramona Graves, Colorado School of Mines
AT-LARGE DIRECTORS
Khaled Al-Buraik, Saudi Aramco
Helena Wu, Santos Ltd.
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 PERFORMANCE INDICES

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

THOUSAND BOPD
6
2017
O PEC AUG SEP OCT NOV 5 USD/million Btu
Algeria 1306 1306 1256 1276 4
Angola 1690 1670 1695 1600
3
Ecuador 536 529 526 521
Gabon 200 200 200 190 2
Iran 4462 4374 4399 4404
1
Iraq 4527 4567 4417 4347

2017
MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

2018
JAN

FEB
Kuwait1 2765 2785 2795 2765
Libya 890 925 960 980
Nigeria 2070 2095 2080 2120
Qatar 1532 1537 1532 1537
WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)‡
Saudi Arabia1 10183 10233 10204 10154
UAE 3049 3049 3039 3009
Venezuela 2025 2010 1960 1890 2017 2018
JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
TOTAL2 35416 35461 35249 34974
Brent 48.48 51.70 56.15 57.51 62.71 64.37 69.08 65.32

THOUSAND BOPD WTI 46.63 48.04 49.82 51.58 56.64 57.88 63.70 62.23

2017
NON-OPEC AUG SEP OCT NOV
Canada 4154 3940 3880 4301
WORLD ROTARY RIG COUNT†
China 3758 3779 3769 3820

Egypt 594 602 597 588

Mexico 1962 1761 1933 1896 2017 2018

REGION AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
Norway 1599 1460 1553 1560
US 947 940 922 911 930 937 969
Russia 10507 10503 10527 10538
Canada 217 210 204 204 205 278 323
UK 831 885 946 976
USA 9192 9485 9654 10038 Latin America 191 177 177 181 195 191 199
Other3 12927 13107 13093 13174 Europe 91 91 91 85 87 84 84

TOTAL 45524 45522 45952 46891 Middle East 391 395 385 378 378 383 396

Total World 80940 80983 81201 81865 Africa 84 79 85 85 77 80 90

Asia Pacific 195 189 213 213 217 222 210

INDICES KEY
TOTAL 2116 2081 2077 2057 2089 2175 2271
Numbers revised by EIA are given in italics.
+ Figures do not include natural gas plant liquids.
1
Includes
 approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production.
2
Countries are classified as “OPEC” or “Non-OPEC” in all years based on WORLD OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND‡
their status in the most current year.
3 Additional annual and monthly international crude oil production statistics
are available at http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/.
MILLION BOPD 2017
† Source: Baker Hughes.

‡ 
Source: EIA. Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

SUPPLY 97.10 97.66 98.36 98.65

DEMAND 97.58 98.37 98.92 99.12
Sign up for the JPT weekly newsletter at
Supply includes crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas plant liquids, biofuels, other liquids,
http://go.spe.org/jpt_newsletter and refinery processing gains.

6 JPT • APRIL 2018

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 REGIONAL UPDATE
AFRICA
◗◗ Wentworth Resources reported that
gross production volumes at the Mnazi
Bay gas field in Tanzania hit their highest
monthly levels ever in February. Production
averaged 80 MMcf/D during the month,
compared with a 62.2 MMcf/D average in
last year’s fourth quarter. Industry analysts
at GMP FirstEnergy said the market had
reacted positively to Wentworth’s update
and that the company is likely to produce
at least toward the high end of its gross
guidance estimate of 65 MMcf/D to
75 MMcf/D at the field for 2018.
ASIA
◗◗ SK Innovation has discovered oil in
PRMB block 17/03 in the South China Sea.
The company said it will drill appraisal
wells to assess project reserves and
commerciality. It is SK Innovation’s first
discovery in the area since its decision
to become an offshore exploration
operator in the South China Sea. If
project commerciality is confirmed, the
company will use it as a platform for
growth into other parts of the South
China Sea, an SK spokesperson said. The
company holds an 80% working interest
in the block, with the remaining stake
held by China National Offshore Oil
Company (CNOOC).
EUROPE
◗◗ Aker BP has made a discovery at the
company-operated Frosk exploration well
24/9-12 in the North Sea offshore Norway
near the Alvheim field. Preliminary analysis
shows a discovery of between 30 million
and 60 million BOE, which is “significantly
more” than the predrill estimates of
between 3 million and 21 million BOE, the
company said. Frosk is situated in PL340,
a license that also includes the Boyla field.
Boyla has been producing oil since 2015
through a subsea installation tied back to
the Alvheim floating production, storage,
and offloading vessel. The company
has a 65% interest in PL340, with Point
Resources (20%) and Lundin (15%) holding
the remaining stakes.
8 JPT • APRIL 2018
◗◗ Eni said it has made a “promising”
discovery off the coast of Cyprus, which
the company says confirms the extension
of a “Zohr like” gas play in the country’s
exclusive economic zone. Zohr is a major
gas discovery offshore Egypt from
which the company has recently begun
to produce. In Block 6 offshore Cyprus,
the Calypso 1 well was drilled in 6,800 ft
of water and reached a final total depth
of 12,555 ft. The well encountered an
“extended” gas column in Miocene and
Cretaceous rocks, with the Cretaceous
sequence showing “excellent reservoir
characteristics,” said Eni, which has
been in Cyprus since 2013. The company
is the operator of the block and has a
50% interest, with Total holding the
remaining interest.
◗◗ Lundin has been granted consent by
the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA)
Norway to drill an exploration well in block
16/1 in the North Sea. Drilling on exploration
well 16/1-28 S, which belongs to production
license 338, was scheduled to begin in
March and will last for approximately 110
days. The company has also been granted a
drilling permit by the Norwegian Petroleum
Directorate for appraisal well 7220/11-5 S in
offshore production license 609. The permit
is contingent upon the company securing
all other permits and consents required by
other authorities before drilling begins. The
well will be drilled about 3 miles southwest
of discovery well 7220/11-1. Lundin, the
operator, has a 40% interest in the well, with
Idemitsu (30%) and DEA (30%) holding the
remaining interests.
MIDDLE EAST
◗◗ Chevron said it was resuming drilling
operations in the Kurdistan region of
Iraq (KRI) and had restarted drilling at
the Sarta 3 field, according to company
spokeswoman Sally Jones. Chevron had
temporarily suspended KRI operations in
October after a controversial independence
referendum sparked tensions between
Iraq’s leadership in Baghdad and the
semiautonomous KRI government.
Previously, in September, Chevron drilled
an oil well at its Sarta block after a 2-year
pause, indicating that company confidence
in the area was stabilizing despite
controversy over the planned referendum.
NORTH AMERICA
◗◗ Dominion Energy said that the first
vessel carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG)
from the newly built Cove Point LNG
export terminal at Lusby, Maryland, left
the facility on 2 March, another sign of the
growing global importance of United States
shale-resource production. The Shell LNG
tanker Gemmata departed for an unknown
destination with a full cargo, according to
an energy data provider whose cameras
observed the loading process from a
distance. Located in Chesapeake Bay, Cove
Point was built as an LNG import terminal.
Dominion has invested approximately
$4 billion to add export facilities, which
were still being commissioned when the
Gemmata departed. Cove Point is the
second big LNG export terminal in the
contiguous 48 US states, following the
startup of exports from Cheniere Energy’s
Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana in 2016.
The US is set to become the world’s third-
biggest LNG exporter by capacity in
2018, and today’s capacity of 3.8 Bcf/D is
expected to rise to 10.1 Bcf/D in 2020.
SOUTH AMERICA
◗◗ ExxonMobil and Hess have found
oil offshore Guyana at the Pacora-1
exploration well, the companies’ seventh
discovery there. In a written statement,
ExxonMobil Exploration Company
President Steve Greenlee said, “Pacora
will be developed in conjunction with the
giant Payara field and, along with other
phases, will help bring Guyana production
to more than 500,000 barrels per day.”
The Pacora-1 well, approximately four
miles west of the Payara-1 discovery well,
encountered approximately 65 ft of high-
quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir,
the company said. The Pacora well reached
a depth of 18,363 ft in 6,781 ft of water.
ExxonMobil is the operator and has a 45%
interest in the well, with Hess and CNOOC
Nexen Petroleum holding 30% and 25%
interests, respectively. JPT
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 COMMUNITY CONSENSUS

Respect Your Elders

Darcy Spady, 2018 SPE President

The value of senior professionals ◗ Giving back through volunteer opportunities designed to
fit their schedule and situation
As the SPE 2018 President, I set a goal Personally, I believe the greatest benefit we can offer is
to revisit the SPE strategic plan, which meaningful volunteer opportunities, and we have no short-
was last updated in 2013. A lot has age of those. It is one of my objectives to continue the practice
changed over those 5 years, and SPE of promoting and supporting connections between compe-
has responded to those changes. Our tent volunteers and rewarding volunteer opportunities. I lean
mission remains unchanged, and our heavily on the energy and creativity of our members to accom-
commitment to the One SPE guiding principles (adopted in plish the objectives I set out for my presidency.
September 2001) has endured. To that end, I wish to make a personal appeal to our se-
One of the products of the 2013 strategic plan was an impact nior professional members to continue and even grow your
review of the “Big Crew Change,” as the current generation of involvement in SPE activities at the section, regional, and in-
senior professionals with more than 30 years of industry ex- ternational levels. This is easily accomplished through enroll-
perience retire and leave our ranks. The demographic repre- ment in the League of Volunteers, whereby you can match your
senting those 55 and older was identified in the strategic plan interests and talents with rewarding volunteer opportunities.
as a vital and valuable segment of our membership, at risk of Your continued support of technical knowledge transfer by
slipping away during the then-nascent oil price downturn. publishing papers, editing papers, participating in technical
While the crew change has passed, our strategic response communities, attending technical meetings and workshops,
to this potential significant loss of membership, knowledge, and mentoring less-experienced professionals is the essence
experience, and human resource is critical to the future of
SPE and our industry. These valued members carry with them
the institutional memory of our trade, the competencies and
technical knowledge we seek to disseminate, and the volun-
teer spirit on which SPE was built. The value of retaining and
engaging these senior professional members cannot be over-
stated, and I personally wish to recruit these venerated mem-
bers to assist in achieving my goals.
I value these members as strategic thinkers, champions
of community outreach, and supporters of corporate re-
sponsibility. They have so much to offer by mentoring less-
experienced members as well as future SPE and industry
leaders. These senior professional members can also mutu-
ally benefit from their continued engagement in our society.
I believe it is imperative that SPE recognize the value these
members represent by offering benefits tailored to their
specific needs.
These benefits include:
◗ Staying connected with our changing industry and the
extraordinary people with whom they have worked
◗ Helping transition through their late career stages into
retirement Shown in this photo taken in 2016, from left, Janeen
◗ Qualifying for discounts where applicable such as Judah, 2017 SPE President, S.M. Farouq Ali, and Bita
special membership dues categories and events Bayestehparvin, SPE student member.

To contact the SPE President, email president@spe.org. Follow him on Twitter: @SPE2018Pres.

10 JPT • APRIL 2018

of SPE. The opportunities to continue to grow your SPE expe-
rience are as limitless as your own imagination.
As proof, please allow me to get personal. Three senior SPE
members who have made a distinct difference in my career
need to be mentioned. I am sure a good number of you will
know and recognize these icons of our industry.
First, in the No. 1 position in my world and maybe more
broadly in our world, is the very, very remarkable Dr. S.M.
Farouq Ali. Where do I start? He was a luminary and a role
model for me as a university student in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, in the early 1980s. A patient, kind man full of adven-
ture and brimming with brilliance. And he forgot nothing. He
formed my opinion of the industry, gave me hope in a future
(a commercial future) in heavy oil, and instilled in us a glim-
mer of hope after the 1986 price slide. Then, over the years
and decades, was still there everywhere offering advice, en-
couragement, and praise. He remembered and recalled great
experiences along the way, usually interactions with us as for-
mer students. He has attended 53 consecutive ATCEs and is
looking forward to this year being his 54th. When I have put in
50 or 60 working years, watch for me on a dock somewhere.
Not Dr. Farouq. He makes me tired looking at his sched-
ule. Thanks, Dr. Farouq, for being my hero and a great SPE
senior member.
Second, is Roger Hough. He officially
retired from a global career with Shell as
a drilling expert and moved to Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, in his “retirement,” yet
he was far from retired. In fact, Hough
continued to consult and teach all over
the world. Everyone I meet who has been
affiliated with drilling from the Shell or-
ganization knows Hough and has a story. A respected drilling
expert, Hough epitomizes the active role of a senior member
by excelling in the dissemination of technical information.
A former Distinguished Lecturer and longtime SPE member,
Hough soon surfaced in the Calgary section and was brought
on to the section’s board of directors. Not long after his ar-
rival, he took over managing the section’s website and social
media. Normally, we look for the younger members to do this,
but Hough did it effectively, promptly, and with enthusiasm.
He became the Calgary section chair, after me, and eventually
he was followed by Ramez Hanna Alla, a young professional.
I watched the leadership of the Calgary section bounce from
a senior member to a junior member, essentially a genera-
tion apart, and they were equally effective in the position. SPE
membership knows no age boundaries, and enthusiasm and
volunteerism are welcome in all positions.
Thirdly, and sadly in memoriam, is
Roger Hite, who is remembered in this
month’s People section. In February,
Hite was in his final year on the SPE in-
ternational board as the regional direc-
tor for the Gulf Coast Section when he
lost a rapid battle to the terrible disease
known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
JPT • APRIL 2018
I only knew Hite for 3 years, the time I served with him on the
board. He was larger than life, one of the brightest people I
have met, but also one of the kindest. He epitomized inclu-
sion. Hite was a pillar of reason and tolerance and always had
my back in key decisions. He represented one of the most dy-
namic sections in the SPE world, the Gulf Coast Section, and
he represented them well. It is a tribute to him and to all se-
nior members that he took up that position well into his “re-
tirement.” Hite had a long and successful career with Shell, a
lot of it on the research side, after having earned a doctorate
degree from Princeton University. He also did postdoctor-
al work in Germany. Hite retired from Shell in 1999, but he
was very active in our industry until his passing. Hite loved
jazz music, boating, and traveling. We will really miss him on
the board.
Our society is full of that knowledge, that expertise. We have
the amazing benefit of using this knowledge as we go forward.
The younger members need this expertise as they produce
energy for our world. Today, we must focus on building com-
munity and being transparent as energy suppliers. We must
blend the technical expertise and incredible value of our se-
nior members with the enthusiasm of our newest members
into making the world a better place. Whether you are 25 or 85
years old, you have a place in SPE. JPT
Pennsylvania General
Energy Company
Production Manager
PGE is a leading privately-owned, independent oil and natural
gas exploration and production company in the Appalachian
Basin. PGE has expanded its footprint across the northern
tier of Pennsylvania, focusing on unconventional gas
development. We are searching for an experienced Production
Manager/Engineer with effective leadership and a record of
accomplishment to join our company.
We are seeking a Manager who wants the latitude to
work on multiple facets of production optimization; enjoys
researching new technology; identifies resources and executes
on project deliverables; and partners with HSE and HR to
drive performance within the production group. You will work
for an extraordinary company and have the freedom to see
your contributions implemented with a keen focus on results.
Candidates must have a B.S. degree in Engineering and a
minimum of 5 years of production operations experience.
Apply by sending a resume and cover letter to:
hr@penngeneralenergy.com
or apply online at:
www.penngeneralenergy.com/employment/
employmentopportunities
“Producing the energy we need and protecting the environment we treasure.”
11
 COMMENTS EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Bernt Aadnøy, University of Stavanger
Syed Ali—Chairperson, Consultant
Tayfun Babadagli, University of Alberta

No Consensus William Bailey, Schlumberger

Mike Berry, Mike Berry Consulting

John Donnelly, JPT Editor Maria Capello, Kuwait Oil Company

Frank Chang, Saudi Aramco
Simon Chipperfield, Santos
Alex Crabtree, Hess Corporation
Although the oil and gas industry can be full of surprises, its
executives tend to rally around a consensus point of view on Gunnar DeBruijn, Schlumberger

where the market and industry are headed. For the past 2–3 Galen Dino, Dino Engineering
years, the hundreds of executives from around the globe who Mark Egan, Retired
attend the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston have paint- Mark Elkins, Retired
ed a grim picture of the present and perhaps the future, and were Alexandre Emerick,
right in early 2015 when they agreed that the current downturn Petrobras Research Center
was looking a lot like the severe one that occurred in the 1980s. Niall Fleming, Statoil
But at this year’s gathering, held during the first week of March, there was a lack of
Ted Frankiewicz, SPEC Services
consensus about the industry’s short- and medium-term future, and some opinions
Stephen Goodyear, Shell
were at odds with the views that are being played out in the media and other public
forums. Although executives at Shell and BP pointed to climate change, or reaction Omer M. Gurpinar, Schlumberger

to climate change, as being a real threat on the horizon, others disagreed. Although Greg Horton, Retired
acceptance of electric vehicles is rising and strides have been made in battery technol- John Hudson, Shell
ogy. Saudi Aramco’s chief executive officer said alternative vehicles offer little threat Morten Iversen, Karachaganak Petroleum
to the industry. “I am not losing any sleep over the idea of peak oil demand or strand- Leonard Kalfayan, Hess Corporation
ed resources,” Amin Nasser told the gathering. The success of electric vehicles is not
Thomas Knode, Athlon Solutions
guaranteed, he said, adding that “the future role of oil is widely misunderstood.”
Sunil Kokal, Saudi Aramco
But elsewhere at the conference, the chairman of General Motors told the gathering
that the company’s “commitment to an all-electric, zero-emissions future is unwaver- Heejae Lee, ExxonMobil

ing, regardless of any modifications to future fuel economy standards,” and an elec- Douglas Lehr, BHGE
tric car was on display. BP called on the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Silviu Livescu, BHGE
and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said that the necessity for a lower-carbon future was Shouxiang (Mark) Ma, Saudi Aramco
already here. “There is no other issue with the potential to seriously disrupt our indus-
John Macpherson, BHGE
try on such deep and fundamental levels as climate change,” he said.
R.V. Marathe, ONGC
OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) called on the industry to invest
more in oil and gas exploration and production, warning that current investment lev- Stéphane Menand, DrillScan

els are not high enough to meet future hydrocarbons demand. Others saw oil produc- Graham Mensa-Wilmot, Chevron
tion from the US, and particularly the Permian Basin, swamping consumption needs Rohit Mittal, BHGE
for several years. The IEA forecasts that US oil production will represent 60% of new Badrul H. Mohamed Jan, University of Malaya
global output to 2023, and that other non-OPEC output will take up the rest. Permian Ehsaan Nasir, BHGE
production will soon hit 3 million B/D, and the US may soon overtake Saudi Arabia as
Yagna Oruganti, BHGE
the world’s second-largest producer behind only Russia.
Zillur Rahim, Saudi Aramco
Some independent producers, however, noted that several companies had missed
their unconventional production targets in the fourth quarter of 2017 and will likely do Eric Ringle, FMC Technologies

so again in the first quarter of this year. Labor shortages, infrastructure bottlenecks, Martin Rylance, BP plc
and lingering problems over “frac hits” may be issues, as well as the reality that many Robello Samuel, Halliburton
unconventional “child” wells are not nearly as productive as the parent wells. Otto L. Santos, Retired
If there was consensus, it was that the industry is in a better place than it was a cou- Luigi A. Saputelli, Frontender Corporation
ple of years ago. Sessions were certainly more optimistic, although cautiously, and
Greg Stephenson, Occidental Petroleum
there was little talk of oil prices getting out of the $50–65/bbl range. And there was a
sense that the uneasy alliance between OPEC and shale producers, which one executive Win Thornton, BP plc

described as “walking a tightrope,” would continue. JPT Xiuli Wang, BHGE

Mike Weatherl, Well Integrity
Scott Wilson, Ryder Scott Company
Jonathan Wylde, Clariant Oil Services
Robert Ziegler, Weatherford
To contact JPT’s editor, email jdonnelly@spe.org.

12 JPT • APRIL 2018

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• Workover Completion Audits
• Basic/Advanced Well Control Rig Training
• High-Pressure/High-Temperature Contingency Planning

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+1.713.849.2769
 GUEST EDITORIAL
Cognitive Computing: Augmenting Human
Intelligence To Improve Oil and Gas Outcomes
Scott Kimbleton, SPE, IBM, and John Matson, SPE, IBM
The severe downturn in oil prices over the past 3 years
has made business transformation complicated for the
upstream sector. Early in the downturn, companies were
focused on cutting costs and restructuring for future growth.
Many organizations are now taking advantage of grad-
ually increasing oil prices to launch digital transforma-
tion efforts.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC)
2018 Oil & Gas Predictions Report, by 2020, 80% of large
oil and gas companies will run their business with help from
cognitive/artificial-intelligence (AI) agents. The report found
that 62% of users say outcomes from cognitive initiatives
exceed their expectations.
Cognition quite simply refers to thinking—and cognitive
systems such as IBM Watson can understand, reason, learn,
and interact with us. Cognitive systems excel at understand-
ing natural language, pattern identification, and knowledge
location, and have endless capacity. This allows humans
to focus on interpreting, analyzing, and adjusting designs,
plans,  and activities, and make decisions based on the
data provided.
Scott Kimbleton, SPE, is an associate part-
ner in IBM’s Chemicals & Petroleum Center
of Competence. He has 15 years of experi-
ence delivering analytics and cognitive
solutions, with an emphasis on chemicals
and petroleum. He has authored multiple
white papers on data management, and his
responsibilities include execution of the
Watson for Natural Resources Innovation Program in the US
and cognitive enablement for key global clients.
John Matson, SPE, a petroleum engineer, is
an upstream oil and gas expert in the
Chemicals and Petroleum Center of Com-
petence.  He has 40 years of experience in
the industry. Prior to joining IBM, he worked
in progressively senior operational and
managerial roles with Mobil, Halliburton
and Berry Petroleum. He has authored
numerous publications on the digital oil field and is  a  former
board member of Louisiana Tech University’s Engineering and
Science Foundation.
14
For example, a company’s cognitive system can focus on
finding geohazards before drilling offshore. The system does
6–8 weeks of manual research in seconds, identifying spe-
cific geohazards buried within tens of thousands of pages of
drilling reports, and dynamically converts text into easy to
understand tables and graphs highlighting areas of interest.
The goal is not to eliminate humans but allow highly skilled
geoscientists and drilling engineers to spend time doing what
is most valuable—defining the safest, most cost-effective
drilling plan. This is why IBM prefers to reference AI as aug-
mented intelligence because it augments or improves upon
the expertise, capability, and potential of the decision mak-
ers and teams.
Cognitive systems differ from traditional programmed sys-
tems that provide predetermined outcomes based on specific
rules. They consume all types of information from structured
to unstructured and historical to real time. These technolo-
gies include but are not limited to:
◗ Natural language processing
◗ Predictive analytics
◗ Recommendation engines
◗ Robotic automation
◗ Machine learning systems
Cognitive systems are adding value to oil and gas com-
panies around the globe in multiple functions. Here are a
few samples.
Near-real-time analytics identifies underperforming
wells. A global oil and gas company set out to improve
its rate and phase calculations using analytics to optimize
oil production and maximize revenue streams. With near-
real-time data from well sensors, the analytics solution
rapidly executed a set of fluid rate and phase calculations
to detect subtle changes in pressure and temperature. An
imbalance/out-of-tolerance triggered an automated alert
to the operations center, allowing the company to make
adjustments, as necessary, quickly. This led to $11 mil-
lion uncovered in revenue opportunities, 99% faster execu-
tion of rate and phase calculations, and 97% accuracy in
detecting underperforming wells, allowing the company to
make adjustments.
System responds to natural language questions. An Aus-
tralian oil and gas producer tackled the challenge to make
JPT • APRIL 2018
30 years of project data available to employees using natu- ¨
ral language questions. The company had more than 30,000
documents relating to their historical projects, which would
take an employee over 5 years to read. The company trained Tough Thermoset Resins
the cognitive system on approximately 1,200 questions
across a wide variety of project and engineering-related top-
ics. When a junior engineer could not get the answer from
the senior engineer, he asked the system the same ques-
tion in natural language. “What is the maximum backpres-
Top
sure on the high-pressure flare line?” The system returned Cement Plug
a set of ranked answers and he found the answer in the top Casing
3, with supporting information/data—avoiding the need to Centralizer

run an expensive simulation. All employees can now access a

vast amount of knowledge, changing the approach and pace
Bottom
of learning. Cement Plug

Adding unstructured data increases model sensitivity.

A US oil and gas producer needed to reduce nonproductive
time (NPT) while drilling. The ability to predict trouble dur- Float
Collar
ing drilling could significantly reduce NPT. The team devel- Float
oped predictive models based on available structured data Valve

such as hookload weight and depth. Available unstructured

data such as drill reports were analyzed to identify concepts
that aligned with drilling events. The predictive model and
text insights were aligned in time series to improve the pre-
diction of the event. The model incorporating unstructured
data outperformed the model based only on structured data
with a modest improvement in accuracy and a more substan-
Guide
tial improvement in sensitivity. Shoe
Nose

Maximizing Investment
When it comes to accelerating their organizations’ digi-
tal transformation, companies are looking outside the nor-
mal one-off proof of technology or project approach. An For downhole tools in
approach gaining momentum is joining various consortia or harsh environments
innovation programs. Use where the need for drillability and
The technologies enabling cognitive computing are extended well length are critical to success.
advancing rapidly and many organizations are already see-
ing benefits. While many are starting their cognitive jour- • High-temp, high-pressure stability
ney, industry leaders are accelerating their pace. A recent
study found that 94% of oil and gas executives familiar with • Superior wear and crack resistance
cognitive computing expect it to play a disruptive role in • Faster, easier and less costly processing
the industry. JPT
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JPT • APRIL 2018 15

 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor
Symmetric Propagation
Resistivity Tool
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) recent-
ly launched its Tolteq symmetric
propagation resistivity (SPR) tool.
The tool uses an array of symmetri-
cally placed transmitters and receiv-
ers to measure formation resistiv-
ity while drilling (Fig. 1). When run
in conjunction with the Tolteq iSeries
measurement-while-drilling platform,
the SPR tool’s formation-resistivity
measurements can be transmitted in
real time for well-placement or geo-
steering applications. The tool provides
independent service companies with
access to a critical technology required
to deliver logging-while-drilling (LWD)
services. Operating at dual frequen-
cies (400 kHz and 2 MHz), the tool
measures attenuation and phase shift
between the two receivers and corre-
lates them with the formation resistiv-
ity. It has a robust mechanical design,
comes in multiple sizes to suit a broad
range of hole sizes and well designs, and
provides borehole-compensated forma-
Fig. 1—NOV’s Tolteq SPR tool records formation-resistivity measurements that
can be transmitted in real time for well-placement or geosteering applications.
16
tion resistivities with multiple depths of
investigations and vertical resolutions.
With eight different formation resistivi-
ty measurements, the SPR tool has high-
resolution memory data with fast-data-
download capability. When combined
with multiple transmitter-receiver com-
binations, it provides better delinea-
tion of bed boundaries during well-
placement operations and improves the
estimate of total hydrocarbon in place.
◗◗For more information, visit
www.nov.com.
Chemical-Injection Controller
With the increasing complexity of res-
ervoirs and wellbores, the need for
greater amounts of chemicals is a prob-
lem operators face. Chemical usage is
expensive, not typically environmental-
ly friendly, and needs to be pumped at
precise ratios to be effective. Existing Fig. 2—The Harrier+ chemical-
methodology for controlling chemical- injection controller from Graco
injection pumps is essentially ana- provides cost savings and more-
log and static at the wellsite. Graco’s accurate chemical delivery.
Harrier+ chemical-injection control-
ler uses electronic controls, including a coupled tank-level monitor, that record
and store data from the pump and chem-
ical tank, including pump strokes and
chemical volume used (Fig. 2). With this
data, the chemical-injection controller
can be adjusted to continuous or batch
treat, tank levels of chemicals can be
recorded and stored, and pump speed
can be remotely adjusted. This enables
operators and engineers to reduce
downtime, increase accuracy of chemi-
cal flow rates, and optimize chemical
use. Tank levels can be monitored for
immediate leak detection, email alerts
can be set up, chemical inventories and
reorder points can be optimized, and
redundant flow-rate confirmation can
prevent false positives. Historical data
can be tracked with the system, and cost
savings can be achieved because trips to
the well are reduced. Fieldwide chemical
inventory programs can be optimized,
audited, and double-checked.
◗◗For more information, visit
www.graco.com.
JPT • APRIL 2018
 TM

Pinpoint fracturing delivers aggressive infill completions

one frac at a time, with less risk of well bashing.
Multistage Unlimited® pinpoint fracturing delivers maximum SRV with less risk of frac hits and well
bashing during infill field development, compared with plug-and-perf. You put fracs where you want
them, and you control how much sand you pump into each one, preventing runaway fracs (super
clusters) that can bash offset wells, costing you production and reserves. Plus, with repeatable frac
placement from well to well plus recorded downhole pressure/temperature data, you can truly
optimize stage count and spacing in a given formation with just a few wells.

More stages per well

NCS pinpoint fracturing delivers more individual entry points with far higher frac efficiency than
plug-and-perf. For example:
• 165 stages (Montney • 145 stages (Montney)
• 155 stages (Bakken) • 135 stages (Cardium)
• 147 stages (Permian) • 125 stages (Duvernay)
More sand per well
More intensity means pumping a lot more sand, and NCS Multistage pinpoint fracturing handles it:
• 18.2 million lb @1,870 lb/lateral ft (Montney)
• 16.2 million lb @2,190 lb/lateral ft (Montney)
• 15.0 million lb @1,711 lb/lateral ft (Duvernay)
• 14.2 million lb @1,973 lb/lateral ft (Permian)
Faster execution
NCS Multistage pinpoint completions are being executed faster than ever. Here’s why:
Higher rates. Technology and design advances have boosted Multistage Unlimited frac rates
through the coiled tubing/casing annulus to nearly 80 bbl/min in 5.5-in. casing, far higher “per
cluster” than plug-and-perf and more than enough to transport sand (>12 ppg) with slickwater.
Fewer coiled tubing trips. Almost 90% of NCS Multistage jobs are performed in a single coiled
tubing trip. As many as 163 sleeves have been fracced without tripping out of the hole.
Learn more at ncsmultistage.com

Predictable. Verifiable. Repeatable. Optimizable.

ncsmultistage.com
©2017, NCS Multistage, LLC. All rights reserved. Multistage Unlimited and Controlled Intensity are trademarks of NCS Multistage, LLC.

