JPT 2019-03 PDF

M A R C H 2 0 1 9 • VO LU M E 7 1 , N U M B E R 3 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
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CONTENTS
Volume 71 • Number 3
14 GUEST EDITORIAL • COMPLETION-SYSTEM

RELIABILITY: WHERE HAVE WE BEEN AND WHERE
ARE WE GOING?
All completion systems should enable the safe and profitable
extraction of reserves. To maximize the useful life of the completions
system, reliability of components, configurations, and processes
should be maximized.
17 SPECIAL SECTION: THE VALUE AND FUTURE

OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING
This 45-page special section pays tribute to petroleum engineers,
their technical achievements, and examines the issues that will
shape the profession in the near future.
17 Petroleum Engineering—The Best Profession
19 Meeting the World’s Energy Needs Through Innovation
and Insight Despite sweeping industry changes,
petroleum engineers remain
24 Did I Make the Right Career Choice?
dedicated to getting the most oil
27 The Challenge of Public Perception and gas out of the ground with the
smallest environmental footprint
32 Three Myths About the Oil and Gas Industry’s Future and ensuring that the world has
and How To Counter Them sufficient energy to improve quality
of life. Collage: Getty Images, SPE.
33 What Does the Data Revolution Offer the Oil Industry?
34 One Industry of Global Citizens
38 How the Oil and Gas Industry Is Contributing to Sustainability
40 How Oil Innovation Has Benefited Other Industries
44 Ten Technologies From the 1980s and 1990s That Made
Today’s Oil and Gas Industry
49 Engineering Miracles: A Short Distance Between Creation DEPARTMENTS
and Value to Society
6 Performance Indices
52 What Lies Ahead for Hydrocarbons in the Global Energy Mix?
8 Regional Update
55 Why We Matter 10 President’s Column
57 The X-Factor in PE: Women in the Industry 12 Comments
60 Petroleum: The Gift That Keeps On Giving 16 Technology Applications
61 All in the Family 89 SPE Events
94 SPE News
62 An Actionable Path for Oil and Gas in the Fight Against
95 Advertisers’ Index
Climate Change
96 Professional Services
An Official Publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Printed in US. Copyright 2019, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
We have the
64 ARTIFICIAL LIFT
superpower
Greg Stephenson, SPE, Senior Engineering Adviser,
Occidental Petroleum to see inside
65 Gas-Lift Operations Require Accurate Predictions of Downhole
Annulus Pressure
your well.
68 Study Evaluates Ability of Tailpipe Systems To Optimize Artificial Lift And like all good
in Horizontal Wells
70 Through-Tubing-Conveyed ESP Technology Overcomes North

superheroes, we’ll be
Slope Challenges right there when you
need us.
72 PRODUCTION MONITORING
Rohit Mittal, SPE, Reservoir Engineer VISURAY’s revolutionary VR90®
downhole X-ray diagnostic service is
73 Permanent Fiber-Optic System Monitors Oil-Rim Movement now available in Europe, the Middle
75 Surface-to-Borehole Electromagnetics Hold Promise East, and North America. In the North
for 3D Waterflood Monitoring Sea, our groundbreaking technology
has been qualified by a major operator.
77 Machine Learning Improves Accuracy of Virtual Flowmetering
and Back-Allocation Wherever your well and whatever its
condition, you can count on us to see
what’s happening and deliver quality
79 HIGH PRESSURE/HIGH TEMPERATURE
Robert Ziegler, SPE, Global Director, Well-Control Technology, images 100% of the time. A quick call
Weatherford to us is all it takes to put your well
back into operation. You save time and
80 Managed-Pressure Drilling Used Successfully for Offshore HP/HT money, while VISURAY saves the day.
Exploration Wells
82 Managed-Pressure Drilling Solves HP/HT Challenges Offshore Vietnam

visuray.com
84 Continuous-Circulation Technique Drills Narrow-Margin
Deepwater Wells
86 SEISMIC
Mark S. Egan, SPE, Consulting Geophysicist
87 Machine-Learning Approach Identifies Wolfcamp Reservoirs

90 4D Seismic With Reservoir Simulation Improves Reservoir Forecasting
92 4D Seismic Pilot Successfully Interprets Carbonate Reservoir
The complete SPE technical papers featured in this issue are available
free to SPE members for 2 months at www.spe.org/jpt.
SPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
2019 President
Sami Alnuaim, Saudi Aramco
2018 President
Darcy Spady, Independent Director
2020 President
Shauna Noonan, Occidental Petroleum
REGIONAL DIRECTORS
AFRICA NORTH SEA
Omowumi Iledare, University of Port Harcourt Karl Ludvig Heskestad, Aker BP
CANADIAN ASIA PACIFIC
Cam Matthews, C-FER Technologies Nasir Darman, Petronas
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA RUSSIA AND THE CASPIAN
Joe Frantz Jr., Range Resources Aizhana Jussupbekova, ExxonMobil
MID-CONTINENT NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Chris Jenkins, Chesapeake Energy Cesar Patino, Ecopetrol
MIDDLE EAST SOUTH, CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPE
Faisal Al-Nughaimish, Saudi Aramco Jean-Marc Dumas, Aedes Energy International
NORTH AMERICA SOUTH ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Barry Hanson, Sproule Tapas Kumar Sengupta, ONGC (Ret.)
Steve Cheung, SteveIOR Consultants
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
DRILLING COMPLETIONS
Jeff Moss, ExxonMobil Terry Palisch, CARBO Ceramics
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT PRODUCTION AND FACILITIES
Johana Dunlop, Sponsored by Schlumberger Hisham Saadawi, Baker Hughes, a GE Company
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION RESERVOIR
Birol Dindoruk, Shell Erdal Ozkan, Colorado School of Mines
DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIA

Ramona Graves, Colorado School of Mines
AT-LARGE DIRECTOR
Helena Wu, Santos Ltd.
JPT STAFF The Journal of Petroleum Technology® magazine is a

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Trent Jacobs, Digital Editor
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PERFORMANCE INDICES
WORLD CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION+‡ HENRY HUB GULF COAST NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE‡
THOUSAND BOPD
6
2018
O PEC JUL AUG SEP OCT 5 USD/million Btu
Algeria 1292 1282 1242 1242
4
Angola 1572 1582 1602 1572
Ecuador 523 530 518 513 3
Gabon 180 200 200 200
2
Iran 4428 4271 4151 4151
Iraq 4619 4690 4715 4745 1
2018
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
2019
JAN
Kuwait1 2850 2850 2850 2850
Libya 747 1067 1157 1157
Nigeria 1860 1930 2030 1990
Qatar2 1470 1480 1460 1460
Saudi Arabia1 10525 10465 10565 10765 WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES (USD/bbl)‡
UAE 3181 3221 3221 3271
Venezuela 1450 1405 1731 1341
2018 2019
TOTAL3 35205 35496 35600 35770 JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN
Brent 74.41 74.25 72.53 78.89 81.03 64.75 57.36 59.41
THOUSAND BOPD WTI 67.87 70.98 68.06 70.23 70.75 56.96 49.52 51.38
2018
NON-OPEC JUL AUG SEP OCT
Canada 4311 4520 4174 4329
WORLD ROTARY RIG COUNT†
China 3732 3768 3694 3789
Egypt 637 645 635 635
Mexico 1865 1841 1849 1787 2018 2019
REGION JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN
Norway 1552 1526 1326 1511
US 1050 1050 1053 1062 1077 1078 1065
Russia 10814 10811 10964 11014
Canada 204 220 201 192 198 141 176
UK 910 845 831 934
USA 10936 11325 11458 11537 Latin America 190 192 192 193 189 197 194
Other4 12679 12349 12496 12758 Europe 80 85 86 92 83 95 86
TOTAL 47436 47630 47427 48294 Middle East 400 402 395 404 394 394 402
Total World 82641 83126 83072 84064 Africa 98 104 109 107 103 108 109
Asia Pacific 229 225 222 221 222 231 232
INDICES KEY
TOTAL 2251 2278 2258 2271 2266 2244 2264
Numbers revised by EIA are given in italics.
+
Figures do not include natural gas plant liquids.
1
Includes approximately one-half of Neutral Zone production.
2
Qatar withdrew its membership from OPEC as of 1 January. Its WORLD OIL SUPPLY AND DEMAND‡
crude oil production will be moved to the non-OPEC category when
the January data are reported.
3
Countries are classified as “OPEC” or “non-OPEC” in all years based on
their status in the most current year.
MILLION BOPD 2018
4
Additional annual and monthly international crude oil production statistics Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
are available at http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/.
† Source: Baker Hughes. SUPPLY 99.13 99.61 101.21 101.99
‡ Source: EIA.
DEMAND 99.04 99.47 100.42 100.89
Supply includes crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas plant liquids, biofuels, other liquids,
and refinery processing gains.
6 JPT • MARCH 2019

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BAHRAIN
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Coiled Tubing Intervention

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An Alaskan Offshore Operator needed to modify the injection profile of a horizontal
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offset producers. 2” Coil Tubing (CT) was chosen as the conveyence method for the
operation. Interwell’s 325-450 ME Retrievable Bridge Plug (RBP) and 325–450 ME
Retrievable Cement Retainer Packer (CRP) with 3.25” Dual Back Pressure Valve (DBPV)
were selected to isolate the thief zone in a 4-1/2” liner. The ease of retrievability
for both packers, along with the secure anchoring system, were key features
for the pre-job risk assessment.
After CT well cleanup operations, the thief zone was mechanically isolated between
the RBP and the CRP/DBPV. Both systems were set with Interwell’s Hydraulic Running
Tool (HRT). Interwell’s Stinger was then deployed, and a gel treatment was pumped
through the CRP/DBPV into the thief zone.
After all equipment was retrieved from the well, an Injection Profile Log was run.
The operation was deemed a success. The ability to complete this Scope of Work
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VALUE CREATED
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002622_Annonse_0319_1.indd 1 11.02.2019 15:44

REGIONAL UPDATE
estimated at 250 million BOE. CNOOC is east of the BP-operated Na Kika platform,

AFRICA
operator with 50% interest, and partners encountered oil pay in high-quality
◗◗ Eni successfully completed a new are Total and Euroil. Miocene sandstone reservoirs. BP plans
production well in the Vandumbu field, to develop the reservoir via subsea tieback
350 km northwest of Luanda and 130 km ◗◗ Vår Energi encountered two levels to Na Kika. Partner Shell holds a 50%
west of Soyo, in the West Hub of Block of hydrocarbon-bearing sandstones in working interest.
15/06 offshore Angola. The VAN-102 well its latest exploration well in the Barents
is being produced through the N’Goma Sea Goliat field. The well was drilled to ◗◗ LLOG discovered oil at its deepwater Gulf
FPSO and achieved initial production of investigate an untested fault compartment of Mexico Nearly Headless Nick prospect in
13,000 BOED. Production from this well and extending west from the field, targeting the Mississippi Canyon block 387, approximately
another well in the Mpungi field will bring Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic reservoir 150 miles southeast of New Orleans.
Block 15/06 output to 170,000 BOED. sandstones of the Tubåen and Fruholmen The well, drilled in 6,500 ft of water,
formation. The Tubåen reservoir, which is encountered oil in high-quality Miocene
◗◗ Anglo African Oil & Gas encountered roughly 10 m (33 ft), contains gas and oil sandstone reservoirs and is expected to be
oil at the TLP-103C well at its Tilapia with good-quality reservoir properties, with tied back to the nearby Delta House facility.
license offshore the Republic of Congo. a likely total hydrocarbon column in the LLOG is operator and BP holds a 20.25%
The well intersected the targeted Djeno range of 18–60 m (59–197 ft). working interest. Other partners include
horizon, and wireline logging confirmed the Centaurus, Kosmos, and Ridgewood.
presence of a 12-m oil column in the Djeno. MIDDLE EAST
◗◗ Whitebark Energy discovered oil with an
◗◗ Pico and partner SDX Energy discovered initial flow of 305 B/D at the Wizard Lake
ASIA
oil in the SRM-3 appraisal well in Egypt’s Rex well in the Point Loma Joint Venture in
◗◗ Total started production from the ultra- South Ramadan concession in the Gulf Alberta, Canada. Associated gas increased
deepwater Egina field in approximately of Suez. The well encountered 105 ft the flow rate to 340 BOE/D. This was the
1600 m of water 150 km off the coast of of pay from three intervals. Pico is the first horizontal well to be drilled in what
Nigeria. At plateau, the field will produce operator and SDX has a 12.75% interest in could be a multiwell program. Whitebark
200,000 B/D. Total operates the field with South Ramadan. has a 30% interest in the well.
24% interest, in partnership with NNPC,
CNOOC, SAPETRO, and Petrobras. ◗◗ Block Energy began sidetracking the ◗◗ BHP discovered oil in the first deepwater
16a wellbore in the West Rustavi field in well drilled in the Mexican sector of the Gulf
◗◗ CNOOC started production from the Georgia. The well is part of an initial two- of Mexico by a non-Mexican operator. The
Huizhou 32-5 oilfield comprehensive well horizontal sidetrack program targeting Trion-2DEL well was spudded in November
adjustment/Huizhou 33-1 oilfield joint combined gross production of 650 B/D 2018 in block AE-0093. A sidetrack was
development project in 115 m of water from the Middle Eocene formation by mid- spudded in January to further appraise the
in the South China Sea. One well is 2019. The sidetrack follows a successful well field and locate the oil/water contact.
currently producing. Peak production test in December 2018. Block holds a 25%
of 19,200 B/D is expected in 2020. interest with an option to control 75%. SOUTH AMERICA
CNOOC holds 100% interest.
◗◗ ADNOC awarded Occidental Petroleum ◗◗ OVL is testing an oil discovery with
Onshore Block 3, the first onshore block to its Indico-1 well, located 6.5 km from its
EUROPE
be awarded under ADNOC’s new licensing Mariposa discovery on the CPO-5 block in
◗◗ Equinor, with partners ExxonMobil, strategy. Oxy will receive a 35-year Colombia. The well was drilled to target
Total, and Petoro, discovered natural concession and hold a 100% stake in the depth of 10,604 ft and flowed 4,000 B/D
gas and condensate from the Ragnfrid exploration phase, in which it will invest of 35.9 °API oil from the lower sands of the
North (6406/2-9 S) exploration well in $244 million. Existing 3D seismic data Une formation. OVL is operator with a 70%
the Norwegian Sea, 20 km south of the already covers a large part of the block. stake and PDSA holds the remaining 30%.
Kristin platform. Recoverable reserves This, combined with its proximity to the
are estimated at 6–25 million BOE. The Shah, Asab, Haliba, and Sahl fields, suggests ◗◗ Petrobras started production from
prospect will be evaluated for development promising potential for the concession. Once the Lula Norte area of its Lula field in
and tie-in to the Kristin field. commercial feasibility has been established, the BM-S-11 block in the Santos Basin.
Occidental will have the opportunity to Oil is flowing through the P-67 FPSO,
◗◗ CNOOC discovered natural gas and develop and produce any discovery, with the ninth production unit installed in the
condensate in an exploration well in the ADNOC holding a 60% share of production. block, with processing capacity of up to
Glengorm prospect in the UK Central 150,000 B/D of oil and 6 million cm/D of
North Sea. Drilled to 5056 m TD in 86 m gas. Petrobras said the Lula field is now
NORTH AMERICA
of water, the well encountered net gas the largest producer in Brazil and should
and condensate with a total net thickness ◗◗ BP discovered oil at the Manuel prospect eventually deliver 1 million B/D this year.
of 37 m in a high-quality Upper Jurassic in the Gulf of Mexico. The discovery well, Partners in the BM-S-11 concession are
reservoir. Recoverable resources are located on Mississippi Canyon block 520, Shell and Petrogal. JPT

