Advanced Schedule of Articles
Coming in May issue...
INTELLIGENT
WELLS
Optical
sensing technology and downhole flow measurement. Nexen Petroleum
UK Ltd. used this optical technology on its 13-well project
in the North Sea. The optical system consisted of pressure
monitoring, Distributed Temperature Sensors (DTS) and downhole
flowmeters. The in-well hardware consisted of the flowmeter,
the P/T sensor, the optical cable with a pre-integrated dry-mateable
optical connector, and cross-coupling cable protectors. The
surface data acquisition equipment provided interrogation of
sensors and data-handoff to the operators’ Data Management
System (DMS). Recorded DTS data allowed optimal selection of
gas lift valves.
Triple-zone
intelligent well completions. Plains Exploration and Production
Company and Chevron successfully completed triple-zone intelligent
well completions in its highly-fractured carbonate reservoir
in Rocky Point Field offshore California. Working alongside dedicated
gauges monitoring pressure and temperature, 3 ½-in. tubing-retrievable flow-control valves control these
triple-zone completions, with each zone isolated by multi-port
retrievable production packers. This article also describes modifications
to intelligent-completion parameters, as well as the feasibility
of deploying mandrel-cutting explosive jet cutters by pumping wireline-conveyed
assemblies to locator profiles above each packer—to avoid
costly deployment of tractors or CT. The effects of the cutting
operation on completions components are also discussed.
Dumpflooding,
by which fluids from one formation are allowed to flow into another
formation, has been used for years in Kuwait to provide reservoir
pressure support. As oil production matures, this method has
led to reservoir management challenges, including difficulties
with flood front control, water breakthrough, conformance management
and inability to quantify each well’s crossflow rate. In
early 2007, a West Kuwait well was completed as a controlled
dumpflood well using intelligent well technology. Using a variable
interval control valve, the amount of injection fluid is regulated,
while permanent downhole monitoring devices transmit pressure
data to surface, enabling evaluation of the flow rate. KOC and
WellDynamics tell the story. |
DEEPWATER
TECHNOLOGY
A
field-proven system for remotely connecting subsea bolted
flanges. Deepwater
operations in West Africa have required many flowline and pipeline
connections, using standard bolted flanges as a cost-effective
method for connecting them onshore and offshore. Authors from
Acergy will present their experience installing over 100 connections
and address the advantages that bolted flanges offer in deepwater
flowlines and pipelines, where expansion may be a critical
issue.
Riser
issues continue to challenge the industry as it
produces from fields in ever deeper water. This article will
address some of those issues with an example from a recent
deepwater installation.
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EXPLORATION
Drilling
mud additive potentially effects interpretation of hydrocarbon
show. Authors from ConocoPhillips Norge and the
University of Oslo determine whether the chemical composition
of a frequently used oil-based mud additive has overprinted
the hopane signature of an oil-slick sample in a well from
the northern North Sea. Overprinting could easily have resulted
in erroneous interpretations regarding age and depositional
environment of the source rock of the oil. This article demonstrates
that if one biomarker group from the mud additive overprints
that of the indigenous oil show, this does not preclude other
biomarker groups from truly representing the oil show if
you know what to do and what to look for.
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GEOLOGY/GEOPHYSICS
Seismic
market report. What is it that oil companies want?
Are the contractor’s answering their needs, or are they trying
to talk them into expensive new services and techniques.
What is the health of the “spec” survey market?
These are the sorts of questions that we asked oil companies
and contractors alike in this report; we have some interesting
answers.
Electromagnetics
go shallow: the next big thing? All of the major
EM contractors have been successful in deepwater. But the
technique did not normally work in shallow water. That has
changed. By way of “injecting” EM energy and
measuring the resistance in different domains, together with
the use of some heavy-duty mathematics, many of the obstacles
to shallow-water acquisition have been overcome. Now, all
off the major EM contractors have developed or recently purchased
a shallow water component. This report describes how the
various methods work and their current state of use and development.
