Summer Internship Report 2019

Internee: Talha Zubair Khan

Program: B.E in Mechatronics Engineering
Institution: Department of Mechatronics Engineering, NUST
College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Field: Missa Keswal Oil Field
Dated: 6th of August 2019
Contents
1. Introduction
Field Description
a. History
b. Geology and Drilling
c. Location and Physical Description
d. Operations
2. Conducted Work
a. Production
b. Dispatch
c. Observations
3. Conclusion
 1. Introduction
The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) is a publicly
traded multinational oil and gas exploration and production company, listed
both on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, and on the London Stock Exchange. The
majority shares of the company are held by the Government of Pakistan (74%),
leading to it becoming a state-owned enterprise. The OGDCL operates
independently (and as joint ventures) numerous oil and gas fields throughout
the country, supplying hydrocarbons to various organizations such as the Attock
Refinery Limited.
As part of its CSR program, the OGDCL offers a large number of
internships every year. I was fortunate enough to be selected for such an
internship. I was assigned to the Missa Keswal Oil Field, located
approximately 7 Km from the town of Gujar Khan, in Rawalpindi district. This
was a four-week internship, beginning on the 10th of July 2019, and ending on
the 6th of August 2019. In this report, I present the observations and experiences
that I had during my internship.

2. Field Description
a. History
The Missa Keswal oil field came into active production in the 1990s, after
unsuccessful initial exploration and drilling in the 1980s. Its initial proven reserves
were 37.650 MMSTB and 27.9 BSCF, though these have depleted over time, since
the field has been in active production for more than two decades. Initially, two to
three wells were in production, but over time, as reserves were depleted,
production from two wells stopped, leading to only one well currently being in
active production, well MK # 2.
b. Geology and Drilling
Although this is no longer an active drilling site, it is interesting to
understand the geology of the field, and how the wells were drilled. The
petrography of Pakistan splits the countries into multiple basins and formations,
depending on the different types of rock formations. There are two main
sedimentary basins in Pakistan. The Indus basin (which is separated into the upper,
middle and lower Indus basins), and the Baluchistan basin. These basins are further
differentiated into different types of formations. The Missa Keswal Oil Field lies in
the Indus basin, and consists of a variety of formations. For example, well 2 had
been drilled into a Jutana formation, while well 1 had been drilled into a Murree
formation. During the initial geological survey, there is a preference for porous,
permeable rocks, rather than impermeable rocks, as the former act like a sponge,
containing channels which allow the oil to be pumped up. Oil is usually found
trapped in pockets of impermeable rocks. After the survey, onshore drilling can be
done by two types of rigs:
 Percussion Drilling: Dropping a chiseled, heavy metal tool into the
ground repeatedly, which will eventually drill a hole to the desired
depth. This is the commonest types of drilling.
 Horizontal Drilling: The well inclines (beneath the surface), according
to the required angle, instead of being vertically down.
Two types of well are drilled after the survey:
 First, Exploratory wells are drilled. These are used to determine the
properties of the reservoir, its hydrocarbon reserves, physical
parameters, and other required parameters to judge if commercial
extraction is economically feasible. The DST (Drill Stem Test) is
done on this well to determine the pressure, permeability and
productive capacity of the formation.
 Once the exploratory well yield favorable results, Developmental
wells are dug. These are the wells which eventually produce the
hydrocarbons.
Finally, there are three main stages of recovery:
 Primary: This is when the hydrocarbons naturally rise to the surface
due to factors such as water column displacement, natural gas etc.
 Secondary: This is when natural mechanisms are insufficient to push
the oil out of the ground, and artificial mechanisms are adopted, such
as the oil pumpjacks (which are one of the oil industry’s most
ubiquitous symbols).
 Tertiary: This is when chemicals are injected into the oil to enhance
its mobility, so that it rises to the surface more easily, such as using
steam injection or carbon dioxide injection.
Most wells in Pakistan, including the wells in Missa Keswal, are currently in the
primary recovery phase. Well no 1 and 3 are have been terminated after the
primary phase since secondary recovery is not economically feasible.
 c. Location and physical description
The oilfield is located off the GT road, around 7 Km from Gujar Khan. The
compound is surrounded by a bumpy, grassy topography on all sides, with brick
and limestone kilns nearby, which effectively purchase the small gas production
from the field. Inside the compound, the following subsections exist:
 The Dispatch area: This is where crude oil tanker park, to be filled with oil.
 The Residential area: This is where the staff of the oil field reside
 Well MK # 1: This is where well 1 is located (although it is no longer
operational). Adjacent to it, are all of the other equipment essential for the
oilfield, such as the separators which separate gas from the oil and water
mixture coming from well 2. As well as the dedicated gas separator which
measures the flow of gas going to the kilns, so that they can be charged
accordingly.
 The marketing, instrumentation, and other workshops
 The Operational Manager’s office
 The Generator: This is a 200-kW gas generator which runs on gas produced
from well 2, and powers the whole site, as well as various small villages
around the compound.
 The Stores
 The Mosque
 Well MK # 2: This is located roughly Km from the main compound. This is
the only well in operation.
 Production tanks: These store the crude oil production from well 2, before
dispatch
 d. Operations
Currently, Missa Keswal is
a production oilfield,
meaning that only
hydrocarbon production is
occurring here; no drilling
or exploration. As such, the
production process is fairly
simple. As only well 2 is in
production, the description
of the production process
will focus on it. Atop the
wellbore of well 2, there is
a surface facility known as
the Christmas tree. This is
a structure which contains
the necessary valves and
gages to monitor and
control the flow from well
2. The Christmas tree
houses the following
valves and gages:
 Sub Surface Safety
Valve (SSSV): this is used
to isolate the reservoir from
the surface in case of an
emergency.
 The Upper and Lower
Master valves: Generally,
always open to allow flow
from the well
 Wing valves: The right-hand wing valve is used to allow the flow to
reach the production facilities (after going through the choke
manifold), hence is called the production wing valve. The left-hand
 wing valve is called the kill wing valve and is used for the injection of
fluids.
 The Swab valve, located at the top, which is used for well
interventions
 Temperature gage, Pressure gage.
After the Christmas tree, the oil, gas
and water mix reach the choke
manifold. This is a series of valves
which is used to direct the flow either
to the separators, or the pit. After the
choke manifold, the flow is either
discarded into the pit (usually to clear
the pipes of debris) or it reaches the
separator. Inside the separator, the
natural gas is separated from the liquid,
and enters a separate pipeline, which
takes it for use inside the compound,
and to the kilns. The liquid flows
through pipes to the grounded storage
tanks. There are four storage tanks,
numbered 1,2,4, and 5. The incoming
production can be directed into any of
these tanks by opening or closing the
respective valves. The tanks have a
dead capacity of 20,000 L, and a
maximum capacity of 80,000L. Once
any one active tank is full, the flow is
diverted into another tank, while the
initial tank is left for a while, for the
water to settle to the bottom and the oil
to rise to the top. The water is then
drained through the drainage valve,
leaving only pure crude oil. Every 4 to
5 days, an NLC tanker (40,000L or 46,000L) arrives at the dispatch terminal. The
crude oil is then pumped into the tanker, using the following procedure:
  The tanker is inspected, making sure that none of the outlet valves are open.
The tanker is also grounded.
 Then, the diesel-powered pumps are switched on, and their rpms are
adjusted. Then, the production valve of the tank to be dispatched is opened.
This allows the pump to pump the oil into the tanker.
 In around 40 to 50 minutes, the tanker is full. Throughout this period, the
level of the tanker is checked by the dispatcher using a graduated metal dip
rod. This is compared to the maximum dip value written inside the tanker’s
documentation, to ensure that there is no over or under filling.
 Once the tanker is full, and the dispatcher, security guard, and driver are
satisfied with the dip, OGDCL issued seals are placed on all the valves, to
ensure that there is no stealing of oil. The pumps are then shut and the tanker
exits the compound, headed for the Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) in
Morga. While the tanker was filling up, the required paperwork was also
filled by the dispatcher.
This concludes the production operations inside the oilfield.
3. Conducted Work