THE NEXT WEAPON
IN PERFORATING
©2019 GEODynamics, Inc.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
The Technology Arm of Sustainability

Sami Alnuaim, 2019 SPE President
The oil and gas industry faces three key through subsurface tubing and gathering lines, often going
questions with regard to sustainabili- through harsh environments, including subsea. This pro-
ty. Can we transform oil and gas into a vides many opportunities for improved energy efficiency,
cleaner, efficient source of energy with which reduces costs and is therefore good business practice.
minimum or zero-net CO2 emissions? Upstream is also a technology-intensive sector, where new
How do we use technology to transform technologies have been deployed, helping the sector to be
our industry to a low-carbon-intensity more sustainable.
industry to help in addressing the global Advanced high-resolution seismic channel acquisition, pro-
climate change challenge, while extending the economic and cessing technologies, and algorithms, interpreted with the
social benefits of oil and gas to improve human lifestyle on help of high-performance supercomputers, have significantly
earth? Can we scientifically and globally measure the sustain- lowered the exploration risk and decreased the number of dry
ability performance of our industry with respect to the fol- holes drilled. Geo-steering technologies and the software in-
lowing four pillars: environmental impact, economic growth, frastructure to support them have helped our industry to pre-
social development, and lifestyle improvements? cisely place thousands of subsurface horizontal sections away
These are very challenging questions facing our indus- from water and gas contacts. This, in turn, has significantly
try. Without addressing the environmental concerns relat- reduced the amount of energy needed to lift the produced
ed to our industry, we risk our ability to operate globally hydrocarbons from those wells and maximize production.
and hinder our ability to attract talent. I believe that with The end result is fewer wells required to meet the production
the best practices, the right strategy, adequate R&D invest- target. Smart-well completions and downhole deep-sensing
ment, and the right technology deployment, our industry can technology have helped us to better manage reservoirs fluids
and will achieve these goals. I have spoken in prior columns and keep the undesired fluids in the reservoir. This lowers the
about the fact oil and gas will be part of the energy mix well amount of energy needed to lift the hydrocarbons and reduc-
into the future, and about the significant economic and so- es the volume of produced water to process, treat, and dis-
cial development our industry produces. Given global opin- pose at the surface.
ion, we have no choice except to develop and use technology Slimhole drilling and related production and logging tech-
to transform our industry to be a low-carbon industry with nologies have generated a significant reduction in the materi-
minimum environmental impact across the entire oil and als, time, and energy used to drill oil and gas wells. The evo-
gas value chain. lution of automated and intelligent drilling technologies is
As I have met with oil ministers, CEOs, and executives helping enhance safety and eliminate human error. Advanced
around the world, I believe our industry is on the right track predictive algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are
toward establishing the required infrastructure to achieve helping to predict and avoid drilling problems hours before
these goals in the mid-to-long term. If we look at our indus- they can cause hazardous events such as blowouts, leaks,
try across the upstream, midstream, and downstream sec- stuck pipes, or additional sidetracks. The latest advancements
tors, we see hundreds of best practices and advanced tech- in hydraulic fracturing technology have made gas recovery
nologies that can be linked directly to our sustainability from shale more feasible, increasing gas available for power
performance and its four pillars mentioned above. My Febru- generation. In many cases that gas is used in lieu of coal, which
ary column focused on how technology was helping our trans- has a significant impact on global CO2 reduction. Increased
formation on the supply side. In this column I would like to reuse of produced and flowback water in fracturing, which
look at how R&D and technology are improving our environ- results in reduced water demand by our industry, is another
mental performance. environmental benefit.
The upstream sector (exploration, drilling, and produc- Finally, carbon capture, storage, and sequestration (CCSS)
tion) requires large amounts of energy to extract oil and technology developed by our industry will play a significant
gas from reservoirs and transport it to surface facilities role in the global climate response, possibly toward close
To contact the SPE President, email president@spe.org. Follow him on Twitter: @neaimsa.

to zero-net emission in the long term. CCSS technology of- climate challenges along the industry supply chain. The game-
fers the opportunity to capture CO2 from large industrial fa- changer technologies will be energy optimization, CCSS,
cilities (both within and outside our industry) and process, crude-to-chemical, gas-to-power in lieu of coal, renewables
store, or sequester it in mature or depleted oil reservoirs for use across the value chain, and power conservation (energy
enhanced oil recovery objectives. The International Energy efficiency). Just deploying current best practices globally will
Agency (IEA) considers CCSS as part of a portfolio of actions take us far. More investment and R&D feeding into this long-
to be taken by the oil and gas industry that can account for term strategy is needed. The industry is investing more than
14% of total energy-related CO2 reductions needed by 2060. $1 billion in the next 10 years through the Oil and Gas Cli-
Our industry is already beginning to use solar and wind en- mate Initiative, a 13-company CEO-led initiative, to expedite
ergy to provide the required energy to seismic crews, drill- the technology development. I believe that our industry has a
ing rigs, artificial lift pumps, and remote wellsite facilities, leading role in helping to achieve the Paris agreement. We can
especially offshore. This usage is likely to grow. Upstream only remain a leading industry if we evolve in line with glob-
companies that deploy technologies such as those above will al economic, societal, and environmental expectations. The
see energy efficiency benefits and help to reduce the car- challenge in the future will be maintaining the positive direc-
bon intensity of operations to explore, drill, and produce oil tion of sustainability stewardship while meeting the increas-
and gas resources. ing global demand for energy. The bigger challenge that the
In the midstream sector the energy efficiency of pumps, SPE Sustainable Development Technical Section is trying to
compressors, and other equipment at our facilities has in- address is to scientifically quantify sustainability stewardship
creased significantly in the past decade. Flaring was signifi- performance globally. We need to show the world our account-
cantly reduced after building the required infrastructure to ability and pride in serving the global energy needs in a very
capture the methane and process and use it for petrochemi- sustainable and responsible manner. JPT
cals or power generation. Cogeneration technologies to gener-
ate power utilizing what used to be vented steam has resulted
in significant energy savings. The use of advanced analytics to
optimize energy consumption has proven to be very practical
and rewarding. Drones operated by batteries are taking on in-
creasing roles in the industry’s harsh inspection and mainte-
nance operations, both offshore and onshore. This is improv-
ing the safety and reducing the environmental impact of these
Extreme
high-risk and harsh operations. Drones are also being de-
ployed to help us mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by find-
Conditions
ing methane leaks quickly and expediting their repair within
hours rather than days or weeks.
& Pressures
In the downstream sector, according to IPIECA, oil refining
is an energy-intensive activity, accounting for about half of all
the energy consumed by the oil and gas industry as a whole.
Hence, enhancing the energy efficiency of oil refineries, ter-
minals, and downstream complexes should be a strategic ob- Nobody Does it Better
jective for our industry. Facility energy management systems Count on our proven
allow us to optimize energy use in steam generation, electric- valves, fittings &
ity produced from captive power plants (cogen), energy con- tubing for ALL
sumption across all processing units, and further optimiza- your oil, gas &
tion of emissions across all facilities units. The average energy petrochem needs
intensity of the refining industry has fallen (improved) by
13% since 1980 in OECD countries, according to IEA data. The
evolving crude-to-chemicals programs undertaken by sev-
eral international and national oil companies will be a game-
changer in finding noncombustion uses for crude oil, elimi-
nating the CO2 emissions that would be generated through
burning it. For example, Saudi Aramco has signed a technol-
ogy agreement and project to increase crude-to-chemicals,
with a goal of increasing the conversion rate of each barrel
from 15 to 50% by 2030.
In conclusion, there is a growing consensus within the oil HiP…Our Name is High Pressure
and gas industry to address the four pillars of sustainability, Erie, PA • USA • 814.838.2028 • HighPressure.com
with more focus on social development and environmental
JPT • MARCH 2019 11

COMMENTS EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Bernt Aadnøy, University of Stavanger
Syed Ali, Consultant
Tayfun Babadagli, University of Alberta
A Lot to Be Proud Of William Bailey, Schlumberger

Maria Capello, Kuwait Oil Company
Frank Chang, Saudi Aramco
John Donnelly, JPT Editor
Simon Chipperfield, Santos
Alex Crabtree, Consultant
Gunnar DeBruijn, Schlumberger
Last year, the SPE Board of Directors approved a new 5-year
Galen Dino, Dino Engineering
Strategic Plan, a blueprint to provide guidance on how the asso-
Mark Egan, Retired
ciation can meet the needs and expectations of its members
Alexandre Emerick,
and the industry over the next several years. The plan identi- Petrobras Research Center
fied four strategic areas of emphasis to advance its vision in the
Niall Fleming, Equinor
near term: lifelong learning, knowledge transfer, membership
Ted Frankiewicz, SPEC Services
engagement, and professional pride. It is the professional pride
piece of that document that this issue of JPT is built around. Stephen Goodyear, Shell
The professional pride segment identifies objectives such as helping SPE mem- Omer M. Gurpinar, Schlumberger
bers better understand and become more inspired by the industry’s contributions Birger Velle Hanssen, OneSubsea
to society, demonstrating the benefits of oil and gas so members can communicate Greg Horton, Retired
that positive value to the public, and highlighting industry achievements as well as John Hudson, Shell
contributions to sustainability and social responsibility. Morten Iversen,
With that backdrop, the 45-page special section in this issue covers three main areas: Karachaganak Petroleum Operating
◗ What satisfaction do petroleum engineers receive from the work they do? Leonard Kalfayan, Hess Corporation
◗ What value does oil and gas bring to individuals and to society? Thomas Knode, vPSI Group
◗ What trends and challenges will help define the future work of petroleum
Sunil Kokal, Saudi Aramco
engineers?
Heejae Lee, ExxonMobil
JPT invited a variety of engineers to participate to ensure a broad perspective.
Douglas Lehr, BHGE
In these pages, you will read about what practicing petroleum professionals value
about their careers and what brings them the most reward; what specific contribu- Silviu Livescu, BHGE
tions the industry is making to society, including some you might not regularly hear Shouxiang (Mark) Ma, Saudi Aramco
about in the media; some great individual and technical achievements; how to com- John Macpherson, BHGE
municate these successes and contributions to an often skeptical public; and what R.V. Marathe, ONGC
issues the industry will confront in the coming years. Stéphane Menand, DrillScan
One of these issues is climate change, and no report on the oil and gas industry’s Graham Mensa-Wilmot, Chevron
future would be complete without some discussion of this topic. But there is not
Rohit Mittal, BHGE
universal agreement—in the public, in the industry, or in these pages—on the best
Badrul H. Mohamed Jan, University of Malaya
approach to take in addressing this issue.
Nor is there agreement throughout the industry on future hydrocarbons demand Ehsaan Nasir, BHGE
and what role oil and gas will play in the global energy mix a decade or two from now. Ardian Nengkoda, Saudi Aramco
Industry reports from companies and consultancies often lay out different scenarios Yagna Oruganti, BHGE
about hydrocarbon demand in the future and the “transition” to renewables. Some Barbara Pribyl—Chairperson, Santos
predict declines in crude demand for transportation because of the increased use of Zillur Rahim, Saudi Aramco
electric vehicles, while others see almost insatiable appetites for all forms of energy, Martin Rylance, BP plc
both traditional and new. Robello Samuel, Halliburton
The oil and gas industry will likely look a lot different 10 or 20 years from now.
Otto L. Santos, Louisiana State University
But the role of petroleum engineers may not. The job of solving problems, figuring
Luigi A. Saputelli, Frontender Corporation
out how to get the most oil and gas out of the ground with the smallest environmen-
tal footprint, and ensuring that the world has sufficient energy to improve quality of Greg Stephenson, Occidental Petroleum
life will continue. JPT Rosa Swartwout, BHGE

Xiuli Wang, Consultant
Mike Weatherl, Well Integrity
Scott Wilson, Ryder Scott Company
Jonathan Wylde, Clariant Oil Services
Robert Ziegler, Weatherford
To contact JPT’s editor, email jdonnelly@spe.org.