Fig. 3—The AccuView system from
Weatherford supports real-time
collaboration between the rig
and offsite experts by securely
transmitting key operational data.
Remote Support
Software System
Weatherford’s AccuView collaboration
software transmits secure, real-time
information between personnel on
the platform rig and remotely locat-
ed experts involved with production
(Fig. 3). The software system facilitates
real-time analysis of foot-by-foot perfor-
mance. It has been used to execute cas-
ing exits in more than 140 wells to date
and has achieved a single-trip casing
exit in all but one case. Recently, Accu-
View enabled the successful execution
of a shallow-angle casing exit on Sakha-
lin Island, Russia, using its real-time
remote support system. In the months
leading up to the operation, Weather-
ford tested and verified all communica-
Fig. 4—The Voyager mobile resin-coating service from Hexion provides a small
footprint and heightened field efficiency.
18
tions (including wired, wireless, and sat-
ellite transmissions) between the rig and
operational support centers. Establish-
ing a secure channel of communication
was crucial in enabling real-time col-
laboration during the casing exit, which
was achieved in a single trip. Weather-
ford anticipates further deployments of
the AccuView system in Russia for vari-
ous well-construction and completion
operations, including casing exits, fish-
ing, and liner-hanger installations.
◗◗For more information, visit
www.weatherford.com.
Mobile Resin-Coating Service
Hexion introduced the Voyager mobile
resin-coating service, with initial loca-
tion in the Permian Basin (Fig. 4). Voy-
ager is the first mobile manufacturing
solution that provides in-basin resin-
coated-proppant manufacturing for
application in the oil and gas industry.
The mobile resin-coating technology
offers customers efficient manufactur-
ing of resin-coated proppants on any
substrate. Manufacturing can occur in
any location that offers optimum logis-
tics to the wellsite. The mobile plant
occupies a small footprint and offers a
variety of advantages over a traditional
manufacturing facility; most notable is
its mobility, which enables strategic and
efficient placement near transloads and
sand mines. With transportation being
a major cost associated with the use of
proppants, freight costs are significant-
ly reduced by the ability to locate coat-
ing capacity close to areas of high drill-
Fig. 5—Gardner Denver’s Redline
Packing is designed to withstand
high-pressure environments.
ing and completions activity. The mobile
resin-coating service is operated with
fewer personnel, which further reduces
costs. It is also supported by a mobile
quality-control center to ensure high-
quality standards through systematic
monitoring and product testing.
◗◗For additional information, visit
www.hexion.com.
High-Pressure Pump Packing
Gardner Denver’s Redline Packing is
the critical seal system in the heart
of the pump, which creates a barrier
between the fracturing fluid and the
environment. With redesigned header
and pressure rings and refined mate-
rial makeup, the packing can withstand
increased heat, friction, and abrasion
in high-pressure environments, ulti-
mately leading to longer product life
(Fig. 5). Its improved performance in
harsh wells extends maintenance inter-
vals, reducing downtime and increas-
ing margins. The increased asset-usage
rate allows for packing to be changed at
the maintenance facility rather than at
an operator location, decreasing non-
productive time (NPT). Gardner Denver
collaborated with customers through-
out North America for more than 1 year
to test Redline Packing and ensure its
success across a variety of challenging
environments. In field trials, the pack-
ing pumped more than 100 million lbm
of sand, reduced maintenance time by
50%, diminished NPT, and improved
fleet efficiency and safety. JPT
◗◗For additional information, visit
www.gardnerdenver.com.
JPT • APRIL 2018
 “WHEN WE ENGINEERED
THINFRAC MP TO
IMPROVE EFFICIENCY
IN THE FIELD, WE
KNEW IT WOULD HAVE
AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT.”
WE BUILD TECHNOLOGY WITH

A CLIENT FOCUS

To simplify operations, a client in the Anadarko Basin adapted their hybrid, 100-stage

fracture design to use ThinFrac™ MP friction reducer. The client reduced their total

operating cost by more than 6%, lowered surface horsepower requirements and reduced

logistical complexity. View our interactive ThinFrac MP website to learn more about how

we are improving field efficiency. BJServices.com/ThinFrac

 TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
Well Construction Performance Service Bridges
Planning-Execution Gap To Boost Efficiency
Slim Hbaieb, Julien Converset, Jason Foster, and Yezid Arevalo, Schlumberger
Less than a decade ago, the key to opti-
mizing wellbore economics centered
mainly on drilling faster and improving
rates of penetration (ROP). Improved
drilling techniques, innovative bottom-
hole assembly (BHA) and bit technol-
ogy, and advanced methods for mea-
suring downhole dynamics gaged by
key performance indicators (KPIs)
enabled operators to push the limits
of technology.
Well planning, a critical aspect in
optimizing well construction, leverag-
es lessons learned and best practices,
along with powerful modeling and simu-
lation software platforms. Yet, even the
best well plans experience deviations
that result in missed opportunities to
drill and trip faster or operate the rig
more efficiently, without compromising
safety or wellbore integrity.
Historically, these gains have not
been captured in real time, but more
likely, at best, have been identified in a
post-well analysis. Limitations in com-
puting power and lack of data process-
ing automation have meant experts
could only monitor one well or rig
at a time.
Moreover, the drilling phase, where
ROP has a significant impact, often
accounts for less than 25% of the full
well construction cycle.
Opportunities for efficiency gains
have remained unexplored within the
rest of the cycle—including running
casing, pulling riser, tripping in and out
of the hole, making connections, and
testing the blowout preventer (BOP).
A new approach overcomes these
challenges by taking a holistic view of
the well construction cycle to bridge the
gap between planning and execution.
It brings well construction into a new
20
digital era that makes better use of data
and enhances collaboration, achieving
greater efficiency and safety from plan-
ning through execution.
Currently operating on multiple
onshore and offshore wells globally,
the OptiWell well construction perfor-
mance service gives operators access
to the best available surface, downhole,
and logging data and multidiscipline
expertise to monitor and analyze all
operations, processes, and downhole
conditions in real time. The service
transforms the large volume of sur-
face and downhole data into action-
able information, reducing nonpro-
ductive time (NPT) and invisible lost
time (ILT) while increasing drilling per-
formance and improving operation-
al efficiency.
The service closes the loop by identi-
fying inefficiencies and proposing new
workflows and procedures that chal-
lenge technical limits to increase per-
formance and reduce risk in every area
of well construction. Global operations
are monitored and analyzed remotely by
experts from drilling, mud logging, geo-
mechanics, and other domains located
in in-house service centers, who col-
laborate with a customer’s onsite well
operation analysts.
The well construction performance
service can be scaled to enable only the
workflows needed for a specific well
or section. Operators can target KPIs
and implement the service for a specific
project or a general efficiency improve-
ment campaign by focusing on specif-
ic areas of the operation that are not
meeting objectives. Workflows can be
adapted from a single-well exploration
campaign to a multirig, multiwell field
development campaign.
Performance, Hazards Managed
The service enables the integration of
multiple well monitoring and analy-
sis services to improve hole-cleaning,
reduce wellbore risk, and ensure drill-
string integrity. This includes the Opti-
Drill real-time drilling intelligence ser-
vice and the RigHour multiwell drilling
operational efficiency analysis, which
computes and compares drilling-
specific KPIs to improve the drilling
phase and reduce time and cost.
The hazard management aspect of
the service monitors and analyzes the
surface and downhole environments to
identify potential risks to drilling oper-
ations, such as severe gains or losses
that could cause a fluid kick or loss,
stuck pipe incidents, or potential high-
vibration zones that could affect bore-
hole and BHA integrity. This minimiz-
es NPT and reduces health, safety, and
environmental issues that endanger per-
sonnel, rig operations, and equipment.
A key issue the service addresses is
ILT, the time between actual and techni-
cally achievable duration for well con-
struction jobs. A notable example is
the significant time variance in mak-
ing connections because of multiple
factors, including crew member per-
formance, and surveying practices. By
capturing data on connection times,
operators can establish consistent, low
connection-time standards, ultimately
saving valuable time throughout the
well life cycle.
In both land and offshore environ-
ments, large streams of real-time data
from hundreds of surface and downhole
measurements and sensors are driving
the need for solutions that automate
workflows through advanced data inte-
gration, data management, KPI bench-
JPT • APRIL 2018
marks, and support collaboration. Clos-
ing the gap to the technical limit in these
high-stakes fields is critical for optimiz-
ing the well construction process.
Increasing ROP, Decreasing ILT
The OptiWell service helped an opera-
tor customize a well construction plan
that set drilling footage records and
decreased connection times in a multi-
well project in a deepwater Gulf of Mexi-
co field. The operator wanted to achieve
consistent improvement across three
wells by addressing tripping speeds,
connection times, ROP optimiza-
tion, mechanical specific energy, and
BOP test times. The collaborative plan
involved monitoring surface and down-
hole data, event detection and report-
ing, KPI tracking, and fit-for-purpose
workflows to meet key challenges.
The project also involved integra-
tion of multiple services, including a
continuous-circulation directional sur-
vey service, which decreases rig time by
taking surveys while circulating. Use of
a rotary steerable drilling system signif-
icantly reduced back-reaming require-
ments on connections, decreasing con-
nection times. A real-time intelligence
service actively managed shock and
vibration through parameter optimiza-
tion recommendations while drilling,
increasing ROP.
The performance management plan
saved 36 drilling days and $13.3 mil-
lion (Fig. 1). In the 16½-in.-by-19-in.
section, the operator set a record for
most footage—2,826 ft—drilled in 24
hours. Average on-bottom ROP for the
three wells increased by 93%, from
73  ft/hour to 140 ft/hour, and average
connection time decreased from 28.5
minutes to 17  minutes. BOP test times
were reduced from 11.4 hours to 3.6
hours per test.
Reducing Wellbore Risks
During a multiwell land campaign, Abu
Dhabi Company for Onshore Petro-
leum Operations (ADCO) implemented
a new workflow using the well construc-
tion performance service to mitigate
ILT issues related to poor hole-cleaning
and the potential risk of stuck pipe in
a highly deviated pilot well. The pri-
mary objectives were to eliminate the
risks while maximizing on-bottom ROP,
drilling shoe-to-shoe, and minimiz-
ing connection time in four well sec-
tions: 16-in. vertical, 12¼-in. deviated,
8½-in. landing, and a 6-in. horizontal.
The 12¼-in. deviated section, featuring
a build-and-hold 52° sail angle requir-
ing a motor BHA, presented the most
challenges in terms of hole cleaning and
stuck pipe risk.
In addition to the well construction
performance service, the collaborative
workflow included use of a rig opera-

As the deepwater and ball valves rated and ROV operated The qualification
offshore industry for 15.000 psi and options, and was program will be
continues to deal with 400 degrees completed in 2017. completed in the first
the high-pressure, Fahrenheit, which half of 2018.
high-temperature are beyond the HPHT In anticipation
(HPHT ) challenge threshold. further expansion Don’t take any risk
associated with the of the HPHT envelope, and turn to ATV, the
geologic trends in Focusing on ATV remains at subsea valve leader.
ultra deep reservoirs, the subsea industry the peak of new
ATV continues requirements that technology, with the We have the
to develop its HPHT continue to change as development of the expertise to support
equipment technology, the HPHT envelope first 5 1/8” - 20.000 your needs to develop
enabling the expands, ATV once psi subsea gate valve technological solutions
resources from again pushed the rated for 400 degrees in high-pressure,
these challenging limits with its R&D Fahrenheit and 3000 high-temperature
reservoirs to be program, for the first m water depth. conditions.
unlocked. 5 1/8” - 20.000 psi
subsea gate valve
Recent ATV rated for 350 degrees
deliveries included Fahrenheit and 3000
subsea gate valves m water depth.

5 1/8” T.C. The qualification

Slab Gate Valve, program included both
Class API 20.000. hydraulically actuated

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April 30th - May 3th, NRG Park, Houston, TX USA. at Booth 3949.
 0
Actual Offset average

5,000
Measured Depth (ft)

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Days

Fig. 1—In the Gulf of Mexico, drilling efficiency was measured against offset wells and technical limits for drilling
parameters. The well in which the OptiWell service was implemented exceeded performance, compared with historical
wells, in terms of salt drilling ROP and tripping speed while running in hole and pulling out of hole.

30
tions surveillance and instrumentation
system that positions high-frequency
25
digital sensors throughout the rig and
23.3 min
Connection Time (weight to weight), min

22.5 min aggregates the data. A cuttings flow-

meter, part of the CLEAR hole-cleaning
20 5.4 and wellbore risk-reduction system,
5.8
acquired advanced cuttings recovery
15.1 min 15.5 min measurements while drilling.
15 7 ADCO completed the well in 36 days,
6.2 5.1 2 days ahead of schedule, with no NPT
4.96
or stuck-pipe incidents. Early detec-
10 tion and response to signs of wellbore
5.81
instability prevented stuck pipe in the
6.42 12¼-in. section. Throughout the opera-
10.9 10.5
5 tion, cuttings recovery and hole clean-
4.7
ing were both improved by adjusting
3.72 the drilling parameters. In the 6-in. and
0
8½-in. 8½-in. well 6-in. 8½-in. well
8½-in. sections, connection times were
benchmark using OptiWell benchmark using OptiWell reduced by more than 30% while on-
well service well service bottom ROP in those sections increased
by 13% and 18%, respectively (Fig. 2).
Preconnection Connection Postconnection
Combined, the improvements result-
ed in a cost savings estimated in the
Fig. 2—In the 6-in. section, ADCO reduced connection time from 22.5
to 15.5 min/stand and improved on-bottom ROP from 63 ft/h to 71 ft/h, mid-six figures. JPT
compared with a benchmark well.

22 JPT • APRIL 2018

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 E&P NOTES
Alternatives No Threat to Oil,
Aramco CEO Says
John Donnelly, JPT Editor
Alternative energy options and worries
about climate change are not a threat to
the oil and gas industry, which will need
increased investment just to keep up
with future demand, said the chief exec-
utive officer of Saudi Aramco.
The idea that alternatives to hydro-
carbons such as electric vehicles will
displace oil and gas in the global fuel
mix any time soon is a gross oversim-
plification, Amin Nasser, the head of
Saudi Aramco, said during the annual
CERAWeek conference by IHS Markit,
which took place last month in Houston.
“I am not losing any sleep over the idea
of peak oil demand or stranded resourc-
es,” he said.
Although the growth of electric vehi-
cles in particular has grabbed headlines,
99% of the vehicles on the road today
have an internal combustion engine,
“which will be with us a long time,”
Nasser said. “It is not an either/or situ-
ation,” either electric vehicles or the
internal combustion engine, he added,
but a much more complex picture.
IEA Sees No End to US Shale Output Surge
Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer
US crude production is projected to
surge to 12.1 million B/D by 2023 amid
“a second wave” of shale output increas-
es, making the country the world’s larg-
est oil producer, according to the Inter-
national Energy Agency’s latest 5-year
market forecast.
The new wave is underpinned by high-
er oil prices following the pact between
OPEC producers and a group of non-
OPEC countries to collectively curb out-
put through this year. “Everyone has
24
Electric vehicles face many challeng-
es, including reliability, cost, public
acceptance, and expensive infrastruc-
ture changes. The bulk of future trans-
portation demand will come from less
developed countries that likely will not
be able to afford major infrastructure
expenditures. Oil demand for petro-
chemical use also will rise sharply in the
coming decade, he said, providing “a
long, reliable output for oil.”
Nasser’s comments echoed those
of the International Energy Agency’s
5-year outlook released last month,
which sees continued strong demand
for hydrocarbons worldwide.
The oil and gas industry needs to
invest more than $20 trillion over the
next 25 years to meet expected global
demand growth and replace declining
production in older fields, Nasser said.
The recent oil price downturn caused
the industry to lose more than $1 trillion
in investment, he said.
That is why the industry needs to
state its case that oil and gas demand
benefited” from the deal, and newfound
optimism has spread through the indus-
try, said OPEC Secretary General Moham-
med Barkindo during the CERAWeek
conference by IHS Markit in Houston.
While OPEC may be sacrificing mar-
ket share for market stability, Barkindo
nonetheless said the collaboration “is as
solid as the rock of Gibraltar” and could
be institutionalized going forward. He
believes the consensus is that an ongoing
pact is necessary to serve as an insurance
will continue well into the future. Such
needed investments will come only “if
investors are convinced that oil will be
allowed to compete on a level playing
field, that oil is worth so much more,
and that oil is here for the foresee-
able future,” Nasser said. “We must
challenge mistaken assumptions about
the speed with which alternatives will
penetrate markets.”
The IEA report predicted that US
crude production would to surge to
12.1  million B/D by 2023 because of
shale output increases, and that the US
would overtake Russia and Saudi Ara-
bia as the world’s largest oil producer.
Nasser did not address the report or
his country’s recent market share battle
with the US.
Asked about Saudi Aramco’s plans to
go public with an initial public offering,
Nasser said only that the plans are “pro-
ceeding very well” and that the com-
pany’s shareholder, the Saudi govern-
ment, will decide when and where it will
take place.
policy against price shocks like the one
that occurred during 2014–2016.
US crude production hit an all-time
monthly high in November and is expect-
ed to post a yearly record in 2018, the
US Energy Information Administration
reported in February.
The US “is set to put its stamp on
global oil markets for the next 5 years,”
said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol,
who added that rising shale production
should be a factor taken into consid-
JPT • APRIL 2018
eration by OPEC and non-OPEC part-
ners when discussing further possible
output restraints.
The IEA forecasts that overall US pro-
duction gains will represent 60% of
new global output to 2023. Over the
next 3 years, it will cover 80% of the
world’s demand growth, with fellow
non-OPEC countries Brazil, Canada,
and Norway providing the rest, grow-
ing 1 million  B/D, 790,000 B/D, and
450,000 B/D, respectively.
Birol sees “no peak oil demand
in sight” as the IEA forecasts yearly
demand growth of 1.2 million B/D, about
half of which will come from China and
India. While growth in India will rise
slightly, China’s growth rate could slow
due to the country’s new industry poli-
cies designed to reduce pollution. He
noted the global petrochemical sector
is “one of the blind spots of the oil mar-
ket debate.” The IEA projects new pet-
ExxonMobil Exits Russian Ventures, Continues Success
off Guyana
Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer
ExxonMobil marked a continued com-
panywide transition for the world’s larg-
est public oil and gas firm, headlined
by its withdrawal from once-promis-
ing Russian joint ventures (JVs) and its
announcement of a seventh oil discov-
ery off Guyana.
According to a filing with the US Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission, Exxon-
Mobil is pulling out of its JVs with Ros-
neft, established earlier this decade, that
involved exploration and development
of Arctic, Black Sea, and shale resourc-
es. ExxonMobil’s role in those partner-
ships was quashed when the US govern-
ment levied sanctions on Russia in 2014
following its annexation of Crimea and
expanded those measures in late 2017.
ExxonMobil sued the US Department
of the Treasury last year in response
to a $2-million fine for violating the
2014 sanctions.
“This decision puts a formal end to
ExxonMobil’s long-term strategy of
exploring the Arctic, which led to the dis-
covery of the giant Pobeda field in 2014.
JPT • APRIL 2018
rochemical capacity to represent 25%
of oil-demand gains by 2023, driven by
projects in the US and China.
As an exporter, the US will continue
to lift its profile in world markets, the
IEA forecasts. Following relief of some
transportation bottlenecks associated
with crude movements from Canada and
within Texas, US capacity is expected to
approach 5 million B/D by 2020 as Cor-
pus Christi, Texas, becomes the primary
North American crude outlet. While the
first wave of increased US oil produc-
tion was largely absorbed by domes-
tic markets, much of the second wave
will provide feedstock for European and
Asian refiners.
Due to sheer volume and geography,
however, the Middle East will remain the
most critical region in the world for oil
resources, and Saudi Arabia will remain
the biggest and most important exporter
“for many years to come,” Birol said.
It also makes the progress at the Far
East LNG project less likely,” explained
Samual Lussac, senior research man-
ager, Russia upstream, at consultancy
Wood Mackenzie.
While ExxonMobil will take an after-
tax loss of $200 million due to the move,
Lussac noted the firm had already sunk
around $700 million on the Universitets-
kaya well in the Kara Sea during the same
year the US first imposed sanctions.
“In practice, all Arctic offshore explo-
ration and the Trizneft Pilot project—
which focused on the Bazhenov shale
oil development—were on hold since
2014,” he said. “Rosneft loses a part-
ner of choice, which could have brought
financing and expertise for the develop-
ment of the next wave of Russian oil sup-
ply.” ExxonMobil will, however, maintain
its 30% share in the Sakhalin-1 project.
In more promising news, the multi-
national firm said it hit “20 m of high-
quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir”
while drilling its Pacora-1 exploration
well offshore Guyana. The strike fol-
Given their shared expectations of ris-
ing global demand and continued pro-
duction declines from aging fields, Bar-
kindo and Birol both emphasized the
need for more upstream investment
from regions outside the US to main-
tain market stability in the 2020s. Glob-
al spending dived 25% in 2015–2016
before staying flat in 2017, and early data
suggest only a modest rise in 2018.
Meanwhile, there has been an increas-
ing focus on short-cycle projects at the
expense of more expensive, often more
rewarding long-cycle projects, and US
growth is expected to slow in the 2020s.
Birol noted “the world needs to replace
3 million B/D of declines each year—
the equivalent of the North Sea.” Those
potential shortfalls could result in mar-
ket volatility that is quite different from
what OPEC and non-OPEC collabora-
tors have recently sought to remedy,
he said.
lows its Liza, Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek,
Turbot, and Ranger discoveries on the
26,800-km2 Stabroek Block.
“This latest discovery further increas-
es our confidence in developing this
key area of the Stabroek Block,” said
Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil
Exploration Company. “Pacora will be
developed in conjunction with the giant
Payara field, and along with other phas-
es, will help bring Guyana production to
more than 500,000 B/D.”
Pacora-1 was drilled to 5,597 m in
2,067 m of water. After completion of
the well, the Stena Carron drillship will
move to the Liza field off Guyana to drill
the Liza-5 well and conduct a well test,
which will be used to assess concepts
for the Payara development, ExxonMobil
said. The Liza phase one development
was sanctioned in June 2017.
Esso Exploration and Production Guy-
ana operates Stabroek Block with a 45%
stake. Hess Guyana Exploration holds a
30% interest and CNOOC Nexen Petro-
leum Guyana holds 25%.
25
 Offshore Latin America has emerged
as one of ExxonMobil’s strategic priori-
ties for the coming years. During the
fourth quarter of 2017, ExxonMobil
added 14 offshore blocks in Brazil com-
prising more than 1.25 million net acres
through bid rounds and farm-in agree-
ments. Elsewhere, the firm will lead the
BP: Robust Adoption of Electric Vehicles Would Not Stop
Oil Consumption Growth
Joel Parshall, JPT Features Editor
Even a robust adoption of electric vehi-
cles (EVs) over the next 2 decades would
not eliminate the growth of either glob-
al oil consumption or carbon emissions,
BP Chief Economist Spencer Dale said
in February as the company introduced
its 2018 Energy Outlook. And to meet
the goals of the Paris Climate Accord,
Dale said, the outlook concludes that a
system of global carbon emission pric-
ing and increased regulation to spur
energy efficiency and fuel switching
would probably be needed in addition
to EV adoption.
Projecting the future impact of EVs on
oil consumption and emissions involves
more than counting the number of them
and their percentage share in the global
vehicle fleet, he said.
First, pure battery electric vehicles
(BEVs) must be distinguished from plug-
in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), as
the latter allow the power source to
alternate between battery electricity
and oil-based fuel. Thus, the impact of
PHEVs cannot be viewed as equivalent
to that of BEVs. Second, the intensity
with which the EVs might be driven, par-
ticularly as shared mobility expands, is a
critical variable.
EV Share of Kilometers Driven
“If there are say 300 million EVs on the
road but they are driven twice as much
as conventional cars, that’s more akin
to having 600 million EVs on the road,”
Dale said. Recognizing this, the outlook
focuses on the share of vehicle kilometers
(Vkms) driven by EVs.
Illustrating the point about intensive
use, Dale noted that the outlook proj-
26
construction and operation of all future
gas liquefaction facilities on Mozam-
bique’s Area 4 block, and it intends to
invest billions to triple its Permian Basin
output in West Texas and southeastern
New Mexico.
ExxonMobil also this week shut two
liquefaction trains at its PNG LNG
ects that EVs will comprise approximate-
ly 15% of the global passenger car fleet
in 2040—about 300 million vehicles
out of a total of almost 2 billion—based
on a scenario called “evolving transition
(ET).” Under ET, policies, technologies,
and societal preferences evolve in a man-
ner that mirrors the recent past.
However, Dale emphasized that under
this scenario, “the share of passenger
car Vkms powered by electricity is over
30%, twice as much.” The greater market
penetration, measured in Vkms “reflects
the interaction of EVs with shared mobil-
ity and autonomy,” he said.
Shared Mobility
Shared mobility is defined by vehicle
ownership, i.e., when the vehicle is not
privately owned by the driver, and as
a category includes taxi and rental car
fleets as well as ride-hailing services such
as Uber and Lyft.
Fully autonomous cars will likely be
available in the early 2020s but proba-
bly will be initially very expensive. Their
high expense means they will generally
be purchased by shared-mobility-service
companies and not private individuals.
“The costs saving associated with no
longer having to pay for a driver, which
could reduce total costs by as much as
40% or 50%, leads to a surge in the
importance of kilometers driven by
shared-mobility autonomous cars in the
2030s,” Dale said.
Autonomous Cars ‘Game
Changer’
The vast majority of these more intense-
ly driven, shared autonomous cars will
plant, its Hides gas conditioning plant,
as well as production pads in Papua
New Guinea after a 7.5-magnitude
earthquake struck the Pacific nation,
and the firm is reported to be seeking
the sale of its 19% stake in the Terra
Nova oil project off Newfoundland
and Labrador.
probably be EVs because of their low run-
ning costs, which will substantially boost
the Vkm market share powered by elec-
tricity, Dale said. In all, the increased
market penetration of EVs, measured in
Vkms, will be attributable roughly 50%
to their number and 50% to “the increas-
ing intensity with which they are driven,”
he said, “and the game changer for inten-
sity is autonomy.”
An important factor in the projections
of a long-term slowdown in the growth
of global liquid-hydrocarbon motor fuel
consumption and carbon emissions in
BP’s outlook—even as vehicle miles driv-
en increase—is the continuing adop-
tion of stricter fuel-efficiency standards
around the world.
Vehicle manufacturers looking to meet
tighter emission standards have three
options, Dale noted.
◗ Reduce vehicle weights.
◗ Improve fuel efficiency.
◗ Sell more EVs.
Fuel Consumption Impact
The impact on fuel consumption of sell-
ing more EVs is not as straightforward
as the other two options. If manufactur-
ers were to tackle emission reductions
mainly by selling EVs, Dale said that it
would require large up-front expenses
that would leave less money to invest
in other vehicles. A slowdown or halt in
fuel-efficiency improvements in those
vehicles could largely offset reductions
in fuel consumption related to increased
EV sales. The net impact on consump-
tion would depend on the intensity
of use of the EVs added to the fleet,
he said.
JPT • APRIL 2018
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 In an effort to curb the growth of
carbon emissions, some countries have
begun to consider more aggressive
regulation that would eventually ban
the sales of new internal-combustion-
engine (ICE) passenger cars.
To gain a full understanding of how
such an ICE ban would affect liquid fuel
demand, the BP Outlook considered the
potential impact of a worldwide ICE
ban—which would include PHEVs—
that hypothetically would be phased in
between 2030 and 2040.
Under the scenario, the share of
BEVs in new passenger car sales would
be one-third in 2030, two-thirds in
2035, and 100% in 2040. In 2040,
two-thirds of global car Vkms would
come from electrical power with the
remainder coming from ICE power in
legacy vehicles.
Internal Combustion
Engine Ban
The global ICE ban would cut liquid fuel
demand by about half, or 10 million B/D,
Another Big Gas Field Starts Production Offshore Egypt
Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer
The Atoll Phase One project in the East
Nile Delta is flowing 350 MMcf/D of gas
and 10,000 B/D of condensate to shore
after starting up “7 months ahead of
schedule and 33% below the initial cost
estimate,” operator BP reported.
The $1-billion project in the North
Damietta concession provides another
heavy stream of gas for domestic use
in Egypt following the 2017 production
launches of the Eni-operated supergiant
Zohr field and the BP-operated Taurus
and Libra fields of the West Nile Delta
development. BP has a 10% stake in the
Shorouk concession containing Zohr,
which is expected to flow 1 Bcf/D by mid-
year. The British supermajor operates the
West Nile Delta project with an 82.75%
interest in the project partnership.
All three projects were fast-tracked
with reduced timeframes between sanc-
tion and startup. The Atoll discovery was
announced in March 2015, and the proj-
ect was sanctioned in June 2016. BP cred-
28
compared with the outlook’s ET scenar-
io. However, the level of demand would
still be higher than it is today. “The sug-
gestion that the rapid growth in electric
cars will cause oil demand to collapse
just isn’t supported by the basic arith-
metic,” Dale said.
Even more notable is the relatively
small impact the ICE ban would have
on carbon emissions. Under the ET sce-
nario, carbon emissions would still be
almost 10% higher than today, while
the ICE ban would slow that increase
to about 7%, according to the out-
look. And this assumes that all electric-
ity needed to power EVs is generated
from renewable sources. Neither result
is close to the almost 50% carbon-
emission reduction needed to achieve
the Paris climate goals.
“Although electric cars may bring
important benefits in terms of urban
air quality,” Dale said, “reducing oil
demand by 10 million barrels a day—
although welcome—doesn’t really move
the dial in terms of carbon challenge.”
its Phase One’s quick launch to expedit-
ed subsea infrastructure installation and
onshore facilities upgrading.
Phase One involved the recompletion
of the original Atoll exploration well to
a producing well and the drilling of two
more production wells that were com-
pleted between August 2015 and Febru-
ary 2017. Output is exported onshore to
the West Harbor gas processing plant for
eventual use in Egypt’s national grid. At
110 km, the subsea tieback is nearly the
same distance between Cairo and Suez.
If deemed successful, Atoll Phase One
could lead to investment in Atoll Phase
Two full-field development, BP said.
Atoll field’s main reservoir is estimated
to hold 1.5 Tcf of gas and 31 million bbl
of condensate.
BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dud-
ley reinforced his firm’s commitment to
Egypt on 12 February, saying it plans to
invest more than $1 billion in the country
in 2018. The firm is advancing the second
Needed: A Break From the Past
“The clear message from the Energy Out-
look,” he continued, “is that to achieve a
sharp reduction in carbon emissions, we
need a far more decisive break from the
past than recent momentum in policy
and technology implies.”
The outlook does not prescribe spe-
cific policies but examines different out-
comes that depend in part on the broad
mix of policies adopted. Looking at the
possibility of an even faster transition
(EFT) than that in the ET scenario, Dale
said that reforms would have to address
fuel use and efficiency in the electric
power sector.
Under the EFT trajectory, the Paris Cli-
mate Accord goals could be met by requir-
ing some form of global carbon emis-
sion pricing and increased regulations
“incentivizing more rapid gains in energy
efficiency and fuel switching in industry,
transport, and buildings,” Dale said.
In a transition consistent with the Paris
goals, he noted, oil and gas would still
provide 40% of world energy in 2040.
West Nile Delta project, which includes
the Giza and Fayoum fields, toward start-
up this year. It consists of 15 wells includ-
ing subsea tiebacks to the shore. Fluids
will be processed through an onshore
plant modified for Giza and Fayoum.
The entire West Nile Delta project
involves development of 5 Tcf of gas
resources and 55 million bbl of conden-
sates. Once all development phases are
complete, total production could reach
1.3 billion Bcf/D.
Beyond Egypt, Eastern Mediterra-
nean activity continues to heat up. Eni
last week announced that its Calypso
1 NFW well off Cyprus encountered an
extended gas column, confirming the
extension of a “Zohr-like” play. The Ital-
ian operator also signed exploration and
production agreements for Blocks 4 and
9 in the deep waters off Lebanon. Noble
Energy’s much-anticipated Leviathan
gas project off Israel is targeting startup
by yearend 2019. JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
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001820_Annonse_0318.indd 1 09.03.18 13.56

OutlOOk
Gulf of Mexico

US Gulf of Mexico Production

Projected To Hit Record High
Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer

Shell currently operates seven major deepwater and ultradeepwater

floating platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico, including Mars B (pictured) in
the Mississippi Canyon area. The company’s recent Whale discovery may
help boost GOM production in the coming years. Source: Shell.
T he deepwater US Gulf of Mexico
(GOM) sector has struggled since
the onset of the oil price downturn in
2014, but as costs settle and operators
establish new standards for running
efficient projects, this year may be a sig-
nificant turning point for the industry
in the region.
In January, Wood Mackenzie pub-
lished a report predicting that produc-
tion of oil and gas in the deepwater GOM
will reach an all-time record high this
year, with more than 1.9 million BOPD,
surpassing the previous record set in
2009 by nearly 10% and representing
13% growth year over year.
William Turner, Wood Mackenzie’s
senior research analyst and lead author
of the report, Deepwater GoM: 5 Things
to Look for in 2018, said that, more than
2 months into the calendar year, the
level of activity in the region is still on
track to meet expectations. However,
recent developments may have an effect
on that trajectory.
Policy Impacts
In January, the US Department of the
Interior (DOI) announced a proposal to
place more than 90% of federal offshore
land containing oil and gas—includ-
ing land in the GOM—up for auction
between 2019 and 2024. In February the
DOI’s Royalty Policy Committee issued a
recommendation for lower royalty rates
for offshore oil and gas drilling on sea-
bed owned by the US government.
If approved, royalties from off-
shore drilling would drop from 18.75%
to 12.5%, the lowest royalty rate per-
mitted. The US Bureau of Ocean Ener-
gy Management (BOEM) had already
relaxed royalty rates to 12.5% for some
shallow-water leases in August 2017.
With the WTI and Brent crude pric-
es still hovering in the low $60s as of
early March amidst relatively high sup-
ply, the recommendation could make
it more attractive for operators to
look at bidding for offshore oil leases
in the GOM.
Turner said while the decision on the
royalty came faster than anticipated,
it is likely the US federal government
wanted it in place before Lease Sale 250
on 21 March. At the time of this writ-
JPT • APRIL 2018
ing, it was scheduled to be the largest
regionwide sale in US history, with 77.3
million acres offshore Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida avail-
able for exploration and development.
The sale includes approximately 14,700
unleased blocks located in the GOM’s
Western, Central, and Eastern planning
areas. The BOEM estimated that these
blocks contain about 90 billion bbl of
undiscovered technically recoverable oil
and 327 Tcf of undiscovered technically
recoverable gas.
The royalty rate may have a bigger
impact on operators’ decision making in
the coming months. For instance, Turn-
er said it is possible that Total may try
to rebid for leases in the North Platte
field—where it holds a 40% working
interest—rather than taking over oper-
ation of its holdings from Cobalt Inter-
national Energy.
“I was convinced that Total would not
want that to go out into the open mar-
ket, that they would get a drillship out
there and extended that lease, and per-
haps even take over operation of that
lease so that they didn’t get it out on the
open market,” Turner said. “But—and I
don’t know what the answer is—is it a
risk they’re willing to take to let it go out
on the open market, rebid, and get it at
the lower royalty rate, which could add a
lot of value to that project?”
Exceeding Expectations
Turner said that the discovery size of
the Ballymore and Whale prospects are
expected to be much larger than pre-
viously thought. Shell said in January
that the Whale deepwater well encoun-
tered more than 1,400 net ft of oil-
bearing pay. Evaluation was still ongo-
ing at the time of this writing, but
Turner said it would not be surpris-
ing to see 10 times more barrels than
initially expected.
Ballymore faces a similar issue. Chev-
ron, which holds a 60% working inter-
est in Ballymore (Total holds the other
40%), said it encountered more than
670 net ft of oil pay with excellent res-
ervoir and fluid characteristics. Though
the company had not disclosed totals
by early March, Turner said it is possi-
ble that Ballymore could be a 400 mil-
lion bbl discovery. While this is not a bad
problem for an operator to face, Turner
said a larger-than-expected discovery
may force Chevron to make a difficult
decision with regards to development.
The company may need to refurbish
its Blind Faith platform to handle the
additional production from Bally-
more, or it may choose to build a new
platform altogether.
“Now they have to go to work either
refurbing the Blind Faith platform
or even getting another platform out
there,” Turner said. “It’s almost a bit of
a headache in that the size of the discov-
ery was so big that they have to change
their plans a little bit.”
Turner said either option will be
capital-intensive. He said that Blind
Faith has enough life left to service the
current field, but its capacity would
need to be increased to take on Bally-
more. Because it sits just 4 nautical
miles away from the discovery, Turn-
er said he thinks it makes more sense
for Chevron to repurpose the platform.
Ballymore will present some techni-
cal challenges, though: it is an ultra-
high-temperature field with a lot of tar,
which may affect the efficacy of down-
hole tools.
Majors vs. Independents
The economics of deepwater GOM still
heavily favor larger operators with the
appetite to invest the capital required to
develop a megaproject. However, Turn-
er said smaller companies backed by
private equity still have growth potential
in the region. In January, LLOG began
development drilling at the Buckskin
Project in Keathley Canyon. A drillship
will drill the initial two wells to about
29,000 ft, after which subsea facili-
ties will be installed. First oil is expect-
ed in mid-2019, and the field is esti-
mated to contain about 5 billion bbl of
oil in place.
Buckskin is one of several LLOG proj-
ects coming up that will utilize subsea
tieback systems. Its Claiborne devel-
opment will tie back to the Coelacanth
platform operated by Walter Oil and
Gas. The LaFemme/Blue Wing Olive
and Red Zinger developments will be
tied back to LLOG’s Delta House plat-
31

