Advanced Schedule of Articles
Coming in March issue...
MANAGED
PRESSURE DRILLING
To
properly use the Managed Pressure Drilling technique, a downhole
valve, placed within the drillstring is highly beneficial.
When combined with a rotating control device, drilling through
thief zones and drilling while producing becomes possible.
Using this combination of MPD techniques, authors from ConocoPhillips
and Weatherford describe how they drilled extreme high-rate
wells in an Indonesian gas field.
Using much
of the same equipment, combined with computer control and a very
sensitive flow meter for “micro-flux” control,
authors from Chevron and Secure Drilling detail a new MPD
method that was first used experimentally in 2006. This article tells
how it has worked on the first 40,000 feet of wells drilled. |
HIGH PRESSURE/HIGH
TEMPERATURE
Clear
brine completions. Seven years of experience completing
HPHT wells using cesium formate brines. Over 120 wells were
studied to produce this paper. The results are discussed
by authors from Statoil and Cabot Specialty Fluids. |
DEEPWATER
Downhole
vibration mitigation for Chevron’s TD-record
well in ultra-deepwater Walker Ridge field is accomplished
using FEA-optimized drillstring and BHA analysis performed
by Smith Technologies and the Smith Borehole Enlargement
group. The optimization procedure involved static and dynamic
modeling of the drillbit and BHA for each section of the
St. Malo 3 well.
Completing
extremely deep GOM wells for the Tahiti project
presented a problem for setting sump packers. Chevron needed
an alternative to tubing-conveyed hydrostatic packer setting.
Another issue was that common explosive-type wireline setting
tools have a hydrostatic pressure operational limit well
less than Tahiti’s 20,000 psi BHP. This article by
Halliburton and Chevron authors explains how these problems
were overcome using a downhole power unit on a wireline,
overcoming pressure and temperature constraints and saving
significant rig time. |
DRILLING
Casing
while drilling. Data from more than 250 wells
drilled with casing while drilling technology provide extensive
database for risk modeling and prediction. Authors from
Fidelity Exploration & Production, Tesco and Turnkey
E&P describe not only the benefits of casing while
drilling, but statistically show what works in a particular
application.
Friction
and wear of hard-face claddings for deep-hole drilling. Authors
from the University of Tennessee, Stoody and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory describe the correlation between friction and
wear of claddings and casings, and various factors effecting
cladding wear. The article suggests that the selection of
casing and cladding materials can affect sliding friction
as much as slurry composition can.
The
right fluid, hydraulics modeling and engineered sweeps make
drilling and completing a difficult well possible. Authors
from Mestena Operating and Halliburton tell how an engineering
approach to lost circulation issues helped eliminate the
need for a 7-in. intermediate string a well in Brooks County,
Texas. Two offset wells with similar profiles had lost the
battle to severe lost circulation in the Vicksburg sandstone,
requiring the operator to routinely factor in $500,000 per
well for intermediate casing. |
WELL
LOGGING AND FORMATION EVALUATION
Latest
advances in MWD and formation evaluation. This
is our well-received, annual wrap-up of new technology
in the areas of Logging While Drilling and Measuring While
Drilling technology. The author is a former vice president
of technology, and former editor of the SPWLA’s The
Log Analyst.
Single-phase
gas sampling. In vuggy formations in South Sumatra,
reservoir pressure is typically just above dewpoint. This
means that pressure must be maintained above dewpoint even
with sampling operations. Using a new oval pad pump-out formation
tester, with nitrogen gas charged sample bottles, good quality
samples were obtained in these difficult fields, as told
by authors from Halliburton and JOB Pertamina Hess. |
GEOLOGY/GEOPHYSICS
AVO has
arguably been the one of the most useful techniques ever
developed for looking at seismic data. There have been several
ways to employ it. This article overviews the methods of
Goodway, Shuey and Russell, among others, discusses the utility
of each method for the appropriate situation, and gives examples.
Paleobiology
as a driver in E&P activities. Two examples
of enhanced exploration potential from the Dutch Upper Jurassic
offshore Netherlands illustrate the point that this often
overlooked science can be an essential tool for the explorationist.
Authors from NTO-NITG discuss biostratigraphic techniques
to identify stratigraphic sequences of the Upper Jurassic,
a complicated non-marine-to-shallow-marine complex. Authors
use newly identified sequences to explain, in two examples,
the existence of only one economic oil field and the misplacement
of exploration wells, showing the importance of paleo-environmental
understanding for future exploration potential. |
RMOTC
More
than two dozen new technologies are being developed to take
advantage of the US’ new leasing program on federal
lands containing oil shale. Several of these are making it
to the pilot stage. The technology described here is a
novel situ natural gas injection and extraction method for
shale oil. The technology will be tested at the
RMOTC testing center. It uses natural gas in a new, closed
loop system to create the needed conditions for in situ conversion
of oil shale into oil and oily products.
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The February 2008 issue closes for advertising
on January 1, 2007. |
For
information contact: |
Ron Higgins, Publisher |
Mailing
Address:
World Oil
PO Box 2608
Houston, TX 77252 USA |
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Address:
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Houston, Texas 77046 USA |
Phone: (713) 529-4301; Fax: (713) 520-4433 |
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