Inspired by the past. Leading into the future.
INNOVATION. COLLABORATION. EXECUTION.
We’ve come a long way since 1919. What started with a single product in a small town is
now a global organization with more than 60,000 employees around the world. For 100
years, we have earned our reputation as “the execution company,” delivering unparalleled
customer service and innovative solutions to the oil and gas industry. Our inspiration
comes from our people—past and present—and the values we stand for: integrity,
safety, collaboration, competitiveness, creativity, reliability, and respect. Together, we are
committed to continuing our legacy as one of the most well-respected energy services
companies in the world as we prepare to lead into the future.
© 2019 Halliburton. All Rights Reserved.
hal100.com
100YearAd_JPT_Dec.indd 1 11/28/2018 11:40:43 AM

GUEST EDITORIAL
Completion-System Reliability: Where Have

We Been and Where Are We Going?
Doug Lehr, Senior Manager, Baker Hughes, a GE Company
All completions systems should enable Infant Wear Out

the safe and profitable extraction of Mortality
reserves. Implicit in this statement is the
Hazard Rate
Weak components Degradation

presence of a stable, consistently per- Incompatible components Severe duty
forming completion system—in other Installation process
Useful Life of a
words, a system with reliable hardware. Completion System
This means that the completion system
will enable production (or injection) Only random failures
with no system failures, over an expect-
ed span of time. This time span can range Service Life (Years)
from 1 week for unconventional comple- Fig. 1—Bathtub curve of the useful life of a completion system.
tions (fracturing plugs) to 30 years for
deepwater completions. In all cases, reli- opment of new, innovative components Overall, the pace of standards creation
able operations over some time t, or R(t), also requires that their reliability be a is accelerating.
is the expectation. design priority. A discussion of component reliability
A goal for the completion system Today, important drivers of compo- is incomplete without including the role
designer should be to maximize the nent reliability are industry codes and of design for reliability (DFR) or design-
useful life of the completion system standards (ICS). The American Petro- assurance programs. These programs
(Fig. 1). In practice, this is achieved by leum Institute, the International Orga- ensure that reliability receives due dili-
minimizing what can be termed “infant nization for Standardization, and NOR- gence in component development. The
mortality” and delaying the start of SOK are ICS organizations with extensive use of design failure mode effect analysis
wear out. portfolios of product standards. Each (DFMEA) is a cornerstone of an effective
To maximize R(t), reliability of com- organization routinely updates its leg- DFR program. These programs should
ponents, configurations, and processes acy standards and creates new ones. be more prominent; this gap presents an
must be maximized. The Advanced Well Equipment Stan- opportunity for improvement.
dards Group is a newer ICS organiza- So, considering the question, “Where
Component Reliability tion that has recently completed a prod- have we been?”, the answer is that the
Innovation leads to higher performance uct standard for inflow control devices journey to date has been one of continu-
and optionality for most types of com- and is creating standards for encapsu- ing improvements in the reliability of
pletion components. However, the devel- lated cable and degradable materials. completion components.
Configuration Reliability
Doug Lehr, SPE, is senior manager for DFR activities at Baker Is an Opportunity
Hughes, a GE company. His current focus is driving reliability Of the technical paper abstracts I re-
improvement in new products. Previously, Lehr was global director viewed for the Completions feature in
of technology, wellbore intervention. He has 39 years of experi- the April 2019 issue of JPT, 52% focus on
ence in the development of downhole tools for completion and completion configuration or optimiza-
intervention applications. Lehr’s research interests include high-
tion. Few abstracts focus on the ability of
pressure/high-temperature applications, advancing reliability in
downhole tools, and accelerating innovation. He has authored or the completion configuration to perform
coauthored eight technical papers and holds 28 patents. Lehr holds a BS degree in reliably over long spans of time. Two crit-
mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA degree in ical aspects of configuration reliability
finance and marketing from the University of Houston. He was an SPE Distinguished are longevity and survivability.
Lecturer for 2012–13 and is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee. Lehr can be Longevity is governed by material and
reached at douglas.lehr@bhge.com. configuration stability. Longevity can be

estimated in the laboratory using infor- Ability to Cost of
High
mation on the downhole environment make changes making changes
at the time of design. However, unantici-
Degree of Change
pated changes in the downhole environ-
ment over time could compromise the
configuration’s ability to perform con-
sistently. An example would be changes
in treating programs, which may create Best opportunity
unanticipated corrosive conditions that for improvement
compromise components. Low
Some aspects of survivability can be ▲ Planning ▲ Design ▲ Construction ▲
assessed during component laboratory Time
testing (run-in-hole speed, for example), Fig. 2—Schematic of the relationship between the cost of making changes and
but a major factor that affects survivabili- project timeline.
ty is the tortuosity of well paths. Tortuous
well paths are a more frequent occurrence Process Reliability Where Should We Be Going?
today, and survivability is exemplified by Many oilfield activities involve processes Fundamental to reliability is the idea
getting the completion to target depth, that are low-frequency but high-impact. of expectations. What are your expec-
in good working condition, through such Many completion installations fit into tations for completion-system reli-
a path. If not planned for, tortuous well this category. Even though a process may ability? Is your completion system
paths will stop the advance of long, rigid seem straightforward, the consequences designed with reliability in mind? Have
completion assemblies. In addition, the of failing to execute it correctly can be design-risk assessment and process-
high mechanical loads placed on a com- costly. A poor process can lead to human risk assessment been used to discover
pletion assembly while traversing com- injury or fatality, and damage to assets and mitigate risks? Will your comple-
plex well paths can result in mechanical and the environment. tion system deliver repeatable results
damage or premature component actua- Which process presents the highest in the second, third, or tenth instal-
tion. However, progress is being made in risks in your completions? What causes lations? Do you have a process in
assessing these scenarios in terms of sur- that process to fail to deliver the intended place for reporting failure and manag-
vivability. Paper SPE 191050, “Geometric outcome time after time? ing corrective actions? Such a process
Wellbore Analysis for Improved Comple- Assume for a moment that an opera- enables organizational learning and
tions,” by Pile et al., contains information tor has had mediocre results installing continuous improvement.
on the use of a newly developed method a completion system in difficult well- So, instead of answering the question
for assessing installation risks. bores. In this scenario, high nonproduc- “Where are we going?”, I would rather
Improved outcomes also can be tive time has been the result. The compo- give you some ideas about where we
achieved by practicing design-risk nent suppliers have been told to redesign should be going.
assessment on completion configura- their components to fix the problem, but What our industry practiced yes-
tions routinely. Conducting a system- even after they comply, some of the prob- terday is not necessarily optimal for
level design risk assessment in the form lems persist. What, then, is the root cause today’s business environment. My rec-
of a DFMEA can lead to the discovery of of these failures? The answers may not ommended path forward includes ele-
hidden problems related to interfaces, be obvious until a process failure mode vated focus on design and process-risk
ratings, or operational sequences among effect analysis is conducted. That analy- assessment. Completion components
components. A DFMEA will identify miti- sis will enable the discovery of errone- and systems should be rigorously
gating actions that eliminate these prob- ous process steps and identify mitigat- assessed for design risks. Processes
lems or minimize their impact. Mitigat- ing actions that eliminate or reduce the related to completions, such as installa-
ing actions may result in component probability of the error occurring. tion, should also be rigorously assessed
design changes, configuration changes, Humans create and execute processes. for risks related to human error; health,
changes to installation, or other proce- Regardless of the process, tasks that are safety, and environmental incidents;
dures, but, at a minimum, will enable not crafted properly will lead to human and damage to assets. Risk assessment
team members to understand the risks. error; it isn’t a matter of if, but a mat- should be conducted as early as pos-
Identifying and mitigating risks as early ter of when. However, that analysis can sible in the completion-design process.
as possible is the most cost-effective use be used to discover when human error It should also support organizational
of risk assessment (Fig. 2). A few hours is likely in a given task, and can identify goals related to continuous improve-
spent assessing a configuration using mitigations that eliminate or reduce the ment and organizational learning. When
DFMEA in the office will provide insur- probability of the error. As with design, implemented properly, design and
ance against weeks of nonproductive mitigating process risks as early as pos- process-risk assessment will minimize
time in the field. sible is preferred. nonproductive time. JPT

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor
Acid-Gas Detection System form adds predictive failure analytics three- or six-shot cluster design delivers
Acid-gas contamination of hydrocarbon for ESP systems. This capability not only high-performing perforations specifi-
resources is a growing issue. GEOLOG reduces failure frequency but also reduc- cally built for fracturing, unlocking stage
introduced a method of hydrogen sulfide es total downtime and lost production design options not previously possible
(H2S) detection that measures amounts by enabling proactive failure manage- with lengthy conventional spiral-phased
of the gas within the pore structure ment and planning. Adding plunger-lift technology. Flexible design options
of cuttings. Gases contained within optimization builds on previous opti- allow engineers to specify ideal clus-
the rock’s pore network are not fully mization capabilities in rod lift, gas lift, ter counts and spacings, which result
released from cuttings at surface, and a natural drive, and ESP-lifted wells. The in lower costs, fewer stages, and opti-
residual part of them can be freed and platform enables real-time optimization mal proppant placement, all with less
detected. Cuttings are placed in a sealed and surveillance along with intelligent equipment and a smaller crane. The
container and ground to a defined size. alerts, well modeling, and plunger-cycle factory-loaded, built-for-wireline sys-
The gas trapped within the container is design. Placing the platform at the well- tem improves convenience, safety, and
then analyzed. Turnaround time is 90 site can increase asset profitability, pro- reliability. New optimized stage and
seconds and the full process takes 15 ductivity, and uptime. The enhancement cluster designs allow fracturing crews
minutes when performed at the wellsite. includes automated well testing and the to get to rate quickly while still placing
To validate the results, natural hydro- ability to execute well-work activities proppant where it is optimized.
carbon gas analysis is performed in a in the field through a mobile applica- ◗◗For more information, visit
similar way, the presence of this natural tion (Fig. 1). www.perf.com.
gas confirming the existence of pores ◗◗For more information, visit
with residual gas and validating the reli- www.weatherford.com Fracturing-Design Software
ability of H2S mapping. NSI Technologies introduced a cloud-
◗◗For more information, visit Perforating System based version of its 3D hydraulic-
www.geolog.com. GEODynamics introduced the HELLFire fracturing-design software StimPlan. The
perforating system, allowing more- platform represents a set of engineering
Production-Optimization effective completion of multistage plug- tools that will simplify the work flows
System and-perforating operations. At 9.5-in. associated with designing hydraulic frac-
Weatherford introduced an enhance- total length per cluster, the system tures in complex, unconventional reser-
ment of the ForeSite production- reduces toolstring length, delivering voirs and will improve the ability to opti-
optimization platform. Among the fea- more clusters per stage (Fig. 2). This mize reservoir economics. The software
tures of the new release is expanding capability mitigates differences caused is a complete, integrated solution for
predictive failure analytics to electrical- by same-stage formation variation. The hydraulic-fracture design, analysis, and
submersible-pump (ESP) systems and compact system incorporates optimal optimization. The software helps opera-
adding complete optimization capabili- unconventional perforating technol- tors maximize their well performance
ties for plunger-lifted wells. The plat- ogies into a single, versatile tool. Its while lowering expenditure and reducing
footprint. Post-fracturing benchmark-
ing studies show that rigorous hydraulic-
stimulation design and treatment opti-
mization helps reduce operational
problems and significantly improves well
performance. Through optimizing the
hydraulic fracture treatment, the soft-
ware helps operators not only increase
production but also drive down well
costs. Taking advantage of cloud-based
parallel processing allows the platform
to decrease the time required to run mul-
Fig. 1—Weatherford’s enhanced Fig. 2—The HELLFire perforating
ForeSite provides predictive failure system from GEODynamics features
tiple simulations. JPT
analytics for ESP systems and a compact design that reduces ◗◗For more information, visit
optimization capabilities for plunger- toolstring length and delivers more wordpress.premieroilfieldlabs.com/
lifted wells. clusters per stage. stimplan-software.