Rig count and exploratory and development wells in the Gulf of Mexico
250
200
150
Wells
100
50
0 Despite the growth in production, the
2010 2011 2012
The total number of exploratory and development wells in the US Gulf
of Mexico has dropped significantly from pre-downturn levels, and a recent
study predicts that exploration activity will remain flat in the immediate future.
Source: US Energy Information Administration.
form. Crown and Anchor will tie back
to the Anadarko-operated Marlin facil-
ity. All five developments are sched-
uled to begin production sometime this
year. First oil at Claiborne is expected
in mid-2018, production at Crown and
Anchor will begin sometime in the next
few months, and the other three are
expected to start up in the second half
of the year.
Turner put LLOG at the top end of the
small independents making waves in
the GOM, but he said Fieldwood Ener-
gy may jump ahead of LLOG follow-
ing its $710 million purchase of Noble’s
deepwater GOM assets in mid-February.
The transaction includes Noble’s inter-
est in six producing fields (Galapa-
gos, Swordfish, Gunflint, Dantzler,
Big Bend,  and Ticonderoga) and all
undeveloped leases, which Noble esti-
mates will produce slightly more than
20,000 BOED in 2018. The transaction
took place on the same day Fieldwood
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of
a plan to cut its debt in half. Since Noble’s
producing fields are already devel-
oped, they will not require Fieldwood
to invest significant amounts of capi-
tal. Turner said the Field-Noble transac-
32
Development wells
Exploratory wells
2013 2014 2015 2016
tion should boost Fieldwood’s produc-
tion by 28%.
“For a company the size of Fieldwood
and a company the size of LLOG, they
still have growth prospects in the Gulf
of Mexico in the tiebacks—those are
the 20-million, 50-million barrel tie-
back opportunities. The capex on those
is, let’s say, $200 to $450 million. That’s
meaningful growth for those com-
panies,” Turner said.
As large and small companies find
their footing in the GOM, the mid-
sized operators—which Turner defined
as companies producing 100,000 to
500,000 BOPD—are looking for or
have already found their exit strategies.
Freeport-McMoRan’s foray into deep-
water GOM was a key factor in the com-
pany’s 66% share price collapse from
2013 to 2016, and in September 2016
the company sold its assets in the area
to Anadarko. Selling its GOM assets to
Fieldwood will allow Noble to focus on
its more profitable US onshore shale
developments, as well as its holdings in
the eastern Mediterranean. In a state-
ment, Noble Chairman David L. Stover
called the Fieldwood deal “the last major
step in our portfolio transformation.”
Following the announcement of the
sale, Noble’s price on the New York
Stock Exchange jumped from $26.28 on
16 February to $29.12 on 20 February,
a 10.8% difference. Turner called this
a “clear indication” that the company’s
investors are more bullish on shale than
on deepwater GOM.
“Wall Street seems to be undervaluing
deepwater Gulf of Mexico investment,
but for the folks like LLOG and Field-
wood that are backed by private equity,
they clearly have a different view than
Wall Street,” Turner said.
Looking Ahead:
Short-Term Peak?
consultancy expects exploration activity
to remain flat as operators continue to
focus on conservative tiebacks that are
typically lower-volume, lower-impact
discoveries. Turner said that conven-
tional deepwater fields cannot sustain
current GOM production growth, and
that increased investment in explora-
tion and development, particularly in
ultrahigh-pressure/high-temperature
projects, will be critical to maintain-
ing production levels in the near future.
Without that, production levels may
plateau after 2019.
Recent large discoveries may pro-
vide relief sooner rather than later.
Turner said Shell may potentially fast-
track Whale, possibly bringing it online
in 6 years. Doing that would likely
require the company to duplicate its
efforts with Vito, in which a lot of con-
tracting has been agreed upon prior
to sanction. If this happens, Whale
could spearhead another period of
growth. Until then, however, GOM pro-
duction will have to sustain itself on
smaller volumes.
“That period between 2019 and
2023 is going to have be sustained—
I’ll call it a bit of a plateau, maybe—
with subsea tiebacks and maybe pro-
duction from projects like Buckskin,”
Turner said. “But until the really large
volumes start coming back to the Gulf
of Mexico, we may see 2019 as sort of a
short-term peak.” JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
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 Colorado Operators
Reaping Rewards From Sticking
by ‘Predictable’ DJ-Niobrara
Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer
Anadarko well operations in Colorado. The independent holds around 400,000 net acres in the DJ Basin and hopes
to increase production to more than 400,000 BOE/D by 2021. Source: Anadarko Petroleum.
C olorado oil production is surging to
record levels, outpacing the other
major producing US states in year-over-
year gains on the backs of the steady-
and-predictable Denver-Julesburg (DJ)
Basin and overlapping Niobrara Shale.
As overall US oil output continues to
surge, attention has been drawn to the
Permian Basin and SCOOP and STACK
plays. Operators have flocked to West
Texas, southeastern New Mexico, and
central Oklahoma to stake claims to land
they believe will usher them into a new,
leaner era for the industry. The expansive
Permian alone, which covers more than
75,000 sq miles, has accounted for the
bulk of US oil production increases and
mergers and acquisitions over the last
couple of years.
Although they are intertwined and
together encompass parts of Colora-
do border states Wyoming, Nebraska,
34
and Kansas, the DJ and Niobrara offer a
fraction of the acreage and prospective
resources of the Permian. But the exist-
ing acreage quality is high. Relatively few
companies have large positions in the
region, with leadership of many of those
firms having earned their stripes with
nearby competitors.
Mike Eberhard, chief operating officer
of SRC Energy, previously known as Syn-
ergy Resources and one of the region’s
largest pure-play firms, explained that
the DJ is attractive because “it has a very
good rate of return” due mainly to low
well and takeaway costs, which makes it
competitive with the other major basins.
He previously served as completions
manager for Anadarko Petroleum’s DJ
Basin program.
“We have a very good infrastructure”
in the region, he said. “We don’t have
a lot of [midstream companies] going
over the top of each other, trying to get
into the next location. Most of the acre-
age out here is dedicated for midstream.
Everybody kind of knows who has what,
and we do development around that.”
Meanwhile, “the service sector has been
here since the ‘60s.” Denver also serves
as a stable source of skilled workers,
“so you’re not putting up man camps”
like in the Bakken and Permian where
labor costs and turnover can be high.
“And we don’t make a lot of water with
the wells. We don’t have a lot of disposal
issues,” which are common in areas such
as the Permian.
“The key is the big players—Anadar-
ko, Noble, and PDC—feel the econom-
ics compete with the best shale econom-
ics anywhere and are continuing to drill,”
said William W. Fleckenstein, former
interim department head of Colorado
School of Mines’ petroleum engineering
JPT • APRIL 2018
department. Anadarko, Noble Energy,
and PDC Energy also have core posi-
tions in the Permian. “Drilling has also
improved, and a relatively low number of
rigs is driving the increases in wellbores
available for completions.” He explained
that the basin’s predictability is exempli-
fied through simple drilling, widespread
use of monobore completions, demon-
strated overpressure, good productivi-
ty, and few surprises such as structural
issues with faults.
According to data from the US Energy
Information Administration, Colorado oil
production in December 2017 averaged
430,000 B/D, up 46% year-over-year,
dwarfing increases in any of the major
oil-producing states. During the same
month, the state’s Baker Hughes rig count
averaged in the mid-30s, up from the
mid-20s a year earlier but markedly fewer
The bulk of well activity in Colorado is in the northeast portion of the state
than the rig counts of Oklahoma, North
in Weld County, abutting Denver. Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Dakota, and New Mexico, for example. Commission.

Anadarko’s Colorado Evolution

Anadarko, alongside Noble, serves as one of two
big independents with core acreage in the state.
“The DJ Basin is one of our most important assets
because of our tier-1 position, mineral-interest
ownership, extensive infrastructure, and knowledge
of the basin that’s been under development since
the 1970s,” said Carrie Horton, Anadarko vice
president of DJ Basin development.
Horton traced back Anadarko’s genesis as a
leading operator in the basin to the firm’s 2000
acquisition of Union Pacific Resource and its more
than 5 million acres across Colorado, Utah, and
Wyoming. The acreage’s land and mineral rights
were granted to Union Pacific Railroad by the
administration of President Abraham Lincoln in the
1860s in an effort to encourage investment in a
transcontinental railroad.
“This land grant acreage gave us a strategic
advantage, enabling us to become one of the largest
minerals-interest owners in the tristate area,” she
explained. “That means our working interest is 100%,
we don’t have to lease the land from other parties,
and we receive about a 35% uplift in the net present
value of our wells.” Another milestone in the company’s
evolution in the basin came through an acreage swap
with Noble in 2013, which cored up its position in the
Wattenberg. “This created environmental benefits
by consolidating infrastructure, which enabled us
to be more efficient, take trucks off the roads, and
more effectively utilize pipelines for transporting our
product and water,” she said.
Horton, who has been with Anadarko since 2000,
said “the DJ Basin’s geology is also fascinating. We
have multiple stacked intervals of formations—the
Niobrara, Codell, and J Sand, to name a few. Those
intervals work very well because of the thermal
anomaly that goes along with it in this region creating
higher-value oil deposits and associated natural gas.”
Anadarko’s acreage on the basin still holds more
than 2 billion BOE of recoverable resources even
after decades of production, she said. “The increase
in estimated resources began to take shape when we
began implementing a more consistent horizontal
drilling program back in late-2012.” Anadarko’s average
DJ Basin production in the third quarter of 2012 was
just more than 90,000 BOE/D. In the third quarter of
2017, it was 232,000 BOE/D, an increase of almost
160%. In December 2017, the company’s oil sales
volumes surpassed 100,000 B/D of oil, up almost
20% over the previous quarter.
Horton touted the company’s completion design
implemented in 2017 that increased its estimated
ultimate recovery to 690,000 BOE/well in the
contiguous core, an increase of more than 20% over
the previous type curve. The design involves “higher
fracture stimulation intensity driven by increased
fluid volumes and tighter stage spacing. Early results
indicate significant production gains and uplift to NPV.
This design essentially uses shorter stages, which
means we are getting more fractures per well, therefore
breaking up the reservoir rocks better and tapping
further into those resources.”

JPT • APRIL 2018 35

 Operators are targeting the Niobrara
A, B, C benches and Codell formation,
which are mostly in the DJ. Much of Colo-
rado oil and gas development, including
in the prolific Wattenberg field, has been
just north of Denver in Weld County, but
the area north of there has been drawing
increased interest in recent years.
“One of the trends that we have been
looking at for some time now is a push
toward more development at the north-
ern part of the play—basically around the
state line between Wyoming and Colora-
do,” said Pablo Prudencio, Wood Mack-
enzie upstream analyst, US Lower 48.
“This area has been less developed rela-
tive to the rest of the play, but we see that
there’s some potential, and we expect
activity to start heating up [there].”
Jonathan Garrett, research director
on Wood Mackenzie’s Lower 48 team,
noted the area is “quite rural” and “unex-
plored,” meaning, “in terms of upside,
you’ll see a lot more in that area as
opposed to the more developed spots.
Obviously the Wattenberg area—the
Wattenberg core—and the extension are
known as a fantastic part of the play. But
in terms of what’s new and what’s next
for the Niobrara, that northern section is
something worth tracking.”
Fleckenstein said EOG Resources “is
having success north of the Colorado
border with Wyoming, and that is filter-
ing down into Colorado as well. Bill Bar-
rett just merged with Fifth Creek, a pri-
vate company, with much of the acreage
south of EOG’s Wyoming acreage, and Bill
Barrett is ramping up activities as well.
The acreage is north of the Denver metro
SRC’S CURRENT DJ BASIN DRILLING AND COMPLETION OPERATIONS
Standard Completion Design Niobrara A & Codell
Stage length
Perf clusters/stage
Proppant
Surfactant
Frac Fluid
Source: SRC Energy.
36
DJ Basin operators primarily target
the Niobrara A, B, C benches and
Codell formation. Source: SRC Energy.
area and is rural, avoiding the issues with
urban encroachment, is easily developed
with long laterals, and is amenable to
shared surface facilities and pad drilling.”
Coring Up for the Long Term
Despite spending more than $1.5 bil-
lion to enter and expand its position in
the Permian’s red-hot Delaware Basin
in 2016–2017, PDC continues to direct
more than half of its capital expenditure
(capex) to its Wattenberg field assets,
with production there up more than
30% year-over-year, Fleckenstein noted.
PDC is increasing “the lengths on their
laterals, and that is positively impact-
Niobrara B & C
200 ft 200 ft
4 4
800 lb/ft 1300 lb/ft
Yes Yes
Slickwater Hybrid
ing their economics. Also, I believe the
operators are going to more stages and
closer spacing with more proppant, and
that is also impacting their economics.
It is a similar story with all the com-
panies, and enough 30% [year-over-
year] production increases drives the
state’s production.”
PDC solidified its commitment to Wat-
tenberg early this year when it acquired
8,300 net acres, 240 gross drilling
locations, and 30 operated drilled-but-
uncompleted wells in the Prairie area
from Bayswater Exploration & Produc-
tion for around $200 million in cash.
PDC also exchanged acreage with anoth-
er Wattenberg firm to consolidate its
position in the Plains area.
Those deals were among several struck
by big operators in the region during the
second half of 2017. In December, SRC
closed on its purchase of 30,200 net
acres just south of the company’s existing
acreage in Weld County from Noble for
$568 million in cash. That deal, the sec-
ond between the firms involving Greeley
Crescent acreage since 2016, provid-
ed SRC more than 600 gross locations
supporting mid- or long-lateral design,
multiple development pads already
permitted, and high working interest
throughout the acreage.
For sellers like Noble, those deals rep-
resent a larger trend across not only the
DJ-Niobrara but Lower 48 as a whole
given new economic realities, Gar-
rett said. “If you want to do something,
whether it be accelerate your devel-
opment program or do a deal, instead
of going to the capital markets to get
Additional Information
36 stages in mid-length laterals, 50 stages in
long-length laterals, and 60 stages in extra-long-
length laterals.
Managing entry points to improve proppant
distribution and stimulated reservoir volume.
Engineered completions to pinpoint proppant
placement for optimized productivity.
Surfactant designed for higher gas/oil ratio
reservoirs.
Experimenting with fluid designs in some zones.
JPT • APRIL 2018
the funding, it looks as though inter-
est should be in noncore asset deals,” he
said. Meanwhile, buyers such as SRC seek
more contiguous core acreage.
In the case of SandRidge Energy’s
nixed $750-million acquisition of Bonan-
za Creek Energy and its 67,000 contigu-
ous net acres in the DJ’s oil window, Gar-
rett said “it appeared as though doing
a deal of that size so close to the emer-
gence from bankruptcy as opposed to
focusing first on drilling great wells and
creating value,” combined with the valu-
ation “looking a bit rich,” was off-putting
to activist investor Carl Icahn, who suc-
cessfully lobbied against the deal gaining
shareholder approval.
Bonanza Creek’s appeal to SandRidge
may have been underpinned by Bonan-
za’s higher estimated ultimate recov-
eries (EUR) and decreased costs from
optimized well designs, said Mag-
gie McDaniel, Wood Mackenzie senior
research manager. As with many of its
fellow operators in the region, Bonanza
continues to test heavier proppant load-
ing and tighter spacing.
In a deal involving former manage-
ment of Bonanza Creek, the merger of
Bill Barrett and Fifth Creek Energy is
expected to close in the first half of this
year and includes 81,000 net acres in the
oil-weighted northern rural areas of the
DJ. Fifth Creek has reported “some real-
ly impressive” initial production rates of
more than 1,000 BOE/D, and “that has
really raised the profile” of an area that is
part of the Chalk Bluff subplay, McDaniel
said. She estimates wells drilled there
break even at $45/bbl, which is “why I
think you’re seeing an increased interest
in the Niobrara. As [oil] prices come up
a bit, the Niobrara is becoming less mar-
ginal and more competitive with some of
the other areas of the country.”
Leveraging Economics,
Efficiencies To Boost Output
Along with the STACK, the Niobrara
has shown the most improvement in
breakeven prices among the major US
basins, said McDaniel, as DJ operators
“are really pushing” EUR and spacing
assumptions. Prudencio said the Nio-
brara has a range of breakeven pric-
es from the upper $30s/bbl in the
most productive acreage to more than
$50/bbl in other areas.
“But one thing that stands out to us is
that if you take the average breakeven
for the entire play and you compare
it with the average breakevens for the
other plays, the Niobrara is remarkably
competitive,” he said. “It’s pretty much
second only to the Permian if you use
this type of analysis. Another interest-
ing data point is we have modeled that
about 70% of the resource breaks even
below $50[/bbl].”
As for oilfield service costs, “while
we were trending down, up until prob-
ably the first part of last year or the end
of 2016, things are starting to pick back
up,” Garrett said. “But we are nowhere
near where we were at the peak. So

Purple Politics
Colorado is one of the more unique states politically
in the US. The “purple state” has a strong mix
of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and
Independents. There is also a strong divide between
the urban and rural portions of the state. While cities
such as Denver may generally be unsupportive of the
industry, Weld County, where most of the state’s oil
and gas activity has been concentrated historically,
is overwhelmingly pro-industry.
William W. Fleckenstein, former interim department
head of Colorado School of Mines’ petroleum
engineering department, said Coloradoans have
become more aware of the positive economic impacts
of hydraulic fracturing, for example, but there is also
“a tremendous number of people who are moving to
Colorado” from states without oil and gas operations
or an understanding of the industry. The outcomes
of the upcoming statewide elections, which includes
the governor’s race, could swing legislative sentiment
one way or another. Current Gov. John Hickenlooper, a
Democrat who once was an oil and gas geologist, has
reached his term limit.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
in February approved strengthened rules for design,
installation, maintenance, testing, tracking, and
abandoning of flowlines after a 3-month review of
an April 2017 home explosion in Firestone that killed
two men. The incident resulted from a cut flowline at
a nearby Anadarko wellsite and prompted the firm to
shut in more than 3,000 vertical wells for inspection
and repair. Ryan Duman, Wood Mackenzie senior
analyst, said, “I think [Firestone] showed how opaque
some of that data and information is” with regard to
locating and mapping flowlines. “And the fact of the
matter is, there have been tons of horizontal and more
vertical development over the past 50 years, so as
you see suburbs push farther out, it is only a matter
of time where you start building on top of old facilities
for midstream.”
The encroachment of oil and gas operations on
population centers has been a source of anxiety for
many residents. Some groups have advocated for a
fivefold increase in the state’s setback rule to 2,500 ft,
which gubernatorial candidates have opposed. “I
think, personally, that it is only a matter of time before
that setback rule gets lengthened out to 2,500 ft,“
Duman said.
Providing an operator’s perspective, Mike Eberhard,
chief operating officer of SRC, said his company is
continually working with regulators to determine
how best to work in certain areas. Regarding industry
regulations and best practices, “Where Colorado is
today, the rest of the nation is going to be in 3 to 5
years,” he said. “So we just have to continue to be good
neighbors, continue to listen to the stakeholders, and
do what is right. And if we weren’t optimistic [about
the political outlook], we would not have just spent
another half-billion dollars on acreage.”

JPT • APRIL 2018 37


Volunteering
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on you.
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of Volunteers, giving
back suits you well.
Engage. Support. Contribute.
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www.spe.org/volunteer.
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A frac job on SRC’s 22-well Evans pad in the DJ Basin near Greeley, Colorado.
Source: SRC Energy.
those productivity gains have risen quite
quickly, and despite the fact that you
see costs pick up a little bit, you can still
comfortably drill and complete a well
in the Niobrara for less than $4 million
depending on where you are and who
you are. I think that has really supported
the economics there.”
Ryan Duman, Wood Mackenzie senior
analyst, said, “One of the things we have
seen over the past year, especially in
the DJ, is that cycle times for opera-
tions have been falling precipitously,
with some operators regularly talking
about single-digit cycle times for their
extended-reach lateral programs—so
like 4 to 6 days to drill a 7,000-ft lateral,
which is pretty phenomenal and allows
you to churn out a whole lot more wells
with the current rig count vs. needing,
say, 50 or 100 [rigs].”
Eberhard said that while it “used to
take 20 days to drill a well, we are get-
ting [it] done in 8 days. Just using the
rigs we have here the well count has
gone up, even though we have gone to
longer laterals. So we are completing
a lot more lateral feet than we used
to … You have had pretty much a step
change going to the monobore comple-
tions, with most everybody out here
doing that.” And almost all of the acre-
age is held by production. “There’s
20,000 vertical wells that tie up pret-
ty much everything out here, so there’s
not a run to capture acreage” like in the
Permian where there’s a certain “one-
upmanship” between operators, he said.
SRC in 2018 plans to drill and com-
plete 116 wells—all medium- or long-
length laterals, or those around 7,500 ft
and 10,000 ft, respectively. With full-
year capex at $480–540 million, the
firm’s full-year production guidance is
48,000–52,000 BOE/D, about half of
which will be oil.
Regarding Colorado’s completions
uptick, October state data showed the
number of active wells increased by
about 1,000, Duman said, noting that
Anadarko reported that it dramatically
increased the number of wells it turned
in line. Operators had a more back-
half-of-the-year weighted completions
schedule in the DJ, which is why Colora-
do’s production increase gained particu-
lar traction from summer 2017 forward.
Duman expects completion activity
this year to continue to outpace rig addi-
tions as companies have voiced their top
priority of operating within cash flow.
“Right now we are expecting 70,000 B/D
of growth” in oil production from Decem-
ber 2017 to December 2018, he said. JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
Additive Manufacturing Makes
Waves in Industry
O ver the past few years additive
manufacturing (AM) technol-
ogy has grown in popularity as com-
panies explore its potential. Applying
layer upon layer of polymers can create
objects of almost any shape and geom-
etry guided by design files, and now,
recent developments have made it pos-
sible to print metal parts and compo-
nents, making it a potentially disruptive
innovation for the supply chain.
AM has already had an impact on
other industries such as aviation—Air-
bus agreed in October to a deal to manu-
facture polymer parts for use on its A350
XWB aircraft—and now, as oil and gas
companies look to adopt AM into their
supply chain management, service com-
panies are breaking through with new
machines and processes that may facili-
tate larger-scale production of parts and
components in the future. In addition,
a new guideline has been established to
help bridge the gap between the qual-
ity assurance of parts created by an AM
process and those created through tra-
ditional manufacturing processes.
Additive Manufacturing
Qualification
In November, DNV GL published its first
classification guideline for the use of
AM in maritime and oil and gas. The
guideline was designed to bridge the
gap between the quality assurance of
parts and components created by an
AM process and those created through
traditional manufacturing processes by
creating a clear pathway for AM cer-
tification. The guideline serves as an
umbrella document that establishes the
overall framework process for qualifi-
cation and certification of AM products
and further points to other DNV spe-
cific services/documents that are rel-
evant in assessing parameters that will
JPT • APRIL 2018
Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer
impact the final product, from the mate-
rials used to the actual printing and
post-processing.
Brice Le Gallo, DNV’s regional man-
ager for Southeast Asia and Australia,
said the lack of a guideline was one of
the more significant hurdles for more
widespread adoption of AM processes.
Because there are currently only a hand-
ful of AM standards, companies often
conduct their own testing to ensure
integrity of the equipment, parts, and
components. The cost and time need-
ed to conduct these tests deters wider
adoption. In addition, AM process-
es typically incur higher material and
machining costs than conventional
manufacturing. He said the new guide-
line will help provide a blueprint that
may encourage further adoption.
“Today what we see is that the level
of adoption in these industries, mari-
time and offshore oil and gas, is still
quite low. One of the areas where we can
really help the industry get the level of
adoption increased is on the qualifica-
tion side,” Le Gallo said. “This is one of
the most important hurdles. We think
that by bringing appropriate qualifica-
tion frameworks to the industry, we will
see an important increase in the level of
adoption. This would then lead to great-
er volume, which in turn would lead to
costs going down.”
The guideline listed some of the chal-
lenges involved in qualifying and certi-
fying AM processes and components.
◗ There is a lack of information
related to material properties, and
a lack of experience and scientific
knowledge of AM processes
compared to conventional
manufacturing.
◗ Risk assessment based on statistics
of large-volume historical data does
not apply to AM production.
◗ AM processes have a less
integrated processing route
compared to conventional
manufacturing.
◗ Secrecy exists about technology
and software/algorithm sources.
◗ Directionality and heterogeneity
of AM products can lead to further
challenges for certification and
testing.
◗ A lack of product responsibility
and uncertainty of quality control
still exists.
Despite these challenges, companies
are still looking to AM as a vehicle for
the significant change of certain pro-
duction and distribution activities. DNV
received approximately 100 comments
from around 160 companies that were
asked to comment on the draft guide-
line. Principal guideline author Sastry
Kandukuri said due to the constructive
feedback received, it took approximate-
ly 2 months to incorporate these com-
ments into the guideline and publish
the  document.
Kandukuri, a principal specialist of
materials for 3D printing and additive
manufacturing at DNV, said that while
multiple processes have been developed
for AM, DNV chose to focus on the
two dominant processes—powder bed
fusion (PBF) and directed energy depo-
sition (DED)—in writing the guideline.
With PBF-based technologies, ther-
mal energy selectively fuses regions of
a powder bed. Thermal energy trans-
ferred from a laser, electron beam, or
infrared lamps activates the system, and
the powder bed is in an inert atmo-
sphere or a partial vacuum to provide
shielding of molten metal. An energy
source (either a laser or an electron
beam) scans each layer of the already-
spread powder to selectively melt the
material per the part’s cross section
39
 Metal powder Laser

A digital production plan of the new turbine A thin layer of a powder of high A fiber laser beam fuses the powder,
blades is created on a computer. performing superalloy is applied. thereby creating the first layer of
the turbine blade.

The platform lowers by a few Layer by layer new coats of The laser traces the At the end a heat-resistant
micrometers, lowering the the polycrystalline nickel outline of the digital turbine blade emerges out
component being produced. superalloy are applied production plan on of the powdered superalloy.
and fused. every coat.

Siemens’ process for 3D printing of gas turbine blades starts with the creation of a digital production plan of the blade,
after which a thin layer of a superalloy powder is deposited. A fiber laser beam then fuses the powder to create a layer
of the blade. This process repeats until the blade is fully constructed. Source: Siemens.

obtained from a digital model of the
part. When one layer has been scanned,
the piston of the building chamber
moves downward while the piston of the
powder chamber moves upward. This
cycle is repeated layer by layer until the
part is completed.
DED processes melt material as it is
being deposited. They are predomi-
nantly used for metal powders or wire
feedstock, but they can also be used
for polymers and ceramics. Powder is
fed continuously into a molten pool on
a previously deposited layer, which is
then melted to obtain good metallurgi-
cal bonding between successive depos-
ited layers
Fusion-based technologies are ideal
for individual parts with fine details,
shapes, and contours that are compli-
cated to replicate. They require a lon-
ger build time than DED technologies
but can achieve higher complexity and
a better surface finish, which requires
minimal post-processing. In addition,
several components of an individual
part can be built together. DED tech-
nologies are better for companies pro-
ducing larger build volumes, or com-
panies looking to process at relatively
high deposition rates.
Kandukuri said it was important to
find an alternative to conventional AM
qualification methods that managed the
uncertainties related to the implemen-
tation of new technology in cases where
fitness for purpose could not solely be
relied on by demonstrating compliance
with relevant standards, guidelines,
and recommendations.
“The process makes it possible to
identify and analyze the risks asso-
ciated with new technology and pro-
vides evidence that it is suitable for its
intended use,” he said. “It can play an
important role in increasing the confi-
dence in the new AM technologies and
facilitate a faster, more efficient, and
more reliable deployment of materials
and components.”
In addition to the guideline, DNV
recently opened its Global Additive
Manufacturing Center of Excellence
in Singapore, which will serve as an
AM R&D hub for the oil and gas, off-
shore, and marine sectors. In a state-
ment announcing the new center, it
said the facility will be a “global com-
petence and service delivery center for
assurance and advisory services in 3D
printing and allied technologies.” It will
invest in competence development and
will work with local research institutes

40 JPT • APRIL 2018

and industry stakeholders to advance
AM adoption.
Through the center, DNV is running
a collaboration with Sembcorp Marine,
SIMTech, and NAMIC to develop and
certify laser-aided AM technology in
fabricating large-scale structures for
newbuild vessels in Singapore.
Siemens Gas Turbine Blades
The implementation of AM parts and
components in offshore oil and gas is
still at a nascent stage, but some com-
panies have developed processes that
may soon have an impact. Early last
year, Siemens completed its first full-
load engine tests for gas turbine blades
using AM technology.
Siemens produces several gas turbine
units suitable for use on a floating, pro-
duction, storage, and offloading (FPSO)
facility, such as its SGT-600 and SGT-
700 models. Jenny Nilsson, manager
of design for additive manufacturing
at Siemens and the team lead for the
gas turbine blade project, said AM can
help alleviate the time and cost issues
involved with conventional manufactur-
ing methods. The project team reduced
the period of time from the design of a
new gas turbine blade to its production
from 2 years to 2 months.
Also, she said AM has an added ben-
efit of allowing for greater design flex-
ibility, which can be valuable in manu-
facturing different variants of the blade
before validation. Siemens can now
manufacture the hardware of differ-
ent designs and not have to rely solely
on simulations.
“With traditional manufacturing, we
have boundaries for which angles we can
use, which wall thicknesses we can use,
and so forth,” Nilsson said. “This is much
different from the boundaries that we
have for the 3D printing technique. We
have a larger freedom of design. We can
create more complex geometries, much
thinner walls, and much different struc-
tures that we simply cannot cast tradi-
tionally. It is ‘complexity for free’ as we say
sometimes, meaning that we can man-
ufacture many types of very advanced
geometries for these types of parts.”
The project team required 18 months
to develop the process chain, from the
JPT • APRIL 2018
design of individual components, the
development of materials, new methods
of quality control, and the simulation
of component service life. Christoph
Haberland, an expert in additive man-
ufacturing for Siemens Power and Gas,
said the project team had to essential-
ly start from scratch. It had to identify
material that could be processed by 3D
printing and could withstand high loads
and high temperatures. It also had to
design appropriate simulation models
for turbine blades and establish quality
control procedures.
“Pretty much, we had a blank box in
front of us when we started this project,
and we had to consider all of the effects
before we were allowed to put the blades
into the engine,” Haberland said.
The blade design features a revised
internal cooling geometry that Nilsson
and Haberland said will help decrease
the time needed to reduce metal tem-
peratures during operation. Nilsson
said efficiency improvement is one of
the key drivers for the project.
“When we can manufacture this by 3D
printing, we can have geometries that
cool more efficiently. We can cool our
turbine parts more efficiently, thus we
can have a more efficient gas turbine.
We can also, by producing these new
geometries, improve our fuel flexibility.
We can get better at combusting differ-
ent types of fuels,” she said.
GE’s Project ATLAS
GE has been at the forefront of AM tech-
nology for oil and gas operations over
the past few years through its GE Addi-
tive Division. Recently, the company
launched the Project ATLAS (Additive
Technology Large Area System) program
to develop large additive machines suit-
able for industries such as aerospace, avi-
ation, and energy, and in November the
company unveiled its first BETA machine
from the program. Developed over a
9-month period, the machine is a meter-
class, laser PBF machine developed to
provide manufacturers of large parts and
components with a scalable technology
that can be configured and customized
to specific industry applications.
The BETA machine utilizes a gantry-
based architecture. Chris Panczyk, a
project leader at GE Additive, said
that while typical PBF systems print
in the entire build area, fill the build
area with powder, and treat the area
almost homogeneously in terms of air-
flow and powder distribution, the BETA
machine manages airflow, powder, and
the laser printing locally, moving that
local area around the print volume
using a gantry.
Even though the build volume is
1.1 m×1.1 m×0.3 m, the technology be-
hind the BETA machine is infinitely scal-
able. Panczyk said GE has seen customer
demand for larger machines with z-axis
capacities of 1 to 1.5 m.
“There are no other physical barriers
other than the size in which we can get
things like gantries and other things like
that,” Panczyk said. “What we’re excited
about is that it’s a completely scalable
technology and we’re already working
on follow-on machines that are larger
than this.”
GE said in a statement that the first
BETA machines are being evaluated by
a small group of the company’s internal
customers, and more will be made avail-
able for delivery in 2018. Panczyk said
the machines the company have built
are largely committed and there is a lot
of additional demand, so the company is
engaging both the customers who have
expressed interest and other companies
who may be a fit for the technology. He
described the BETA machine as a vehicle
for learning what the market needs out
of a large-format AM platform.
“We’re vetting the customers who
have interest,” he said. “Based upon
their product need, and based upon
their experience and various other fac-
tors, we’re determining if they’re good
candidates for a BETA machine. If we
think they’re good candidates and
they’re interested in this, then we will
go forward with them. That’s what we’re
in the process of doing now, working out
some agreements.” JPT
For Further Reading
DNVGL-CG-0197 Additive
manufacturing—qualification
and certification process for
materials and components. 2017.
Oslo: DNV GL.
41

Rethinking Fracturing
at the Point of Attack
Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
P aul Weddle describes himself as a
“perforation geek.” The comple-
tion manager for Liberty Resources is
among a small group that has an obses-
sive interest in all the details that can
alter the performance of the openings
blasted through casing, cement, and
into rock during hydraulic fracturing.
The shaped charges that create cir-
cular openings with amazing force are
a well-established technology that gets
little notice so long as the guns go off as
planned. But Weddle is among a few who
see perforations as the point of attack
for raising fracturing performance.
At the recent SPE Hydraulic Fractur-
ing Technology Conference, Liberty
reported completions in North Dako-
42
ta that routinely stimulated more than
12 of 15 clusters, resulting in wells pro-
ducing 1.7 to 2.5 times more than com-
parable wells (SPE 189880). By chang-
ing the way perforations were used, the
operator was able to reduce the number
of stages to 27 along a 9,500-ft lateral,
which it estimates saved 15% on its find-
ing and developing costs per barrel.
It stimulated those stages, which are
about 350 ft long, with 15 clusters of
perforations, with two perforations in
each. This represents a significant break
from the standard design of four or five
clusters each with as many as six perfo-
rations. Since the tests reported in the
paper, Weddle said Liberty has “gone all
in on it.”
This illustration shows a
jet charge detonating and
then forming a jet that will
punch a consistently sized
hole perforating the casing,
cement, and formation.
Source: Geodynamics.
ConocoPhillips is working on designs
with as many as 10 clusters per stage and
two or three perforations per cluster, with
all of them located at the top of casing,
said Dave Cramer, a senior engineering
fellow in completions for ConocoPhillips.
More clusters per stage allow oper-
ators to fracture longer wells without
the cost of added stages, but Liberty
and ConocoPhillips have not had a lot
of company.
“I would say these ideas are not yet
common to the industry, but at least a
few operators and service companies are
thinking about them,” said Robert Bar-
ree, president of Barree & Associates.
The fracturing consultant said that “15
clusters are a lot. Most people are at
JPT • APRIL 2018
the five to eight level … and some are
at three.”
Grouping clusters with many perfora-
tions would seem to offer safety in num-
bers. The hard part about what is new
is the old problem of directing a suffi-
ciently strong stream of water into many
small holes spread out along a long hori-
zontal wellbore. Tight clusters of perfo-
rations can add stress that can interfere
with fracture growth.
Liberty’s method depends on its abili-
ty to limit the fluid into each of the perfo-
rations to ensure that the high-pressure
flow is distributed equally enough to
stimulate most of the perforations.
Liberty’s new method, called eXtreme
Limited Entry (XLE), is based on work
going back decades, including a paper in
1987 by Cramer (SPE 16189) on limited
entry fracturing.
Weddle turned to Cramer last year to
compare notes about Liberty’s 2-year
effort with a man who could be described
as a pioneering perforation geek. While
Weddle was working on revamping Lib-
erty’s fracturing design, he said there
were not a lot of people focused on the
perforations. But that seems to be chang-
ing since the paper.
“Based on the dialog I have had in
recent years and the dozen or so calls I
have received from other operators since
the 2018 paper came out, there are not
a lot of others doing XLE, [but] I think
it will catch on quickly going forward,”
Weddle said.
Stage Reductions
Putting in more perforation clusters per
stage can save money. Liberty is using
more clusters per stage with fewer per-
forations in each, allowing it to fracture
longer wells with fewer stages. As well-
bores have grown to 2 miles long, and
then increasing to 3 miles long, comple-
tion engineers are faced with finding an
alternative to spending more on addi-
tional stages.
More clusters per stage can do that,
but it only makes sense if a high percent-
age of the more than 400 clusters are
productive. “We need 330 to 350 clus-
ters to work to deliver the pounds per
cluster [of proppant] and the number
of clusters needed” to meet production
expectations, Weddle said.
The recent paper focused on the
attention to detail required to maximize
the number of perforations stimulated
by ensuring that the flow continues to be
limited enough to divert fluid while the
flow of water and sand opens the holes.
Essentially it is a race against erosion,
and erosion often wins.
“As soon as sand hits perforations
that are hydraulically diverted (e.g.,
taking fluid at 2.0 to 2.5 bbl/min per
perf), the sand will erode the perfs and
hydraulic diversion is sharply reduced,”
said George King, distinguished engi-
neering advisor for Apache Corp. Frac-
ture monitoring using fiber-optic cable
to monitor how much fluid each perfo-
ration is taking based on the sound of
the flow showed “perfs evenly taking
fluid at the start of the job and a very
lopsided split of fluid injection near the
end of the job,” he said.
A key finding in the Liberty paper was
that the rate of erosion in its wells is sig-
nificantly lower than indicated by pre-
vious papers, including the one in 1987
introducing the Cramer Erosion Model.
Fracturing methods have changed
drastically since then but certain vari-
ables continue to play a major role.
Cramer said three critical ones are the
thickness of the casing and the hardness
of the steel used to make it, and the vol-
ume of proppant per perforation.
Harder pipe wears slower, and thicker
walls delay the moment when the abra-
sive flow creates a wider-diameter hole
all the way through wall, which sharp-
ly increases the flow. There is a mini-
mum amount of proppant required to do
that—from 6,000 to 10,000 lb depend-
ing on the casing—and more proppant
speeds the process.
Field data gathered by Liberty using
pressure testing (step-down tests) showed
a lower erosion rate in perforations
likely taking in from 3.3–3.8  bbl/min
in its designs. Testing is required because
reality is messy. It is a mistake to assume
the sand pumped will be evenly distribut-
ed among the holes and the size of those
holes often varies.
Weddle said erosion is reduced by
harder steel in the casing—P-110 vs.
L-80—and the slickwater mix includes

Typical Perforation Damage

When the charge is detonated: Reduced Permeability Zone
◗ The liner of the charge is melted and partially
vaporized and expelled as part of a focused jet
of gases formed by the constructive interference Plastically Compacted Zone
of the reacted explosive that formed the body of
the charge.
◗ The amount and focus of the jet displaces the steel
in the casing wall, the cement behind the pipe, and
Perforation Tunnel
the formation rock and fluid to form the perf tunnel.
◗ The pressure exerted by the perforating jet is
immense. The time involved in the perforating event
is very small (microseconds).
◗ The target rock is not vaporized, but mechanically Pulverized Compacted Zone
pushed away to form the cavity. This happens
so fast that the rock must deform plastically and
Source: Barree & Associates
irreversibly. The induced shock creates substantial
compaction and damage around the perforation.

