Redevelopment of a Matured Multilayered Carbonate Offshore Field Through High Technology Horizontal and Multilateral Wells

2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (05) ◽  
pp. 453-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
S. Ramanan ◽  
J.L. Narasimham

Summary Oil productivity from Mumbai High field, an offshore multilayered carbonate reservoir, increased significantly through the implementation of a major redevelopment program. Geoscientific information available from approximately 700 exploratory and develop- ment wells drilled in the field during nearly 25 years was incorporated during geological and reservoir simulation modeling of the field. High-technology drilling (viz. horizontal/multilaterals for the new development wells) was adopted on field scale to effectively address typical complexity of the layered carbonate reservoirs. Since the commencement of the project in 2000, approximately 140 new wells were drilled, mostly with horizontal and multilateral drainholes. Besides these, more than 70 suboptimal producers were also converted as horizontal sidetracks under brownfield development. The horizontal sidetracks were drilled as long-drift sidetrack (LDST), extended-reach drilling (ERD), LDST-ERD, short-drift sidetrack (SDST), and medium-radius drainhole (MRDH) types of wells through the application of innovative and emerging drilling technologies with nondamaging drilling fluids, whipstocks to kick off sidetrack wells, rotary-steering systems, and expandable tubulars to complete horizontal sidetracks in lower layers. With the implementation of this project, the declining trend was fully arrested and a significant upward trend in production has been established. Introduction The field redevelopment process requires the intergration of reservoir-development strategies, facility options, and drilling and production philosophies to maximize oil and gas recovery from a matured field. A significant number of case studies are available on mature field revitalization using a multidisciplinary team concept, exhaustive geo-scientific data analysis, and new drilling technologies (Chedid and Colmenares 2002; Clark et al. 2000; Dollens et al. 1999; Kinchen et al. 2001). Advancements in drilling and completion technology have enabled construction of horizontal wells with longer wellbores, more-complex well geometry, and sophisticated completion designs. Horizontal wells provide an effective method to produce bypassed oil from matured fields. In the early 1980s, this technology was in the development stage and was used in limited applications. By the 1990s, the technology had matured, and its acceptance in the industry had increased significantly. Performance of horizontal/multilateral wells, risk assessment of horizontal-well productivity and comparison of horizontal- and vertical-well performance in different fields is available in literature (Babu and Aziz 1989; Brekke and Thompson 1996; Economides et al. 1989; Joshi 1987; Joshi and Ding 1995; Mukherjee and Economides 1991; Norris et al. 1991; Vij et al. 1998). A significant number of horizontal/multilateral development wells were drilled as a part of redevelopment of Mumbai High, a matured multilayered carbonate offshore field in Western India. The details of new technologies applied and performance of these new high-technology wells are presented in this paper. Besides comparison of well productivity of horizontal and conventional sidetrack wells, this paper presents some technical issues faced.

MRS Bulletin ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph E.H. Sims

AbstractSome forms of renewable energy have long contributed to electricity generation, whereas others are just emerging. For example, large-scale hydropower is a mature technology generating about 16% of global electricity, and many smaller scale systems are also being installed worldwide. Future opportunities to improve the technology are limited but include upgrading of existing plants to gain greater performance efficiencies and reduced maintenance. Geothermal energy, widely used for power generation and direct heat applications, is also mature, but new technologies could improve plant designs, extend their lifetimes, and improve reliability. By contrast, ocean energy is an emerging renewable energy technology. Design, development, and testing of a myriad of devices remain mainly in the research and development stage, with many opportunities for materials science to improve design and performance, reduce costly maintenance procedures, and extend plant operating lifetimes under the harsh marine environment.


1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-198
Author(s):  
Allen Boysen ◽  
Paul Haber

The normal process of swallowing is an extremely complicated and highly integrated process, only part of which is under voluntary control. The normal process of swallowing requires that the neuromuscular structure, the cartilaginous and bony elements and their innervation will be intact. A number of high technology and semitechnology procedures have been developed which will help elucidate the cause of the swallowing problem. These include: videofluoroscopy, scintigraphy, manometry, fiberoptic endoscopy, ultra-sound, and clinical auscultation. A deglutition team consisting of otolaryn-gologist, neurologist, speech-language pathologist, radiologist, nurse practitioner, and dietitian can have a major impact on determining the cause of the swallowing dificulty and correcting it.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Kirollos ◽  
Roderick Lubbock ◽  
Paul Beard ◽  
Frédéric Goenaga ◽  
Anton Rawlinson ◽  
...  