Petroleum Engineering
Petroleum Engineering—The Best

Profession
Rustom K. Mody, Vice President Technical Excellence-Enterprise Technology, Baker Hughes, a GE company
S hort of choosing a life partner, decid-

ing on a profession may be the most
important decision any of us ever makes.
magazines, books, and the internet. A
2018 online Harvard Business Review
(HBR) article reported on what motivates
operating in ways that don’t threaten our
planet and its future generations. And,
we must do all of this in a way that helps
And there are many who would debate people at work, beyond obvious basics our employers achieve acceptable return
which of these takes precedence. I con- such as salary, time off, and benefits. on investment.
sider myself amazingly fortunate in hav- To find answers, HBR’s people analytics Solving problems on this scale requires
ing made perfect choices in both catego- team collaborated with Facebook. Based a flexible, results-oriented culture that
ries. Anyone who has met my wife, Dina, on surveys conducted twice a year ask- is more interested in successfully com-
can vouch for the first one. This is my ing what employees value most, the team pleting a job safely and with excellence
opportunity to talk about the second. identified three big buckets of motiva- than in clocking a set amount of work
When people ask me what I think about tors: career, community, and cause. hours during a specified time of the day.
petroleum engineering as a profession, As the article said, “It turns out As petroleum engineers, we are given the
I answer, “Petroleum engineering is not we’re all hoping to find a what, a who, freedom to complete our work, and we
just a great profession; it’s the best pro- and a why.” are trusted to perform it without some-
fession.” Here is why. Name another one constantly looking over our shoul-
profession that is fun, intellectually and Career—The What der. We are also expected—and given
physically challenging, personally and According to HBR, career is about work. all the tools, training and support nec-
financially rewarding, and critical to true It’s about autonomy, about using your essary—to ensure that everything we do
global sustainability on both a macro and strengths, and promoting learning and has a fundamental focus on safety. That is
micro scale. I can’t think of one. development. It’s at the heart of intrinsic non-negotiable.
Beyond the basics of skills, aptitude, motivation. It’s what you do throughout Our work is challenging, both physical-
education, and interest, the way we your working life, and may span many ly and intellectually. It requires continu-
choose our professions has changed dra- jobs and many companies. ally expanding our learning and updat-
matically over the past 50 to 60 years. Engineers share many traits, perhaps ing our skills. There is no question that
The goal for many of our parents, and the most common of which is our love of our industry goes through stormy times
even some of us, depending on our age, solving problems. Petroleum engineer- that can challenge the most stalwart
was to join a company where we could ing is the pinnacle of problem solving. among us.
make a good living, rise in the ranks, For the 7.2 billion people on our planet, Like all challenges, ours come with
and work from graduation to retirement. we have to solve the problem of how to amazing opportunities. We can contrib-
That world no longer exists. deliver affordable energy from oil and ute to game-changing technologies, be
Today the question of what to consid- gas, and how to do so safely and eco- active in professional societies, pub-
er when choosing a profession consumes nomically. We must solve the problem of lish papers, travel globally, learn from
peers and mentors, and experience new
geographies and cultures that contrib-
ute to our growth, both professionally
Rustom K. Mody, SPE, is vice president of technical excellence- and personally.
enterprise technology for Baker Hughes, a GE company. He has Finding and producing hydrocar-
more than 35 years of experience in drilling and completions, bons generates vast amounts of data.
holds 17 patents, and is the author of more than 70 articles, tech- Our industry uses data science and data
nical presentations, and publications. He is an active member of management to drive faster, more accu-
SPE, the American Association of Drilling Engineers, International rate decisions that help us find new
Association of Drilling Engineers, American Society of Mechanical resources, increase recovery rates, and
Engineers, and has served on various subcommittees of these organizations. In addi- reduce environmental impacts. The digi-
tion, he has served on the board of advisors for numerous universities and organiza- tal transformation that is now disrupting
tions including the US Department of Energy, University of Houston, and University our industry brings some of the toughest
of Oklahoma. He recently was appointed to serve on the advisory board of the US challenges many of us have faced in our
Council on Competitiveness Technology Leadership and Strategy Initiative. Mody careers. It also brings the opportunity to
earned BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance. He is a leverage innovation on a global and pan-
registered professional engineer in the state of Texas. industry scale. It is innovation that drives

our industry forward and enables us to efficient, and profitable development of tions that bring this about. At the same
survive and even thrive, even during the hydrocarbon-based energy. Bringing all time, the petroleum engineering disci-
challenging times. of this diversity together is a recipe for pline is changing. As we move forward
success. And no industry is a bigger melt- at breakneck speed, the focus will be
Community—The Who ing pot—or salad—than oil and gas. on recruiting, developing, and retaining
Community is about people. It is about Today we are expanding our commu- the best and brightest talent, irrespec-
feeling respected, cared about, and val- nity and enhancing our recipe for success tive of training. For example, sustain-
ued by others. It drives our sense of con- to include experts from other industries. able chemistry, high-performance infor-
nection and belongingness. It is some- An excellent example is an internation- mation, advanced measurement and
thing we carry in our souls. It also al, interdisciplinary technology transfer actuation, designer materials, and high-
drives our professional development consortium I belong to called Pumps & press/high-temperature electronics are
and achievements. Pipes. I also like to call it docs, rocks, just a few technologies that will make a
As the 2018 HBR article points out, and docks. It brings people from medi- major impact on unconventional shales
engineers care a lot about connecting cine, energy, aerospace, and academia as a sustainable hydrocarbon source for
with people. This is particularly true of together with community professionals years to come.
petroleum engineers. For the most part, and leaders to solve problems by “explor- The digital transformation is consum-
we tend to solve our problems in teams. ing your neighbor’s toolkit.” er focused. Common threads include
Teamwork encourages communication, With all of this diversity, “soft skills”— evolutionary leaps, relentless efficiency,
trust, support, and a positive working social and emotional intelligence, a posi- minimal assets, and value chain vision.
environment. It makes us more productive and flexible attitude, and commu- Author, professor, and Consortium for
tive than we can be in isolation. And, it nication skills—are crucial to helping Science, Policy & Outcomes (CSPO) Co-
breaks down projects into more manage- people navigate their environment, Director Daniel Sarewitz sparked a lot of
able chunks that can be worked on in par- work well with others, perform well, and debate last year when he wrote, “Science
allel. Finally, it creates redundancy that achieve their goals. We can’t learn from, isn’t self-correcting, it’s self-destructing.
leads to a more robust work architecture or collaborate with, others unless we can To save the enterprise, scientists must
that helps us spread knowledge and do communicate effectively with them. This come out of the lab and into the real
things in a way that other people on the may require a little extra work on every- world.” His article in The New Atlantis
team can pick up if necessary. one’s part, the rewards, both professional addressed the need to steer the scientif-
As members of a team, we learn and and personal, are well worth it. ic enterprise back to solving real-world
develop as we share ideas and experienc- My community is deep and wide, and problems. His premise: Greater engage-
es. This is crucial to innovation in tech- it includes people of all ages and walks ment with tangible issues—safe drinking
nologies and methods that can change of life, and from different disciplines, water, disease treatments, better nutri-
the game across the board, from explora- industries, geographies, races, cultures, tion, and more equitable economic pros-
tion to well abandonment. Accelerating and genders. My community makes me perity, for example—is the only way to
innovation and its uptake requires a cul- a rich man, and I am certain I would be help science fulfill its tremendous poten-
ture of collaboration. much poorer had I chosen a profession tial for social benefit.
I like to say that there is really one other than petroleum engineering. This is what petroleum engineers do,
degree of separation between each of us and why we do it. From the very first
and someone or something that can spark Cause—The Why wells to today and into the foreseeable
the next big innovation. To be innovative Cause is about purpose—about feeling future, petroleum engineers have, and
one needs knowledge. The good news is like you make a meaningful impact, about will continue, to “do the impossible” by
that knowledge is everywhere; we just identifying with a mission, and about inventing and applying technologies and
need to go out and seek it. The stronger, believing that you are doing some good methodologies that make oil and gas the
wider, and more diverse our community, in the world. safe, low-cost energy source that drives
the more we can learn and accomplish The “what” of what we do as petro- thriving societies. Our collective accom-
together. Knowledge is in various depart- leum engineers is also the “why.” The plishments have positively impacted
ments within companies; across compa- impact we achieve with our problem world economies while sustaining and
nies, disciplines, and industries; across solving makes it possible to bring safe, improving—and even saving—people’s
academia, geographies, and cultures. affordable energy to the world. That is lives. And they will continue to do so. It is
Diversity is a business imperative for our mission. That is the good we do. our contributions that made it possible to
more ideas, better decisions and solu- Six areas of research will ignite the tap this incredible natural resource and
tions, improved performance, and pre- future of our industry: extreme machines; make it safe and affordable to produce
mium valuation. Diversity in culture, gen- super materials; intelligent internet; and, more recently, to take us from the
der, age, academics, technical discipline, mapped minds; brilliant factories; and fear of running out of oil and gas to hav-
and expertise creates a platform for real energy everywhere. Petroleum engineers ing supply that is greater than demand.
innovation that is critical to the safe, will play a critical role in the innova- What could be better than that?

Meeting the World’s Energy Needs

Through Innovation and Insight
JPT asked several active SPE members about the appeal of petroleum engineering,
the significance of the work they do, and what the future may hold. Here are some
of their answers.
Nengkoda Saputelli Holtzclaw Delamaide Lehr
Marathe Knode Rylance Babadagli
What are the most positive aspects of being a petroleum engineer?
I dreamed of being a petroleum engi- Being a petroleum engineer means that voir or drilling and face new challenges
neer as early as middle school in the you follow one of the most influential and learn more with each passing year.
1990s. Eventually, I studied petroleum career paths in our society because hy- Through SPE we can always be learning. I
engineering in college. After spend- drocarbon resources will continue to be have also loved the fact that in every com-
ing more than 20 years in the oil and the dominant source of energy for the pany I was encouraged to do volunteer
gas industry, working in numerous next 5 decades, and their use will be work in the community, from giving talks
countries and being involved in many required for the next century and beyond. to grade schools, judging science fairs,
megaprojects, I believe the most posi- Luigi Saputelli, Petroleum teaching children and adults to read,
tive aspect of being a petroleum engi- Engineering Consultant, Frontender planting trees, picking up trash, mentor-
neer is the fact that we deal with the ing, and serving on a board. The ways we
world’s energy needs. The task of pro- I have always felt that by being a petro- are encouraged to serve is endless.
duction alone faces many challenges, leum engineer I am helping people to Joyce Holtzclaw, Senior Vice President,
but at the same time, we as petroleum live a better life. We make transporta- E&B Natural Resources
engineers are responsible for a proac- tion possible; we keep people warm; we
tive approach to safety and the environ- provide medicine and material for plas- As petroleum engineers, we get the
ment in our operations. We are heav- tics such as cell phones, computers, and opportunity to develop new reserves of
ily involved in technology, which allows many other things that are part of the oil and gas for the people on this planet,
us to explore and produce resourc- modern lifestyle. I enjoy being a petro- to allow them to travel, go to work, warm
es safely and minimize environment- leum engineer because in a single day you and cool themselves, and allow industry
al impact. can do a huge variety of things, and over to function.
Ardian Nengkoda, Group Lead, the course of a career you can change Eric Delamaide, General Manager,
Saudi Aramco your focus from production to reser- IFP Technologies