JPT • APRIL 2018 43

 0° 60°
0° 60°
Test shots made by a company selling shape charges designed to create evenly shaped holes around casing (top)
shows how uneven conventional charges can be in comparison (bottom). Source: Geodynamics.
a relatively low number of pounds of
proppant per gallon of fluid. The payoff
can be more perforations stimulated,
but there is a limit.
Those who believe in limited entry say
it can distribute fluid and proppant more
evenly, but not equally, among the perfora-
tions. The primary goal is to stimulate all
the perforations. “We strive for and often
achieve 100% efficiency,” Cramer said,
adding, “That does not mean it [fluid] is
evenly allocated whatsoever.” Some holes
may get twice as much as others.
The challenges have grown as the com-
plexity of the wells and the completions
has grown. Cramer said the “scale is
enormous compared to what we did in
the old days.”
Perforation Evolution
Perforating creates a path from the con-
fined environment built by drilling and
completion engineers to the expansive
formations imagined by reservoir engi-
neers. But these openings have often
been an afterthought.
“People tend to focus on the far-field
fracture geometry and forget that a frac-
ture must initiate at the wellbore and
connect to it,” Barree said. He described
the ideal perforation as “a hole through
the pipe to connect the pump truck to
the fracture.”
The reality is that the shaped charges
send out intense jets of gases that punch
a hole through the pipe and cement,
then create a tunnel that is several inch-
es long and usually a dead end.
44
120° 180°
120° 180°
“The common belief is fractures grow
out of perforations, and what we perfo-
rate starts fractures. That is not at all
what happens,” Barree said.
The shaped charges used now evolved
from ones created for punching into
conventional reservoirs, where the
pressure and flow rates pushed oil and
gas through these tunnels.
In the ultratight rock of unconven-
tional formations, the goal is creating a
pathway for fracturing fluid to flow into
the formation to fracture the rock. The
tunnel normally cannot do that because
the force of the charge pushes aside the
rock compacting it tightly. The result is
a rock barrier surrounded by a “stress
cage” that can interfere with fracture
initiation and growth nearby.
Evidence of the problem dates back
to US government-funded research back
in the 1980s that dug up a large sam-
ple of fractured rock with perforations
created by shaped charges. It showed
fractures forming around the base of
the tunnel. “That fracture went out of
Orifice Flow Equation
∆Pperf = 0.237 ρQ2
D4C2
Where:
∆Pperf = Total perforation friction, psi
Q = Flow rate through each
perforation, BPM/perf
D = Diameter of perforation, in.
C = Perforation coefficient
(.095, for round perforation)
ρ = Fluid density, lbs/gal
240° 300°
240° 300°
its way to avoid the perf tunnel every
time,” Cramer said. Fracture growth will
be diverted away from local high-stress
features such as perforation tunnels.
Speakers at the SPE Hydraulic Frac-
turing Conference said studies showed
that the locations where swarms of frac-
tures are found often bear little relation-
ship to the spots stimulated in the well.
And nearly half the time the fluid inject-
ed at one stage flowed out into the reser-
voir at another stage.
“Which perf takes the most fluid is
a crap shoot and probably depends on
formation factors as much as perfora-
tion factors.” King said.
Completion engineers are trying to
improve the odds by effectively stim-
ulating more spots, and reduce the
risks that excessive fracture growth can
cause. This is a growing worry as new
wells are drilled near older wells result-
ing in problems ranging from wells with
overlapping drainage patterns to dam-
aging fracture hits.
Weddle recognizes varying rock prop-
erties will determine where fractures
develop. His job is “trying to take advan-
tage of it within the bounds of what
is available.”
And the details will change over time,
based on what works for the business.
“The focus is to figure out how many
clusters we could effectively treat and
then work with our multidisciplinary
team to figure out how many clusters
[and at what spacing] was optimum for
our well economics,” Weddle said.
JPT • APRIL 2018
Optimum Performance
at the Right Price.
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 One Hand Up
When addressing a group of engineers at
a completions workshop, Weddle asked
how many in the room doing limited
entry fracture had calculated the friction
entry pressure associated with their frac‑
turing design.
“One of them raised their hand,”
he said. For Weddle that was a telling
detail, because that calculation is a mea‑
sure of the attention to detail required
to ensure the limited entry lasts long
enough to be effective.
That number sums up the ability of
the perforations able to restrict the flow
at the beginning, with enough extra fric‑
tion to provide a margin that allows it to
continue to divert fluid as it erodes dur‑
ing pumping.
Cramer said those who fail “do
not take limited entry as seriously as
they should.”
Fig. 1 shows that as the level of perfo‑
ration friction rises, the variation in the
injection rates among the perforations
decreases. Liberty shoots for a 2,000‑psi
margin while ConocoPhillips targets
from 1,200 to 1,500 psi. In both cases
they are balancing a desire for even stim‑
ulation and the cost of building a well
within their budget that can stand up to
the pressure associated with their goal.
The friction value varies based on
the degree of restriction (the size of
the perforation hole which restricts
the flow) and the things that deter‑
mine the erosion rate (from the hard‑
ness of the steel used in the casing to the
volume of proppant pumped through
each perforation).
Not all perforations are created equal.
The problem is that perforation guns
rest on the bottom of the casing. Holes
shot on the bottom of the casing are
likely to grow more because they are
larger to begin with and that feeds fur‑
ther growth.
Testing done by Geodynamics, a
maker of perforation charges that sup‑
plies Liberty, showed the size ranged
from 0.48 in. at the bottom of the cas‑

There is Diversion and Then There’s Diversion

Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor

A successful well can spark an argument over why it
did so well. For example, a year ago Liberty Resources
presented a paper about a new, improved completion
design that featured diversion: chemical particles to
block perforations taking in the most fluid, diverting
fluid to openings that otherwise might not have been
stimulated (SPE 184828).
Recently it delivered a sequel (SPE 189880) on
how its completion design has evolved since then
featuring a different sort of diversion: limiting the
flow of fracturing fluid into the fractures during
fracturing to divert fluid among all the perforations
to ensure they all were stimulated.
Both papers reported strong production improvement
in the Bakken, far exceeding production from
comparable wells in its large database of wells in the
play, and in both cases it reported that tests using
tracers showed a high percentage of the clusters per
stage were stimulated and producing.
But the wells in the 2018 case studies did not use
dissolvable particles for diversion, and completions both
years were designed for limited entry, though more so
during the second round of tests.
Paul Weddle, the completion manager for Liberty
who presented the papers, said the fact the second
year’s test did not include chemical diversion does
not mean they are backing away from the method,
and they have had solid wells using both approaches.
He chooses his words carefully because there is a
divide between those who believe chemical diversion
works and those who do not.
On the skeptical side on chemical diverters is
Dave Cramer, a senior engineering fellow in completions
at ConocoPhillips, who is an expert and advocate
for limited entry fracturing. Based on his experience,
the problem is “particulate diversion is indiscriminate.”
The particles are supposed to flow to the perforations
taking the most fluid and block them, which is known
as bridging, and divert the fluid to under-stimulated
locations. What Cramer has observed is “under-
stimulated intervals are at significant risk of being
bridged and excluded from the remaining part of the
treatment.”
“The volume of chemical particles needed to divert
flow from the dominant fracs will likely plug all the
perforations,” he said.
Liberty’s 2017 paper at the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing
Technical Conference was one of several then that
concluded otherwise. The initial paper focused on using
chemical particles because that was the starting point
of the company’s work in 2015. That work also led to a
reduction in the number of stages from 50 to 35, with
more perforation clusters per stage.
Back then Weddle said they were also working on
changes at the perforation level designed to limit the
flow into any single perforation to divert fluid to other
perforations. Some of the wells used to test diversion
using chemical particles included many elements in the
2018 limited entry design.
Liberty has tried combining both the chemical
particles and its limited entry method it calls eXtreme
Limited Entry (XLE). Weddle said the combination
delivered solid results, but has not done the work
needed to measure if the combination is more or less
effective than using only XLE.
While it did an internal study comparing the wells in
the 2017 paper and the 2018 paper, those results were
not reported. If there is a paper next year, it could offer
yet another view of what works. “We are happy with
our current results but always looking for what knob
we can turn next to make them incrementally better,”
Weddle said.

46 JPT • APRIL 2018


ing tested and 0.25 in. at the top (5.5-in.
inside diameter P0110 casing). Those on
the sides fell in between.
Bigger holes tend to get bigger fast-
er  than small ones. That created a
demand for charges that create evenly
sized holes when the gun is at the low
side of the casing, which are now sold by
Geodynamics and others.
Diameter matters more than any
other variable in an equation used to
calculate inflows because that variable
(D) is raised to the fourth power, as
shown in the Orifice Flow Equation. For
that reason, Liberty was an early adopt-
er of charges that eliminated a major
variable at a cost that is comparable to
traditional charges, Weddle said.
Changing Parameters
When Cramer wrote a chapter for a text-
book on fracturing published in 2016,
he said the limit on the number of clus-
ters was four or five per stage with about
six perforations each. When he looked at
what he had written recently, he said, “I
need to rewrite that.”
Get Out Of Trouble, Stay Out Of Trouble.
Repair Production Tubulars
Repair Damaged Casing
Reinforce Production Tubulars
Case-Off Perforations
Repair Parted Connection
Recompletions Solutions
225
–750 psi
200
–375 psi
0 psi Variability
Injection Variability Index (%)
175
+375 psi
150 +750 psi
125
100
75
50
25
0
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500
Perforation Friction (psi)
Fig. 1—Increasing how much the flow is limited into a perforation, which is
measured by the perforation friction, will lead to more even distribution.
Source: SPE 189880.
Based on current practice, he said the Cramer and Weddle said they are
limit on clusters would likely be eight thinking about perforation clusters with
to 12 and perforations would be two to only one perforation. That fracture ini-
three. And it would be wiser not to try to tiation point would require a new name
set limits for a technology in flux. since one is not a cluster.
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Important
Information:
SPE has a New
Communication
Preference Center
The new communication
preference center is where
members can indicate what
type of email communications,
if any, they would like to receive
from SPE.
We have made these changes
to comply with new regulations
and to better support SPE’s
mission to collect, disseminate,
and exchange technical
knowledge.
Please take a few minutes to
confirm the correctness of
your profile.
www.spe.org/go/preferences
A single shot would allow more clus-
ters per stage, eliminate concerns about
hole size differences within a cluster, and
allow pressure testing (step-down tests)
to determine how many of the spots with
perforations are performing.
If only one hole is shot, they say it
should be aimed at the top. Cramer said
it is likely to hit within a 60° arc around
that spot. Guns are oriented using a
weight bar that is not perfectly precise,
which is another challenge for makers
of charges that are competing to keep up
with the changing needs of the business.
Geodynamics is also working on per-
foration charges creating holes at a
45° angle to the wellbore, based on the
thinking that it would “create less of an
abrupt turn and allow fluid and proppant
to enter more efficiently,” said David
Cuthill, a perforation simulation and
technology engineer for Geodynamics.
It is hard to predict how that will per-
form in the ground. There has been little
research about fluid flow during fractur-
ing in and around the wellbore.
There are many studies showing the
first cluster reached (heel side) will nor-
mally take in the most fluid. That is often
said to be due to stress shadowing—the
pressure created by fracturing previous
stages limits growth from the nearest
perforations—but there are also papers
showing more fluid is likely to go into
the first opening, leading to poor stimu-
lation of perforations further down the
wellbore. SPE paper 184861 concluded
that fluid is more likely to leave early
than sand, whose inertia is likely to carry
it past the first opening.
ConocoPhillips did wells with fewer
perforations on that first (heel side)
cluster to limit the fluid it took in. That
was no longer an option when it cut
the number of perforations per cluster
because the percentage difference in the
volume of fluid delivered is a lot more
when going from 3 to 2 perforations than
when going from 6 to 5.
There is also a need to find new ways
to directly observe what is going on at
the perforation level, which is below the
level of detail on most tests. ConocoPhil-
lips has been working with a downhole
imaging company, EV Offshore, to devel-
op a way to efficiently image and analyze
hundreds of perforations to observe the
effects of erosion.
Hole widening due to erosion had
been estimated based on inferred pres-
sure data during fracturing. “When we
get photos … that is another piece of the
puzzle,” Cramer said.
More research is needed to under-
stand fracture growth near the wellbore,
said Roberto Suarez-Rivera, scientific
advisor, W.D. Von Gonten & Co.
While operators and suppliers are
working to stimulate perforations bet-
ter, he said there needs to be more work
done on alternatives to shaped charges.
They includes back to the future ideas
like bullets, which were dropped years
ago in favor of more consistently shaped
charges. Bullets sound promising because
they can fracture rock on impact.
Suarez-Rivera said his lab testing
showed that by simply etching a line in
a block of shale, which he described as
a stress concentrator, it was possible to
fracture it at less than half the pressure
needed to fracture the unaltered rock.
More focus is needed in the near-
wellbore area where the control and
force of the fracturing fluid is greatest he
said, adding, “The initial fracture open-
ing has long-term consequences on the
overall fracture.” JPT
For Further Reading
SPE 189880 Mining the Bakken II—
Pushing the Envelope with Extreme
Limited Entry Perforating by P.
Weddle, L. Griffin, and C.M. Pearson,
Liberty Resources. http://dx.doi.
org/10.2118/16189-MS.
SPE 16189 The Application of Limited-
Entry Techniques in Massive
Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments by
D.D. Cramer, BJ-Titan Services Co.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/189880-MS.
SPE 184828 Mining the Bakken:
Driving Cluster Efficiency Higher
Using Particulate Diverters by P.
Weddle, C.M. Pearson, and L. Griffin,
Liberty Resources. http://dx.doi.
org/10.2118/184828-MS.
SPE 184861 Proppant Distribution
Among Multiple Perforation Clusters
in a Horizontal Wellbore by C. Wu, S.
Yi, and M.M. Sharma, The University
of Texas at Austin. http://dx.doi.
org/10.2118/184861-MS.
JPT • APRIL 2018
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OTC at 50
Bold Vision Led to Unimagined Success
Joel Parshall, JPT Features Editor
V isionaries possess an extraordi-
nary power to imagine what could
be. Yet when a future unfolds that vali-
dates them, it may so exceed the original
vision that even an extraordinary power
of imagination is proved inadequate.
The reality that happens vaults well
beyond one’s wildest dreams. That could
be said of the original decision by nine
organizations in 1968 to launch the Off-
shore Technology Conference (OTC) in
Houston the following year.
The sponsors were optimistic enough
to call it “the first annual conference,”
and that vote of confidence has been
powerfully affirmed. The conference that
convenes on 30 April 2018 at Houston’s
NRG Center will be the 50th OTC.
The decision to organize the orig-
inal conference was announced in
a May  1968  JPT article by Joe Alford,
executive secretary of SPE. “Nine of
the leading engineering and scientific
societies in the United States have
taken a bold and significant step with
the establishment of a new interdis-
ciplinary meeting to be known as the
Offshore Technology Conference,” he
wrote. The initial conference was to be
held 19–21  May 1969 in what was then
the new downtown Houston Convention
and Exhibit Center.

Major Forum
This excerpt from the article summarizes
what the sponsors hoped to accomplish:
The new conference will provide a
major forum of national importance
and scope for the dissemination of
technology related to offshore resourc-
es and environment. The total benefits
and influence of the conference are now
beyond prediction, but many knowl-

Top: The inside of a decompression

chamber as seen on the exhibit floor
of the first OTC in 1969.
Middle: The Astrodome floor exhibit
at the 1981 OTC, where attendance
broke 100,000.
Bottom: Visitors in 1971 view platform
models on the exhibit floor at the
Astrohall in OTC’s first year at the
Astrodome complex.
Source: Houston Chronicle.

JPT • APRIL 2018


OTC’s Sponsoring Organizations
The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) has 13
sponsoring organizations, which include
◗ The American Association of Petroleum Geologists
(AAPG)
◗ The American Institute of Chemical Engineers
(AIChE)
◗ The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and
Petroleum Engineers (AIME)
◗ The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
◗ The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME)
◗ The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers,
Oceanic and Engineering Society (IEEE-OES)
◗ The Marine Technology Society (MTS)
◗ The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
◗ The Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration
(SME)
◗ The Society of Naval Architects and Marine
Engineers (SNAME)
◗ The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
◗ The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS)
◗ The Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute
(IBP) [a regional sponsoring organization]
52
edgeable persons feel that it will be of considerable
value to the nation in our development of oceanography
and resources from the oceans.
Yes, knowledgeable persons felt it would “be of
considerable value to the nation.” But there was no
intimation of what value the conference might have
beyond the borders of the US or what interest it would
generate internationally.
Hindsight tells us that OTC was an idea whose time
had come, and clearly the organizers of the original
believed that the time had come for something signifi-
cant. But did they have any idea of how far-reaching
the interest would prove? With participants from more
than 100 countries? Of attendance that would breach
100,000 on several occasions? Of programs with well
more than 40 sessions and 300 technical papers pre-
sented? Of 2,000 or more exhibitors with displays
covering 600,000 square ft?
Top: A debate between energy industry executives
and environmental activists, moderated by
journalist Hodding Carter, was televised live
from the 1992 OTC. It was the first televised
event in the conference’s history.
Bottom: The 1986 OTC exhibit floor at the
Astrodome.
Source: Houston Chronicle.
At OTC’s founding in 1968, there were nine listed
sponsoring organizations. SME, SPE, and TMS were
constituent parts of AIME but later incorporated
separately to expand the list to 12 organizations. Since
then, IBP has become a sponsoring organization.
In certain cases, the names of the sponsoring
organizations today differ somewhat from their
names of 50 years ago, but broadly they are the
same organizations.
OTC has two endorsing organizations, the International
Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) and the
Petroleum Equipment and Services Association (PESA).
In addition, OTC has 11 supporting organizations:
The American Association of Drilling Engineers
(AADE); the American Petroleum Institute (API); the
Association of Energy Service Companies (AESC);
ASTM International; the Center for Offshore Safety;
the Independent Petroleum Association of America
(IPAA); the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science,
and Technology (IMarEST); the International Marine
Contractors Association (IMCA); the International Society
of Automation (ISA); the National Ocean Industries
Association (NOIA); and the Research Partnership to
Secure Energy for America (RPSEA).
JPT • APRIL 2018
Premier Global Event
But those are numbers. To put it in words, the confer-
ence is known as the offshore energy industry’s premier
global event.
“It’s absolutely true,” said Paul Jones, SPE represen-
tative on the OTC Board of Directors and who attend-
ed his first OTC in 1987. “It’s essentially where every-
body who’s anybody in the offshore industry—and that
includes oil and gas production and even alternative
energy now, which is a growing sector of our business—
comes to Houston for the first week in May to attend a
technical program, which is of the highest quality, con-
tinue networking, and see some of the new technologies
being displayed.”
When that “first annual conference” took place, it was
an auspicious beginning of modest proportions. It drew
4,200 people and offered 26 technical sessions with 125
papers presented. There were 200 exhibitors, and their
displays took up 38,500 square ft. As it ended, the spon-
sors unanimously voted to return to Houston for a sec-
ond conference in 1970. That was notable because it had
been slated tentatively for New Orleans. Also of note, the
preview article in JPT for the second conference used the
initials OTC as a shorthand reference to the event, the
first time that acronym was used.
Attendance shot up to 11,600 in 1970 with 145 tech-
nical papers presented and 269 exhibitors occupying
50,000 square ft. The following year, OTC left the con-
vention center for the Astrohall, several miles south of
downtown, at the Astrodome complex. The 1972 OTC
was the first to use outdoor space for some exhibits, a
practice that has continued to this day.

Move to Larger Space

The move to larger space was fortuitously timed. As
attendance grew in the next few years, world oil demand
growth, the topping out of US oil production—at least
for several decades—and rising geopolitical tensions
converged to bring a sharper focus on the global oil mar-
ket, oil supplies, and energy security. OTC drew 32,000
attendees in 1974 and 51,000 the following year. The
number of exhibitors surpassed 1,500 in 1976, and
exhibit space was now 375,000 square ft.
In 1978, attendance reached almost 80,000, and the
number of technical papers presented approached 300.
A year later, OTC attracted 2,000 exhibitors and needed
450,000 square ft of exhibit space.

Top: Attendance at the 1978 OTC (exhibit floor

shown) grew to almost 80,000.
Middle: Visitors view the 1976 OTC exhibit floor.
Bottom: The model of a platform complex on
display at the 1974 OTC.
Source: Houston Chronicle.

JPT • APRIL 2018

 The growth continued to surge, as the conference attract-
ed nearly 87,000 in 1980, 100,329 a year later, and 108,161 in
1982, an event that had 2,500 exhibitors and took up 631,000
square ft of exhibition space.

A Mixed Blessing
However, the growth was a mixed blessing. It was apparent that
some visitors had little interest in petroleum technology and
attended because OTC was big, in the news, and offered a lot
of giveaway items at the exhibit booths. Some of the meeting
organizers thought the event was becoming a bit of a carnival.
Technical papers presented had easily exceeded 200 from
1975–80, but fell to 184 in 1981 and plummeted to 144 in 1982,
which was one less than the number of papers presented in
1970, the conference’s second year.
By 1983, the world oil market boom had faded, major merg-
ers of oil-producing companies were in full swing—as buying
reserves that were already on a competitor’s books looked far
less expensive than risking capital on exploration—and OTC
attendance dropped to 59,000. The industry was in a state of
contraction, and many exhibiting companies approached the
OTC Board to ask if the exhibition could be held every other
year because of business conditions.
The board accepted these recommendations and decided
to hold only an OTC technical conference in 1984. It should
have smelled trouble as soon as it asked companies to sign
agreements not to exhibit at any new exhibition that might
emerge to compete with OTC. Each company resisted sign-
ing an agreement, as it was concerned that its competitors
might refuse to sign and thus compel the company to exhibit if
another exhibition was held somewhere in the absence of that
at OTC. That fear became a reality.

Learning a Hard Lesson

There were not one, not two, but three competing events that
sprouted up in 1984, one at another location in Houston, one
in Dallas, and one in New Orleans. For the exhibitors, it proved
a much heavier burden than the one they wanted to avoid by
requesting the Board of Directors to cancel the original exhibit.
The board learned its lesson and since then has voted to hold
the exhibit every year, whether in good times or bad.
Crucially, the board elected to hold onto its lease dates at
the Astrodome complex, despite cancelling the 1984 exhibi-
tion. That ensured a smooth transition to 1985, in which OTC
drew 56,000 attendees and technical papers rose to a much
healthier 230. Exhibit space remained virtually the same as 2
years earlier, although the number of exhibitors fell to 1,725.
Toward the end of the year, the price of oil began a precipitous
fall that eventually brought it down to $10 per bbl at the end of

Top: A wellhead is displayed at the 1997 OTC, which

marked the first time in 12 years that attendance
surpassed 40,000.
Bottom: Offshore technology on display at the 1986 OTC.

JPT • APRIL 2018

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Visitors view technology at the 1988 OTC exhibit.
March 1986, barely a month before the conference. But OTC
had already steadied itself by learning from its error of 2 years
earlier and committing to an exhibition regardless of business
conditions and by re-emphasizing its technical program.
Building a Brighter Future
Attendance was down over the next decade, but if the industry
was struggling with depressed conditions, the role of the con-
ference was to bring many of the best minds together and help
figure out from a scientific, engineering, and technological per-
spective how to set it on a better course and build a brighter
A speaker makes a presentation during
a 2013 OTC panel session.
future. Technical paper presentations never fell below 200 over
that span and pushed to a level of 309 in 1996, a record at the
time. A year later, attendance topped 40,000 for the first time
in 12 years and in 1998 it climbed to almost 50,000.
After 3 decades at the Astrodome complex, the conference in
2002 moved to the new, adjacent Reliant Center at Reliant Park
(now NRG Center at NRG Park). By now the industry was build-
ing for a strong recovery, which was to take hold later in the
decade. Attendance, 49,620 in 2002, rose above 50,000 both
of the next 2 years and reached 51,000 in 2004.
In 2006, OTC attracted almost 60,000 people, and atten-
dance jumped to 67,000 in 2007. The conference initiated a
full-day workshop for Houston-area science teachers that year,
which has now become a fixture at OTC.
Attendance rose to 73,000 in 2008. While the impact of
the global financial crisis late in the year caused attendance to
decline the following spring, the 67,746 attendees at the 2009
OTC slightly exceeded the number from only 2 years earlier.
Attendance Record Broken
The growth resumed with 72,000 attending in 2010, 78,000
in 2011, 89,400 in 2012, 104,800 in 2013, and a record
108,300 in 2014. Later that year, the price of oil entered a tail-
spin that soon became a full-fledged collapse, as the increase
in oil supplies caused by the North American shale production
revolution fundamentally reshaped the global market. Over
the next 3 years, prices hit lows not seen since 2003.
While OTC attendance fell to just under 95,000 in 2015,
the full impact of the price collapse wasn’t seen until the fol-
lowing year when attendance dropped to 68,054. In 2017,
the event drew 64,700 people. Yet even with the downturn’s
impact, the 2016–2017 attendance figures are comparable to
the strong 2007 total and markedly higher than the 50,000
At the Astrohall, the OTC exhibit during 1990.
Source: Houston Chronicle.
level of the early 2000s. What’s more, technical paper presen-
tations have been well above 300 in each of the past 3 years.
As prices have been stabilizing and rising since late 2017, offi-
cials are cautiously optimistic about attendance at the upcom-
ing 50th conference.
OTC a Phenomenon
Over its 50 years, the Offshore Technology Conference has
become a phenomenon, so much so that the Board of Direc-
tors in recent years has established three regional conferences
modeled on the interdisciplinary basis of the Houston event:
OTC Asia, OTC Brasil, and the Arctic Technology Conference.
With its variety of sponsoring organizations, now num-
bering 13 [see sidebar article], OTC covers a range of top-
ics that no single society could provide in an annual confer-
ence and no group of two or three organizations could offer
around a common discipline. The program features special-
ized, niche sessions and other sessions with broader areas
of interest. A session on flow assurance, for example, will
have input from SPE and AIChe and draw attendance from
members of both groups. And the wide range of the sponsor-
ing groups and subject matter drives a tremendous diversity
of exhibitors.
JPT • APRIL 2018
“If you’re involved in the offshore industry and have a story
to tell, the first place you want to present the information, as
a technical person, is OTC,” Jones said. “Some of the seminal
papers we’ve seen in the industry have been presented there
and primarily because it’s about the offshore industry global-
ly, not about a specific discipline. All of the technical elements
of offshore solutions are discussed, either in papers present-
ed, in panel sessions, or when exhibitors display innovative
ideas in offshore technology. It all happens at OTC.”
The conference not only is a magnet for seasoned technical
professionals and industry authorities worldwide, it also can
be a valuable occasion for people new to the industry.
A Year’s Training in a Week
“I used to run a subsea group in Chevron,” Jones said, “and one
of the best learning opportunities I could give my people was to
have them go to OTC. With new graduates, I used to encourage
them to attend for as much time as they could over the 4 days.
It was a year’s worth of training in a week just because you’re
exposed to so much.”
And like so many industry professionals, the first thing
Jones did this year “as I’ve done every year, is put OTC in
my calendar.” JPT
57
 OTC Names Winners
of Spotlight on New Technology Awards
Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) selected 15 new technologies for its
2018 Spotlight on New Technology Awards. The annual awards program recognizes
innovative technologies and allows companies to showcase the latest advances
in offshore exploration and production.

Awards recipients were chosen on the
basis of the following criteria:
◗ The technology must be less
than 2 years old and offered
to the marketplace less than
2 years before the award
application date. If previously
advertised at OTC, it must not
have been displayed at more
than one conference. The
technology must be original
and groundbreaking, and must
not infringe on any known
patents.
◗ The technology must be
proven, either through full-
scale application or successful
prototype testing.
◗ The technology must be of broad
interest and appeal for the industry.
◗ The technology must provide
significant benefits beyond those
of  existing technologies.
OTC also awarded two Spotlight
on New Technology Small Business
Awards for companies with fewer than
300 employees.

AWARD RECIPIENTS (listed alphabetically by company)

Aegion Coating Services

ACS HT-200 Subsea Insulation System
The ACS HT-200 is an ultrahigh-
temperature subsea wet insulation sys-
tem for pipelines, risers, field joints, and
subsea equipment that experience oper-
ating temperatures up to 400°F. This
end-to-end deepwater solution consists
of an anticorrosion coating covered with
an insulation layer and topped with a
tough polypropylene exterior.

Ampelmann
N-Type Gangway System Aegion Coating Services’ ACS HT-200 consists of an anticorrosion coating
As the only motion-compensated gang- covered with an insulation layer and topped with a tough polypropylene
way system of its kind in operation, the exterior.

58 JPT • APRIL 2018

Ampelmann’s N-Type Gangway system enables safe people transfer year-round in harsh winter conditions of as low
as 18°F.
N-Type “Icemann” enables safe peo-
ple transfer year-round in harsh win-
ter conditions of as low as 18°F. The
fully enclosed and insulated system is
operational in sea  states of up to 3.5-m
significant wave height and certified
under the winterization design code
DNV-GL-OS-A201.
Baker Hughes,
a GE Company (BHGE)
TerrAdapt Adaptive Drill Bit
Unlike conventional bits that are lim-
ited to a single depth-of-cut (DOC) con-
trol setting, the BHGE TerrAdapt adap-
tive drill bit autonomously adjusts DOC
to mitigate stick/slip and expand the
smooth drilling window with no sur-
BHGE’s TerrAdapt adaptive drill
bit autonomously adjusts DOC to
mitigate stick/slip and expand the
smooth drilling window with no
surface interaction.
JPT • APRIL 2018
face interaction. Adaptive DOC-control
elements automatically adjust the bit’s
aggressiveness on the basis of the forma-
tion it is drilling.
Baker Hughes,
a GE Company (BHGE)
DEEPFRAC Multistage
Fracturing Service
The BHGE DEEPFRAC deepwater multi-
stage fracturing service leverages tools
and techniques perfected in unconven-
tional plays to improve the efficiency
and economics of offshore completions.
Using DEEPFRAC ball-activated sleeves
and patented BeadScreen flowback-
control technology, the service simpli-
fies operations, accelerates completion
times, and enables rapid stimulation of
more than 20 stages in a single trip.
BHGE’s DEEPFRAC multistage
fracturing service simplifies
operations, accelerates completion
times, and enables rapid stimulation of
more than 20 stages in a single trip.
Delmar Systems
RARPLUS Mooring-Release
Technology
RARPLUS gives drilling rigs the capabili-
ty to completely release from their moor-
ings within minutes to evade ice floes,
cyclonic storms, and well emergencies,
or to simply increase rig-move efficiency.
With a backup mechanical release func-
tion, the RARPLUS system provides reli-
able flexibility to dynamic-position- or
moored rigs operating in shallow water.
Dril-Quip
HFRe Marine Drilling Riser System
The HFRe drilling riser is an automated
system designed for high-pressure/high-
temperature applications with efficient
operations incorporating SmartSpider
technology. This technology reduces risk
Delmar Systems’ RARPLUS mooring-
release technology gives drilling rigs
the capability to completely release
from their moorings within minutes
to evade environmental obstacles or
solve technical difficulties.
59
 and operational costs by providing criti-
cal feedback and eliminating rig-floor
personnel during installation. HFRe
uses a boltless, fatigue-resistant 4M-lbf
coupling that has been tested beyond
American Petroleum Institute (API)
16F/TR7 requirements.