This paper describes a new engine-parts facility at the University of Oxford for high technology-readiness-level research, new technology demonstration, and for engine component validation. The Engine Component AeroThermal (ECAT) facility has a modular working section which houses a full annulus of engine components. The facility is currently operated with high-pressure nozzle guide vanes from a large civil jet-engine. A high degree of engine similarity is achieved, with matched conditions of Mach number, Reynolds number, and coolant-to-mainstream pressure ratio. For combustor-turbine interaction studies, a combustor simulator module is used, which is capable of both rich-burn and lean-burn combined temperature, swirl and turbulence profiles. The facility is being used for aerothermal optimisation research (e.g., novel cooling systems, aerodynamic optimisation problems, capacity sensitivity studies), computational fluid dynamics validation (aerodynamic predictions, conjugate predictions), and for component validation to accelerate the engine design process. The three key measurement capabilities are: capacity characteristic evaluation to a precision of 0.02%; overall cooling (metal) effectiveness measurements (using a rainbow set of parts if required); and aerodynamic loss evaluation (with realistic cooling, trailing-edge flow etc.). Each of these three capabilities have been separately developed and optimised in other facilities at the University of Oxford in the last 10 years, to refine aspects of facility design, instrumentation design, experimental technique, and theoretical aspects of scaling and reduction of experimental data. The ECAT facility brings together these three research strands with a modular test vehicle for rapid high technology-readiness-level research, demonstration of new technologies, and for engine component validation. The purpose of this paper is to collect in one place — and put in context — the work that led to the development of the ECAT facility, to describe the facility, and to illustrate the accuracy and utility of the techniques by presenting typical data for each of the key measurements. The ECAT facility is a response to the changing requirements of experimental turbomachinery testing, and it is hoped this paper will be of interest to engine designers, researchers, and those involved in major facility developments in both research institutes and engine companies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajar Ali Abdulla Al Shehhi ◽  
Bondan Bernadi ◽  
Alia Belal Zuwaid Belal Al Shamsi ◽  
Shamma Jasem Al Hammadi ◽  
Fatima Omar Alawadhi ◽  
...  

Abstract Reservoir X is a marginal tight gas condensate reservoir located in Abu Dhabi with permeability of less than 0.05 mD. The field was conventionally developed with a few single horizontal wells, though sharp production decline was observed due to rapid pressure depletion. This study investigates the impact of converting the existing single horizontal wells into single long horizontal, dual laterals, triple laterals, fishbone design and hydraulic fracturing in improving well productivity. The existing wells design modifications were planned using a near reservoir simulator. The study evaluated the impact of length, trajectory, number of laterals and perforation intervals. For Single, dual, and triple lateral wells, additional simulation study with hydraulic fracturing was carried out. To evaluate and obtain effective comparisons, sector models with LGR was built to improve the simulation accuracy in areas near the wellbore. The study conducted a detailed investigation into the impact of various well designs on the well productivity. It was observed that maximizing the reservoir contact and targeting areas with high gas saturation led to significant increase in the well productivity. The simulation results revealed that longer laterals led to higher gas production rates. Dual lateral wells showed improved productivity when compared to single lateral wells. This incremental gain in the production was attributed to increased contact with the reservoir. The triple lateral well design yielded higher productivity compared to single and dual lateral wells. Hydraulic fracturing for single, dual, and triple lateral wells showed significant improvement in the gas production rates and reduced condensate banking near the wellbore. A detailed investigation into the fishbone design was carried out, this involved running sensitivity runs by varying the number of branches. Fishbone design showed considerable increment in production when compared to other well designs This paper demonstrates that increasing the reservoir contact and targeting specific areas of the reservoir with high gas saturation can lead to significant increase in the well productivity. The study also reveals that having longer and multiple laterals in the well leads to higher production rates. Hydraulic fracturing led to higher production gains. Fishbone well design with its multiple branches showed the most production again when compared to other well designs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed AlJanahi ◽  
Feras Altawash ◽  
Hassan AlMannai ◽  
Sayed Abdelredy ◽  
Hamed Al Ghadhban ◽  
...  

Abstract Geomechanics play an important role in stimulation design, especially in complex tight reservoirs with very low matrix permeability. Robust modelling of stresses along with rock mechanical properties helps to identify the stress barriers which are crucial for optimum stimulation design and proppant allocation. Complex modeling and calibration workflow showcased the value of geomechanical analysis in a large stimulation project in the Ostracod-Magwa reservoir, a complicated shallow carbonate reservoir in the Bahrain Field. For the initial model, regional average rock properties and minimum stress values from earlier frack campaigns were considered. During campaign progression, advanced cross dipole sonic measurements of the new wells were incorporated in the geomechanical modeling which provided rock properties and stresses with improved confidence. The outputs from wireline-conveyed microfrac tests and the fracturing treatments were also considered for calibration of the minimum horizontal stress and breakdown pressure. The porepressure variability was established with the measured formation pressure data. The geomechanically derived horizontal stresses were used as input for the frack-design. Independent fracture geometry measurements were run to validate the model. The poro-elastic horizontal strain approach was taken to model the horizontal stresses, which shows better variability of the stress profile depending on the elastic rock properties. The study shows variable depletion in porepressure across the field as well as within different reservoir layers. The Ostracod reservoir is more depleted than Magwa, with porepressure values lower than hydrostatic (∼7 ppg). The B3 shale layer in between the Magwa and Ostracod reservoirs is a competent barrier with 1200-1500psi closure pressure. The closure pressures in the Ostracod and Magwa vary from 1000-1500psi and 1100-1600psi, respectively. There is a gradual increasing trend observed in closure pressure in Magwa with depth, but no such trend is apparent in the shallower Ostracod formation. High resolution stress profiles help to identify the barriers within each reservoir to place horizontal wells and quantify the magnitude of hydraulic fracture stress barriers along horizontal wells. The geomechanical model served as a key part of the fracturing optimization workflow, resulting in more than double increase in wells productivity compared to previous stimulation campaigns. The study also helped to optimize the selection of the clusters depth of hydraulic fracturing stages in horizontal wells. The poroelastic horizontal strain approach to constrain horizontal stresses from cross dipole sonic provides better variability in the stress profile to ultimately yield high resolution. This model, calibrated with actual frac data, is crucial for stimulation design in complex reservoirs with very low matrix permeability. The geomechanical model serves as one of the few for shallow carbonates rock in the Middle East region and can be of significant importance to many other shallow projects in the region.