I am a mechanical engineer who has been and, at the end of it all, there is hope. One of the most positive aspects of
a member of SPE since 1980. I have spe- There is a sense of fulfillment that your being a petroleum engineer is the very
cialized in the development of downhole idea is resulting in benefits both for the visible and often immediate impact
tools over my entire career. The most company and for the society at large. that can be seen in the decisions and
positive aspect of being an engineer in R.V. Marathe, Independent Reservoir choices that you make. This feedback
the energy industry is the opportunity Engineering Consultant loop means that there is no hiding
to innovate. Our industry has histori- place, but there is a genuine, tangi-
cally advanced due to the efforts of inno- The opportunity to meet people from ble measure of your impact. Each gen-
vators. Because our industry has always around the world in this industry is eration is standing on the shoulders
attracted very bright minds, the pace and almost without equal. It is truly a glob- of giants, and to be able to contrib-
breadth of innovation has been exten- al industry, and has an impact on peo- ute to such a discipline is incredibly
sive, and exciting to participate in. And ple’s lives that is tangible and visible rewarding. Seeing, globally, the positive
the industry will continue to innovate. wherever you are. And it is a contin- impact that cheap and available ener-
Doug Lehr, Senior Manager, Baker uous stream of challenges and prob- gy has on quality of life, life expectan-
Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE) lems to solve that make every day inter- cy, standard of living, education, and
esting and an opportunity to learn and health reminds us that this industry
This profession gives you a feeling of being grow professionally. affects individuals.
on a perpetual, adventurous expedition. Tom Knode, Principal Consultant, Martin Rylance, Global Senior
There is excitement, there is frustration, vPSI Group Adviser, BP Russia
What would you tell a petroleum engineer just beginning his/her career?
Regardless of the price of oil, starting Keep in mind that everybody has the how much they taught you. Think twice
a career as a petroleum engineer will same capability in accessing knowledge before refusing an opportunity, because
put you in the front lines to innovate to today. But this is not really knowledge. it may never return. Always remain hon-
produce in an economical and environ- Real knowledge is what you upload- est and say what you think.
mentally friendly way. You may work ed into your own natural hard drive, Delamaide, IFP Technologies
in the finding and extraction process, and what you digested from it, which
or in the areas of product manufac- becomes, eventually, experience. So Be flexible as to where you will live.
turing and commercialization. Down- learn, learn, learn—as much as you can. Develop a thick skin and be firmly com-
turns have motivated continuous effi- And what do I mean by “patient?” This mitted to going into it, as it will not be
ciency improvement and introduction industry is all about ups and downs, but easy. At times, we can face opposition
of disruptive technologies over time. remember that oil and gas are still the to what we do even though we deliver
This creates enormous opportunities most traded commodities in the world, value and everyone uses our products.
for new generations to leverage on the moreso even than food. In the up times, Some people will blame us for climate
digital technologies not commonly invest for down days, which will come change and other things despite all the
used such as data analytics, artificial sooner or later, but will not last too long. continual improvements we implement
intelligence, digital automation, and Finally, ask yourself these questions and the changes we have made, and will
environmental solutions. occasionally: Why should I be hired continue to make, to mitigate our opera-
Saputelli, Frontender instead of others in my class? What tional errors. Our existence is often seen
makes me different? My intelligence, as a negative. It will take true commit-
The simple answer is, “Be different and my knowledge? Or my leadership, inter- ment, like that of a soldier sworn to pro-
patient to survive in this industry, and relationship, entrepreneurship, and tect a crowd of protestors who may be
also be an achiever.” personal skills? Or my good character, opposed to what he or she represents.
What do I mean by “different?” my reliable personality? Continuously So too must we have engineers commit-
Remember that this is a survival-of-the- add values to keep fit for survival. ted to providing petroleum products to
fittest practice. To be fit, hard work is Tayfun Babadagli, the world, as we know that neither solar
a must. Then comes hard skills, knowl- Professor of Petroleum Engineering, alone nor wind can provide all of the
edge, and creativity. Knowledge is still University of Alberta materials we make from oil or the ener-
gold (despite the common mindset that gy that the world needs. As part of our
Internet access can replace functional, You have chosen a rewarding career, evolvement, we have found that it does
individual knowledge), and soft skills one full of opportunities. Sometimes not need to be a choice between one
are silver. These are not enough without you may get assignments that look not form or another—we need all of it.
ethical and moral values. so good, but in retrospect, you will see Holtzclaw, E&B Natural Resources

There are many industries that you I would tell someone that he/she is a minds to continue the work of find-
enter, get some training, and then work soldier engaged in the noble task of ing and converting hydrocarbons into
for a full and rewarding career. The energy sustainability for the future of fuels and materials that improve peo-
oil field demands that you continue to mankind in general. ple’s lives.
learn and develop new skills—annu- Marathe, Consultant Lehr, BHGE
ally. Don’t think of it as a treadmill but
more a daily opportunity; there are few The future of hydrocarbon energy will If you are a new petroleum engi-
industries that are as enjoyable as the oil remain bright for many decades to neer, then please don’t stop learning.
field because of this dimension, and you come. The reason is that hydrocarbons As a petroleum engineer, you will be
are privileged to be a part of that. Par- are easily converted into high-quality involved in new technologies and proj-
ticipate, share, teach, learn, study, pub- fuels and materials that improve peo- ects, so but don’t be satisfied with rou-
lish, listen, and mentor throughout your ple’s lives. The availability, portabili- tine jobs. Overall, oil and gas technol-
career, but, most of all, enjoy. ty, and versatility of hydrocarbon fuels ogy changes very quickly, and it will
Rylance, BP give it advantages that are unmatched be always fun to learn things. Be an
by renewables. An example is natu- active member of SPE; spend the time
Take opportunities that come your way ral gas, which will grow in desirability to read and participate in knowledge-
so that you can build a broad base of around the world for many decades, sharing or a technical course. Hav-
knowledge and be more valuable wher- enabling clean power that supports eco- ing a mentor will give you a greater
ever you work. And volunteer within SPE nomic growth. Another example is plas- ability to take full advantage of your
so that you can meet people who face the tics, which have enabled innovation in future career, sharpening your spe-
same challenges you do and can share food packaging and made the practice cialties or expertise and developing
learnings and insight that will be of help. of medicine safer and more effective. your network.
Knode, vPSI Group The industry will need the brightest Nengkoda, Saudi Aramco
What would you consider your best moment in the industry, or of what
accomplishment are you proudest?
Building a safety culture that led to a much The proudest moment in my career was er, it embraced improvement. This has
safer working environment, meaning that when I had an opportunity to mentor enabled our industry to regain respect-
hundreds of people were able to do their and coach a young petroleum engineer ability in the eyes of most of the pub-
job without the pain of a job-related injury. and that engineer grew into a special- lic. More importantly, we have learned
Knode, vPSI Group ist, an expert in the field, and proud to how to operate in a safer manner, pro-
be a petroleum engineer. That was my tect lives and the environment, and still
My best moment was sharing the stage “Eureka!” moment. I like to volunteer achieve cost-effective accomplishments
while getting my Honorary Member for anything; I believe by helping others in deepwater drilling and production.
award with friends I respect and with we are giving back to our society. Volun- Lehr, BHGE
all those who made it possible. But my teering isn’t one of the most glamorous
journey is not over, because I hope to do jobs, but it is one of the most beneficial Being a reservoir engineer engaged in
more to serve this industry that I love. and uplifting. In the end, there may be activities of reservoir monitoring, I
Holtzclaw, E&B Natural Resources no monetary compensation received, have always loved the excitement of the
but you feel awesome when you birth of a new project—the ever-present
I have spent my career solving what have help others. element of surprise in all such activ-
often been described as insurmountable Nengkoda, Saudi Aramco ities—and in working together with
problems. My favorite phrases to hear diverse disciplines to achieve the goal.
from others are, “We cannot frac here” I am most proud of how our industry I do not know if any other profession
or “That cannot be done”—these are red responded in the wake of the Macondo calls for so much synergy in diverse
rags to a bull. In my career, I have built accident. In the aftermath of a very neg- activities and specializations as reser-
teams and implemented solutions that ative, high-profile situation, our indus- voir monitoring.
have saved entire developments from try came together with academia and Marathe, Consultant
ignominy and economic failure. Turning regulators to craft improved standards
a dud into a spectacular result or finding for products, safety, and processes. Our Being recognized by your peers, of
a diamond in the rough in this business industry asked the hard questions, and course, but also doing what you think is
offer all the reward needed. implemented costly improvements. best for your clients no matter what.
Rylance, BP It did not resist improvement; rath- Delamaide, IFP Technologies

What recent technical achievements in the industry do you find

to be remarkable?
There are many, but the most remarkable more resources safely; hydraulic frac- ing; stand still and you are out of date.
is our competency in drilling deep wells turing; the application of nonmetallic The recent full-scale adoption of artifi-
in deep water. This is practiced from materials for oil and gas facilities; and cial intelligence, machine learning, and
floating, heaving vessels in water depths enhanced-oil-recovery technologies to other big data and technology advanc-
exceeding 9,000 ft, and at total well improve recovery rates and extend the es is changing the fundamentals of
depths greater than 20,000 ft below the life of existing oil fields. All of these our business.
mud line. Deepwater drilling is enabled technologies are also becoming cost- Rylance, BP
by mostly industry-specific innovations. effective to apply, and make us capable
Lehr, BHGE of meeting the world’s energy demands. Our industry has witnessed technical
Nengkoda, Saudi Aramco achievements in getting deeper and lon-
Production of tight oil and gas simply ger in the subsurface. This will change
because it challenged something consid- I am in awe of the advances made to drill the way we look at subsurface resources
ered almost impossible only a few years further offshore and in the very long in decades to come.
back and challenged some established horizontals being drilled and hydrau- Saputelli, Frontender
concepts such as peak oil. lically fractured in some of the shale
Marathe, Consultant plays. I also think the advances that are Drilling and completing wells with the
being made in water reuse and other capability of placing the bit, and there-
To me, the recent successful applica- sustainable efforts are also the things fore the wellbore, where we want it to go
tion of new technologies is related to that will allow us to remain viable for to maximize recovery and reduce waste
our capability to extend the reach of years to come. and inefficiency.
our frontier fields, allowing drilling Holtzclaw, E&B Natural Resources Knode, vPSI Group
and production in harsh environments
and remote and challenging locations. As a hydraulic fracturing engineer Although unconventional development
These technologies have helped trans- involved in unconventionals, I never has wreaked havoc in the industry, I
form resources once thought uncon- cease to be amazed at the range and am still awed by the change in para-
ventional into conventional ones. As scope of innovation being applied and digm from “shale is a seal” to “shale is
examples, one can consider long-reach developed in our business on a daily a reservoir.”
drilling, which has enabled access to basis. The pendulum never stops mov- Delamaide, IFP Technologies
What is your response to suggestions that the industry is not as relevant as it once was?
The oil industry will continue to be rele- of energy consumed could decline. As heavy oil from oil sands will become
vant today and tomorrow. It is so reward- the world’s primary source of energy, more environmentally friendly and less
ing to work in an industry that affects oil is the lifeblood of economic growth energy intensive. Automation and digita-
the whole world on a daily basis in many in most countries. Moreover, recent lization are expected to keep oil and gas
ways, from improving life expectancy Human Development Index (HDI) data competitive in the decades ahead.
and quality over the last 50 years, to concluded that more oil use signifies Nengkoda, Saudi Aramco
advancing the way we do business and more human development.
experience geopolitics. To remain competitive, oil companies The world is consuming 100 million B/D
Saputelli, Frontender need to reduce their production costs, of oil, and that consumption is grow-
adopting new technologies and protect- ing—only when it is down to zero will
I personally think that this percep- ing the environment more. Technologi- we be irrelevant.
tion is not a fair one. In fact, oil will cal innovations within the industry have Delamaide, IFP Technologies
continue to power the world. Whether made production cost-effective under
we like it or not, every year the human increasingly challenging conditions. In I believe that in the future, all forms
race is likely to burn a bit more oil and the future, existing fields will operate of energy are going to be needed for a
gas than it did the year before. In abso- longer and their yield will be increased planet with so many people. There are
lute numbers, our demand for ener- by enhanced oil recovery. Unconvention- too many products and too many things
gy is growing. However, the proportion al technologies such as hydraulic frac- that need oil and gas for it to just van-
of oil and gas within the total amount turing will increase. The production of ish. Everyone loves solar and electric

cars, but the batteries used are ter- This industry is more relevant than ever. industry is very much as relevant as it
rible for the environment, and with- In order for humanity to improve liv- ever was, but I am aware that renewable
out them, there would be no power at ing conditions around the world, we energy sources are picking up quickly.
night, and there is still little recycling need access to energy. We also have One day the electric car will overtake the
of the lithium. In addition, the min- the technical expertise to help solve internal combustion engine, just as the
ing of lithium for the batteries is envi- the challenges that are posed by the latter overtook steam, but the spirit of
ronmentally unfriendly, so there is a use of fossil fuels, in part by sequester- expedition in exploration and produc-
compromise to all energy sources, even ing CO2. tion will always remain.
windmills, which kill a lot of birds. Even Knode, vPSI Group Marathe, Consultant
hydro power has problems because of
the need to dam. I think educated peo- I would challenge that premise by ask- A former Saudi Minister of Oil and Min-
ple will realize that we are going to need ing: which other industry has contrib- eral Resources famously once said,
all forms of energy and that no form uted so much to cost-effective trans- “Thirty years from now, there will be a
is free of negative impact, but through portation, medical technology, pack- huge amount of oil—and no buyers. Oil
improvements in technology in all of aging, chemicals, power, and many will be left in the ground. The Stone Age
them, we can reduce such effects. For other aspects that keep our standard came to an end, not because we had a lack
example, we can and should promote of living high and growing? No other of stones, and the oil age will come to an
the car industry to put out vehicles that industry that I am aware of has had end not because we have a lack of oil.”
get the most mileage from a gallon and such a profound impact on improv- What he failed to mention (or appreciate)
reduce gas emissions from cars and ing people’s lives. Is our industry per- is that, just because the Stone Age ended,
trucks. In our fields, we are already con- fect? No. Is our industry constantly im- it did not mean that humanity stopped
trolling methane gas emissions at the proving? Yes. using stone. It will be the same with oil.
wells and at our tanks. By promoting Lehr, BHGE While the focus may be elsewhere, oil and
the industry to improve its environmen- gas will continue to be a key commodity
tal footprint, we will remain relevant. Being a citizen of a country that depends on this planet.
Holtzclaw, E&B Natural Resources very strongly on fossil fuels, I can say the Rylance, BP
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Did I Make the Right Career Choice?