Expro
Next Generation Landing String
Expro’s Next Generation Landing String
(NGLS) provides an optimal subsea-well
intervention and commissioning sys-
tem for the global oil and gas industry.
Delivered in accordance with new API
17G standards, it combines advanced
technology with efficient analysis
and validation to provide a complete
safety-system solution.

Halliburton
9½-in. Azimuthal Lithodensity
Logging-While-Drilling Service
The 9½-in. azimuthal lithodensity
(ALD) logging-while-drilling (LWD) ser-
vice from Halliburton Sperry Drilling is
the industry’s first large-borehole LWD
service capable of delivering azimuth-
al density, photoelectric, and ultrasonic
caliper measurements to enhance res-
Dril-Quip’s HFRe Marine Drilling Riser System reduces risk and operational
ervoir understanding and reduce well
costs by providing critical feedback and eliminating rig-floor personnel
during installation. time in borehole sizes ranging from 14½
to 17½ in.

Halliburton’s 9½-in. Azimuthal

Lithodensity Logging-While-Drilling
Service is capable of delivering
Expro’s Next Generation Landing String combines advanced technology with azimuthal density, photoelectric, and
efficient analysis and validation to provide a complete safety-system solution. ultrasonic caliper measurements.

60 JPT • APRIL 2018

Halliburton’s GeoBalance Automated Managed Pressure Drilling System enables automated managed pressure control
from drilling to completion.

Halliburton
GeoBalance Automated Managed
Pressure Drilling System
The Halliburton GeoBalance Automat-
ed Managed Pressure Drilling System is
a comprehensive suite of software and
hardware enabling automated managed
pressure control from drilling to com-
pletion. It combines automatic chokes,
rig-pump diverters, flow metering, and
advanced control algorithms with prov-
en hydraulics modeling to provide accu-
rate pressure control at discrete points
throughout well construction.
LORD Corporation
10K Completion Workover Riser
Flexible Joint
The compact size of the 10,000-psi
flexible joint allows smaller vessels to
operate a top-tensioned riser with-
out a stress joint or telescopic joint,
enabling lower-cost high-pressure
interventions. When replacing a bot-
tom stress joint, the significantly
lower moment on the wellhead enables
more workovers per well, extending
field life.

Congratulations
to Brian Skeels
OTC Distinguished Achievement
Award Winner
Recognized for his pioneering
spirit and innovations
in engineering.

LORD Corporation’s 10K Completion

Workover Riser Flexible Joint allows
smaller vessels to operate a top-
tensioned riser without a stress
joint or telescopic joint.

JPT • APRIL 2018 61

 NOV’s NOVOS Reflexive Drilling System automates repetitive drilling activities, allowing drillers to focus on consistent
process execution and safety.

National Oilwell Varco (NOV)
NOVOS Reflexive Drilling System
NOVOS is the industry’s only reflexive
drilling system, automating repetitive
drilling activities, benefiting contractors
by allowing drillers to focus on consis-
tent process execution and safety, and
benefiting operators by optimizing drill-
ing programs. The NOVOS system pro-
vides optimal control and consistency for
any operation.
NOV
Seabox Saltwater-Treatment System
Seabox is a disruptive but simple con-
cept that makes it possible to treat sea-
water at the seabed, thus providing high-
quality water for reservoir pressure

NOV’s Seabox Saltwater-Treatment

System makes it possible to treat
seawater at the seabed.

support to the industry. Driven by the

suction pressure of a downstream pump,
Seabox provides superior disinfection
and sedimentation capabilities without
adding chemicals.

Oceaneering International
E-ROV Remotely-Operated
Vehicle System
The E-ROV is a self-contained, battery-
powered remotely-operated-vehicle
Oceaneering International’s E-ROV Remotely-Operated Vehicle System is
(ROV) system capable of operating for
capable of operating for extended periods of time without being recovered extended periods of time without being
to surface. recovered to surface. Consisting of an

62 JPT • APRIL 2018

electric ROV, a 4G connection buoy,
and a subsea cage, the system reduc-
es cost and risk without the need for a
surface vessel.

Oliden Technology Oliden Technology’s GeoFusion 475 LWD Tool provides high-resolution and
GeoFusion 475 LWD Tool high-measurement range array quadrant resistivities even while sliding.
The GeoFusion Laterolog Resistivity and
Imaging Tool is a drilling, formation-
evaluation, and production-optimization
solution. It provides high-resolution and
high-measurement range array quadrant
resistivities even while sliding. Augment-
ed by bit-resistivity and high-resolution
wellbore-resistivity images and azimuth-
al gamma images, GeoFusion offers ideal
solutions to drillers, petrophysicists, and
reservoir engineers. Teledyne Marine’s FlameGuard P5-200 electrical penetrator is designed for
safe operation in potentially flammable atmospheres.
Teledyne Marine
FlameGuard P5-200 Electrical es risk to personnel and assets. The pen- spheres where ATEX and Internation-
Penetrator etrator, rated for 5 kV and 200 A at al Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Ex
The offshore industry’s first patented 5,000 psi, is designed for safe opera- standards apply, such as those found on
fire-resistant electrical penetrator reduc- tion in potentially flammable atmo- offshore platforms.

SMALL BUSINESS AWARD RECIPIENTS

CoreAll
Intelligent Coring System
CoreAll has introduced the Intelligent Cor-
ing System, the first core-drilling technology to
provide real-time transmission of formation-­
evaluation data to surface. Along with downhole
diagnostics and core-jam indicators, the system
improves data quality and saves time and cost in
exploration activities.

CoreAll’s Intelligent Coring System

provides real-time transmission of
formation-evaluation data to surface.

Luoyang Wire Rope Inspection

Technology
TCK.W Online Wire Rope Inspection System
The TCK.W Automatic Real-Time Online Wire Rope
Inspection System from Luoyang provides more
­effective periodic human visual inspection and
improves process safety monitoring through con-
tinuous inspection during operation. JPT

Luoyang’s TCK.W Automatic Real-Time

Online Wire Rope Inspection System
provides more effective periodic human
visual inspection.

JPT • APRIL 2018 63

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Offshore Drilling and Completion

Martin Rylance, SPE, Senior Adviser, BP

On occasion, there is a tendency to equate
new advances in automation and intel-
ligent systems with an inevitable work-
force reduction, to an extent that peo-
ple can begin to resist their application.
However, as we all know from our own
oilfield experiences, intelligent systems
require well-prepared and creative engi-
neers to deliver a successful and econom-
ic outcome and a synergetic relationship
enhances the business and opportunity
set as a whole.
These technology advances offer a
newer dimension to those options for
qualified engineers to select, develop,
and apply effective applications to ever-
more-complex issues. As the resourc-
es that the industry develops become
increasingly challenging, access to a
broader range of options and new and
In time, the use of intelligent
and automated systems
will mature further
into just another set of tools
that the engineering
community uses
with increasing frequency
to deliver the most-efficient
development solutions.
developing approaches allows more-
efficient and -effective recovery.
This month, I have selected a suite
of papers that considers intelligent sys-
tems, all clearly demonstrating that these
approaches are becoming increasingly
mainstream in their selection and use. All
the papers presented and suggested here
demonstrate that the equipment, the
techniques, or the systems alone cannot
deliver the solutions. Instead, the sys-
tematic and innovative ways considered
in their applications are responsible.
In time, the use of intelligent and auto-
mated systems will mature further into
just another set of tools that the engi-
neering community uses with increas-
ing frequency to deliver the most-
efficient development solutions. When
that occurs, the industry preoccupation
will have moved on to the next wave of
innovations, technologies, and advance-
ments, which no doubt will raise new and
specific challenges. JPT

Martin Rylance, SPE, is senior adviser and engineering manager Recommended additional reading
for the Frac & Stim Group with BP. He has worked with BP and its at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
partners and joint ventures for more than 28 years. Rylance OTC 28103 Intelligent Completions Used
holds a BS degree in pure mathematics. He has been involved in During Extended Well Test of Exploratory
all aspects of pumping operations, well control, well interven- Wells in Brazil by L. Costa, Halliburton, et al.
tions, and pressure service. Rylance has specialized in unconven-
OTC 27748 The Qualification
tional resources and fracturing in tectonic and high-pressure/ Methodology Behind an Integrated
high-temperature environments. During his career, he has been Multizone Frac-Pack and Intelligent
responsible for the implementation of numerous intervention campaigns, pilots, and Completion for the Lower Tertiary
exploration programs. Having lived in 10 countries and pumped in more than 20, by R. Jannise, Halliburton, et al.
Rylance has created and managed teams that have delivered thousands of fracturing
SPE 187071 Real-Time Downhole
and stimulation treatments around the world. He has numerous papers and publica- Measurements During Deepwater Frac-
tions to his name. Rylance was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2008–09 and in Pack Completions in the Gulf of Mexico
2013–14 and is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee. He can be reached at by A. Hawthorn, XACT Downhole Telemetry,
martin.rylance@se1.bp.com. et al.

64 JPT • APRIL 2018

All-Electric Subsea Well Brings Benefits
vs. Traditional Hydraulic Technology

C urrently, the state of the art for

subsea well control is based on
hydraulic technology. Hydraulic fluid
is supplied from a host facility to the
subsea wells through dedicated tubes
within an umbilical and is distributed
to the wells. Shifting that trend, K5F3,
the world’s first all-electric well in the
subsea industry, opened to production
on 4 August 2016. This paper presents
the benefits of electric subsea control
compared with current state-of-the-art
hydraulic methods.

Rationale for Electric

Production System
Expenditure Savings. When looking at
the introduction of a new technology
such as an electric system, successful in-
troduction is a direct consequence of a
perceived reduction in capital expendi-
ture (CAPEX) and factors such as operat-
ing expenditure (OPEX); health, safety, Fig. 1—The two-off electric trees undergoing tests in 2008.
and environment (HSE); and future read-
iness also need to be addressed. deepwater field or with long-distance spooled. Overall weight is reduced, fa-
To perform preliminary system engi- stepouts. Electric motors maintain their cilitating the use of a smaller installation
neering for the implementation of the high level of efficiency and full torque ca- vessel. And, on very long stepouts, splic-
electric system and provide a compari- pability regardless of water depth, unlike es in the umbilical can be either reduced
son with a conventional electrohydrau- hydraulic pressure, which must over- or eliminated altogether.
lic multiplex system, a case with five oil- come seawater hydrostatic pressure.
production wells, one gas-injection well, Use of high-voltage direct current for HSE Improvement. An all-electric sys-
and three water-injection wells was used long-distance power transmission is far tem eliminates the discharge of hy-
as a base case for cost. The study con- more efficient than use of either alternat- draulic fluid to the environment and
cludes that the electric system is likely to ing current or hydraulic pressure. hydraulic-pressure safety issues.
show a range of benefits over the equiva- Removing hydraulic tubing from the
lent electrohydraulic multiplex system. umbilical and reducing the number of Future Potential and Readiness. Hav-
conductors bring several advantag- ing much higher levels of electric power
Improved System Efficiency. Electric es. The electric umbilical has a smaller available at the subsea end of the system
subsea production brings advantages in cross section, allowing longer contin- (compared with the electrohydraulic
most scenarios, particularly in an ultra- uous lengths to be manufactured and system) offers a greater scope for power-
ing additional tools and sensors such as
multiphase flowmeters. It also facilitates
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights of
the addition of intelligent wells, new
paper OTC 27701, “World-First All-Electric Subsea Well,” by Thomas Schwerdtfeger, sensors, and digital flow-control valves.
Total E&P Netherlands; Bruce Scott, Halliburton; and Jan van den Akker, SPE,
OneSubsea, a Schlumberger Company, prepared for the 2017 Offshore Technology Technology Development
Conference, Houston, 1–4 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2017 Electric Tree System. Since the late
Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. 1990s, a subsea-oilfield-services provid-

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

JPT • APRIL 2018 65

 er has been involved in the development
of an all-electric subsea production sys-
tem. Using a rigid product-development
and -qualification program, various pro-
totypes were developed and tested. In
2004, a successful field trial marked
the next step toward actual field ap-
plication. In 2006, project execution
began for the first all-electric subsea
production system, consisting of two-
off subsea trees (Fig. 1) with an asso-
ciated production-control system and
installation- and workover-control sys-
tem. Delivery and startup were in 2008.
Electric-Control-System Overview.
The all-electric system is a subsea pro-
duction system that completely uses
direct-current power and electric valve
actuation as a replacement for conven-
tional hydraulic subsea production-
control systems. The electric system was
specifically engineered with the objec-
tive of integrating the surface equipment
and power- and communication-transfer
media with all subsea control equipment
into an overall system with increased
individual-system-component reliability
and availability.
At the topside, the electric system con-
sists of a dual-redundancy master con-
trol station (MCS), two independent
high-voltage electric-power units (EPUs),
and a topside umbilical-termination unit
(TUTU). Within the MCS is a standard
human/machine interface for the control
and monitoring of all installed topside
and subsea production equipment. The
EPU uses the host-facility electric supply,
transforming it into high-voltage power
for transmission to the hooked-up sub-
sea equipment. It also includes a diplexer
with a classic copper modem to superim-
pose the communication signal onto the
power line. As a fully redundant package,
the electric system routes two indepen-
dent power-on communications lines by
means of the TUTU down through the
main umbilical to the hooked-up sub-
sea equipment. Connected to the TUTU
are tow-off anode packages, which are
placed subsea and close to the platform.
The anodes form part of the seawater
return-current path. The power and com-
munication lines (coaxial cable), as part
of the umbilical, terminate subsea at the
umbilical-termination assembly; from
there, the electric power and communi-
66
cation signals are distributed to other
hooked-up subsea equipment through
electrical flying leads. Each subsea tree is
equipped with two-off independent elec-
tric subsea control modules (ESCMs).
Future Developments. Operational
feedback confirmed that the option of
having two individual ESCMs and cor-
responding mounting bases on a tree
assembly is not the preferred option.
The initial thought for this setup was
that if the ESCM on one channel failed,
then the other ESCM would continue to
operate the tree while the failed ESCM
was retrieved. In an operational environ-
ment, a tree is typically shut down while
remotely-operated-vehicle or diver in-
tervention takes place; hence, the ad-
vantage of having two trees is not fully
realized and a single mounting base for
a fully redundant ESCM will suffice. This
approach will reduce hardware costs
while maintaining the inherent system-
availability figure for which the ESCM
was initially designed.
The first-generation ESCM has full re-
dundancy for each actuator and sensor.
Discussions revealed that this is not al-
ways required and that noncritical func-
tions could be operated through a single-
channel approach from the ESCM. A new
generation, therefore, should have the
flexibility to combine full redundancy
with single-channel functionality in any
desired configuration.
The electric system, as deployed for
K5F3, uses a coaxial cable for transmis-
sion of power and superimposed com-
munication using a proprietary commu-
nication protocol. Implementation of
advanced technology providing the ca-
pability to transmit at high bit rates and
use an open-architecture communica-
tion technology could be an advantage.
For power transmission, twisted-pair or
quad-cable technology also can be used.
Electric Surface-Controlled
Subsurface Safety Valve
(ESCSSV)
The development of the current ESCSSV
was enabled by the introduction of the
floating magnetically coupled subsur-
face safety valve, which positions the
valve-actuation mechanisms in a dedi-
cated chamber that is isolated from well
pressure. The actuation mechanism,
which is a rod piston in the hydraulic
tubing-retrieval subsurface safety valve
(TRSV), is magnetically coupled to the
flow tube. By placing the actuation mech-
anism in a dedicated chamber isolated
from well pressure, the force required
to open the TRSV is no longer affected
by well pressure. This significantly re-
duces the required opening force, pav-
ing the way for the use of compact linear
electric actuators.
Critical to enabling the design of the
ESCSSV was the development of a ro-
bust, compact, low-power linear elec-
tric actuator. The electric actuator in the
ESCSSV replaces the hydraulic piston as-
sembly of the TRSV, providing the open-
ing force to move the ESCSSV to the full
open position for the well to be put into
production. A mechanical fail-safe clo-
sure mechanism, as provided in tradi-
tional hydraulic safety valves, is used to
close the valve when commanded, during
loss of power, or under emergency shut-
down. The ESCSSV electric actuators use
a direct-current stepper motor to provide
the actuation force to open the ESCSSV.
Summary
Electric technology will lower CAPEX and
OPEX by reducing the equipment needed
to operate the system safely, and it will
improve the environmental effects com-
pared with existing conventional electro-
hydraulic multiplex systems by removing
the risk of hydraulic-fluid releases sub-
sea; it will also improve personnel safety
by removing high-pressure equipment
and containment at the topside facilities.
The fail-safe-close principle based on
using springs has proved to be a success-
ful design feature in situations in which
the well needed to be put into a safe state
in an uncontrolled situation and is an ad-
vantageous feature that could be adopted
for larger valves.
One disadvantage of this generation
of the direct-current technology is the
missing analog valve indication. Because
of the design of the electric actuators,
it is not possible to have analog valve-
position indicators installed or a me-
chanical valve lock-open override. Both
of these functions are important features
during remotely-operated-vehicle sur-
veys and wireline operations. This should
be improved and taken into consider-
ation for future developments. JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
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 First Three-Zone Intelligent Completion
in Brazilian Presalt: Challenges and Lessons

S ince the first intelligent completion

was installed 20 years ago, the
systems have become increasingly
time and reducing the need for costly
interventions. Furthermore, valves with
adjustable choke settings increase ulti-
blank interface with cross-shaped slots
through which annulus fluids enter the
sensor’s inlet.
complex in order to reach productivity mate recovery from the reservoir by fine
and optimization goals, allowing tuning the production/injection of each Prejob Preparation
real-time independent monitoring individual zone. Chemicals can be inject- Preparation to perform the offshore in-
and management of each zone in the ed to ensure productivity and avoid po- stallation began when confirmation of
well. Accompanying the search for tential problems to production such as the completion layout was received. The
greater system efficiency is the goal scale and asphaltene buildup. well in question would be completed in
of reliability assurance. This paper the Santos presalt area, approximately
presents the complexity and challenges Equipment Design 240 km offshore Rio de Janeiro and in a
of planning and installing the first and Configuration water depth of 7,218 ft. The well would tap
intelligent completion in a subsea well Flat-pack (FP) and control-line pro- into three producing intervals between
with three producing zones in the tectors (clamps) were designed to en- 16,161- and 16,601-ft TVD and later be
Brazilian presalt. sure maximum flexibility, allowing for tied back to a floating production, stor-
wells to be completed with one, two, age, and offloading vessel (FPSO).
Introduction or three zones without the need for A schematic of the intelligent-
Below water depths greater than 7,200 ft, additional equipment. completion subassemblies is shown in
below salt layers up to 6,500 ft thick, The splice subs also were designed with Fig. 1. Although very similar, the sub-
and at true vertical depths (TVDs) of flexibility in mind. The lower the splice assemblies did have some differences.
approximately 18,000 ft lie the presalt sub is positioned, the fewer the slots Every zone had its own dual-annulus
fields. The distance from shore (as much that are necessary. However, by supply- PDG, but the top zone was also fitted with
as 300 km), high carbon dioxide and ing all of the subs with the same number a dual tubing gauge.
hydrogen sulfide concentrations, high of slots, the same slot sizes, and the same Chemical-injection mandrels (CIMs)
temperatures (sometimes greater than slot positioning, the equipment could be were installed only in the lower zones,
100°C), and the existence of multiple in- used in any type of well layout and inven- with annulus injection being used in the
tervals with different porosities all add tory management was greatly improved. intermediate interval and tubing injec-
to the challenges of producing from the The design of the pressure and temper- tion being used in the bottom interval.
presalt successfully. ature gauges and their carriers was also This was because of the number of pen-
Through the installation of permanent optimized. Instead of the PDG dictating etrations available in the tubing hang-
downhole gauges (PDGs), intelligent whether the data are acquired from the er. Because each zone was fitted with an
completion allows real-time monitoring tubing or the annulus, the mandrels do inflow-control valve (ICV) that required
of downhole parameters such as pressure that. This was made possible by having four hydraulic lines and the downhole
and temperature, providing a better un- two different configurations for the area safety valve (DHSV) required two lines,
derstanding of what is happening at any where the gauge is mounted to the car- the two remaining penetrations allowed
given time. Hydraulically actuated flow- rier. The tubing mandrel has a through for only two CIMs.
control valves give the operators the abil- hole allowing fluid from the inside of The top splice sub and top feed-
ity to access each interval with the touch the string to contact the gauge’s inlet through packer had a higher minimum
of a button, greatly improving reaction port, while the annulus mandrel has a yield strength than the other subassem-
blies. The top packer also had an addi-
tional control-line penetration.
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
Before assembly could begin, a
of paper OTC 28136, “First Three-Zone Intelligent Completion in the Brazilian Presalt:
few points had to be evaluated. Given
Design Considerations, Challenges, and Lessons Learned,” by Filipe Del Vecchio, the number of control lines and
Potiani Maciel, Francisco Salom, José Chagas, and Antonio Ortiz, Baker Hughes, tubing-encased conductors (TECs) nec-
a GE Company, prepared for the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference Brasil, Rio essary to operate the tools downhole, a
de Janeiro, 24–26 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2017 study was conducted to identify where
Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. each line would be positioned, connect-

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

68 JPT • APRIL 2018

 Top Zone Intermediate Zone Lower Zone
ed, and crossed. Equipment alignment
was also checked before torquing the
Pup Joint Pup Joint Pup Joint
subassemblies, in order to ensure good
routing of the control lines and avoid
unnecessary crossing. Splice Sub Splice Sub Splice Sub
A system-integration test was conduct-
ed by connecting all three ICVs and PDGs
to the top flat packs and the master con- Pup Joint Pup Joint Pup Joint
trol system (MCS) of the subsea supplier.
The scope of work included demonstrat-
ing that the ICVs could be controlled by
Feed-Through Feed-Through Feed-Through
the MCS through a hydraulic-control-line Packer
Packer Packer
architecture and that the PDGs could be
monitored correctly by the MCS.

Offshore Installation Pup Joint Pup Joint Pup Joint

After the equipment was shipped to the
rig and before running in hole (RIH), the
team had numerous tasks to perform,
including checking the flat packs and
subassemblies for damage during trans-
portation, installing each PDG to its sub-
assembly and testing it, and finding a
suitable location for the spoolers.
After all intelligent-completion sub-
assemblies were installed to the string
and the main flat packs were connected,
production tubing was run. Control-line
clamps were installed on every coupling,
and an autoclamp was used to position
the flat packs against the tubing so the
clamps could be attached. The autoclamp
functions as an articulated arm with roll-
ers through which the flat packs are fed.
The installation continued with ad-
ditional equipment being added to the
string, including the nipple, the gas
lift mandrel, and the DHSV. The tub-
ing hanger (TH) was installed, and the
TH-running tool, shearable riser joint,
and umbilical assembly were connected
to the TH. The control-line connections
were made, and the TEC connection to
the TH was tested. When all testing was
finished, the control lines were pressured
to check integrity while RIH and to avoid
inadvertently cycling the ICVs.
The TH was run to depth and set in
the production adapter base, and a wire-
line trip was performed to confirm the
correct positioning of the packers. After
testing the DHSV, the ICVs were closed to
pressure the tubing and set the packers.
After closing the valves, the three
packers were set simultaneously by pres-
suring the tubing against a plugged nip-
ple located at the base of the string.
The setting was observed by the pres-
Annulus Gauge Annulus Gauge Annulus Gauge
Carrier Carrier Carrier
Pup Joint
Inflow-Control Inflow-Control
Valve Valve
Tubing Gauge
Carrier Pup Joint
Pup Joint
Chemical-Injection- Chemical-Injection-
Inflow-Control Mandrel Annulus Mandrel Annulus
Valve
Pup Joint Pup Joint
Splice Sub Splice Sub
Pup Joint Pup Joint
Fig. 1—Intelligent-completion subassemblies.
sure falloff provided by the annular PDG planning, attention to detail, and syner-
readings of each zone and confirmed gy between the service company and the
through a 4,000-psi pressure test on the operator, it was a great success. Because
annulus above the top packer. The TH- the equipment supplied for the well was
running tool was brought back to sur- to be used in several other wells with dif-
face, and the tree was installed. With the ferent configurations (e.g., two or three
tree installed, each zone was individu- zones, injector or producer, with or with-
ally stimulated by opening the ICV and out formation-isolation valve), a focus on
injecting acid to remove damage while flexibility was a priority during the de-
the formation’s behavior was monitored sign phase of the system components.
through the PDGs. By using global standard practices, pro-
The well was later tied back to the cedures, and policies and customizing
FPSO, and the intelligent well-control them to the project’s scenario, a fit-for-
system was installed and commissioned. purpose solution was provided to meet
the operator’s needs. The lessons learned
Conclusion from the issues encountered during off-
The installation of the first three-zone shore installation helped pave the way
intelligent completion in the presalt area for numerous two- and three-zone in-
presented a great number of challenges telligent completions in the presalt that
(e.g., distance from shore, water depth, followed, improving installation quality
design complexity), but, through careful and efficiency. JPT

JPT • APRIL 2018 69

 Triple-Zone Intelligent Completions Aid
Extended Well Tests of Exploratory Wells

T his paper describes an extended-

well-test campaign using
intelligent completions in a presalt
reservoir. To understand reservoir
behavior during production better,
several options were analyzed for
the first extended well test. Drilling
wells provides valuable rock and
formation knowledge; however, this
information is not sufficient to simulate
formation-flow behavior during the
field life cycle and reduce production
uncertainties. A triple-zone intelligent
completion was envisioned as the
optimal solution to understand how
each interval would behave under
production or injection.

Introduction
Presalt represents an important driver
of the oil industry in Brazil because it is
responsible for a large percentage of the
total oil being produced in the country. Fig. 1—Field location in Brazil’s presalt area.
In 2010, the discovery of a new and gi-
gantic field (estimated at 8 billion bbl)
increased the importance of the presalt Well Testing: An Important completion plans. During this particular
polygon for the region, and it was con- Step Before Production project, the operator decided to perform
sidered a watershed in terms of the coun- Understanding the reservoir is funda- extended well testing in three explora-
try’s economy, intensifying oil-industry mental to improving recovery and pro- tion wells, an injector and two producers.
activities at the time. The field, in the duction performance. Poor decisions re- This strategy was implemented suc-
Santos Basin, is approximately 140 miles garding this information can affect the cessfully by the operator in previous
offshore Rio de Janeiro (Fig. 1). final result directly. Some of the informa- deepwater reservoirs. Extended well test-
According to Brazil’s National Agency tion necessary to understand a reservoir ing provided key information for field
of Petroleum, available field resources is obtained during the drilling and evalu- development in those reservoirs, and it
can vary from 8 billion to 12 billion bbl, ation of wells. However, well testing es- came to be considered essential for simi-
while the production per day can reach calates reservoir analysis to a higher level lar future projects. The primary differ-
up to 1.4 million bbl. With these sig- in terms of details. The more accurately ence between those extended well tests
nificant numbers, field exploration and data are acquired during the exploratory and the one discussed in this paper is the
production became the focus of a main phase of the field, the better the reser- use of intelligent-completion equipment
operator in Brazil. voir models can be, resulting in optimal installed in each well. The equipment al-
lows the operator to evaluate each zone
with detailed data provided in real time.
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper OTC 28103, “Intelligent Completions Used During Extended Well Test of Completion Design
Exploratory Wells in Brazil,” by L. Costa, D. Rodrigues, R. da Silva, I. Souza, and and Functionality
M.A. Fernandes, Halliburton, prepared for the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference To help obtain detailed data in each
Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, 24–26 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. zone of interest, a standard intelligent-
Copyright 2017 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission. completion design was defined for the

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

70 JPT • APRIL 2018

wells with a minor change from produc-
ers to injectors.
For the injector-well design, the in-
telligent completion was composed of
the following.
Feedthrough Packer. Sealing elements
allow zones of interest to be isolated and
actuated separately. Control lines and
electric lines can feed through the packer
elements and slips without losing func-
tionality after the packer is set.
Pressure and Temperature Permanent
Downhole Gauge. A resonating-quartz-
crystal sensor installed in a mandrel
(ported to the tubing or annulus) that
communicates with the surface acqui-
sition system will provide pressure and
temperature information as long as it is
powered up to the surface system.
Inflow-Control Valve With Choking
Control. The debris-tolerant valve was
designed for high-pressure, deepwater
environments. Metal-to-metal seals pro-
vide proper isolation between annulus
and string, and an incremental opening
control system attached to the valve al-
lows the well to be choked in the prop-
er percentage to maintain bottomhole
pressure or increase production rate.
For producers, a chemical-injection
system was implemented in the lower
end of the assembly and will allow
scale and erosion prevention and
other functionalities.
This design helps guarantee each zone
will actuate and be analyzed indepen-
dently, even when producing simulta-
neously. This can be a major advantage
in terms of production statistics, where
each well does not need to be a single
point of analysis necessarily but each pay
zone with its proper singularities and
properties can be.
Testing Intelligently
In the oilfield, well tests are performed to
broaden knowledge of the reservoir and
its hydrocarbon properties. Several tests
gather data such as volumetric flow rate,
temperature, and pressure, and these
can be combined with other informa-
tion, such as seismic data, to improve the
reservoir modeling. Stated simply, the
amount of information gathered and its
precision are directly related to the qual-
JPT • APRIL 2018
ity of the reservoir model to be developed operators to simulate different scenarios
by the reservoir engineers. The use of with no increase in expenditures.
intelligent completions combines zonal
isolation, flow-control equipment, and Presentation
permanent-monitoring functionalities of Data and Results
that allow operators to manipulate tubing The use of intelligent completions with
performance while analyzing pressure extended well tests can lead to acquir-
and temperature changes in real time at ing enough data to perform optimal and
the producing intervals, providing pre- precise reservoir analysis, especially if
cise zone-by-zone reservoir analysis. combined with other geological data, re-
Performing well testing while injecting sulting in an effective completion proj-
can enhance the reservoir-producing- ect for the field. To date, well-test re-
zones evaluation because injection rates sults and how intelligent completions
and performance will also be monitored have contributed to well-test perfor-
by intelligent-completion equipment. mance have not been published; how-
Variations in choke positions in flow- ever, considering permanent downhole
control valves will change bottomhole reservoir-monitoring capabilities, evalu-
pressures, and, with the proper under- ating various scenarios while producing,
standing of well data, formation and res- optimizing flow using intelligent flow
ervoir behavior can be understood bet- control, and using acquired information
ter. Permanent downhole gauges play an for decisions throughout the field life,
important role in analysis, as does pro- the asset value can be maximized. The
viding real-time data for each variation results may have a substantial effect on
in the well. future exploratory projects, not only in
For all the upper zones, the configura- Brazil’s presalt but also in other major
tion in gauge mandrels allows the opera- fields around the world. JPT
tor to obtain pressure and temperature
from annulus and tubing, while, in other
zones, only annulus data will be moni-
tored. With this kind of information, the
operator can estimate production curves
and drawdown for the entire field on the
basis of information from each well.
The inflow ports of flow-control valves
installed with intelligent completions
were designed to fit project purposes.
Each exposed port allows a predeter-
mined percentage of the total flow capac-
ity of the inflow-control valve. This de-
sign was created considering reservoir
parameters and expected production
curves, where the inflow can be managed
according to the operator’s perspective
on performance.
Besides the benefits of data acquisition
and reservoir understanding, the use of
intelligent completion will also provide
economic benefits during the extended-
well-testing phase, and that can be attrib-
uted mainly to the capability to operate
devices in the well remotely. To choke a
valve in a determined zone, the operator
can simply actuate hydraulic-power units
at the surface by certain pressure and
time and the valve will open or close as
intended. With this benefit, no rig inter-
vention will be necessary to change well
parameters while well testing, allowing
71
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Natural Gas Processing and Handling

Ehsaan Ahmad Nasir, SPE, Reservoir Engineer, Baker Hughes, a GE Company

Despite a dip earlier in the year, natural- In the US,
gas prices remained steady over 2017,
averaging $2.99/million Btu. According colder-than-expected
to the US Energy Information Adminis- temperatures contributed
tration (EIA), the decrease in natural-gas
price in 2017 was because of the warm- to peaks in demand,
er winter and lower gas usage for power but, at the time of writing,
generation, which led to lower demand.
the prices have settled down
According to the latest figures from
the International Energy Agency, the to the pre-“bomb cyclone”
year-over-year aggregate gross con- levels … .
sumption (production plus imports
minus exports and stock changes) for
US natural gas was up 5.7% in October at the time of writing, the prices have
2017. Rising demand from Mexico cou- settled down to the pre-“bomb cyclone”
pled with lower gas prices and greater levels, with current natural-gas pric-
pipeline capacity resulted in US exports es almost mirroring those in 2017 (at
increasing by 0.4 Bcf/D in 2017, and they $2.868/million Btu). The Henry Hub
are expected to increase by a further Natural Gas Spot Prices are projected to
0.6 Bcf/D in 2018. In 2017, the US also average $2.88/million Btu in 2018.
became a net exporter for the first time The EIA predicts that natural-gas
since 1957 when taking annual figures usage for residential and commercial
into account. purposes will likely increase by 1.3 Bcf
Early 2018 has been a different story, in 2018. Industrial consumption is also
however, with natural-gas prices already expected to rise by 1.2% this year, with
hitting a couple of peaks (of greater an average of 21.7 Bcf/D. Dry-natural-
than $5/million Btu according to the gas production is expected to rise to
Henry Hub Spot Price history). In the 6.9 Bcf/D (9.3%). Most of the growth in
US, colder-than-expected temperatures natural gas is expected to be in the Mar-
contributed to peaks in demand, but, cellus, Utica, and Permian basins. Simi-
Ehsaan Ahmad Nasir, SPE, is a reservoir engineer at Baker
Hughes, a GE Company. He holds a master’s degree in petroleum
engineering from Texas A&M University. Nasir has been with Baker
Hughes since 2012. He is currently deployed in the US Permian
geomarket. Nasir’s experience includes evaluation of prospects
for  investment, production forecasting, statistical modeling
using machine-learning methods, pressure- and rate-transient
analysis, horizontal-multifractured-well production analysis,
well-screening studies to identify production issues, data-mining studies in unconven-
tional plays, and reservoir simulation. He is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee.
larly, for liquefied natural gas (LNG),
the forecasts are rosy, with an expected
average rate of 3.0 Bcf/D in 2018. This is
because of an expected increase in pro-
duction from the Cove Point terminal in
Maryland and additional facilities com-
ing online this year—namely, the Elba
Island facility in Georgia and the Free-
port LNG plant in Texas.
A novel hybrid solvent for acid-gas
removal improves the handling of sour
natural gas by effectively dealing with
mercaptans present without the need for
modifying facilities and with no adverse
effects on the sulfur-recovery units down
the line. This enables the whole pro-
cess to be more economical and efficient
while meeting the necessary health,
safety, and environment requirements.
To learn more, visit the 2018 SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhi-
bition in Dallas on 24–26 September and
the 2018 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas
Conference in Brisbane, Australia, on
23–25 October. JPT
Recommended additional reading
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 186394 Investigation of Failed LNG
Boil-Off Gas-Transfer-Line-Expansion
Bellows Using Finite-Element-Analysis
Approach by E.Y. Pratama, PT Badak LNG
SPE 186932 From Sandface to Processing
Plant, an Integrated View of an Operating
Envelope in a Gas/Condensate System
by M. Sueiro, Repsol, et al.
SPE 188347 Overcoming Challenges
To Reduce H2S Content in Sales-Gas-
Transmission Pipelines by JagannathRao
PrakashRao Allamaraju, Abu Dhabi Gas
Industries, et al.

