DRILLING OUTLOOK

World Oil’s annual midyear forecast takes an updated look at drilling activity in North America.  Included in the forecast are special reports on activity in the US, Canada and Mexico. Forecasts are based on World Oil’s exclusive governmental and operator surveys. Unusually high oil and gas prices have provided operators with cash windfalls that they are plowing back into drilling and production enhancement, but how far can things go up? Is the activity curve flattening?.

The editor of The Land Rig Newsletter gives his midyear report to World Oil on land rig use in the US and Canada. US and Canadian operators continued to receive numerous newbuilds during this past year that were ordered earlier. Are we overbuilding? Meanwhile, Canada is recovering from what was earlier predicted to be a near meltdown. All this against a backdrop that, since gas production has languished, has kept prices high.

A report from ODS Petrodata examines the North American offshore rig market, with emphasis on trends in such markets as deepwater drilling in Mexico.

 SOUTHEAST ASIA REGIONAL REPORT

An international consultancy discusses the most recent Southeast Asia drilling and development activity, as well as governmental policy changes that affect the upstream oil and gas industry.

 UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES

Coalbed methane report. Based on World Oil surveys of US and Canadian coalbed methane well drilling activity, including permits and operator forecasts, this report provides the data needed to make informed judgments about the next 6 to 12 months.

Best drilling, completion and stimulation practices in coalbed methane reservoirs. Expansion of the coalbed methane (CBM) industry over the past three decades led to diverse drilling, completion and stimulation practices to address complex geologic settings and reservoir parameters encountered. Whether and where open cavity completions, hydraulic fracturing, horizontal and fishbone drilling patterns, and other technologies are used best and best used is the focus of this article, from authors at Texas A&M University.

Reservoir characteristics and production potential of the Woodford Shale. A regional overview of the potential for producing crude oil and gas from the Woodford Shale in the Southern Midcontinent, particularly in the Anadarko and Permian Basins. The author discusses source rock and lithologic properties, the geographic distribution of lithofacies, organic carbon and hydrogen content, thermal maturity and thickness, all of which are important in deciding where to drill.

Shale oil can be economic with $120 oil. More than 30 schemes for turning the US’s 1 trillion barrels of potential oil shale are being actively worked on. Several of these will break ground and be tested in pilots. This report focuses on many of the more promising technologies that might just provide an unconventional source of oil for the US.

Authors from Schlumberger and Suncor test the effectiveness of a Multiphase Flow Meter (MFM) composed of a Venturi and nuclear fraction meter combination used in SAGD well production surface-flowrate metering. The new hardware combination was redesigned to withstand temperatures exceeding 200°C; it could also measure steam properties, the fourth phase in the stream. The redesigned MFM also addresses the unpredictable emulsion caused by changing properties—watercut and liquid viscosity—formed by water in equilibrium with steam and highly viscous bitumen.

 SAND CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

Sand control for unconventional resources. The use of Wire-Wrapped Screens (WWS) has received increasing attention for SAGD applications given their large open flow areas and wide range of design features, sizes and materials. The C-FER Technology author will present several design considerations and guidelines for WWS, as well as propose a number of installation and operation loading scenarios for WWS performance assessment using advanced, non-linear finite element analyses.

Unique, customized sand control systems. The operator of Frade Field required some unusual, customized completion technology to solve difficult sand control problems. The field operator and BJ Services tell the story.

A new completion technique for horizontal water injectors has been developed using field-proven technology to improve injectivity, water-sweep and acid-injection efficiency. It also saves significant rig time. Premium sand control screens integrated with flow-control devices, deployed in one trip, provide equalization of horizontal water-injection profile, as well as efficient acid distribution. Equalized acid injection allows faster removal of filtercake. Authors from Baker Oil Tools present numerical simulation results showing the benefits of the injection-profile equalization, as well as highlights from the first application of this completion technology.

 DRILLING TECHNOLOGY

Authors from Hughes Christensen and Chevron apply depth-of-cut control when using large-diameter PDC bits drilling in Gulf of Mexico salt domes. By controlling bit vibrations, depth-of-cut control minimizes damage to surface and downhole tools, as well as reduces high stick-slip that contributes to downhole tool failure. By drilling large-diameter hole sections more efficiently, operators are able to reduce drilling time and substantially reduce drilling costs.

 PRODUCED WATER REPORT

Devon Canada required an artificial lift system suited for low-rate dewatering that would work effectively in a low-pressure and low-permeability reservoir. The gas well had been shut in for 6 years due to liquid loading. It required a dewatering device that would continue to operate in a pumped-off state. Production rates did not justify the expense of a pump jack or progressive cavity pump. Devon installed Global Energy’s Hydraulic Submersible Pump (HSP), resulting in steady increase of gas rate and decrease of water rate. Of particular benefit was the pump’s ability to continue operating without gas locking. .