JPT asked several active young professionals about their career path thus far and what
they liked about petroleum engineering. Here are some of their answers.
Clemens Rivas Atkinson Mohan Garg
Pradhan Ighalo Nunoo Mandzhieva Lal
Feeling Lucky me the opportunity to interact with proof incremental gains on the way to bet-
Carter Clemens, BP fessionals from all over the world, to ter energy solutions. This nuanced con-
I lucked into the petroleum industry; I exchange different experiences, to solve versation should not primarily exist in
did not know much about it before choos- problems in a responsible and efficient 150-character tidbits online. It is up to us
ing it as a major at the University of manner, and to inspire future genera- to have that conversation in a grassroots
Texas. It has allowed me to live and trav- tions. With no doubt, if I had to decide manner, face to face, with our community.
el to distant countries I never thought again what to study, my choice would
I would visit—whether it is Abu Dhabi, be oil and gas; it is certainly not an easy Exciting Digital Technology
Port of Spain, Cairo, or Aberdeen, the oil path, but realizing that I’m generating a Jesma Mohan, Schlumberger
industry has an incredible reach to some positive impact on others’ lives is a per- I work on bringing new digital tech-
interesting locations. It has also enabled sonal satisfaction. nologies like cloud computing, high-
me to pursue engineering while spend- performance computing, machine learn-
ing a lot of my time outside instead of Let’s Talk Climate Change ing, and data analytics to solve the
in front of a computer screen. When I Angela Dang Atkinson, Encana Corp. challenges of the oil industry. I am excit-
was riding around with well operators in I love saying, “I’m a petroleum engineer ed to have been part of technology devel-
Wyoming and Colorado, I thought of how and I believe in anthropogenic climate opment teams at Schlumberger over the
lucky I was to not be in a cubicle. There is change.” It catches people off guard and years. I have worked on development
something special about being on a well- begins a nuanced conversation about of technologies like Petrel, LiftIQ, Well
site surrounded by snow in Wyoming or energy. It is an opportunity for me to watcher advisor, Designpro, and now
watching a sunrise from a rig in the mid- talk about the importance of incremen- DELFI. It gives me immense pleasure to
dle of the ocean—you can’t get that with tal change and that there is no silver bul- be the one on the forefront of developing
most industries. let in solving the world’s energy chal- the technologies that redefine the way oil
lenges. As Harvard economics professor and gas industry will work.
Personal Satisfaction Ed Glaeser states, “Once we start think- I am proud of the real-time technolo-
Bruno S. Rivas, Mexico National ing that there’s a silver bullet…we lose the gies that I was involved in developing for
Hydrocarbons Commission fact that we need to be working day by artificial lift and intelligent completions,
Petroleum engineering is more than get- day, over decades, to effect change.” We, which have proven to lower operating
ting oil out of the ground; it means deliv- the oil industry, are among those work- costs and increase well productivity for
ering the energy that the world needs to ing day by day to effect change—wheth- the operator.
fight poverty, increase human wellness, er we are increasing the use of recycled A career in petroleum engineering
and accelerate growth in a sustainable fracture water or finding creative ways can be extremely diverse as it presents
way. The oil and gas industry has given to reduce emissions, these are the types opportunities around the world. I under-

Host
stand that it has its drawbacks with uncertainty in oil and gas
prices; nevertheless, I believe it can be a rewarding career as
long as you do not stop updating yourself with the latest advanc-
es in technology and practicing it. I would like the people out-
side the profession to know that, as petroleum engineers, safety
is our number one priority. We care about the environment and
we work really hard to extract the oil and gas in a safe and fea- One global industry. One city. One meeting place.
sible manner.
11 - 14 November 2019
Supporters
A STEM Champion
Lavish Garg, Weatherford
The best thing I admire about this career is various STEM appli-
cations covering vast engineering domains. As you deep dive,
one realizes the limitless ocean of knowledge needed in terms of
breadth and depth to reach thousands of meters underneath to
free fluids from the trap safely. The best perks of the oil and gas
industry are (opportunities) to attend conferences and meet-
ings around the globe and to meet people from different walks
of life and make an impact. My proudest achievement has been
representing SPE in the Emerging Leaders Alliance Conference ADIPEC 2019
where passionate petroleum, mechanical, electrical, and civil TECHNICAL CALL FOR PAPERS
engineers gathered for cross-disciplinary leadership training.
I was the only one who had something in common with every-
one, which made me feel proud, and there was no looking back.
NOW OPEN
ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS
TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
Confronting Challenges DEADLINE:
PROGRAMME CATEGORIES:
Wednesday 10 April 2019
Yogashri Pradhan, Endeavor Energy Resources
adipec.com/cfp • E&P Geoscience
What I like best about my career in petroleum engineering is
getting to solve engineering problems that support the business • Unconventional Resources
and the local community. I am grateful for making the deci- • Field Development
sion as a high school junior to pursue a petroleum engineering • Drilling and Completion
degree at university. After a few years of valuable work experi- ADIPEC 2018 Technology
ence in the industry, I am confident that I made the right choice. IN NUMBERS: • Project Engineering and
The hands-on experience in the field, my experience in volun- Management
teering in SPE, and the multidisciplinary collaboration to make
the best decisions for the business have pleasantly surprised me
10,400+* • Operational Excellence
Conference Delegates • HSE
in my career so far. What I would like others outside of this pro- *Based on unique and repeat delegates
to all conference sessions • Gas Technology
fession to know about what I do is that it truly takes a team of
different technical and nontechnical backgrounds to make the • People and Talent
best decisions for the business while maintaining social respon- 161 • Offshore and Marine
sibility. I am fortunate to have worked in different organizations Strategic and Technical • IOR/EOR
and I am passionate about SPE, as the achievement I’m most Sessions • Production Facilities
proud of to date is receiving the SPE Young Member Outstand- Technologies
ing Service Award. 980 • Petroleum Advanced
Expert Speakers Analytics
Lifelong Friendships • Artificial Intelligence in
Samuel Ighalo, Halliburton Oil and Gas
The valued experience gained from participating in various
global projects and the lifelong friendships that I have made
along the way are the things that I like best about my career in DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK AT
the industry. I feel I made the right choice as a petroleum engi- ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING OIL AND GAS
neer because it has afforded me the opportunity to work in an TECHNICAL CONFERENCES
international workplace, which I value tremendously. It has adipec.com/cfp
also been intellectually engaging for me, which has helped my Official Airline Partner Official Hotel Partner ADIPEC Host City Knowledge Partner Official Broadcast Partner
career growth and development. I’m particularly impressed by

the commingling of technologies from virtually every indus-
International News Partner Regional News Partner Official Media Partner Technical Conference Organised By ADIPEC Organised By
JPT • MARCH 2019

try in the oil and gas industry, especially influence of geopolitics on oil and gas. I
in deepwater field developments. People hope that in the future we can make our
outside the profession should know that markets more politically independent.
this industry is just as technologically I chose engineering as my major
advanced as any other industry. I have because I like to invent, create, and fix.
several notable accomplishments in my (But) I want to see broader choice in avail-
career. Probably the most significant was able jobs within the oil and gas industry.
becoming the lead content creator for … If we want to attract talented young-
SPE’s The Way Ahead publication, which sters from Gen Z, we have to change. Dig-
has given me a platform to create human italization has already modified oil and
resources-related content for young pro- gas, creating various types of jobs. But
fessionals as well as to connect with vari- I think the petroleum industry should
ous leaders in the industry. cooperate with other energy branches
as well (such as renewables). And, who
Solving the Downhole Mystery knows, maybe one day we will see a com-
Nii Ahele Nunoo, NOV mon network of energy professionals.
In my role as a new technology design The most supportive thing in the
engineer, I work with a team of engineers petroleum industry for me is SPE. As a
whose primary goal is focusing on chang- young professional, I enjoy participat-
ing the status quo in the drilling phase. ing in the Society’s projects and events.
We review and support the process of It means a lot for me to read in my TWA
the drilling design innovation phase from award certificate that, “SPE is proud to
SPE Debuts a New concept inception until field testing. My
focus and expertise are designing drill-
have young leaders like you.” This is my
biggest achievement so far, and the No. 1
Data Science Web ing tools with embedded sensors that can reason to stay in the game.
survive at high temperatures and vibra-
Publication tion to effectively provide data to help We Power the World
make good drilling decisions. The positive Tarang Lal, Aera Energy
contribution to the industry is safely drill- Yes, I work in the oil and gas industry
ing productive and cost-effective wells. and am proud of it. From fueling cars,
Reflecting on my career, I think I made heating homes, powering airplanes,
a great decision by working in the oil and keeping servers online, our indus-
and gas industry to help tackle and solve try provides the energy to progress the
some of the world’s energy problems. world forward.
Often, most people tend to focus on other There are lots of challenges and lots
SPE’s new Data Science forms of energy, but I am a firm believer of problems that need to be solved and
and Digital Engineering in that with the right technology focus, we that’s why I’m excited about working as
Upstream Oil and Gas (DSDE) can drill and produce efficient, cheap, a petroleum engineer. I enjoy collaborat-
magazine and monthly newsletter reliable forms of energy using fossil fuels. ing with others, having ownership of a
are live. DSDE cuts through the One thing that keeps me coming back process, and making an impact that will
to work every day is the downhole mys- help communities around the world.
noise to deliver content that
tery; no one knows what goes on down- The biggest surprise working in this
you can count on for a deeper
hole, but with historically trusted data, industry has been how similar we are
understanding of data collection, we always get to our total depth. I would regardless of where we work within this
analysis, interpretation, say my greatest accomplishment to global industry, and how transferrable
manipulation, management, date is working with a team at NOV that our skills are to other industries.
storage, and application helped deploy the first closed-loop drill- I wish people knew about our indus-
to deliver meaningful beneﬁts ing automation in the industry. try’s focus on safety and environmen-
to you and your company. tal protection. We all want clean air
Let’s Diversify the Jobs and water, just like our neighbor. We
Radmila Mandzhieva, Independent acknowledge our industry is not perfect;
I like the scale of the petroleum industry, then again, no industry is. Ultimately,
its internationalism. I am impressed by society is significantly better with our
the engineering aspects of our jobs and industry than without.
the increasing complexity of our proj- Come join us and power the world
ects. At the same time, I do not like the forward.
Visit http://go.spe.org/DSDE_Subscribe
to opt in for the newsletter.
JPT • MARCH 2019
The Challenge of Public Perception

Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor
F or petroleum engineers, it is aggra-

vating to hear negative comments
about the oil and gas industry, often by
It is not that the general public is
made up of people who are not logical
thinkers. But there are also automat-
Public Perceptions
people who don’t understand the indus- ic thinking processes in our brain that of Oil and Gas
try or get the facts wrong. evolved to help people make quick deci- Americans recognize the oil business is
“I was asked about this whenever I sions in a dangerous world. important
spoke,” said Janeen Judah SPE, 2017 “Psychology might not be a tradi- For a strong economy 80%
SPE President, recalling how members tional subject for JPT but it is essential For jobs 79%
were unsure how to respond to nega- that engineers understand what makes For a modern lifestyle 79%
tive or inaccurate claims. She agreed people tick,” Arscott said. That under-
that it is disappointing to hear the standing can help explain why “it is not
work you are proud of misrepresent- enough to make a case going ‘point one
ed, and misconceptions can lead to and two and three and four and this is
bad policies. For example, those who what you do,’” he said.
assume that a transition from oil and This realization helped him answer a
gas to wind and solar will take just a question that bothered him during his
few years rather than decades are also long career in oil and gas: “Why don’t Americans want to keep their distance
likely to oppose government policies they love us?” from oil operations
that will allow for the exploration and Glad to have nearby 44%
production required to meet global Shifting Expectations
Cares for its workers 39%
energy demand. Arscott is proud of how the industry
Can be trusted 37%
Adding to the challenge, manag- reduced its environmental impact in the
ing public perception is not something decades after he shifted from working in
that petroleum engineers learn in col- production to working in a health, safe-
lege. Engineers are likely to struggle ty, and environment (HSE) position. He
to understand a thought process that helped drive Chevron’s first push to com-
seems illogical and subjective. ply with then-new oil and water pollu-
Understanding how opinions are tion regulations.
formed, and changed, requires deal- “Slowly we realized we did not have
Americans favor gas over oil
ing with the fact that the workings of to sacrifice the environment. We had
Like oil 35%
our brains—including those of engi- to literally change the culture. I am so
neers—are influenced by logic, but proud we are there. There are pock- Like gas 65%
the thought process also brings many ets of resistance, but we are there,”
other things into the equation to Arscott said.
arrive at what may seem like a logi- But that feeling is not shared by the
cal conclusion. 1,200 people surveyed by Ernst & Young
“A few years ago I thought it was 80% (EY) about their perceptions of the oil
facts and reasoning and 20% gut reac- and gas business (Fig. 1). More than half
tion. Now I think we are the other way of the teenagers responding in that sam-
Oil is near the median on public perception
around,” said Lyn Arscott, SPE presi- ple concluded that the oil and gas pro-
Technology 70% Energy 41%
dent in 1988. He realized that things are duced today is “not worth the impact on
not always what they seem after read- the environment.” That survey also found Automotive 50% Investment
ing about the growing body of psycho- that teens believe that wind and solar Retail 49% banking 30%
logical research concluding that the way will be the energy sources of choice for Healthcare 41% Pharmaceutical 29%
people evaluate facts, or even decide their generation.
what are the facts, is based on many This is an example of how aspirations
considerations—strongly held beliefs, and reality can differ. Wind and solar
a sense of justice and safety, rules of now supply just a fraction, for exam-
thumb, and group norms. A phrase ple, of US energy demand, and major
often used in this discussion: things technology advances will be required
are complicated. to make electric cars an affordable
Source: EY Survey.