72 JPT • APRIL 2018

Comparison of Various
Offshore Industrial Gas Technologies

O ffshore oil-exploration drilling

and testing are key for the
production of oil; however, a number
of associated challenges, particularly
the handling of associated gas, must
be overcome. This paper discusses
the alternatives for processing the
associated gas and transporting it to
markets. The technologies described
in this paper are applicable to
nonassociated-gas projects as well.
Fig. 1 provides a description of gas-
handling value chains for some of
the alternatives.
Floating Liquefied
Natural Gas (FLNG)
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural
gas that has been converted to liquid
form for ease of storage or transport.
It is a gas cooled to −162°C and has a
volume that is 1/600 that of the gas at
room temperature. The gas has to be
processed at both ends of the shipping
chain in order for LNG to be produced
and used. It can be transported by spe-
cially designed cryogenic sea-going ves-
sels (LNG carriers). At the destination,
the LNG is offloaded to a receiving ter-
minal that stores it and revaporizes it
into a pipeline that takes the natural-gas
product to the end users.
Floating Compressed
Natural Gas (FCNG)
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a con-
cept for gas transport over intermediate
distances. The FCNG technology involves
storing natural gas at high pressure in a
carrier ship to transport it from an off-
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains
highlights of paper OTC 27939, “Application of Gas Industrial Technologies
Offshore,” by Carlos G. Saavedra, Saavco International, prepared for the 2017
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 1–4 May. The paper has not been
peer reviewed. Copyright 2017 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced
by permission.
shore location to a typically onshore lo-
cation. The high pressure and possibly
reduced temperature increase the densi-
ty of the gas, making it more economical
to transport.
CNG is stored and distributed in cy-
lindrical or spherical vessels at pres-
sures up to 275 bar and at ambient or
subambient temperatures. Higher pres-
sures and lower temperatures allow
more gas to be contained per unit vol-
ume. The typical volume reduction
is 1/300.
An FCNG production vessel is a tra-
ditional gas floating production and op-
eration unit (FPO) with a high-pressure
gas-transfer system, instead of a sub-
sea pipeline, to load CNG shuttle ships.
The CNG is transferred at near-ambient
temperatures, so the hoses and trans-
fer systems are the same high-pressure
hoses and systems used to transfer high-
pressure gas and well fluids onto an FPO.
The CNG shuttle carriers provide both
storage and transport, thus avoiding
the necessity for storage on board the
FCNG vessel.
Any CNG-delivery-system technology
should offer a continuous-flow process
without interruption or discontinuity
(like a pipeline). Gas should flow contin-
uously with high reliability through the
CNG shuttle ships. Major buoy-system
suppliers have reviewed CNG trans-
fer and found that their systems can be
adapted to CNG transfer without devel-
oping new technology.
CNG appears to be a potentially suit-
able and promising technology for
deployment despite not having been
deployed commercially to date. It has no
technical barriers. The principal com-
mercial barrier stems from CNG being
a solution that lies between a pipe-
line for shorter distances and LNG for
longer distances.
FCNG technology has existed in a de-
sign state for several years, with nu-
merous studies having been conduct-
ed; however, no facilities have been
built yet.
Gas to Hydrate (GTH)
A mixture of water and gas under low-
to-moderate temperature and pres-
sure forms solid compounds called hy-
drates. These ice-like structures trap
gas, typically methane, ethane, hy-
drogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide,
as molecules hosted within a lattice of
water molecules.
A gas volume of between 150 and
180 std m3 may be contained in 1 m3 of
hydrate. In addition, hydrate remains
stable at atmospheric pressure when
stored at temperatures below the freez-
ing point of water. The combination of
these properties makes hydrates a po-
tentially useful means of transporting
natural gas.
GTH systems are well-suited for off-
shore fields. The principal difficul-
ty in using GTH, as with CNG, might
be the ability to maintain consistent
gas production.
The space requirement for GTH tech-
nology is comparatively smaller than that
for the LNG process. GTH technology re-
quires moderate storage conditions on
the vessel and is safer than CNG.
According to the literature and re-
sults from a pilot-scale plant currently
in operation, significant issues remain
to be resolved before the first hydrate-
production chain will be seen commer-
cially. The GTH process is technically im-
mature, which presents a significant risk
for use in the medium term.

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

JPT • APRIL 2018 73

 Convert Gas Unload and Convert
for Transport Transport for Sales Market/End User

LNG Power Plant,

LNG Industrial,
Liquefaction Domestic
Users
Storage Vaporization
CNG CNG
Compression/ Pipeline
Chiller
Expansion
GTL Oil Tanker Refinery/
FPSO Chemical
End Users
Conversion
Product Storage
Methanol Product Tanker
Chemical
Conversion Petrochemical

Product Storage
Dry Gas From FPSO GTW Subsea HVDC Cable
Power Plant Electric Grid

DC/AC Transformer
Hydrates Tanker
GTH
Hydrates Pipeline
Heating Compression

Fig. 1—Alternative gas-handling value chains. HVDC=high-voltage direct current, AC=alternating current.

Gas to LNG, Compressed-Gas
Liquids (CGLs)
CGL technology consists of a combina-
tion of natural gas and natural-gas liq-
uids (NGLs) for easier transport. Pro-
duced light hydrocarbons are processed
and conditioned after the natural gas
has been separated and cleaned. The
remaining products, NGLs and CGLs,
are mixed, forming a solvated solution,
where gas and NGLs are combined at a
moderate temperature of −40°F and a
moderate pressure of 1,400 psig. The
combined solvated product is CGL. The
process uses standard gas-plant tech-
nology, resulting in operating costs and
energy consumption lower than those
of more-costly LNG and gas-to-liquids
(GTL) technologies.
The space requirement for CGL tech-
nology is comparatively smaller than
that for typical LNG liquefaction pro-
cesses. CGL requires moderate storage
conditions on the vessel and would be
safer offshore than CNG and GTL.
GTL
GTL involves converting the feed gas into
liquid products through a series of re-
actions. From a broad perspective, the
primary benefit of this approach is that
the liquid products are much more trans-
portable. The downside is that GTL pro-
cesses tend to be very complex and ex-
pensive and operational experience
onshore needs to mature before it can be
applied offshore.
Onshore GTL plants tend to be mas-
sive facilities, in part because of the
large amount of equipment involved. For
an offshore installation, the through-
put capacity might be much less but
the equipment count will be the same,
except for some new processes. This
makes it difficult to achieve the com-
pact design required to meet the space
limitations of an offshore facility. There-
fore, one of the objectives should be to
obtain an intermediate liquid syncrude/
raw-liquid product before distillation
for separation into different market-
able products. Eliminating the distilla-
tion phases offshore considerably re-
duces the amount of equipment and
the footprint, as well as the operation-
al difficulties.
Currently, no process suitable for gas
production greater than 10 MMscf/D ex-
ists on a floating vessel, and large-scale
onshore GTL is still in its infancy.
Gas to Methanol, Dimethyl
Ether, or Ammonia (GMDA)
GMDA is an expansion of GTL such that
the syncrude is refined to a petroleum
product—methanol, dimethyl ether, or
ammonia. The overall process includes
separation and treatment of produced
gas into dry process feed-quality gas on
the main host. A processing unit mount-
ed on an existing main host or on a ves-
sel is then needed for size consider-
ations, and the oil and produced liquids
are transported by vessel to shore. This
topic has been studied for years, with
the first offshore methanol plants con-
sidered in the 1970s.
The solutions discussed in this
section relate to the production of a
liquid product.
Floating GTL (gasoline, diesel) pro-
duction, floating methanol production,
floating dimethyl ether production, and
floating ammonia production all require
gasification of the natural gas to obtain
syngas, which is then processed further
to produce liquid products.
An offshore gasification process
would consist of multistage compres-
sion to feed-treatment conditions. The
gas then will be pretreated and fed to the

74 JPT • APRIL 2018

syngas-generation unit, after which it will be cooled and treat-
Host
ed to achieve the required syngas quality before being sent for
the liquids-production process, preferably onshore.
Gasification technology has never been used offshore for a
commercial project. As such, a gasification process represents
significant technological, scheduling, and funding risks.
One global industry. One city. One meeting place.
Gas to Wire (GTW)
This option uses the associated gas as fuel for gas-turbine gen-
12 - 15 November 2018
erators (GTGs) to create electric power to export to shore or
to other facilities offshore. Studies have shown that, because 2018 CALL FOR PAPERS
NOW OPEN
of the size of the power-generation and -transmission equip-
ment and the sensitivity of the power cable to motion in deep
water, the technology is best mounted on a semisubmersible
platform close to a floating production, storage, and offload-
ing (FPSO) vessel.
www.adipec.com/cfp
The process will require a single- or multistage compres-
sion train to take the associated gas from inlet pressure condi-
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS
tions of 10 to 70 bar to the required inlet pressure for the gas TUESDAY 1 MAY 2018
turbines. The compression itself might provide enough heat-
ADIPEC IN NUMBERS: TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
ing that further superheating would not be required. The fuel
PROGRAMME CATEGORIES:
gas is then fed to the GTG with air for combustion. The com-
busted gas moves the turbine to generate electrical power. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN OIL AND GAS

The electric power generated would then be transmitted to 10,115 189 DRILLING AND COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY
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Recent design work has considered the combination of
FIELD DEVELOPMENT
FLNG and GTW. These floating power-generation facilities
GAS TECHNOLOGY
would integrate storage of LNG, regasification, and power
generation in a single unit. 959 135,000 HSE

Compared with land-based solutions, advantages of the Expert Speakers Gross sqm IOR/EOR
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Conclusions
GTH technologies are far from being ready for deployment,
whereas LNG has already been implemented and is awaiting
green initiation of operations. GMDA technologies are avail-
able but have limited to no application. A GTH-transportation
solution is not technically feasible because of the immaturity
of the technology and the large scaleup factors that are re-
quired to achieve a commercial process offshore. No clear in-
dication exists as to when the technology will be commercially DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK AT ONE OF
available at a scale suitable to commercial gas rates. Floating THE WORLD’S LEADING OIL AND GAS CONFERENCES
GTW is mature and established, but it is limited in the dis- www.adipec.com/cfp
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JPT • APRIL 2018

 Natural-Gas-Liquids Recovery—
Retrofit Breathes New Life Into Old Scrubber

A n onshore gas-processing
facility in Southeast Asia
currently receives rich wet gas
from an offshore production unit.
Because of an inefficient scrubber
design, the gas-processing facility
was experiencing natural-gas-liquid
(NGL) carryover of 1,550 B/D from the
scrubber into the pipelines. A retrofit
scrubber was designed to increase
the NGL production by 8,540 B/D.
This paper presents details of the
retrofit scrubber design and shows the
importance of using high-efficiency
separation internals.

Challenges
With the Existing Scrubber
The condensate scrubber vessel
was originally designed to handle
300  MMscf/D of gas. The condensate
scrubber had an inlet vane and pack
internals along with a mesh pad for
final demisting. The customer deter-
mined that the scrubber was designed
incorrectly because, since the plant
startup, it was experiencing large NGL
carryover from the scrubber into the
gas lines. Because of this inefficient
scrubber vessel, the facility was losing
approximately 1,550 B/D of NGL.
The existing scrubber design was
analyzed with governing empirical
formulas and computational-fluid-
dynamics (CFD) analysis to identify the
following challenges.
◗ The existing scrubber vessel
had limitations in managing
maximum gas loading (k-value)
before the bulk of the liquid was
dragged by the gas to the demister
Fig. 1—Flow in the vessel and flow out of the vane inlet section. The color is
per velocity in m/s.
section of the scrubber. Maximum
vessel k-value was predicted to
be 0.347 m/s, and values were
considered to be much higher in
this application.
◗ The inlet device was designed
inadequately, leading to incorrect
flow paths and a poor distribution
of fluids.
◗ Because of the inertia of the gas,
the entry flow into the vessel
pushed the gas upward in the vane
pack, resulting in poor distribution
in the vane-pack region such that
only part of the vane pack was
used.
◗ High-velocity zones in the vessel
reduced the performance of the
vane pack.
◗ The overall separation performance
for the current separator was
estimated to be 51%, resulting
in a gross liquid carryover of
8,500 B/D.
CFD Analysis
of the Existing Scrubber
Fig. 1 shows the predicted gas flow in
the vessel, illustrated by path lines.
The simulation shows that a relative-
ly large fraction of the gas is directed
downward against the liquid pad. This
could result in re-entrainment from the
already-separated liquid, leading to high
liquid carryover.
The poor flow distribution in the inlet
vane is caused by a very large and sud-
den expansion of the flow area in the
vane. This undesirable distribution cre-
ates zones of high gas velocity, causing
droplet breakup and low separation per-
formance in the vessel.

Axial-Flow Cyclones
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
in Separation
of paper SPE 188200, “NGL Recovery—A New Concept for an Old Scrubber,” by Ankur
Axial-flow cyclones have been applied
Jariwala, SPE, Pinkesh Sanghani, and Dag Kvamsdal, Schlumberger, prepared for successfully as demisters in scrubber and
the 2017 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, separator vessels for more than 20 years.
13–16 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The high efficiency and the tolerance for

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

76 JPT • APRIL 2018

 high liquid loads make axial cyclones
well-suited for use as an inlet device. The
efficiency of a scrubber is dependent on
two sections, the inlet gravity section
and the demister section. Consequently,
a new type of inlet was suggested that
conducted bulk separation using axial-
flow cyclones.
Aspects of Axial-Flow-Cyclone
Internals in a Separator
◗ Axial-flow cyclones have a static
swirl element that sets the gas
into rotation in a pipe. The heavier
liquid droplets will hit the wall of
the cyclone.
◗ The liquid is drained from the
inside of the pipes through slots
in the cyclone wall. The liquid
is collected in a separate liquid
chamber before being drained back
to the liquid compartment in the
scrubber vessel.
◗ The rotational flow will make
the heavier liquid move toward
the wall of the vessel while the
lighter fluid passes through the
cyclone. The fluid that hits the
wall is extracted to a separate
liquid compartment with slits in
the wall.
◗ The gas and liquid collected will
enter the scrubber on the lower
side of the inlet. Because the inlet
has higher pressure than the
vessel, the liquid and gas will exit
though a downcomer that is not
extended into the liquid phase but
rather blows the gas and liquid into
the vessel.
◗ The amount of gas that follows
the liquid separated in the
cyclones will typically be less
than 10%. The cyclone is the
separation force, and more than
95% of the liquid is separated
in the cyclones and introduced
underneath the inlet section.
◗ Reducing the gas load by
a factor of 10 to the lower
side of the scrubber allows
gravity, in combination with
a mesh pad, to clean the gas
before it is commingled with
the main gas flow, achieving
a separation performance
greater than 98%.
Retrofit Design
and Engineering Details
To reduce the liquid loss at the high
k-values, a combination of the axial
cyclonic inlet and axial-flow cyclones is
recommended. The retrofitted scrub-
ber contains
◗ 116 cyclones in the inlet section for
the bulk removal of gas
◗ 270 axial-flow cyclones with
2-in. diameters for the demisting
section
◗ A 150-mm-mesh pad
Inlet Section—Axial Cyclone Inlet.
The axial-cyclone-inlet device consists
of an inlet compartment, demisting

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Fig. 2—Flow in the retrofitted vessel, with path-line colors representing
velocity.
cyclones, mesh pad, and a liquid-
drainage/purge-gas system. Gas and
liquid enter the inlet compartment
through a transition zone between the
inlet nozzle and the inlet compartment
where guide vanes distribute the flow.
The droplet-laden gas flow is distribut-
ed over a number of demisting cyclones.
Any free liquid in the inlet pipe is trans-
ported to the end of the inlet compart-
ment where it is drained through drain-
age pipes.
Demisting Cyclones. The demisting
cyclones are characterized as having
a straight-through flow direction. The
demisting cyclones exhibit great per-
formance with a relatively low pressure
drop at high operating pressures. The
demisting cyclones also handle high liq-
uid loadings.
The demisting cyclones work on the
principle of a centrifugal field for sep-
aration. The gas enters the cyclone
tube and is set into rotation by vanes
mounted on a central body. The heavi-
er liquid droplets are thrown to the
wall by the centrifugal action. The liq-
uid is then transported through slits at
the cyclone wall into a liquid-collecting
chamber and drained back to the vessel
through downcomers.
78
Final 150-mm-Mesh Pad. The scrub-
ber is supplied with a 150-mm-mesh pad
that is installed below the axial-cyclone-
inlet device to separate liquid droplets
from the purge gas. The clean purge gas
passes through the mesh pad before
leaving the scrubber. The inlet compart-
ment is equipped with a splitting plate
to protect the liquid surface below the
plate and improve the gas distribution
into the cyclones.
CFD Verification
of Retrofit Design
Retrofit design of the scrubber was cal-
culated and verified using CFD analysis.
The analysis was conducted to perform
the following functions:
◗ Ensure that the gas is evenly
distributed out of the inlet section
through individual cyclones
◗ Assure that the gas that follows
the liquid out of the axial cyclone
inlet is distributed evenly across
the mesh and ensure that the
velocity across the liquid surface
does not exceed the re-entrainment
velocity
◗ Ensure uniform gas distribution
into the gas outlet
The flow in the vessel with the axial
cyclone inlet is illustrated in Fig. 2
with path lines that are colored to in-
dicate the velocity in the scrubber. The
gas from the axial cyclone inlet feeds
the demister deck, and the flow is
distributed uniformly.
The CFD simulation shows that the gas
is distributed uniformly out of the gas
outlet and the mesh pad.
The last thing to verify with the CFD is
flow distribution through the demister
section. The flow needs to be uniform to
ensure that the demister section is work-
ing as intended.
Results show that the flow varies be-
tween 97.5% and 107% of the aver-
age flow. This confirms that the de-
sign layout is well within the ranges of
industry standards.
Results of the analytical design and the
CFD analysis show that the installation
of the axial cyclone inlet and the axial-
flow cyclones will increase the separa-
tor’s efficiency from 51% to 99.94%.
Installation
of the Retrofit Design
One of the greatest advantages of the
design is that it does not require weld-
ing or hot works for installation of the
internals. The entire design of the retro-
fit scrubber has been created with bolt-
ing techniques, and no hot work was
necessary for the installation of the axial
cyclone inlets.
Because of the modular design of the
cyclone deck plates and the demisting
cyclones, the entire bolting on the cy-
clone boxes is performed on the un-
derside of the demisting-cyclone deck
plates. Gaskets are installed to ensure
proper sealing of the flanges. The inter-
nals can be installed step by step with
several transition spools that effectively
decrease the overall installation labor.
All axial cyclone inlets are installed in
cyclone boxes that can be lifted in and
out through the man-way openings.
Field-Test Results
An independent third-party verifica-
tion company was contracted to con-
duct testing at the facility for the ret-
rofit scrubber design. On the basis of
the field data collected and analyzed,
the retrofit scrubber design resolved
the liquid-carryover issues and provid-
ed optimal separation efficiency greater
than 99.9%. JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
Hybrid Solvent Helps Ease
Bottlenecking in Natural-Gas Plant

P rocessing sour natural gas is

a challenge. If mercaptans are
present in the sour gas, the limited
mercaptan-absorption capacity of the
well-known alkanolamine solvents can
be a problem. A solution is to replace
the usual alkanolamine aqueous solvent
with a hybrid formulation that allows
simultaneous removal of mercaptans
and acid gases. A new solvent has
been developed by the addition of a
physical component into a generic
alkanolamine/water solvent. This
hybrid solvent can be used without
any plant modification.
Introduction
More than 40% of identified gas re-
serves contain acid gases. Over the
years, solvent technologies have been
developed, demonstrated, and im-
proved for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and
carbon dioxide (CO2) removal.
Sour-gas processing has recently
seen the requirement of more-stringent
specifications for total sulfur com-
pounds, particularly mercaptans and
carbonyl sulfide. Producing sour-gas
fields in an economic way became a
challenge. Indeed, the physicochemi-
cal properties of mercaptans allow only
very limited reaction with amines under
operating conditions. Classical aqueous
amine technologies generally are not
sufficient to reach mercaptan or total-
sulfur specifications. Consequently, ad-
ditional treatment is required to remove
these compounds.
The first option to treat a gas con-
taining CO2, H2S, and mercaptans con-
sists of a polishing stage for further
This article, written by Special Publications Editor Adam Wilson, contains highlights
of paper SPE 188252, “Natural-Gas-Plant Debottlenecking Thanks to Hybrid Solvent,”
by Eric Cloarec, Renaud Cadours, and Claire Weiss, Total, prepared for the
2017 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi,
13–16 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
mercaptan removal (for example, mo-
lecular sieves) downstream from the
amine treating process. One drawback
of this option is that the gas used for
adsorbents regeneration needs to be
sweetened, which requires a dedicated
unit. Another drawback is that the gas-
sweetening unit is generally designed to
use a physical solvent, which has high
affinity for hydrocarbon.
The second option is most often used
when the recovery of natural-gas liq-
uids is considered. Mercaptans and
other sulfur compounds concentrat-
ed in the liquid-hydrocarbon cuts are
removed through a caustic-soda pro-
cess or by molecular sieves. With the
first option, the succession of treatment
stages requires an increase in plant
footprint, which brings unavoidable ex-
tended lifecycle costs. Meanwhile, the
drawbacks of these schemes include
the disposal of the disulfide oil with
the caustic-soda process or the treat-
ment of the gas used for molecular-
sieve regeneration.
The last option is the simultaneous
removal of mercaptans, carbonyl sul-
fide, and acid gases in a single unit by
use of a mixture of chemical and physi-
cal solvents. However, the mercaptan-
removal efficiency is correlated with
the solvent composition and flow rate.
Design criteria can be for H2S and CO2
removal or for mercaptan elimination.
Expenditure optimization will drive the
selection of the process scheme: either
total mercaptan removal within the gas-
sweetening unit or partial mercaptan re-
moval with the hybrid solvent followed
by a polishing unit.
These options have pros and cons
for mercaptan removal. A greenfield
project will accommodate any of them,
considering project constraints. How-
ever, mercaptan removal in a brownfield
project is different because of the con-
straints of the existing plant. That may
result in significant plant modification
to increase mercaptan removal or to
cope with more-stringent product or en-
vironmental specifications. For brown-
fields, the use of a hybrid solvent is the
most attractive solution.
A New Hybrid Solvent
A new hybrid solvent has been de-
veloped that allows for the simul-
taneous removal of CO2, H2S, and
mercaptans while preserving low
hydrocarbon coabsorption.
In 2007, declining gas fields in south-
west France treated approximately
5 million std m3/d of sour gas. The sour
gas typically contained approximately
17 mol% H2S and 10 mol% CO2. The
sour gas was sweetened by use of water/
diethanolamine (DEA) solvent. The
sweet gas from the amine units was sent
to a molecular-sieve unit before reach-
ing the hydrocarbon dewpoint; this unit
removes mercaptans and dehydrates
the gas to specifications. To face new
sales-gas specification and an increase
in sulfur-component concentrations in
the sour gas, the following options were
considered to achieve the new mercap-
tan specification:
◗ Modifying existing molecular-
sieve units or installing additional
mercaptan-removal units
◗ Increasing the mercaptan-
elimination capability of the
existing acid-gas-removal unit
either by adjusting the flow
rate of the DEA solvent or by
implementing a hybrid solvent
Installation of new molecular sieves
requires substantial investment that is

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

JPT • APRIL 2018 79


Methane Coabsorption
Solvent C Solvent B
Fig. 1—Hydrocarbon solubility in hybrid solvents.
not justified for the declining gas field.
The implementation of a hybrid solvent
was considered to be the best solution.
Hybrid solvents were evaluated dur-
ing the prefront-end engineering and
design steps of a debottlenecking proj-
ect for the Lacq plant. The usual hybrid
solvents were considered unsuitable for
use in the existing sweetening units.
Some of the installed pieces of equip-
ment were not suitable for the physico-
chemical properties of the hybrid sol-
vents; in particular, absorber internals
would have to be replaced.
Benefits of the New
Hybrid Solvent
The addition of a physical solvent into
an amine aqueous solvent has a neg-
ligible effect on acid-gas solubility.
The chemical reactions with the amine
remain the main driver for H2S and
CO2 removal.
Regarding mass-transfer efficiency,
viscosity and surface tension are in-
creased by the addition of a physical
component. As a consequence, the
mass-transfer efficiency of the absorber
internals might be lowered. That could
be the limitation for the use of a hybrid
solvent in an existing unit.
Tests were conducted to compare two
hybrid solvents with a generic water/
amine solvent. The operating condi-
tions considered for the study were a
typical case requiring selective H2S re-
80
Low acid-gas loading
Medium acid-gas loading
High acid-gas loading
Solvent A
moval. Solvent A is a generic methyl
diethanolamine (MDEA) solvent, with
45 wt% MDEA. Solvent B is an additive/
MDEA solvent prepared by adding the
new physical additive to the water/
MDEA solvent to reach a water/MDEA/
additive composition of 30/45/25  wt%.
Solvent C is an MDEA-based hybrid
solvent prepared with sulfolane. The
physical-component content was ad-
justed to 15 wt%.
Solvent A removes the H2S to 4 ppm
by volume in the treated gas and coab-
sorbs 51% of the CO2. With the same ab-
sorber operating conditions, the addi-
tion of the physical additive affects the
acid-gas-absorption efficiency. For Sol-
vent B, the H2S content in the treated
gas is increased to 30 ppm by volume
but only 47% of the CO2 is coabsorbed.
The addition of 15 wt% sulfolane (Sol-
vent C) results in significant H2S slip-
page. The CO2 coabsorption is increased
compared with Solvent A. Moreover,
with 48% of the CO2 coabsorbed, Sol-
vent C is less selective by comparison
with Solvent B. Last, the addition of
15 wt% sulfolane in Solvent C removes
31% of the mercaptans, while 38% is re-
moved with Solvent B. These absorption
results demonstrate the constraints and
limitations for hybrid-solvent use in an
existing unit considering acid-gas and
mercaptan removal.
Hydrocarbon solubility is the sec-
ond constraint when considering the
use of a hybrid solvent in an existing
unit. The acid-gas stream from the gas-
sweetening unit is processed generally in
a sulfur-recovery unit. Less than 1 mol%
of hydrocarbon content is recommend-
ed for an acid-gas stream feeding a typi-
cal sulfur-recovery unit. The selection
and concentration of the physical ad-
ditive are key elements to control hy-
drocarbon coabsorption. Hydrocarbon-
solubility measurements were taken
with different hybrid solvents prepared
by adding 20 wt% of a physical compo-
nent into a generic water/MDEA solvent.
The composition of the hybrid solvents
is 35/45/20  wt% of water/MDEA/physi-
cal component. The study clearly dem-
onstrated that the replacement of part
of the water with a physical additive
leads to higher hydrocarbon solubility
(Fig.  1). The physical additive will in-
crease hydrocarbon solubility by 30%.
Finally, the hybrid solvent offers an
additional benefit. A decade of opera-
tion has shown that this new hybrid
solvent requires 8–15% less energy for
solvent regeneration compared with
water/amine solvent. This lower en-
ergy requirement makes this new hy-
brid solvent an attractive candidate to
replace water/amine solvents in exist-
ing units.
Conclusion
In the past, hybrid solvents were gener-
ally considered an option for the treat-
ment of highly sour gas and when the
physical solubility of nonreactive con-
taminants such as mercaptans is tar-
geted. A new hybrid solvent can be
implemented easily in existing gas-
sweetening units.
The solvents have been used in the
Lacq plant, and no operational issues
were reported during more than 10
years of continuous industrial opera-
tion. The operation is similar to that of
classical amine mercaptan removal, but
the efficiency of the mercaptan removal
is improved significantly. Increase in hy-
drocarbon coabsorption is controlled,
and the concentration of hydrocarbon
in the acid gas is acceptable for down-
stream units.
As shown in the Lacq plant, the switch
from water/amine solvent to the hy-
brid solvent does not require equip-
ment modification. JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

High-Pressure/High-Temperature Challenges
Robert Ziegler, SPE, Global Director, Well-Control Technology, Weatherford

The industry is slowly recovering from The combination of higher makes up a significant portion of the
the worst downturn we have seen in time/depth curve. Similarly, the abili­
many decades. Significant brain­ technical requirements ty to circulate cooling mud around the
power has been lost for good, espe­ and lower availability bottomhole assembly at all times will
cially from technical organizations that allow us to extend significantly the tem­
have been weakened beyond recogni­ means that, when activity perature window where logging­while­
tion, and many technology develop­ picks up, we certainly will be drilling data acquisition is still possible.
ments that were relevant for high pres­
living in “interesting times,” At the end, it will be up to the opera­
sure/high temperature (HP/HT) have tors to adopt such technologies into the
been either cancelled or slowed down to use the Chinese saying. mainstream of their operations so that
significantly, with project teams dis­ service companies continue to be incen­
banded. In such times, SPE becomes tivized to follow through with further
even more important as a custodian of The combination of higher techni­ technology developments. This will be
knowledge and a forum for engineers cal requirements and lower availability possible only if there is an atmosphere of
still employed or searching for their means that, when activity picks up, we partnering and cooperation from early in
next employment. certainly will be living in “interesting the concept phase of wells and the well­
What is also different from previous times,” to use the Chinese saying. construction leadership of the operators
downturns is that technology is now However, it is not all bleak. Some tech­ reverses the justification needs of notori­
held by service companies much more nologies important for HP/HT—such as ously overworked drilling teams so that it
than before and contracts and rates have closed­system drilling allowing for the is more of a hassle to prepare a justifica­
declined faster than the worst shale well, accurate monitoring and pressurization tion to refuse the use of technology on a
so funding for development and main­ of the primary barrier and continuous well than to adopt it.
tenance of technology has practically circulation to eliminate the ramp up and I invite all to understand and embrace
dried up. ramp down of the circulation system for that technology is the key enabler for
Another difference is that, in spite of connections causing wellbore­stability, future success in our stressed industry
what the oil price implies, the technical­ hole­cleaning, and well­control issues— and work together to bring the HP/HT
ly “easy oil” is very much over and new have developed steadily and have seen projects currently deemed “too expen­
reserves need dramatically elevated lev­ increased uptake even throughout the sive to develop” within the realm of the
els of technology deployment to be devel­ downturn. These technologies have current oil­price environment and con­
oped successfully. The loss of technical the potential to revolutionize the per­ struct more HP/HT wells. JPT
prowess hurts the industry even more for formance and safety of HP/HT drilling
future activities. operations, where connection time often
Recommended additional reading
Robert Ziegler, SPE, is global director for well-control technol-
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
ogy at Weatherford International. His career spans 30 years in OTC 27891 Cost-Effective HP/HT Design
the industry, mainly with Shell, Chevron, Petronas, and Cairn Methods Using External and Seawater
India. Ziegler’s achievements include involvement in the first Depth Pressures by Parth D.Pathak,
OneSubsea, a Schlumberger Company, et al.
deepwater application of preblowout-preventer riserless mud-
line pumping and the first application of a commercial deep- OTC 27533 Strengths and Weaknesses
water dual-gradient system in the form of post-blowout- in the HP/HT Design-Verification Process
preventer controlled mud level. He also has overseen dozens of Within the Gulf of Mexico by Harish Patel,
ABS, et al.
successful offshore managed-pressure-drilling jobs using rotating control devices for
several operators on both jackup rigs and semisubmersible rigs as well as the com- OTC 27738 Next-Generation HP/HT
mercial use of directional casing drilling offshore, with more than 100 sections drilled. Wellhead-Seal-System Validation
Ziegler is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee. by Lucas Brown, Dril-Quip, et al.