Mapping
alteration caused by hydrocarbon microseepages using image spectroscopy
and hyperspectral remote sensing. Using NASA’s Hyperion
hyperspectral imaging sensors, this project has developed spectral
and geochemical ground truthing techniques to identify and map
alterations caused by hydrocarbon micro-seepages and to determine
their relationships to the underlying geology in the Patrick
Draw area of Southwest Wyoming, the Garza oilfield in Texas and
Lisbon valley, Utah. Training the classification of satellite
imagery with known spectral inputs from samples resulted in the
successful identification of an anomalous zone. Geochemical characteristics
of samples that defined this anomalous zone were then compared
to the remaining non-anomalous samples using XRD, ICP, spectroscopy
and carbon isotope techniques. |
RMOTC
High-resolution
seismic on shallow reservoirs. Authors from Brigham
Young University and RMOTC demonstrate how high-resolution
seismic surveys furnish a clearer picture of shallow reservoirs,
as well as of the relationship between deep and shallow faults
using Teapot Dome in Wyoming as a test case. High-resolution
imaging is important in cases of shallow reservoirs, where
understanding compartmentalization of production, fluid communication
and continuity of structures is critical.
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ARTIFICIAL
LIFT
Part
2 of our popular, annual wrap up on artificial lift systems
by our long-standing contributors, Herald Winkler
of Texas Tech University, Jim Lea of PL Tech LLC, and Robert
Snyder, consultant. This part focuses on the latest developments
in electrical submersible pumps (ESPs).
A
fail-safe, through-tubing capillary injection system for
offshore wells with SCSSV and SSV. Most artificial
lift methods to address liquid loading are not applicable
offshore due to the regulatory requirements of safety systems
such as an SCSSV (Surface Controlled Sub-Surface Safety Valve)
and an SSV (Surface Safety Valve), which would be impeded
by traditional artificial lift methods. Authors from BJ Services,
Chevron and Apache describe a fail-safe, through-tubing capillary
injection system that has been applied to two offshore wells
having an SCSSV and SSV. The wells maintained full compliance
and functionality of the SCSSV by using a specialized WRSCSSV
(Wireline-Retrievable Surface Controlled Sub-Surface Safety
Valve). The SSV was addressed through the application of
a unique wellhead adaptation called a Y-body. These two systems
were combined with a capillary foamer injection string that
allowed the well to flow at a lower bottomhole pressure.
Pressure
transient analysis on ESP lifting wells. Reservoir analysis on
wells that are produced using Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs)
had been a challenge due to downhole equipment restrictions that
prevent pressure-transient tests using commonly used acquisition
and interpretation methods. During the past few years, the intake
pressure acquired using downhole sensors, which is normally used
to monitor pump performance, had been used successfully to perform
pressure transient analysis on this type of well.
This article presents case studies from wells in a field in Ecuador—where
production optimization and enhancement opportunities were uncovered
as a result of pressure transient analysis using the data gathered
during both unscheduled and planned events on wells producing with
ESPs. Authors from Schlumberger and operator SIPEC tell the story. |
PRODUCED
WATER REPORT
Increasingly,
the National Oil Companies hold the majority of the world’s
remaining prospects, as well as access to most of the known
producing regions. As these NOCs have increasingly been acting
as International Oil Companies, the politics and motivation
of the NOCs come into play. Do companies like China’s
CNOC want to tie up acreage in international arenas to make
more money, or is it for strategic, national interests? And
how fair is it for a government-backed NOC to compete in
the same area as the shareholder-backed IOCs? These and other
questions will be explored in our five-page report.
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The May 2008 issue closes for advertising
on April 1, 2007. |
For
information contact: |
Ron Higgins, Publisher |
Mailing
Address:
World Oil
PO Box 2608
Houston, TX 77252 USA |
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Street
Address:
World Oil
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020
Houston, Texas 77046 USA |
Phone: (713) 529-4301; Fax: (713) 520-4433 |
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