Oil and Gas Industry Attributes

Showing % saying agree Total 16+ Teens 16–18 Adults 19+
80% 75% 80% 79% 80% 79% 80% 75% 75% 76%
70% 72% 68% 68%
64%
56% 56%
44%
Is important to the Is a major employer Provides a valuable Is necessary for a Is a polluter Is a leader in
national economy service modern lifestyle technology
53% 54% 56%

50% 50%
41% 44% 41% 44% 42% 41%
35% 39% 36% 40% 37% 33% 37%
Is innovative Will be an important Is an industry I’d be Not worth the impact Cares for its Can be trusted to do
industry 100 years glad to have in my to the environment employees the right thing
from now community
Fig. 1—In the survey, respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the statement regarding the oil and gas industry.
option for those teens by the time they aspects that are confidential for IP rea- Critics of the oil business are good at
reach age 30. sons. But there is a level where they making a powerful impression, even on
The adults surveyed—those 19 and could be sharing more,” Everaard said. oil executives. EY surveyed 109 exec-
older—were less strident. Still, 41% of Industry image plays a large role in utives, who predicted that only 24%
them said the industry is “not worth recruiting top talent, she said. Of the of the people surveyed would say they
its impact,” and 68% described it as teenagers polled by EY, only 36% of trusted their business, while the actual
a “polluter.” them said the oil industry “cares for total was 46%.
Expectations change with time. Ideas its employees,” and only 41% of them The average reflects high grades for
such as environmentalism and climate described it as innovative. Pure technol- the industry by consumers for depend-
change did not exist when Arscott got ogy companies ranked higher in the sur- ably delivering energy (80%) that they
into the industry in the early 1960s. vey among teens. Oil companies seeking recognize is a valuable service (79%).
Back then “we thought plastic was the data experts “are not competing with The average would have been higher if
savior of mankind. Now we think, what other oil and gas companies, they are the industry was selling only natural
a mess we have got. What are we doing competing with high tech companies for gas. Consumer feeling about cleaner-
to do about it?” he said. talent,” Everaard said. burning gas is well above oil and not that
Rachel Everaard, a US oil and gas Since that survey was published in far below wind and solar.
partner at EY, said a high percentage 2017, more oil companies are using It may not be worth agonizing over
of oil company executives surveyed social media and video to reach a larger whether people trust their employ-
acknowledged that they need to do a audience, including teens who reported er. Many people find it hard to trust
better job of communicating what they feeling “overlooked,” she said. industrial giants. Oil’s score on trust
do and why it is important. The indus- was equal to the grade for health care,
try needs to publicize the technological Points of View and well above the numbers for invest-
advances that have allowed it to produce The industry’s desire to stay out of the ment bankers and drug companies
oil and gas from spots where it was once news has “allowed other people to mis- (Fig. 2).
impossible, she said. represent us using incorrect data,” said Can the oil business change people’s
“Traditionally, oil companies do not Behrooz Fattahi, who was 2010 SPE Pres- perceptions? One person who argues
share a lot of information (about E&P ident. “We have to confront this with that is possible is author Alex Epstein,
advances). They are closed-mouth, explanations and with science and back who has built a growing speaking and
understandably, where there are some it up with a lot of effort.” consulting business based on the mes-

sage in his book, The Moral Case for Fos-

sil Fuels. Public Perceptions of Various Industries
“People in industry and govern- Percentage responding "positive" Total 16+ Teens 16–18 Adults 19+
ment complain that people are so
irrational. No one will listen to rea- 70%
son. Everyone is super emotional. I do Technology 72%
not think that is the right analysis,” 70%
Epstein said in an online video on his
methods. His online speech highlights 50%
his techniques for responding to crit- Automotive 50%
ics, which apply lessons from behavior- 50%
al psychology. 49%
One lesson is that it is possible to Retail 45%
change someone’s perception by 49%
reframing an issue. Rather than ask-
ing a skeptic, do you support oil use? 41%
Healthcare 45%
you could ask whether society should
40%
use energy sources that are abundant,
reliable, affordable, and safe. Over- 41%
all, be sure the industry critic is being Energy 42%
even-handed. 40%
“Really focus on the framework of it—
30%
framework first and then facts,” Epstein Investment 33%
said in the speech to an oil industry banking 30%
audience. “If you allow (opponents) to
use a pre-existing framework, that will 29%
be chaos. They will be self-righteous and Pharmaceutical 37%
not listen to you.” 29%
SPE’s Code of Conduct asks members
to “consider the consequences of their Fig. 2—In the survey, respondents were asked whether they had a positive or
work and societal issues pertinent to it negative perception of each industry.
and seek to extend public understand-
ing of those relationships.” That is not was SPE president. Last year, as an SPE to the airport, there were people who
always easy. Replicating Epstein’s well- Distinguished Lecturer, he told engi- would light into you.”
rehearsed presentation and style might neers that they need to work on inter- While the EY survey found a large
be tough, and some oil companies are personal competencies. To get ahead, number of people who would not like the
guarded about when their employees they must study how to work effective- oil and gas business in their back yard,
can speak publicly about the business ly in teams made up of people from they also found people who see the envi-
or particular issues. different backgrounds, points of view, ronmental risks of continued oil produc-
In addition, the level of detail an and temperaments. tion in such stark terms that they view it
engineer might expect when describ- People who work in the oil and gas as a moral issue. And on the other side,
ing the process of finding, drilling, industry often get questions from the there are people who argue that global
and completing wells could overwhelm public about things they have heard warming is an iffy theory whose poten-
a nontechnical listener. A possible about the oil business in the news, such tial consequences are likely exaggerated.
worst-case scenario would be an intro- as an oil spill, and they may not value the Climate change and hydraulic frac-
verted engineer, who often works industry because of a limited perspective. turing are among the issues that have
alone on advanced reservoir analysis, Fattahi reminds consumers of become flashpoints for difficult conver-
face to face with a strident environ- their role in creating the emissions sations between people with diamet-
mental activist convinced that carbon they sometimes blame on oil com rically opposed points of view. What
emissions from fossil fuels will soon panies by asking, If you need a loaf of makes these disputes different is the
lead to a climate change apocalypse. bread, will you be walking to the store uncompromising attitudes of those
That situation would challenge even ex- or driving? involved, which Peter T. Coleman, a pro-
pert communicators. fessor of psychology and education at
Interpersonal skills have been a con- Difficult Conversations Columbia University, described as, “Our
cern for Fattahi since he made “soft While living in California, Judah recalled, side is clearly right and your side is
skills” development a priority when he “If you wore a shirt with a Chevron logo clearly deranged.”

1000 1000
Emotions
Emotions
Positive
Positive
800 800
600 600
400 400
Emotions
Emotions
Negative
Negative
200 200
0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000
Negative Positive Negative Positive

Emotions Emotions Emotions Emotions
Fig. 3—These charts track the emotions experienced by a person having a difficult conversation with another person.
The cluttered chart (left) shows a complex range of emotional swings. The plain chart (right) shows a conversation
stuck in negative sentiments. Source: Peter Coleman/Columbia University.
To study these types of conflicts, A good session is not likely to change Meetings are more productive when
Coleman created the Difficult Conversa- someone’s position on an issue, but both sides realize that issues are “high-
tions Laboratory, where observers have they are likely to see the person on ly complicated. They are not the simple
watched hundreds of conversations the other side differently. “They under- thing that the media reduces them to,”
between people on opposite sides of stand some things about the other Coleman said.
seemingly intractable issues. The goal is person. It is not a sort of solution. It Research shows that participants are
to find ways to promote productive dia- is a process. They feel respect. They more likely to be productive if they first
logue in these stressful meetings. would like to continue the conversa- read a description of the issue show-
Participants on opposite sides of a tion because they feel it is worthwhile,” ing that it is complicated, such as a
controversial issue are told to spend Coleman said. research paper that looks at a problem
20 minutes working together to pre- from multiple angles. When the same
pare a statement on what they agree facts are presented as just pro vs. con,
about (Fig. 3). Successful sessions like a news story, each person tends “to
require people to be curious about the pay attention to what supports their
other person and how he or she arrived argument and little attention to the
Perceptions Matter
at their views, the ability to see the other side.”
complexity of the problem, and the Ernst and Young described the Coleman offers two tips for difficult
patience to keep talking though aggra- public’s perception of the energy conversations: remember that “none of
vating moments. These conversa- business as “respectable but us have (all) the answers,” and work-
tions may cause a person to reconsider precarious.” Consumers see that ing out problems “takes more time than
it fills a big need but question its
assumptions made but never carefully record on the environment and
you think.”
examined, Coleman said. other issues that could affect its
In a failed session, the conversa- ability to: It is Complicated
tion may end before the allotted time ◗ Recruit and retain talent The future of zero-emission vehicles
is up because the participants could not depends on developing massive, low-cost
◗ Raise capital
find anything to agree on. “If they go sources of lithium to make the batteries
and make a conventional argument for ◗ Develop projects to power them.
their side, it sets them up defensive- ◗ Influence tax and regulation David Burnett, an associate research
ly,” Coleman said. “They are protect- ◗ Maintain its long-term scientist at Texas A&M University,
ing the issue by advocating strongly.” viability recently completed a consulting project
If the parties stick to those stances, investigating the environmental impact
Source: Ernst and Young.
it is likely to lead to a stalemate leav- of developing a lithium mining opera-
ing both parties feeling frustration and tion in Nevada. There is clearly a lot
anger, he said. of lithium there, but extracting it will

require a lot of fresh water, which is line company that pushed ahead with
scarce in that arid place. construction in west Texas with-
The push to mine more lithium,
among other minerals, as part of the big
out reaching out to landowners first.
The result was years of litigation Moving Energy
transition to cleaner fuels shows that that delayed work and cost millions
even “clean energy” can come with a
sizable environmental footprint. This
of dollars.
Talking to the community about
Forward
highlights a problem also faced by log- a project before it begins is critical.
ical thinkers in the oil business. What Higgins said her research found that
seems like the best option is narrowly before companies briefed people in
defined by the problem at hand. the community, “favorable or unfavor-
“As an engineer, I want to solve this able views were based mostly on pre-
problem. Let’s narrow it down to a very conceived notions of potential effects
narrow, defined goal,” Burnett said. For rather than factual data.”
a miner, he said, that could be: “Lithium The paper also discussed a project in
batteries are good for cars that reduce Matagorda, a small Texas coastal town
emissions and all of that.” with a long history of energy develop-
Lithium mining, like oil and gas, could ment. It has oil wells going back a cen-
create jobs and provide needed energy tury and a large nuclear plant. After
but the public perception in both cases local opposition helped block construc-
is also likely to be shaped by the envi- tion of a coal-fired power plant, she
ronmental impact of the mine. studied why that project failed. Her
There is always a “but.” Anyone sell- conclusion was that the developers Ideal solutions for upstream,
ing an oil project needs to assume that magnified the opposition by announc-
midstream and downstream
local residents might be looking for the ing the plan without first consulting
downside of a project in their backyard. local residents and finding ways to
Even in Texas. The days have passed address their concerns. As an expert manufacturer
when an oil company promising to bring Higgins, whose background includes of downhole and surface
in money and jobs to an area can assume psychology and environmental science, pumps, we produce oilﬁeld
they will be welcomed, said Marian created a test based on a hypothetical pump systems according to
Higgins, who measured the value of project to generate power using low- the highest quality standards.
community engagement by an energy temperature geothermal. She tested The viscosity of your crude
project developer for a PhD research local citizens before and after they read oil or its percentage of gas
project at the Texas A&M Universi- a presentation covering the potential or sand makes no difference
ty’s Department of Ecosystem Science economic and environmental impact. to the NETZSCH progressing
and Management. A comparison of the two studies indi- cavity pumps, our helical rotor
“In the past, a deal could be worked cated that public opinion moved from system is unbeatable.
out behind closed doors with local pow- “highly unsure” to “a little more on the
ers, the permits were issued, and then positive side.”
the company announced, ‘Look what we That was short of clinching the deal,
S!
can do for you.’ Now companies have to but it suggests that there is value in VISIT U
OTC 2 0 19
defend their decisions, and there will reaching out to the community to
H o u s ton
be somebody who has a problem with understand how it sees the oil and in 019
09.05.2
06.05. – n
Pavillio
it,” said Higgins, who presented a paper gas industry.
(SPE 191739) on project communica- “You have to understand that in the German 15-10
6
tions at the 2018 SPE Annual Technical tech world, one plus one is always two. Booth 3
Conference and Exhibition. In the peoples’ world, one plus one
The SPE paper, co-written by Bur- is not always two. It can be or not,”
nett, included a case study of a pipe- Fattahi said.
www.netzsch.com