a. Production
Regarding production, the main work I conducted was to check the various
gage values (temperature and pressure) of the separator and well 1. In
addition, the four storage tanks also had dip sticks to measure their levels,
which is also an activity I conducted. In addition, I also conducted a transfer
of oil from one drained tank into another, using the production valves.

b. Dispatch
During the dispatch process, I participated in the following activities:
 1. Checking the tanker to make sure that all the valves were closed.
2. Checking the level of the tanker using the dip stick
3. Taking readings off the digital flow, specific gravity, and temperature
meter.
4. Filling the Dispatch Challan. This involved the following:
a. Various parameters including temperature, volume, reduction in
volume, Specific Gravity (SG), and volume in barrels were
calculated and written into multiple copies and registers for record
keeping. The SG at 60F was calculated using:
SG@60 = (Measured temp - 60)* 0.0004 + SG@ measured temp
b. Here 0.0004 is the volumetric thermal expansion coefficient for
crude oil per 1-degree F
c. This was looked up in a table to determine the volume reduction
coefficient, which was used to scale the volume of the tank
(40000) to volume at 60F, which is the volume actually sold to
ARL.
d. The volume in barrels was determined by:
actual volume in L / 158.9873
5. Placing the seals on the tanker
All of these activities were done on a regular basis.
c. Observations
In addition to all of the practical work, there was also a lot of observation
into the workings of the different machinery and equipment present on site.
For example, the generator operation and start up process, the separator’s
operation, the calibration of a gas separator using a pneumatic deadweight
tester. In addition, theoretical knowledge regarding the well’s operation was
also learnt, as presented in previous sections.

4. Conclusion
In conclusion, this internship opportunity at the OGDCL Missa Keswal Oil
Field taught me a lot about how the oil and gas industry operates, ranging from
the different types of equipment used to ensure a steady and safe supply of
hydrocarbons, to an understanding of the theory behind the operations of the oil
field. In addition, I also observed that there was a lot of potential for automation
in this oil field, for example, automated systems can be used to check the
storage tanks’ levels, drain the tanks, and open and close different valves based
on sensor readings from various equipment. Though as this is a field in its
depletion phase, such systems are probably not economically feasible. I hope to
utilize what I have learnt from my experiences here, into my future work.