JPT • APRIL 2018 81

 Integrating Managed-Pressure Drilling
Into HP/HT-Well Planning

M anaged-pressure drilling (MPD)

is an increasingly common
technique in narrow-margin high-
part of the design philosophy for later
wells, where managed-pressure tech-
niques were used to set and cement
hole section earlier than required to fa-
miliarize all crews with the new equip-
ment and procedures. The result was a
pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) casings significantly deeper than would potentially extremely challenging well
wells. However, MPD is sometimes have been possible conventionally. MPD that was drilled without any of the con-
viewed as a bolt-on technology, only successfully mitigated classical HP/HT ventional HP/HT problems observed in
added after much of the planning work issues so that problems with losses and the offset wells.
has been carried out and all other gains, handling of elevated gas levels,
alternatives have been exhausted. and mud-weight-selection issues were Synergies
The decision to use MPD should be all virtually eliminated. Between MPD and HP/HT
made at the earliest stage of well The initial driver for MPD is typically
planning. An early commitment to Project 2. For a standalone HP/HT ex- a need to navigate narrow-margin sec-
integrate MPD into an HP/HT drilling ploration well drilled from a jack-up tions, characterized by a small window
operation can make MPD more than offshore the Netherlands, MPD was ini- between pore pressure and fracture gra-
just an enabling tool and turn it into a tially selected because of the extremely dient. This makes it a natural candidate
performance tool that offers significant narrow margins between the pore and for HP/HT wells, where narrow margins
operational benefits. fracture pressures in the 8½- and 6-in. are the norm. However, once MPD is in-
sections. Conventional drilling would troduced to an HP/HT project, further
Overview not have been possible without induc- synergies can be found wherein MPD
Project 1. For an HP/HT field redevelop- ing losses and spending significant time provides a solution to other traditional
ment in the UK North Sea, seven side- circulating to adjust mud weights, as HP/HT challenges.
track wells were drilled from a jack-up seen in a key offset well. Taking advan-
over an existing platform. MPD was used tage of the learnings from Project 1, Well Design. MPD enables narrow-
from the beginning, but the full benefits MPD was selected at an early stage of er margins to be drilled safely. It can
of MPD were not realized until later in the planning process and was fully in- also enable drilling deeper into pres-
the project. MPD was initially includ- tegrated into the well design and opera- sure ramps, so that casings can be set
ed to hold surface backpressure (SBP) tions. Mud weight, drilling parameters, deeper. But there are other, less-obvious
across two connections to mitigate and bottomhole-assembly design were benefits from MPD that can improve
borehole-stability risk in an unstable all tailored to suit MPD operations. In- well design. To realize these, the deci-
shale. However, once the system was op- tegrated HP/HT and MPD procedures sion to use MPD needs to be made early
erational, further benefits continued to were developed on the basis of tradi- in the design phase. MPD allows the de-
be identified and the scope of MPD op- tional HP/HT techniques but were mod- sign envelope to be extended in the fol-
erations grew significantly. At the same ified to make full use of the additional lowing ways:
time, more knowledge of the subsurface functionality provided by MPD. A com- ◗ MPD allows drilling in a narrower
was being gained, and it became clear bined HP/HT and MPD training course margin between pore and fracture
that some of the planned wells would was developed, and key personnel were pressure.
not be drillable without MPD because of trained in HP/HT and MPD techniques. ◗ If managed-pressure-assisted
a significantly reduced drilling window Rig modifications were made well in ad- cementing is used, tight-clearance
in the overburden. MPD became a key vance, and MPD was implemented one equivalent circulating densities
(ECDs) can be managed and it
may be possible to eliminate
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
underreaming from the well design.
of paper SPE 188335, “Integrating Managed-Pressure Drilling Into HP/HT-Well
◗ MPD can lead to a step change in
Planning,” by Michael Cadd, Lewis Steven, and Robert Graham, Shell; Fedderik well design by allowing a string to
van der Bos, Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij; Craig Leggett, Blade Energy be removed.
Partners; and Emil Stoian, Weatherford, prepared for the 2017 Abu Dhabi
International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 13–16 November. The Mud-Weight Selection. MPD removes
paper has not been peer reviewed. reliance on mud weight as the sole

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

82 JPT • APRIL 2018

element of the primary barrier, instead
replacing it with a combination of mud
weight, annular friction pressure, and
SBP. Because SBP can be controlled eas-
ily, the criticality of selecting and main-
taining the correct mud weight is re-
duced significantly.
When planning an MPD operation,
there are three possible mud-weight
strategies:
◗ Mode 1: Mud weight is greater
than pore pressure. Use an
overbalanced mud weight. If SBP
is lost, the well will not flow. No
SBP is held while drilling. SBP is
applied on connections to replace
ECD only.
◗ Mode 2: Mud-weight ECD is
greater than pore pressure. Use
a statically underbalanced mud
that, in combination with ECD
while drilling, overbalances pore
pressure. If SBP is lost while
drilling, ECD will prevent the well
from flowing. If SBP and pumps
are both lost together, there is
potential for the well to flow. Little
to no SBP is held while drilling.
SBP is applied on connections to
replace ECD.
◗ Mode 3: Mud weight+ECD+SBP is
greater than pore pressure. Use a
statically underbalanced mud that
maximizes the operating window
of the MPD system. Select a mud
weight so that SBP is 60 to 80%
of the rotating-control-device
pressure rating on connections.
SBP is also applied while drilling.
If SBP is lost, there is potential for
the well to flow.
Of these, Mode 3 provides the great-
est operational flexibility and will de-
liver the most value. For narrow-margin
wells drilled with an overbalanced
mud weight (Mode 1), significant plan-
ning effort is needed to minimize ECD
through mud rheology, casing design,
drillstring design, and reduction of
drilling parameters.
If a statically underbalanced mud
is selected in combination with MPD
(Mode 3), ECD is no longer an obsta-
cle and planning efforts can be focused
elsewhere. Planning must instead focus
JPT • APRIL 2018
on the reliability of SBP as part of the
primary barrier. Contingency proce-
dures must be made for handling fore-
seeable issues such as reduced circu-
lating times, mapping of subsurface
boundaries, and optimization of mud
weight for tripping.
HP/HT Well Control. MPD can be used
to improve the robustness of the pri-
mary well-control barrier, and, if inte-
grated into well-control procedures, can
improve the way influxes are detected,
controlled, and subsequently circulat-
ed out. MPD well control is a separate
topic in its own right, but the follow-
ing points provide a summary of some
of the ways MPD can improve HP/HT
well control.
◗ MPD can detect kicks earlier.
◗ With MPD, an influx can be
controlled by increasing SBP in
stages until flow out is equal to
flow in. This can be done while
continuing to circulate down
the drillstring.
◗ After control of the influx has
been established and its volume
has been assessed, the influx
may be circulated out using the
MPD system without needing
the rig’s choke manifold. By
using the MPD  choke, better
control of bottomhole pressure is
maintained during the driller’s-
method circulation, and, if the
rotating-control-device pressure
limit allows, the string can still
be rotated.
◗ Drilling with applied SBP in
combination with accurate flow
monitoring allows losses to be
identified early and bottomhole
pressure to be reduced quickly.
Keys to MPD Implementation
Drilling-Contractor Buy-In. The drill-
ing contractor should be involved as
early as possible. The drilling contrac-
tor will need to understand how MPD
works, the system’s advantages and lim-
itations, and why it is being used. The
contractor may need to deviate from
their own well-control standards or pro-
cedures, will need to agree to rig modifi-
cations, and will need to sanction tie-in
to, and use of, their equipment.
Rig Selection. MPD can be implement-
ed on almost any rig, but some rigs lend
themselves to more-efficient MPD op-
erations than others. Selecting the right
rig can have a significant effect on per-
formance. If an MPD-ready rig with pre-
vious MPD experience can be contract-
ed, this will reduce rig-modification and
crew-training requirements. Pit space,
deck space, substructure space and
blowout-preventer top flange, rig align-
ment over the well, and MPD friendli-
ness of the drillpipe are all factors to
consider as well.
MPD-System Functionality. It is im-
portant to design an MPD system with
the right functionality to suit the appli-
cation. It is often tempting, during the
rig-modification phase, to reduce func-
tionality to reduce cost or perceived
complexity. However, a higher level of
functionality often proves valuable, par-
ticularly when the subsurface condi-
tions differ from prognosis.
Integrated HP/HT and MPD Drill-
ing Procedures. To take advantage of
improved techniques offered by MPD,
and to ensure safe and efficient opera-
tions, MPD needs to be fully integrat-
ed into a set of combined HP/HT and
MPD procedures. This can be written
as a project-specific document, requir-
ing input from the operations team,
design team, drilling contractor, and
MPD contractor.
Integrated HP/HT and MPD Training.
The level of training required for an
HP/HT MPD operation depends on the
level of experience the rig and operator
have and the operational risks. High-
quality training is rarely a poor invest-
ment. A carefully designed, project-
specific training course will reduce the
risk of major incidents and will improve
operational performance. Experience
from previous MPD projects has shown
that high-quality training results in
crew buy-in and a common understand-
ing of the MPD-system capabilities. JPT
83
 Ultradeep-Field Study: Extreme-Underbalanced
HP/HT Coiled-Tubing-Conveyed Perforating

A t an initial stage in a project to

carry out the first high-pressure/
high-temperature (HP/HT) field
0.7000

0.6000

development offshore Malaysia, a locally

Inflow Rate (L/min)

0.5000
conventional initial design considered
the use of coiled-tubing-conveyed 0.4000 y=1.4548x−0.0315
R2=0.74674
perforating (CTCP) to perforate a 7-in.
0.3000
liner and then to complete the well in
open hole with overbalanced completion 0.2000
fluid. This solution posed several
challenges that would have affected the 0.1000
safety of the completion process and the
0.0000
future integrity of the well architecture. 0.0000 0.2500 0.5000
A different approach, in which a fully ln[(dT+T)/dT]
cased hole well was completed in
underbalance and then perforated Fig. 1—Extended inflow test (3 hours) for the KN ultradeep well, showing the
once the completion was installed and tendency to static.
tested, was used by the operator for the
first time. fresh water, an initial inflow test was con- ◗ Nippling down the blowout
ducted, and, then, after good indication preventer (BOP)
Introduction of well integrity, the well was displaced ◗ Nippling up the tree
The KN field is located west/northwest completely to inhibited fresh water. Im- ◗ Function and pressure testing the
of Labuan offshore Sabah. The opera- mediately, an extended inflow test was wellhead system
tor has been tasked to develop the KN conducted. At the time of the inflow test, In the case of this well, these opera-
ultradeep HP/HT reservoir (pressures the well was in an underbalanced con- tions were conducted safely and with-
exceeding 12,000 psi, temperature ex- dition of 6,000 psi at total depth. Fig. 1 in the allocated time and cost as per the
ceeding 300°F). The well production- shows the results. approval for expenditure.
casing envelope consisted of a single
10¾-×10⅛-×9⅞-in. production casing, Completion Design CTCP
while the reservoir section was drilled The completion philosophy for the ultra- CTCP was implemented in conjunction
and then covered with a 7-in. production deep well was a single completion string with a dedicated gun-deployment sys-
liner. This liner was cemented, secured at to be run in the closed well immedi- tem to complement the underbalanced-
the top with a liner hanger, and secured at ately after the wellbore-cleanup tools completion approach. Conventional
the bottom with a bridge plug. were out of the hole. After running the retrievable-tubing-conveyed perforation
Once these barriers were installed, the completion, the following operations was not an ideal solution for the HP/HT
next operation in the well was to run a were performed: gas well because of the potential risk of
wellbore-cleanup assembly with a scrap- ◗ Setting the tubing hanger gas migration during the running of the
er, brushes, magnets, and an inflow-test ◗ Setting the production packer completion. A well-control situation dur-
packer. After wellbore cleanup, the drill- ◗ Pressure testing the production ing the deployment of the completion
pipe volume was displaced with inhibited packer from above and below would have been difficult to manage.
The through-tubing approach was se-
lected because the production tubing and
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
accessories could be installed and land-
of paper SPE 186948, “Extreme-Underbalanced High-Pressure/High-Temperature ed safely in a controlled environment.
Coiled-Tubing-Conveyed Perforating: KN Ultradeep-Field Study,” by Miguel Rosato, Furthermore, additional barriers would
Mohd Farris Bakar, and Fadzliana Azmi, Petronas, prepared for the 2017 SPE/IATMI be present, because the completion and
Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Bali, Indonesia, 17–19 October. tree would be already installed and pres-
The paper has not been peer reviewed. sure tested.

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

84 JPT • APRIL 2018

 The combination of coiled tubing and
the gun-deployment blowout preventer
enabled the deployment of a long per-
foration interval (more than 400  m) in
a single run without the requirement of
additional completion equipment (i.e.,
a lubricator valve) that might have re-
duced the reliability of the HP/HT
completion system.
Another major advantage of the CTCP
system was its ability to perforate the
complete interval in underbalance.
Design and Work Preparation
for CTCP
CTCP is a widely used technique for
HP/HT wells in the North Sea, the Gulf
of Mexico, and the Middle East. How-
ever, in the case of Malaysia, the tech-
nique was applied for the first time in
this well. This created a series of chal-
lenges ranging from quality control to
sourcing a specific type of coiled tubing
able to endure great depth and consider-
able explosive impact.
To overcome these challenges, a strat-
egy was implemented during the early
days of the field-development project.
The most important initiative was to
replicate the HP/HT completion design
in less-complicated wells of the same
field. This allowed the service provider
and the rig contractor to gain experi-
ence in the system with the local crews
and to register a series of lessons learned
that were then implemented for the
HP/HT operation.
Perforating-Gun Design
A gun size of 2⅞-in. was selected for the
400 m of total interval to be perforated.
To confirm that the reservoir depth could
be reached with the selected gun size and
the coiled tubing in use, a series of simu-
lation runs was performed, simulating a
range of environments. The results from
these simulations are presented in the
complete paper.
At the beginning of the project, the use
of 2⅞-in. hexanitrostilbene charges was
considered, given the reservoir condi-
tions. However, these charges presented
some disadvantages from the design data
and simulation, which, combined with the
maximum allowable gun size of 2⅞-in.,
provided a limited depth of penetration,
thus raising the possibility of potential
underdelivery of required production.
JPT • APRIL 2018
After further evaluation of the tem- the bleedoff line was connected directly
perature conditions and the potential to the well-test choke manifold. This cre-
time of exposure of the charges at the ated an additional high-pressure volume,
reservoir depth, and after analyzing all given the length of the line. One major
the potential options, the contractor recommendation from this experience
proposed a new type of cyclotetrameth- was to install a manual choke valve close
ylene trinitramine charge that could re- to the lubricator in order to keep the
sist the reservoir conditions for up to 10 bleedoff line depressurized at all times,
hours (enough time from reaching the and to keep the well-test choke open. In
depth to actual detonation as per de- this way, the lubricator is depressurized
sign), which provided a maximum po- from the rig floor, increasing the safety
tential depth of penetration of 38.6 in. of the operation and significantly reduc-
These charges proved to be very effec- ing the bleedoff time for the line.
tive during deployment, with all charg- Another major challenge for the per-
es firing and with well-testing and pro- forating system was achievement of a
duction confirmation of no skin or good depth correlation. For this, a casing-
near-wellbore damage. collar-locating logging system in real time
(by use of a solenoid system activated by
Gun-Deployment Mechanism pumping pressure) was used. This system
To achieve the 400 m of perforated in- was backed up during a dummy run with
terval in a single run, a modular deploy- a memory logging tool attached to the
ment mechanism was used. The system bottom of the dummy-gun assembly. JPT
uses the combination of a deployment
BOP and a gun-detonation transfer con-
nector to deploy the gun sections. The
gun bodies are regular 2⅞-in. bodies that
transmit the detonating sequence to the
charges with a primacord. However, the
deployment-system mechanism, which
is initially sealed, operates by transfer-
ring the explosive sequence through a
dedicated shaped charge that detonates
into the next section, effectively trans- Check out
mitting the detonation. In this well, the new JPT website
given the benefit of a great lubricator
length, 12 latching sequences were car- and sign up for the
ried out successfully. eNewsletter.
Lessons Learned
It has been established from the expe- • Expanded Coverage
rience of the KN ultradeep well that at • Daily Updates
least 4 days are required for the com- • Mobile Friendly
plete rig up of the coiled tubing and the
• Improved Navigation
gun-deployment system. During the back
deployment of the guns, every time a
gun body was disconnected, the lubri-
cator was under high pressure (up to All of this and more at
10,000  psi) from the accelerated well www.spe.org/go/JPTOnline
percolation of gas from the reservoir. In
order to bleed out the lubricator, a dedi-
cated bleedoff line was installed and con-
nected to the well-test choke manifold.
Every time the lubricator was bled off,
the fluids under pressure (a mix of inhib-
ited fresh water and reservoir gas) were
sent to the well-test separator and the ¨
hydrocarbons were flared through the
burner booms. As part of the well design,
85
 Successful Recovery and Stimulation in a Long
HP/HT Horizontal Well in One Intervention

T he case history presented in the

complete paper describes the
performance of an acid-fracturing
These challenges are even more crucial
in cases having drilling and completions
issues. The alternative implemented for
The candidate well has a reservoir
pressure of 7,521 psi in the completed
horizontal section. The horizontal well-
intervention in a high-pressure/high- the well candidate presented in the com- bore was almost aligned with the maxi-
temperature (HP/HT) well in which this plete paper considers the completion and mum stress orientation, meaning that
intervention was the last procedure stimulation of a well having an existing any hydraulic fracture generated in the
considered to evaluate the productivity of long perforated interval, where the im- well would be longitudinal and the length
a Marrat Formation well. The post-acid- plementation of a selective fracture stim- of the perforations would not need to be
fractured well productivity index (PI) ulation of a highly deviated wellbore (88° limited as it is in cases where transverse
showed the high quality of the stimulation or almost horizontal) was challenging. fractures are generated.
performed in a challenging environment,
demonstrating the effectiveness of Geology, Reservoir, Well-Candidate
the new diversion system for creating and Geomechanics Completion Information
selective fractures in a horizontal wellbore of Middle Marrat Formation Drilling issues experienced during the
with multiple perforation clusters. The Marrat reservoir is subdivided into construction of the last section of the
three lithostratigraphic units: Lower, Mid- wellbore resulted in leaving the drilling
Introduction dle, and Upper. The well candidate was bottomhole assembly and in protracted
Completion of deep HP/HT carbonate for- drilled and completed to produce hydro- attempts to recover the fish in hole. Even-
mations in northern Kuwait in overpres- carbon reserves from the Middle Marrat tually, it was decided to sidetrack and
sured environments comprising interbed- Formation. The Middle Marrat unit repre- drill a second lateral. Because of budget
ded carbonate bodies, complex tectonics, sents a wide range of rock types related to constraints and the long drilling-rig time
and stress variations resulting in strike/ high-stand precursor facies in a carbonate associated with the fishing process, addi-
slip or reserve fault regimes is challenging setting, which is overprinted by diagenetic tional wellbore logging was eliminated to
for operator and service companies. Be- alteration in refluxed and recrystallized do- minimize operational costs. A whipstock
cause of the low-permeability conditions, lomites. Eight gross flow zones have been was set in the original 10¾-in. casing
it is necessary to generate long and con- identified bounded by major sequence- above the abandoned horizontal leg, and
ductive fractures to produce the reservoir stratigraphic surfaces that frame the back- an exit window was milled. An inclined
effectively. Additionally, this aggressive ground of genetically correlated units. 9¼-in. exit hole was drilled for just over
fracture-stimulation requirement needs Reservoir quality and vertical con- 400 ft, and 7 ⅝-in. liner was set from the
to overcome the high-working-pressure nectivity can be controlled further by surface to 15,874-ft measured depth (MD)
limitations of the completion, in addi- placing properly distributed hydraulic after drilling the new lateral leg to just
tion to the nature and corrosiveness of the fractures, vertically and laterally, to con- past 19,000-ft MD.
produced hydrocarbon, which makes se- nect the prospective reservoir and exist- The newly drilled wellbore was com-
lection of the proper stimulation reactive- ing natural-fracture networks to improve pleted with a 5-in. cemented liner with
fluid system important. hydrocarbon recovery. a landing shoe at 18,964-ft MD. After
cleaning the wellbore and evaluating
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of the cement bonding in the bottom liner,
paper SPE 188567, “Successful Recovery and Stimulation of a Long HP/HT Horizontal the wellbore was perforated with 2⅞-in.
Well in One Intervention: A Case History of Acid Fracturing and New Generation of tubing-conveyed perforating guns in
Diversion Systems Combination, Middle Marrat Carbonate Formation,” by Leopoldo three intervals of 126, 120, and 120 ft,
respectively, in order of shooting (total
Sierra, Alaa Eldine Alboueshi, Mohamed Elmofti, Walid Eid, Salma Sadeddin,
perforated interval of 415 ft with 365 ft
and Ahmed Allam, Halliburton, and Mohamed Al Othman, Zamzam Ahmed,
perforated). After running 3½-in. tubing
Erkan Fidan, Ibrahim Al-Zaidani, Neoq Nilotpaul, Meshari Ashkanani, Ali from the surface to the sealbore located
Buhamad, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Dousari, Abdul-Samad Mohammed Ahmed, in the liner hanger, the well was opened
and Yousef Al-Matrouk, Kuwait Oil Company, prepared for the 2017 Abu Dhabi to production to evaluate Lower Mar-
International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 13–16 November. The rat Formation productivity. However,
paper has not been peer reviewed. because of damage induced during the

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

86 JPT • APRIL 2018

drilling process and poor well productiv-
ity, a conventional matrix acidizing using
150 bbl of 15% hydrochloric acid plus
chemicals was squeezed in one stage at a
low rate of 1.1 bbl/min in the open inter-
vals. This stimulation treatment did not
improve productivity, and the well ended
up dying.
The poor well productivity and chal-
lenges imposed by the nature of the for-
mation and the existing completion
justified using a new, more-aggressive
stimulation treatment to produce the
Middle Marrat Formation.
Fracture-Acidizing-Stimulation
Design
Considering the alignment of the well-
bore, the maximum-stress orientation in
the area, and the length of each perforat-
ed interval, an innovative acid-fracturing
design was needed to induce at least one
selective hydraulic fracture in each perfo-
rated interval, anticipating fracture ori-
entations at only a small angle from the
wellbore direction.
An injectivity and minifracturing pro-
cedure considering a nonreactive frac-
turing fluid was included as a part of the
fracture-stimulation process to allow cal-
ibrating the stress profile calculated from
the offset-well log data, to identify the
existing completion and near-wellbore
(NWB) effects and challenges, and to es-
timate the reservoir pressure and fluid-
efficiency effects expected during the
stimulation process.
The designed acid-fracture-pumping
schedule included sequential pumping
of three different acid-fracturing stag-
es spaced with two diversion systems
to allow acid-fracturing stimulation of
the perforated intervals by diverting the
stimulation fluid in the wellbore, there-
by generating one selective fracture per
perforated interval.
Diversion Systems
Used To Optimize
the Acid-Fracturing Stimulation
Two different diversion systems (a solids-
free liquid fluid-loss-and-diversion sys-
tem and a self-degrading-solid diversion
system) were proposed and used in the
field to help reduce fluid leakoff, improve
the reactive-fluid coverage, and generate
selective acid fractures in each perforat-
ed interval.
JPT • APRIL 2018
The solids-free fluid-loss-and-diversion systems to divert stimulation fluid into
system is a low-viscosity fluid-loss- the wellbore/perforations or deeper in
control system used over a broad range the reservoir, in both carbonate and sand-
of temperatures and permeabilities in oil stone formations. This system is a com-
or gas carbonate formations. This system bination of particles of specific sizes and
decreases matrix permeability to aque- hardness values contained in a single
ous fluids, limiting leakoff into treated package. The system’s loading and parti-
zones; it requires no breaker and results cles are designed to address specific prob-
in little or no damage affecting the flow lems. Particle-size ratios are specifically
of hydrocarbons. sized so that larger particles restrict or di-
The self-degrading-solid diverter is vert the stimulation-fluid flow in the per-
used with nonreactive or reactive-acid forations and the smaller particles pack
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87
ENHANCED
OIL
Oil Rate (BOPD)
RECOVERY
SECOND EDITION
Second Edition
by Don W. Green and G. Paul Willhite
Enhanced Oil Recovery (second
edition) builds on the comprehensive,
fundamental mechanisms and
mathematical computations detailed in
the original work, then presents many
additional insights into the applications of
EOR processes, including:
• Field-scale thermal-recovery
processes such as steam-assisted
gravity drainage and cyclic steam
stimulation
• Field-scale polymer flooding including
horizontal wells
• Field-scale miscible-displacement
processes such as CO2 miscible
flooding
• Laboratory-scale chemical flooding
in the development and testing of
surfactant formulations that are
effective over a wide range of reservoir
conditions
The continued development of these
processes represents significant
technological advancement in the
understanding of oil recovery from
petroleum reservoirs.
www.spe.org/go/EOR
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
16
24
Choke (in.)
Prefracture Post-Fracture (Dec. 2016)
Fig. 1—Comparative production before and after selective acid fracturing.
the pore throats of the larger particles or
the existing natural fractures. This leads
to quick and efficient blockage of the in-
duced fractures.
The particles of the self-degrading-
solid diverter are designed to degrade
over time at temperature. This helps
eliminate the cost, time, and effort nec-
essary to use remedial removal tech-
niques. The degradation product is com-
patible with produced hydrocarbons and
produced water.
Prefracturing
Diagnostic-Procedure Analysis
The required injectivity, step-rate-up
(SRU), step-rate-down (SRD), and mini-
fracturing-diagnostic procedures were
performed and analyzed as planned.
The SRU analysis showed a fracture-
extension rate of 12.48 bbl/min, where the
fracture was approximately aligned along
the length of the perforated interval with
the expected high leakoff necessary to
keep the induced fracture open. Converse-
ly, the SRD analysis was magnified by the
NWB friction effect, which was associated
with the complexity of the induced frac-
ture resulting from the length of the perfo-
ration and the orientation of the wellbore.
Additionally, the minifracturing-analysis
results, assuming that only one primary
fracture was generated during this step,
showed the typical pressure-dependent-
leakoff effect observed in almost all car-
bonate formations, while the calculated
minimum stress was 13,111 psi (0.85 psi/ft)
and the average nonreactive-crosslinked-
fluid efficiency was 30%.
The calculated parameters from the
diagnostic procedures were used to
32
optimize the main acid-fracturing-
stimulation process.
Post-Fracturing
Well-Production Evaluation
After analyzing all diagnostic procedures
considered for the acid-fracturing stim-
ulation, the pumping schedule for the
main acid-fracturing stimulation was re-
designed (see Table 4 of the complete
paper). The excellent match obtained dur-
ing pumping and when the treatment was
stopped indicates the quality of the con-
sidered rock and reservoir parameters
and the obtained fracture parameters.
The main selective acid-fracturing-
stimulation treatment increased the well
production rate from 677 to 1,307 BOPD,
considering the same choke size for fair
comparison purposes. After the acid
fracturing performed on 29 May 2016,
the well was opened to production the
following day. The first day’s measured
transient fluid-production rate was high
and showed a high water cut. The mea-
sured initial high water cut correspond-
ed to the stimulation fluid returning and
not to formation-water production. The
initial well response showed the posi-
tive effect of the selective acid-fracturing
treatment performed in the well. How-
ever, the well was not tested periodically
after the acid-fracturing treatment to de-
termine the stability of the oil- and gas-
production-rate trend up to 8 Decem-
ber 2016 (Fig. 1). The latest test showed
the ability of the selective acid-fracturing
treatment to re-establish productivity
and produce hydrocarbon reserves effec-
tively from the Middle Marrat Formation
connected to the wellbore. JPT
JPT • APRIL 2018
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

History Matching and Forecasting

Alexandre Emerick, SPE, Reservoir Engineer, Petrobras Research Center

Today, I am going to talk about abduc-
tion. But this is not about kidnapping or
a fourth kind of extraterrestrial encoun-
ter. I am referring to the meaning of
abduction in philosophy literature,
where it stands for inference of the best
explanation. This topic was brought to
my attention by my friend Régis Romeu,
former editor of this feature. We use
abduction in everyday reasoning when
we seek the simplest explanation for
an observation. This holds similarities
with the current practice of reservoir
modeling. In my experience, geoscien-
tists are trained to treat the construc-
tion of a model as a process of discovery,
a process of finding the simplest, and
hopefully the best, explanation for the
trends and observations from static and
dynamic data. Throughout this process,
the geoscientist is “falling in love” with
the model. It seems that, instead of the
likelihood, the geoscientist’s objective
function is based on the “lovelihood.”
I am not laying the groundwork for
criticizing the work of geoscientists.
On the contrary, I have seen colleagues
build impressive models that were the
An alternative approach
for model construction
is based on
generating diversity
as opposed to focusing
on the best explanation.
foundations of billion-dollar decisions
made in highly successful exploration-
and-production enterprises. Neverthe-
less, I believe that it is worth making a
counterargument to this process. (Here,
I’m taking the liberty of calling the pro-
cess “model abduction.”) The natural
result of model abduction is a base-case
model. One unfortunate consequence
of a base-case model, however, is the
risk of an anchoring effect, in which
case we may underestimate uncertainty.
Essentially, the anchoring effect refers
to our tendency to rely too heavily on
the information offered, introducing a
bias in the model-construction process.
In practice, we might neglect relevant
scenarios that were not revealed at the
time of the model construction because
they did not fit the idea of best expla-
nation. Sometimes, this is referred to
as base-case disease. Hence, an alter-
native approach for model construc-
tion is based on generating diversity as
opposed to focusing on the best expla-
nation. In this sense, the two approach-
es seem conflicting.
My goal is not to start a controversy, and
I am definitely not qualified to state which
strategy is best for reservoir modeling. I
do see good arguments in both approach-
es. But, I will venture to say that the best
strategy is the one that takes the best of
each approach and makes them comple-
mentary rather than contradictory.
Last year, we had a good number of
exciting papers on history matching and
forecasting presented at SPE events. The
papers summarized in this feature and
the ones indicated in the additional-
reading list are excellent examples.
Interestingly, we had a particularly large
number of papers on 4D-seismic history
matching. I selected one to be summa-
rized. I hope you enjoy the reading. JPT

Alexandre Emerick, SPE, is a reservoir engineer at Petrobras Recommended additional reading

Research Center in Rio de Janeiro. He has 15 years of experience
in applied research in reservoir engineering. Emerick’s research
interests include reservoir simulation, history matching, uncer-
tainty quantification, and optimization. At Petrobras, he has
worked as principal researcher and coordinator of projects on
time-lapse seismic, smart fields, optimal well placement, history
matching, and closed-loop reservoir management. Emerick
holds BS and MS degrees in civil engineering from the University of Brasília, Brazil,
and a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from The University of Tulsa. He is the
author or coauthor of 31 technical papers, most about history matching. Emerick
received the Outstanding Service Award as an SPE Journal technical editor in 2013
and 2014. He is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee and can be reached at
emerick@petrobras.com.br.
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
SPE 185877 Data Analysis Used in
Multiple-Realization Work Flows for History
Matching—A North Sea Case Study
by R. Schulze-Riegert, Schlumberger, et al.
SPE 185800 A Simultaneous Bayesian
Estimation of Channelized Facies
and Reservoir Properties Under Prior
Uncertainty by Yu Zhao, The University
of Tulsa, et al.
SPE 186024 A Variant of Particle-Swarm
Optimization for Uncertainty Quantification
by V. Babin, Gazpromneft NTC, et al.

JPT • APRIL 2018 89

 Rapid S-Curve Update Using Ensemble
Variance Analysis With Model Validation

I n the complete paper, the authors

propose a novel method to rapidly
update the prediction S-curves given
early production data without performing
additional simulations or model updates
after the data come in. The approach has
been successfully applied in a Brugge
waterflood benchmark study, in which
the first 2 years of production data
[rate and bottomhole pressure (BHP)]
were used to update the S-curve of the
estimated ultimate recovery. To the
authors’ knowledge, the proposed work
flow, including the model validation
and the denoising techniques, is novel.
The proposed work flow is also general
enough to be used in other model-based
data-interpretation applications.
Introduction
As surveillance data are obtained from
the field, the S-curves of the key metrics
need to be updated accordingly. This is
normally accomplished by a two-step ap-
proach. First, the data are assimilated
through history matching to calibrate
the model parameter uncertainties to ob-
tain their posterior distributions. Then,
a probabilistic forecast is performed on
the basis of the posterior distributions of
the parameters to update the S-curve of
the key metrics. However, obtaining an
S-curve update with the traditional ap-
proach can take weeks or months after
the data come in. There is a need for
rapid interpretation of the incoming data
and update of the S-curve without going
through a full-blown history-matching
and probabilistic-forecast process.
Recently, the approach called direct
forecast (also called data-space inver-
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
paper SPE 185630, “Rapid S-Curve Update Using Ensemble Variance Analysis With
Model Validation,” by Jincong He, Shusei Tanaka, Xian-Huan Wen, and Jairam
Kamath, Chevron, prepared for the 2017 SPE Western Regional Meeting, Bakersfield,
California, USA, 23–27 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
sion) has been a focus of attention. In di-
rect forecast, the statistical relationship
between the measurement data and the
business objective is established on the
basis of simulation-model responses be-
fore the data acquisition. This direct re-
lationship can then be used to rapidly up-
date the prediction of the objective once
the data become available.
A process called canonical func-
tional component analysis is pro-
posed to map the data and forecast vari-
ables into a low-dimensional space;
multilinear regression was implemented
in the reduced space to establish the data/
objective relationship. The authors explore
the use of a simpler and more-intuitive
method called ensemble variance analy-
sis (EVA) for rapid update of the S-curve.
The idea of EVA is to explore covariance
between data and objectives, then use an
analytical formula to calculate the poste-
rior S-curve. In the complete paper, the
authors adapt the formulation for rapid
S-curve update after data come in.
While the direct forecast has attract-
ed attention, less attention has been
paid to validating the consistency be-
tween observed data and the simula-
tion model after data come in. Blindly
applying the direct-forecasting formu-
la without identifying unmodeled fea-
tures can lead to an incorrect posteri-
or S-curve and misinformed decisions.
The authors propose a procedure that
detects and removes features in the
measurement data that are inconsis-
tent with the simulation responses. The
complete paper describes formulation
of the problem of updating S-curves
with measurement data.
EVA
Basic Assumptions. In EVA, the rela-
tionship between the objective function
and the observation data is directly mod-
eled as a multivariate Gaussian distribu-
tion. Under the multi-Gaussian assump-
tion, analytical formulae are available for
the posterior mean and variance of the
objective function given a realization of
observation data. The reduction of vari-
ance and the shift in mean depend on
how correlated the data and the objec-
tive function are. The stronger this cor-
relation, the more informative the data,
and the larger the update to the mean
and variance of the objective-function
S-curve. It can also be noted that the
mean shift is a linear function of the de-
viation of the observed data from the ex-
pected value of the simulated data. With
the posterior mean and variance estimat-
ed, the posterior S-curve can be obtained
by scaling the previous S-curve. The work
flow to calculate the expected uncertain-
ty reduction from simulation results is
summarized in the complete paper.
Example Application
Model Setup. The application of the
proposed S-curve-update work flow is
illustrated by a waterflood benchmark
case. The reservoir model considered in
this example is the Brugge model. The
structure has an elongated half-dome
shape with an internal fault existing at
the oil column. The simulation model
contains nine layers that are divided into
two units: Unit 1 includes the upper five
layers, and Unit 2 includes the lower
four layers.
Table 1 of the complete paper summa-
rizes the 11 uncertainty parameters and
their respective ranges considered in this
model. The uncertainty parameters in-
clude imbibition parameters such as rel-
ative permeability exponents and end-
points, as well as static parameters such
as permeability and porosity multipliers.