foresight ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hugo Hoffmann

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a panoramic view at the credibility issues that exist within social sciences research. Design/methodology/approach The central argument of this paper is that a joint effort between blockchain and other technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning and how they can prevent scientific data manipulation or data forgery as a way to make science more decentralized and anti-fragile, without losing data integrity or reputation as a trade-off. The authors address it by proposing an online research platform for use in social and behavioral science that guarantees data integrity through a combination of modern institutional economics and blockchain technology. Findings The benefits are mainly twofold: On the one hand, social science scholars get paired with the right target audience for their studies. On the other hand, a snapshot of the gathered data at the time of creation is taken so that researchers can prove that they used the original data set to peers in the future while maintaining full control of their data. Originality/value The proposed combination of behavioral economics with new technologies such as blockchain and AI is novel and translated into a cutting-edge tool to be implemented.


SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Gang Li ◽  
Lifeng Chen ◽  
Meilong Fu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Yadong Chen ◽  
...  

Summary Horizontal wells that are completed with slotted liners often suffer from a severe water-production problem, which is detrimental to oil recovery. It is because the annulus between the slotted liners and wellbore cannot be fully filled with common hydrogels with poor thixotropy, which determines the ultimate hydrogel filling shape in the annulus. This paper presents a novel hydrogel with high thixotropy to effectively control water production in horizontal wells. This study is aimed at evaluating the thixotropic performance, gelation time, plugging performance, and degradation performance. The thixotropic performance of the new hydrogel was also investigated by measuring its rheological properties and examining its microstructures. It was found that the new hydrogel thickened rapidly after shearing. Its thixotropic recovery coefficient was 1.747, which was much higher than those of traditional hydrogels. The gelation time can be controlled in the range of 2 to 8 hours by properly adjusting the concentrations of the framework material, crosslinker, and initiator. The hydrogel could be customized for mature oil reservoirs, at which it was stable for more than 90 days. A series of laboratory physical modeling tests showed that the breakthrough pressure gradient and the plugging ratio of the hydrogel in sandpacks were higher than 9.5 MPa/m and 99%, respectively. At the same time, it was found that the hydrogel has good degradation properties; the viscosity of the hydrogel breaking solution was 4.22 mPa·s. Freeze-etching scanning-electron-microscopy examinations indicated that the hydrogel had a uniform grid structure, which can be broken easily by shear and restored quickly. This led to the remarkable thixotropic performance. The formation of a metastable structure caused by the electrostatic interaction and coordination effect was considered to be the primary reason for the high thixotropy. The successful development of the new thixotropic hydrogel not only helps to control water production from the horizontal wells, but also furthers the thixotropic theory of hydrogel. This study also provides technical guidelines for further increasing the thixotropies of drilling fluids, fracturing fluids, and other enhanced-oil-recovery polymers that are commonly used in the petroleum industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Musaab I. Magzoub ◽  
Saeed Salehi ◽  
Ibnelwaleed Hussein ◽  
Mustafa Nasser

Abstract Loss circulation materials in the last two decades have witnessed a lot of developments and implementations. New technologies and materials are introduced to treat various types of loss zones. However, the success rate is still very low due to many uncertainties in the selection of types and particle size of the bridging materials. In addition, there are many operational restrictions such as the risk of plugging and pumping difficulties when large size of particle is needed, especially in deep-water drilling. In this study, polyacrylamide (PAM) crosslinked with polyethylenimine (PEI) is introduced as polymer-based mud for loss circulation treatment. The PAM/PEI systems have wide applications in water shutoff for high water production zones and are known for their strong gel and exceptional rheological properties. This study provides a rheological method for screening of PAM/PEI-based drilling formulation with optimized molecular weight and concentrations. Comparative analysis of rheology of non-crosslinked and crosslinked polyacrylamide with other drilling fluids additives as well as proper mixing procedures are provided. The results achieved in this study are used as a strong tool to design a polymer-based mud with competitive rheological properties which achieved an 80% reduction in fluid loss when compared with other conventional loss circulation materials.


SPE Journal ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (03) ◽  
pp. 252-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Ding ◽  
D. Longeron ◽  
G. Renard ◽  
A. Audibert

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