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

90 JPT • APRIL 2018

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 Posterior Mean From EVA (×108)

Posterior Mean From EVA (×108)

Posterior Mean From EVA (×108)

2.5 2.4 2.4

2.35 2.35
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.3
2.25
2.25
2.2 2.2
2.2
2.15
2.1
2.15 2.1
2 2.1 2.05
2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.1 2.15 2.2 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2.25 2.3 2.35 2.4
Posterior Mean From Rejection Sampling (×108) Posterior Mean From Rejection Sampling (×108) Posterior Mean From Rejection Sampling (×108)
(a) Results for first data set (b) Results for second data set (c) Results for third data set

Fig. 1—Comparison of the mean shift in S-curves from rejection sampling and EVA for 200 cases.

The objective function is the field cu- of samples are needed in order to gener- from the EVA method. The solid red line
mulative oil production after 18 years ate enough accepted samples to charac- indicates the 45° line. It is clear that the
of production with waterflooding. The terize the posterior S-curve. The com- mean shift predicted by EVA is compa-
waterflood-development scenario con- putational cost is often prohibitive when rable to that predicted by the rejection-
sists of drilling 20 producers in the the samples are evaluated by use of res- sampling method.
oil zone and 10 injectors along the oil/ ervoir simulation. One approach to avoid
water contact. this drawback is to construct a numerical Model Validation for EVA
The pilot project is planned to start 2 proxy from simulation samples and then The EVA is shown to work reasonably well
years before the commencement of full- evaluate posterior distribution based on for synthetic observed data. However, in
field development and involves one in- proxy samples. real-field application, the observed data
jector (Well I7) and one producer (Well Even with the use of a proxy, rejec- may not be used “as is” for various rea-
P15). The data to be collected from the tion sampling can still be expensive when sons. For example, there may be phys-
pilot include monthly BHP and water cut the error is small or when the number ics or events that happen in the real field
(WCT) from Well P15. The standard de- of data points to be assimilated is large. that were not modeled in the simulation
viations for the BHP and the WCT mea- This is because, in such cases, the accep- model. There might also be problems
surements are defined as 50 psi and 2%, tance probability can be arbitrarily low. in uncertainty characterization; for in-
respectively. The data collected are divid- There is no guarantee that there will be stance, the range of the uncertainty pa-
ed into three sets, and uncertainty reduc- enough accepted samples to characterize rameters might be too narrow, missing
tion is considered for each set separately. the posterior distribution. key uncertainties that failed to capture
The first data set contains monthly BHP On the other hand, the EVA method the appropriate simulation response and
data from P15 for 2 years, which amounts does not have this limitation of the re- objective function. In such situations, di-
to 24 data points. The second data set jection sampling. rectly applying the EVA S-curve-update
contains monthly WCT data from P15 for method could yield misleading results.
2 years, which also amounts to 24 data EVA Result. The EVA S-curve-update In the complete paper, the authors pro-
points. The third data set is a combina- study is based on 200 simulation runs pose two diagnostic procedures to ad-
tion of the first two data sets and there- in the uncertainty parameter space sam- dress two of the common problems: un-
fore has 48 data points. pled using a space-filling design. The modeled physics and event detection by
For both the pilot and the full-field- EVA result matched with the rejection- use of principal-component analysis, and
development periods, producers are con- sampling result very well in this case. model validation with a hypothesis test.
trolled at a constant liquid-production For the BHP second data set, the re-
rate of 3,000 std m3. The injectors are jection sampling failed because of insuf- Conclusion
controlled at a constant liquid-injection ficient accepted samples. Of the 50,000 The authors present the use of EVA for
rate of 4,000 std m3. samples, only seven were accepted. On rapid S-curve update. EVA explores the
the other hand, the EVA method still statistical relationship between mea-
Benchmark Setup. In order to validate provides reasonable results for the pos- surement data and objective uncertain-
the updated S-curves from EVA, they terior S-curve. ty on the basis of precomputed simula-
will be benchmarked with the results Fig. 1 shows the result of an exhaustive tion runs. This statistical relationship
from the rejection sampling method, validation study. Each point in this figure can then be used to update the S-curve of
a rigorous technique to obtain the is generated by an S-curve update run by the objective uncertainty instantly after
posterior distribution. taking one of the 200 simulated data re- data come in. The use of EVA provides a
While rejection sampling is theoret- alizations as the observed data. Shown on much-more-efficient alternative to tradi-
ically rigorous, it suffers from several the x-axis are the posterior means calcu- tional history-matching-prediction work
major drawbacks for practical applica- lated from rejection sampling, and on the flow and can reduce project turnaround
tion. First and foremost, a large number y-axis are the posterior means calculated time significantly. JPT

92 JPT • APRIL 2018

Enhancing Model Consistency
in Ensemble-Based History Matching

T he aim of this work is to present

the effectiveness of a fully
integrated approach for ensemble-
properly identified and quantified. It is
worth noting that significant differences
among models may arise from different
ods. Once an acceptable level of data
matching is achieved, the updated mod-
els can be used for robust forecasting and
based history matching on a complex geological hypotheses or scenarios and reservoir-management optimization.
real-field application. The predictive from the random component typically
ability of the ensemble of models is introduced by geostatistical methods. Field Application
greatly enhanced through an integrated In the complete paper, the authors use Integrated Reservoir Modeling. The
work flow promoting collaboration the ensemble-smoother-with-multiple- authors applied the proposed methodol-
between all subsurface disciplines. data-assimilation (ES-MDA) algorithm ogy on a clastic reservoir characterized
One key feature of the ensemble-based to condition the ensemble of reservoir by a large turbiditic channel complex.
method that is especially important for models to the historical observations. The reservoir trap is a salt-induced anti-
complex reservoirs is that it overcomes According to this methodology, the en- cline with some radial faulting. The chan-
the typical limitation of the traditional semble predictions are used to compute nel complex is subdivided into zones and
approaches where the number of a statistical approximation of the sensi- two hydraulically independent segments.
uncertainty parameters resulting from tivity to the input (uncertain) variables, The upper zones culminate above the oil/
practical or algorithm constraints often which are modified in a predefined num- water contact, where two subhorizon-
has to be reduced. ber of iterations to reduce the mismatch tal production wells were drilled, while
between the simulated and measured dy- the basal zones are reached by two injec-
Methodology namic data. The methodology requires tion wells.
The distinguishing feature of ensemble- the definition of an error associated with The reservoir model integrates all the
based methodologies is their capability of each observed source (e.g., field, wells) information coming from the available
integrating multiple sources of data while and data type (e.g., rates, pressures). The static data. A full seismic revision and
quantifying and propagating the uncer- ensemble approach allows for a grid- fault interpretation led to the definition
tainty in reservoir-model parameters. In based parameterization, which, driven of a predrill structural model, confirmed
order to achieve a proper uncertainty as- by the ensemble correlations, provides by the development wells, resulting in
sessment, one must couple the ensemble- the ability to modify the value of a vari- a simulation grid of almost two million
based data-assimilation technique with able at some specific location without in- cells. Through the revision of seismic at-
an integrated work flow covering the appropriately forcing a change to other tributes and channel mapping, a series
entire reservoir-modeling process. The variables or locations. Consequently, all of environment-of-deposition (EOD) ob-
core of this methodology is an iterative uncertain model parameters are retained jects were defined to capture the main
data-assimilation process, which incor- because they may still have a relevant sedimentological features of the reser-
porates the reservoir-modeling steps in effect on the production forecasts. voir. For practical reasons, the channel-
order to condition the ensemble of model Because of the limited ensemble size, ized complex was characterized by merg-
realizations to the available data. localization can be adopted as a form ing the EODs into six different objects,
The integrated reservoir-modeling of regularization. For the grid-based two of which were used to describe the
process is used to generate an initial properties, this is achieved through the main pay bodies. Next, a cluster analy-
guess for the reservoir models, repre- definition of model regions that could sis was performed to characterize five
senting prior knowledge of the reservoir reasonably influence the performance different facies with petrophysical
uncertainties. Throughout this process, of given wells, similar to the use of co- distribution parameters.
the relevant model uncertainties must be variance functions in geostatistical meth- The work flow for the generation of
the reservoir-model realizations can be
described as a sequence of three main
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
processes: the generation of the EOD
of paper SPE 186049, “Enhancing the Geological Models Consistency in Ensemble- grid, the facies modeling, and the petro-
Based History Matching: An Integrated Approach,” by A. Perrone, F. Pennadoro, A. physical modeling. While the shape
Tiani, and E. Della Rossa, Eni, and J. Saetrom, Resoptima, prepared for the 2017 SPE and position of the channels are clear-
Reservoir Characterization and Simulation Conference and Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, ly identified from seismic, the main un-
8–10 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. certainties are related to their lateral

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

JPT • APRIL 2018 93

 ∆ Porosity Mean (%)
∆ Porosity SD (%)
Fig. 1—Variations (percentage) of the ensemble mean and standard deviation (SD) for the porosity and permeability
fields on a representative layer of the reservoir model.
and vertical extent. Hence, the channel
bodies are fully parameterized through
zone-independent variable channel and
channel-margin widths.
To populate the facies and petrophysi-
cal properties in the reservoir model,
a hierarchical simulation method was
introduced. The different facies com-
binations are first simulated over the
entire 3D grid and then recombined ac-
cording to the actual EOD structure. In
the same way, the different facies-driven
petrophysical properties are first dis-
tributed over the entire grid and then re-
combined according to the actual facies
configuration. The method has signifi-
cant advantages from a practical stand-
point, because it enables updating of
the underlying (Gaussian) 3D proper-
ties, while preserving the multimodal
nature of the effective petrophysics and
the geological consistency with the up-
dated channel dimensions.
For the permeability field, a variable
vertical trend was also introduced to ac-
count for a possible degradation of prop-
94
∆ Permeability Mean (%)
∆ Permeability SD (%)
erties below the oil/water contact, as in-
dicated by the available injectivity tests.
The generation of the reservoir dynamic
models was completed by defining the
fluid properties and the other dynamic
parameters, including fault transmissi-
bilities, relative permeability curves, and
numerical aquifers.
The described work flow was used
in combination with Monte Carlo sim-
ulations to generate an initial ensem-
ble of 100 model realizations hon-
oring the static data and the initial
conceptual assumptions.
Data Assimilation and Validation. The
matching parameters for the dynamic
data assimilation reflect the uncertain-
ties that emerged in the integrated res-
ervoir study, related to hydrocarbon-
in-place volumes and to the sources
of production pressure support. The
chosen parameterization includes both
scalar variables and 3D grid properties,
for a total of almost 10 million param-
eters. The greater contribution to this
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
–10.0
–20.0
–30.0
–40.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
–20.0
–40.0
–60.0
–80.0
very large parameterization is related
to the hierarchical geomodeling pro-
cess, because the individual petrophysi-
cal properties are updated at the full grid
scale before being cut down to the final
configuration.
The field production history consists
of approximately 1 year of daily phase
rates and flowing-pressure recordings
for two production wells (P1 and P2)
and two injection wells (I1 and I2). The
history-matching objective function was
defined in terms of flowing-pressure and
water-cut mismatches by use of 5% tol-
erance values and a preliminary filter-
ing out of data points that were clearly
outside the main observed trends. When
an initial ensemble of model predictions
is compared with the updated ensemble
after four ES-MDA iterations, a reason-
able overall data match is achieved, al-
though the updated predictions show a
different degree of remaining variabil-
ity and the ensemble seems to collapse
around the injection pressures. However,
the reliability of the updated models was
JPT • APRIL 2018
assessed through a validation process,
using approximately 4 months of addi-
tional observations.
In order to integrate the incom-
ing production data and condition the
model to a new perforated well, a second
data-assimilation phase was carried out.
The geological model was slightly re-
vised on the basis of the previous re-
sults, without substantial modifications
to the work-flow implementation. To bet-
ter reproduce the water-cut behavior of
Well P1, which was not correctly captured
in the initial ensemble, a new channel-
erosional scheme was proposed by in-
creasing the heterogeneity in the main-
channel EOD template. The increased
heterogeneity affects the water-front
propagation, favoring some water fin-
gering toward the producers. Addition-
ally, the parameterization was extended
to include the connate water saturation
in each grid cell.
The amount of available data for the
new production well (P3) is not suffi-
cient to reproduce the observed deple-
tion satisfactorily with the current model
parameterization. This is not surpris-
ing because the initial ensemble tends
to overpredict the pressure in Well P3
while underpredicting the pressure in
Well P1. However, it is also worth consid-
ering that the well drains the same area
as Well P1 and, therefore, the ensemble
predictions might be affected by the oc-
currence of conflicting objectives. Hence,
improvements could be achieved poten-
tially by adjusting the localization setup
for the Well P1 and P3 objectives to avoid
this conflict.
Uncertainty Quantification. Fig. 1
shows the results of the second update
of the porosity and permeability fields
on a representative layer of the reser-
voir model in terms of percentage varia-
tions of the ensemble mean and the en-
semble standard deviation. It is worth
noting that, according to the hierarchi-
cal modeling process adopted, these po-
rosity and permeability fields are just
two of the underlying components used
to build the final facies-driven petro-
physics. The properties variations are
mainly concentrated in the regions of
the perforated wells, with maximum ab-
solute values of approximately 40% for
the ensemble mean and 80% for the
ensemble standard deviation. The main
achievement is an overall reduction of
the uncertainty, especially for the per-
meability in the reservoir region around
injection Wells I1 and I2. In particular,
the average permeability is increased
around Well I2 and decreased around
Well I1, suggesting the possible pres-
ence of a flow barrier between the two
injectors, which could be included in fur-
ther model revision. The interpretation
is less straightforward in the produc-
tion regions, where grid-cell modifica-
tions are much more heterogeneous and
less spatially consistent. The increase in
standard deviation for permeability in
the region around Wells P1 and P3 is also
noteworthy; this is a typical indication
of inconsistencies in the prior model as-
sumptions for this region, further sup-
ported by the apparent conflicting be-
havior in the simulated pressure for
these two wells. JPT

Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU)

Gujarat, India
Positions for Post-Doctoral Fellows and Sabbatical Professor

Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University was established in 2007. India has embarked upon a comprehensive strategy
to address the concerns of energy security of India. Accordingly, a state-of-the-art “DRILLING, CEMENTING, AND
STIMULATION RESEARCH CENTER ” has been established and commissioned at PDPU under the aegis of
Government of Gujarat. The primary objective is to become a world-class research center in upstream sector and to
provide opportunities to researchers and academicians around the globe to conduct cutting-edge research. Drilling,
Cementing, and Stimulation (DCS) Research Center has three major state-of-the-art equipment: Proppant
Conductivity System, Formation Damage System, Drilling and Cementing Equipment. It also has access to the
state-of-the-art drilling, completion, and cementing equipment of various government institutions. For details
of DCS Center equipment and capabilities, please visit: http://spt.pdpu.ac.in/dsc.html

Applications are invited for the positions of two post-doctoral fellows and a professor on sabbatical.

Selected candidate(s) are expected to develop research projects and conduct cutting-edge research in one or
more of these areas: Hydraulic Fracturing, Formation Damage, Acidization, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Drilling,
and Cementing.

Appointment for Post-doctoral fellows is for one year with a possibility of extension. Sabbatical Professor
appointment can be up to one year. Salary for Post-doctoral fellows will be competitive. One round trip travel
will be provided.

One round trip travel and lodging-boarding for the duration will be provided to Professor on sabbatical.

Eligible and Interested candidates are invited to submit resume and statement of research interests to Professor
Subhash Shah: Subhash@ou.edu and Subhash.Shah@spt.pdpu.ac.in

JPT • APRIL 2018 95

 Ensemble-Based Assisted History Matching
With 4D-Seismic Fluid-Front Parameterization

A n ensemble-based 4D-seismic
history-matching case is
presented in the complete paper.
Seismic data are reparameterized as
distance to a 4D anomaly front and
assimilated with production data.
This study shows that adding the
4D reparameterized seismic data in
addition to the production data keeps
a reasonable match with production
data while constraining the overall
gas distribution in the reservoir to the
observed seismic data.
Introduction
The complex construction of a petro-
elastic model renders the use of quanti-
tative seismic data in history-matching
work flows quite challenging. Several
authors have investigated quantitative
approaches for incorporating a large
number of seismic data into history-
matching work flows for production
data. The work flows adopted in most of
these studies require significant reduc-
tion of the uncertainty space or produce
on a single history-matched model.
In recent years, an algorithm that has
gained increased popularity is the en-
semble Kalman filter (EnKF). The EnKF
and its derived algorithms are called
ensemble methods, and their most no-
table characteristic is being computa-
tionally feasible for large systems and
being relatively easy to implement. Sev-
eral authors have investigated the ef-
fect of assimilating 3D- or 4D-seismic
data with EnKF and have had to face
the problem of building an accurate
petroelastic model. To circumvent this
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
of paper SPE 183901, “Ensemble-Based Assisted History Matching With 4D-Seismic
Fluid-Front Parameterization,” by Mario Trani, Konrad Wojnar, Arthur Moncorgé,
and Philippe Berthet, Total, prepared for the 2017 SPE Middle East Oil and Gas
Show and Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 6–9 March. The paper has not been
peer reviewed.
problem, some authors have reparam-
eterized 4D-seismic anomaly-front data
into arrival times. Despite the advan-
tage of eliminating seismic inversion,
this method presents the disadvan-
tage of at least doubling the simula-
tion time for accurate ensemble arrival-
time predictions.
In the complete paper, the assist-
ed history matching is performed on a
large turbiditic field with the ensemble
method to assimilate production and
4D-seismic data by use of the distance-
to-front parameterization. The field
is a large turbiditic body, with initial
fluid pressure close to the bubblepoint.
Oil production causes the pressure to
fall below the bubblepoint in the very
early life of the reservoir, leading to a
widespread gas exsolution. The time-
lapse change in gas saturation is con-
sidered the only factor responsible for
the observed negative relative changes
in seismic velocity seen over the entire
reservoir. There is water injection oc-
curring, but with a local effect, and it is
therefore neglected.
The innovation of this study is that
the distance-to-front parameterization
is applied to the gas phase, which can
appear everywhere in the field, rather
than coming from an injection source.
Another innovation of this study is that
the binarization of the simulated time-
lapse anomaly is performed without use
of a petroelastic model, which would be
necessary to relate the measurements
to fluid-property changes and to de-
cide a threshold for binarizing observa-
tions and pressure. However, the effect
of gas is so widespread and evident that
the petroelastic model can be replaced
by a clustering approach based on the
gas-saturation change of the reser-
voir cells.
The Distance-to-Front
Parameterization
This parameterization has been intro-
duced in order to assimilate 4D-seismic
data while avoiding the uncertainty
coming from seismic inversion and for-
ward rock-physics modeling. There are
three steps in this parameterization:
◗ Binarizing the seismic image
according to a selected threshold
value
◗ Applying the fast-marching
algorithm calculating distance
away from the anomaly boundaries
◗ Selection of the points at which
the data mismatch between the
observed and the simulated
distance is calculated
In this study, seismic data are select-
ed along the front with no subsampling
and, at the same time, distance-based
localization is used. The localization
length factor is set equal to 25 cells.
The Binarization
Complex production and injection
mechanisms occur at the same time in
this field, and it is nontrivial to iden-
tify a unique cause of the observed 4D
effect. In order to match 4D, the in-
clusion of the petroelastic model into
the ensemble-smoother-with-multiple-
data-assimilation (ES-MDA) loop would
allow forward modeling of all of the
fluid-property changes that cause 4D
anomalies at the same time. The opera-
tor has dedicated considerable effort to
building a petroelastic model for this
field; however, large uncertainty is as-
sociated with many parameters and the
prediction of the 4D effect is deemed
to be not perfectly accurate. For this

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

96 JPT • APRIL 2018

reason, the distance parameterization the petroelastic model would translate Results
came to be preferred. simulated changes in gas saturation The field can be divided into a num-
The distance parameterization has so into the observed relative changes of ber of different reservoir systems that
far always been applied to cases where seismic velocity. However, an incorrect are characterized by deposition within
the observed 4D-seismic anomaly could model would bias the overall matching both confined and unconfined turbi-
be easily linked to a single reservoir- results. For this reason, in this study, dite systems. The reservoirs are situat-
simulation dynamic property change. an alternative approach is used, cir- ed within two main stratigraphic inter-
Thresholding the time-lapse change of cumventing the use of the petroelastic vals of channel systems, each composed
that property would provide the bina- model completely. of stacked channelized turbidites de-
rized image to be entered into the fast-
marching algorithm.
In order to identify the predominant
reason for the overall 4D anomaly, a
qualitative analysis was performed. In
this analysis, each of the changes in fluid
properties potentially responsible for
4D anomalies (pressure, water satura-
tion, and gas saturation) has been com-
pared with the observations.
The change in pressure is very smooth
and is diffused all over the reservoir
model; furthermore, the change in pres-
sure is negative and a change in fluid
pressure reduces the effective pressure,
Superior Results in Shorter Time
causing an increase in seismic velocity,
while the observed anomaly is negative.
The Future of History Matching
The change in water saturation takes
place only at a few selected locations
in the reservoir (water injectors); also,
water replacing oil results in local hard-
ening. Therefore, the change in water
saturation can be considered respon-
sible for the local hardening spots, but
certainly not for the overall softening
effect. The change in gas saturation no-
ticeably resembles the observed seis-
mic anomaly in extension of the covered
area and is almost perfectly centered
inside the 4D anomaly front; further-
more, gas re-placing oil results in soft-
ening. Hence, the change in gas satu-
ration, caused by a general decrease in
pressure, can be considered the cause
of the overall negative seismic anomaly
observed. For this reason, the change in
gas saturation is chosen as the dynam-
ic property causing the 4D effect in the
prediction and the distance from the bi-
narized change in gas saturation is used
as predicted seismic output.
Although the distance parameteriza-
tion avoids some of the risks related to
forward modeling seismic attributes by
use of an uncertain petroelastic model
and the inversion process, the petro-
SenEx – Sensitivity Explorer
elastic model is often necessary to cal-
ibrate the threshold at which the pre- HOT Reservoir Solutions • hotrs@reservoirsolutions.com • hoteng.com
dicted anomaly is binarized. In fact,

JPT • APRIL 2018 97

 0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

8
6
4
2
0
–2
Fig. 1—Porosity (top row) and horizontal permeability (bottom row) from one layer of one realization extracted from
the prior ensemble (first column), from the updated ensemble in case PO (second column), and from the update in case
PS (third column).

posited within confined fairways. These channels is a series of unconfined tur- the ES-MDA update concerns only one
deepwater mass-transport facies are bidite deposits (flanks). The reservoir- channel (Channel A), the one with the
enclosed within hemipelagic shales. simulation model comprises different highest well density and where the
Located laterally to each of the main channel systems; however, in this study, 4D-seismic anomaly is strongest.

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 An ensemble of 100 realizations was perforated. The legend is in exponential aly is taken into account. In fact, the
built as Gaussian realizations, though values. In both cases, the updated real- real added value of adding 4D seis-
not always respecting the constraints ization shows features similar to those mic in the observations is improving
from 3D seismic. Production and in- of the prior. the areal distribution of the time-lapse
jection take place for 6.5 years; the Cases PO and PS present similar re- change in gas saturation. Improv-
base seismic is available at time zero, sults in terms of production mismatch; ing the gas-saturation distribution by
while two monitors are acquired at the that is to be expected, because in the use of 4D seismic does not affect the
end of the two different cases and are seismic cost function, only the dis- quality of the production-data his-
compared: one where only production tance to the front of the 4D gas anom- tory matching. JPT
data are assimilated (bottomhole pres-
sures, oil and water production, for-
mation pressures, and gas production)
and another where the same produc-
tion data are assimilated with seismic
data reparameterized as distance to
the gas-front anomaly. The first case

61.9
is called production only (PO), where-
as the second case is called production
and seismic (PS). In both cases, the pa-
rameters to update include porosity;
permeability; net/gross ratio; Corey co-
efficients for relative permeabilities of
oil, water and gas; critical gas satura-
tion; aquifer strength; fault transmissi-
bility multipliers; and flow-region mul-
tipliers. Fig. 7 of the complete paper
shows the production plots for the two
cases from four different randomly se-
lected wells. The overall match is satis-
fying from both cases. Matching forma-
tion pressures is always quite difficult;

MMcfd
however, the updated ensembles pres-
ent improvements in matching these
measurements with respect to the pre-
vious ensemble.
Another way to evaluate the overall
performance of the history-matching
process is to sum up the single cost INITIAL
functions, but instead of summing with
respect to all ensemble members, sum- PRODUCTION
ming with respect to all the wells and
obtaining a value for each ensemble RATE
member. The distribution can be repre-
sented by a box plot.
In order to validate the quality of the KRYPTOSPHERE LD ultra-conductive, low-density ceramic
history matching, it is necessary to look proppant technology has improved the well economics of a
at the updated geology and make sure 13,500ft vertical depth gas well in the Utica–making it one of
that it is consistent with the prior infor- the highest producing wells in the region.
mation and that the final model makes
geological sense. Fig. 1 compares po- The numbers speak for themselves
rosity (top row) and horizontal perme- For more production enhancing technologies that improve
ability (bottom row) from one layer of your initial production, EUR and ROI numbers, talk to CARBO.
one realization extracted from the prior
ensemble (first column), from the up-
dated ensemble in case PO (second col- Read the full story
umn), and from the update in case PS carboceramics.com/utica
(third column). This layer has been cho-
sen because it is the one most-densely

JPT • APRIL 2018 99

 PEOPLE
BRADY M. MURPHY, SPE, was appointed
president and COO of Tetra Technologies.
He will report to Tetra CEO Stuart M.
Brightman and succeeds him as president.
Murphy has more than 35 years of global
operations, engineering, manufacturing,
and business development experience in a
variety of areas within the energy industry, including deep
water, mature fields, and unconventional assets. Most recent-
ly, he served as CEO at Paradigm Group. Before this role, he
held executive positions at Halliburton, including senior vice
president of business development and marketing, senior vice
president Europe/Sub-Saharan Africa region, vice president
Sperry Drilling Services, vice president of supply chain and
management systems, vice president of global manufacturing,
In Memoriam
This section lists with regret SPE members who recently
passed away. If you would like to report the passing of a
family member who was an SPE member, please write to
service@spe.org.
Virgil H. Barfield, Huntsville, Texas, USA
Ted Collins Jr., Midland, Texas, USA
John E. Diller, Round Rock, Texas, USA
George V. Lange, San Antonio, Texas, USA
John S. Lea, Aberdeen, UK
Jorgen R. Liboriussen, Gentofte, Denmark
David M. Wilson, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
J. ROGER HITE, SPE regional director
for the Gulf Coast North America
region, died 15 February. He was the
founder and principal at Inwood
Solutions. Hite was also the owner of
Blackhorse Energy, and previously
operated the Business Fundamentals
Group. Earlier, he worked at Shell Oil in numerous roles,
serving as engineering manager, manager of production
technology, and director of production research, and
retired from the company in 1999. A Distinguished
Member of SPE, he received the SPE Management and
Information award in 2008. He worked closely with the
SPE Gulf Coast Section for many years, including as
chairman during 2006–2007. He helped guide the SPE
Digital Energy Conference and Exhibition from its
formation and served as co-chair in 2008. Hite helped
organize and chaired several workshops on digital
energy topics in Houston and Brazil. He published many
SPE papers on management topics, both in enhanced oil
recovery and digital energy. He held a bachelor’s degree
from Tulane University, and master’s and doctorate
degrees from Princeton, all in chemical engineering.
100
and director of product sales division. He is an active member
of SPE and served as co-chairman of the 2010 SPE Intelligent
Energy Conference and Exhibition. Murphy holds a BS in
chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and
is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced
Management Program.
CHUN HUH, SPE, retired research professor
in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum
and Geosystems Engineering at the Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin (UT PGE), was elected
to the National Academy of Engineering for
2018. Huh is recognized for enhancing the
understanding of ultralow interfacial ten-
sions of oil/surfactant/water systems. He served as a research
professor at UT PGE from 2004 to 2016. A Distinguished Mem-
ber of SPE, Huh is a past winner of the SPE Improved Oil Recov-
ery Pioneer Award. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, and a PhD in
chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota.
MUKUL SHARMA, SPE, professor in the Hil-
debrand Department of Petroleum and
Geosystems Engineering at the University
of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) was elected
to the National Academy of Engineering for
2018. He is recognized for his contributions
to the science and technology of production
from unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. Sharma has
been on the UT Austin faculty for more than 30 years, serving
as chair of the Hildebrand Department from 2001 to 2005. A
Distinguished Member of SPE, Sharma has received several
SPE accolades, including the John Franklin Carll Award in 2017,
the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal in 2009, and the SPE Faculty
Distinguished Achievement Award in 2004. He holds a BTech
in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Kan-
pur, India; and a MS in chemical engineering and PhD in petro-
leum engineering from University of Southern California.
RAMONA GRAVES, SPE’s Director for Aca-
demia, and JANEEN JUDAH, 2017 SPE Pres-
ident, were honored at the first Oil and Gas
Investor event honoring women in the in-
dustry. Graves, who is dean of the College of
Earth Resource Sciences and Engineering
and a petroleum engineering professor at
Graves
the Colorado School of Mines, received the
Pinnacle Award for lifetime achievement
and contributions to the industry. Judah,
who has carved out a distinguished career
at Chevron, was named one of the “25 In-
fluential Women in Energy.” Graves has an
extensive background in multidisciplinary
Judah
reservoir characterization, rock mechan-
JPT • APRIL 2018
 ics, environmental issues in petroleum development and pro-
duction, and high-power-laser-rock-fluid interaction. She has
taught industry short courses on these topics throughout the
US, South America, Australia, Russia, the Far East, and Eu-
rope. She is a Distinguished Member of SPE and has served on
SPE’s Academic Advisory Committee. Judah held several Chev-
ron leadership positions including general manager for Chev-
ron’s Southern Africa Business Unit, president of Chevron En-
vironmental Management Company, and general manager of
Reservoir and Production Engineering for Chevron Energy
Technology Company. Before joining Chevron, she worked
for Texaco and Arco in various upstream petroleum engineer-
ing positions. She has held many SPE leadership positions, in-
cluding SPE International Vice President Finance, on the SPE
Board as director of the Gulf Coast North America Region,
and chaired both the Gulf Coast and Permian Basin sections.
She is a Distinguished Member of SPE and received the Distin-
guished Service Award in 2010.

SPE NEWS

Members Invited To Comment on Hydraulic

Fracturing Report
SPE is inviting comments from members
on a draft technical report titled Hydrau-
lic Fracture Well-to-Well Communication.
This draft report aims to present a
comprehensive, technical cause-and-
effect review on the subject of fracture-
driven interactions, including their
causes, types, and expected consequenc-
es, and recommendations for operators
and vendors. Presentation of actual case
studies based on thoroughly examined
experiences are included to better assist
in the prevention of damage, produc-
tion losses, and environmental releases.
Conclusions will be framed and reported
within the individual bodies of discussion
and demonstrated by actual field data or
previously published information.
SPE and the subject matter experts who
authored the draft encourage members
to review the proposed technical report
and submit comments and feedback by
30 April 2018. To view the report, please go
to www.spe.org/publications/techreports/.

SPE Subsea Well

Intervention Symposium
7–9 August 2018 Galveston Convention Center
Galveston, Texas, USA

Participate in a new subsea intervention event

For more information, visit www.spe.org/go/SubseaIntervention

For sponsorships and exhibit opportunities, please

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 SPE EVENTS
WORKSHOPS
10–11 April ◗ Galveston—SPE Well Integrity
Excellence in a Low Oil Price Environment
17–18 April ◗ Kuala Lumpur—
SPE Resource Estimation, Definition,
and Production Forecasting
2–3 May ◗ Abu Dhabi—SPE/EAGE The
Future of Geomechanics in Brownfields
and Unconventionals
7–8 May ◗ Abu Dhabi—SPE Sustainability
Through Smarter Well Integrity
7–8 May ◗ Kuala Lumpur—SPE Slim Hole
Drilling and Completion—The Way Forward
8–10 May ◗ San Antonio—SPE Shale
Development Optimization—The Quest
for Efficiency and Profitability
9–10 May ◗ Manama—SPE Unconventionals
in the Middle East: Potential, Challenges,
and Opportunities
6–8 June ◗ Bengaluru—SPE Digitalisation:
Driving Data to Decisions
19–20 June ◗ Bucharest—SPE Well
Integrity in Mature Fields: Challenges
and Perspectives
19–20 June ◗ Galveston—SPE Smart
Integration in Production System Modeling
28–30 August ◗ Denver—SPE Fiber-Optic
Sensing Applications for Well, Reservoir,
and Asset Management
18–19 September ◗ Calgary—SPE/WIA
Well Abandonment and Integrity
CONFERENCES
14–18 April ◗ Tulsa—SPE Improved Oil
Recovery Conference
16–18 April ◗ Abu Dhabi—SPE International
Conference and Exhibition on Health,
Safety, Security, Environment, and Social
Responsibility
17 April ◗ Calgary—SPE/CHOA Slugging It
Out Conference
Find complete listings of upcoming SPE workshops, conferences, symposiums, and forums at www.spe.org/events.
104
17–18 April ◗ New Orleans— 23–25 October ◗ Brisbane—SPE Asia
SPE/IADC Managed Pressure Drilling and Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition
Underbalanced Operations Conference
24–26 October ◗ Astana—SPE Annual
and Exhibition
Caspian Technical Conference and
18 April ◗ Bergen—SPE Norway Exhibition
One Day Seminar
22–26 April ◗ Garden Grove—SPE Western
SYMPOSIUMS
Regional Meeting
23–26 April ◗ Dammam—SPE-KSA Annual
30 April–3 May ◗ Houston—Offshore Technical Symposium and Exhibition
Technology Conference
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Research and Development Petroleum of Unconventional Resources
Conference and Exhibition
4–6 September ◗ Aberdeen—
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featured at 80th EAGE Conference and for Upstream Innovation
Exhibition
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Oilfield Corrosion Conference and
Exhibition
FORUMS
20–21 June ◗ Aberdeen—SPE International
Oilfield Scale Conference and Exhibition
8–13 July ◗ Colorado Springs—SPE
25–27 June ◗ Port of Spain—SPE Trinidad Drilling and Completion Geomechanics—
and Tobago Section Energy Resources Integrating Knowledge and Workflows to
Maximize Asset Value
Conference
23–25 July ◗ Houston—SPE/AAPG/SEG 26–30 November ◗ San Antonio—
Unconventional Resources Technology SPE Carbon Capture, Utilization and
Sequestration
Conference
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Exhibition
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◗ Abu Dhabi
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Technical Conference and Exhibition
International Petroleum Technology
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Petroleum Technology Conference Deadline: 31 May
16–18 October ◗ Muscat—SPE International
Hydraulic Fracturing Technology
Conference and Exhibition
JPT • APRIL 2018
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