Three Myths About the Oil and Gas Industry’s

Future and How To Counter Them
Alex Epstein, President, Center for Industrial Progress
W hat are the most important

trends in energy? If you follow
mainstream press accounts, there are at
gas power our homes, cars, data centers,
and hospitals, and about how the indus-
try creates millions of jobs and billions
the world with abundant energy—and
why this benefit overwhelms their man-
ageable risks. That is the case I make in
least three: in tax revenue. my book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.
1. The oil and gas industry will soon All of that is true. But, by itself, it does Given the superiority of fossil fuels and
face radical restrictions as countries not counter two core premises: the desire of people around the world to
respond to climate change. 1. That oil and gas are easily flourish, we should expect that the fos-
2. The rapidly growing electrical replaceable by solar, wind, and sil fuel industry won’t transition to non-
vehicle market will make oil electric vehicles, which means existence, but expand as it supplies the
obsolete. these benefits are not unique to oil world with energy abundance.
3. The world is quickly moving toward and gas but apply to all sources of To counter doomsday predictions
100% renewable energy. energy. about the future of oil and gas, the indus-
All of these supposed trends are part of 2. That oil and gas have catastrophic try needs to replace the “transition” nar-
an overarching narrative that says we are costs—on our health, our rative with the “expansion” narrative by
in the midst of an energy transition: the environment, and our climate— making the superiority of its product part
world is moving quickly and inevitably which means that even significant of every energy discussion. For example:
away from “dirty” fossil fuels to “green” economic costs of transitioning to ◗◗ Will we impose radical restrictions
solar, wind, and batteries. alternatives could be worth it. on fossil fuels, such as a carbon tax
Regardless of whether the “transi- When I give training workshops to the high enough to stop people from
tion to renewables” narrative is true, the oil and gas industry on persuasive com- using oil and gas? Unlikely. Given
wholesale belief in that narrative poses a munication, one of the key concepts I fossil fuels’ enormous superiority,
threat to oil and gas companies. A recent teach is what I call superiorizing. You the tax would have to be far higher
survey of top fund managers, including can’t just talk about the benefits of your than those passed already—and
BlackRock and HSBC, found that 90% product: you have to explain how your which have already led to opposition
believe international oil and gas compa- product has a superior cost/benefit com- in places such as France, Australia,
nies will be negatively revalued in a few bination to the alternatives. and Canada.
years because of climate and energy tran- Imagine that you sold smartphones ◗◗ Will electric vehicles make oil
sition risks—and many think this nega- and your pitch was, “Our phone is amaz- obsolete? Unlikely. Given oil’s
tive revaluation has already started. ing. It makes calls, it holds your music, superiority as a source of portable
What’s more, the belief that the indus- you can surf the internet.” Well, so does power, even the 2% market share
try’s days are numbered will make it every other phone on the market. Cus- that electric vehicles currently have
increasingly difficult to find and retain top tomers won’t buy your phone unless they depends on massive subsidies and
talent—a crucial priority at a time when believe it is superior to the alternatives. mandates. And the majority of oil is
the industry is already facing the challenge That is why Apple doesn’t just talk about not used for personal vehicles, but
of coping with the “great crew change” the iPhone’s features, but about how they for even harder-to-replace uses such
brought on by Baby Boomer retirements. compare to a Samsung or a Google Pixel. as shipping and air travel.
One major way the industry has The key to countering the negative ◗◗ Is the world going 100% renewable?
responded to this is to talk about the narrative is to explain why fossil fuels Unlikely. Wind and solar are
benefits of its work: about how oil and are unmatched in their ability to provide currently inferior, intermittent
sources of electricity and cannot
supply reliable power—not without
Alex Epstein is author of the book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels backup from reliable forms of
and the founder of the Center for Industrial Progress. He con- energy such as fossil fuels or cost-
ducts training workshops, is a consultant, and is a frequent prohibitive storage.
speaker on the topic of human flourishing through industrial If the industry wants to counter a neg-
progress. He has delivered presentations to many large energy ative narrative, then it needs to start
companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Phillips 66, Valero, by educating its workforce and all of
Enbridge, and TransCanada. For more information, go to its stakeholders about the superiority of
industrialprogress.com. its product.

What Does the Data Revolution Offer

the Oil Industry?
Vural Sander Suicmez, Quantum Reservoir Impact
T he need to understand the future

trends of the oil industry has never
been greater than it is today. Throughout
nologies such as sensors, have made it
possible to generate a staggering amount
of data in the industry—the aforemen-
well targets, improving drilling efficien-
cy, optimizing artificial-lift systems, and
monitoring onshore and offshore pipe-
the history of the oil industry, technology tioned Big Data—often which is not used lines and other relevant facilities.
and innovation have made a significant efficiently or effectively. One of the key Modernizing internal processes with
contribution by pushing the boundaries enablers of the data-science-driven tech- automation, along with better access to
to enable a continuous expansion in pro- nologies for the industry is its ability to information about operations and main-
duction, increasing reserves, and capital convert Big Data into “smart” data. New tenance, will help the industry boost pro-
efficiency. In the years to come, with the technologies such as deep learning, cog- duction while increasing capital efficien-
world’s conventional reserves declining, nitive computing, and augmented and cy. It is expected that soon there will be
energy companies will inevitably have to virtual reality in general provide a set of more automated equipment at all stages
move into more challenging and remote tools and techniques to integrate vari- of the oil and gas value chain. This trans-
locations to explore and produce hydro- ous types of data, quantify uncertainties, formation will lead to many current jobs
carbons. Therefore, the role of innova- identify hidden patterns, and extract becoming obsolete. However, this will
tion and, more specifically, data-science- useful information. This information is also create many new roles that organiza-
derived technologies will likely become used to predict future trends, foresee tions will need to fill. Therefore, for young
the key to shaping the future of the oil behaviors, and answer questions which professionals in the industry, it is pru-
and gas sector. are often difficult or even impossible to dent to add a data-science skill set; this
In fact, there are ample opportunities answer through conventional models. will enable them to make better and fast-
for oil and gas companies to use Big Data Automation, which is derived from Big er decisions, broaden their career choic-
to get more oil and gas out of hydrocar- Data analytics, is a huge step in the direc- es, and ultimately improve their respec-
bon reservoirs, reduce capital and operation of improving data science in the tive company’s operational efficiency.
tional expenses, increase the speed and immediate future. This evolution holds Simultaneously, the most recent Global
accuracy of investment decisions, and added benefits such as improving oper- Energy Talent Index report confirms that
improve health and safety while mitigat- ational efficiency, reducing operational the graduate-recruitment cuts during the
ing environmental risks. It is worth men- costs, increasing speed, and enhancing industry downturn led to a skilled labor
tioning that although the so-called “dis- self-service modules. The need to auto- shortage for the sector, which is expected
ruption mandate” faced in every industry, mate business processes with the goal to worsen over the next few years. Hence,
including oil and gas, is not new, its cur- of improving functionality and increas- without skilled workers in the required
rent speed and complexity will foster an ing efficiency will be the main driver for positions, it has now become essential
adaptive mindset while maintaining its the increased adoption of data sciences for the energy industry to reconsider its
business practices—the key not only for in the industry. A significant potential for operations and include the use of data
success but also for survival in the age of automation exists because it can serve analytics and automation tools. These
the digital transformation. as an ideal aid to daily operations. Many technologies can increase productivity
Technological advances, such as areas where automation can make an and efficiency dramatically while coping
increased use of Web-based platforms immediate and lasting difference for the with the skilled labor shortage and main-
and cutting-edge data-acquisition tech- oil and gas sector include identifying new taining an acceptable profitability.
For Further Reading

Vural Sander Suicmez is regional manager for the Middle East at SPE 190812 “Status of Data-Driven Methods
Quantum Reservoir Impact (QRI), a Houston-based technology and Their Application in the Oil and Gas
and advisory company. Before joining QRI, he worked at Maersk Industry,” by Karthik Balaji, University
Oil & Gas in Copenhagen, Denmark; Brunei Shell Petroleum in of North Dakota, et al.
Seria, Brunei Darussalam; Shell International E&P in The Hague, SPE 192460 “Rapid and Comprehensive
The Netherlands; and Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He Artificial-Lift-Systems Performance
has been an industry guest lecturer and advisor at Imperial Analysis Through Data Analytics,
College London and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Petroleum Science and Diagnostics, and Solution Evaluation,”
Engineering. He holds PhD, MSc, and BSc degrees, all in petroleum engineering, from by Lichi Deng, Quantum Reservoir
Imperial College London, Stanford University, and Middle East Technical University, Impact, et al.
respectively, and an MBA degree from the University of Cambridge.

One Industry of Global Citizens

Matt Zborowski, Technology Writer
F or the average oil and gas techni-

cal professional who spends hours
each day scrutinizing the details, it is
problem that beget several other prob-
lems—is integral in ensuring a reser-
voir is tapped to its potential, the com-
work at ExxonMobil, 60% work outside
the major’s native US.
The result of this rich diversity is
easy to forget the big picture. pany hits its production targets, and a community of people numbering in
Solving the latest engineering prob- the world’s steadily growing thirst for the millions with the life experiences,
lem comes first. Then comes solving the energy is quenched. knowledge, expertise, and resources to
next one. And the problems are unique With the same ethic, the industry has take on some of the world’s great sus-
to each person and their job function. also shown it is capable of far more. tainability challenges—together.
The challenges faced by drilling engi- The industry is truly a global one with And it is happening company by com-
neers differ from those of completion major operations on and off six conti- pany. Below is a recent sampling of the
engineers, and theirs differ from those nents. Firms double as their countries’ countless causes, initiatives, programs,
of reservoir engineers. primary energy producer, revenue gen- and projects undertaken by some of the
Then there are the men and women erator, and employer. Large global oper- world’s biggest and best-known oil and
toiling away in the geoscience dis- ators and service firms each depend on gas firms. It provides a small glimpse of
ciplines, which are also integral to the work of tens of thousands of people, the greater, big-picture impact made by
exploration, development, and produc- with, in some cases, the majority from the industry.
tion. How about the newcomers: the data outside those firms’ native countries.
scientists? And nothing happens without Business partnerships transcend bor- Empowering Societies
approval from the folks in finance. ders and cultures. While supplying the world with energy is
Often it can feel like the industry con- Schlumberger, for example, runs its one way the industry helps improve qual-
sists of too many moving parts, each fol- business through its offices in Hous- ity of life, it also makes a direct impact by
lowing a path independent of the others. ton, Paris, London, The Hague, and Wil- putting boots on the ground in regions
It can be like herding cats. It is also what lemstad, employing some 100,000 peo- beset by geographical and environmen-
makes the work interesting. Finding and ple worldwide consisting of more than tal limitations.
extracting hydrocarbons from thou- 140 nationalities from 85 countries. Ensuring a basic supply of clean water
sands of meters beneath the subsurface, French major Total employs just fewer is perhaps the most essential contribu-
after all, is a complicated undertaking than 100,000 people of 150 nationali- tion one can make to a community, par-
that requires the expertise and experi- ties from 130 countries. Spain’s Repsol ticularly in small villages in parts of the
ences of a great many. has a workforce of 84 different national- world where it is difficult to access. With
Working together, these professionals ities in 37 countries, with 1,800 employ- this in mind, Italian multinational oper-
accomplish feats that defy impossible. ees working outside their home country. ator Eni sought to improve living con-
Poring over that one small detail—the Of the almost 70,000 employees who ditions of communities near the Bhit,
Badhra, and Kadanwari gas fields of
Pakistan’s Sindh province, home of the
Nara desert.
Here, residents—often women—
spend a disproportionate amount of
time merely collecting water, which
can be found several kilometers away
from their villages. Provided with the
appropriate facilities, these residents
can instead devote more time to other
activities supporting their families
and communities.
With its participation in the Bhit Rural
Sustainability Program, Eni worked
with local nongovernmental organiza-
tions (NGOs) to construct wells, hand
pumps, and rainwater collection tanks
A water well near the Eni-operated Kadanwari gas field in Pakistan. to support up to 5,000 residents. In
Source: Sajid Channa. the Kadanwari area, Eni and a local

NGO supported the residents and their

livestock by building 11 solar-powered
milking machines, 11 hand pumps, and
two reverse osmosis systems. Near the
coast, the firm and another NGO built
and installed 42 hand pumps and three
drinking water storage tanks for around
200 families.
Bolstering the economic viability of
villages near the lush tropical rainfor-
ests of Malaysia’s Imbak Canyon Con-
servation Area, national oil company
Petronas helped establish a rural home-
stay operation to accommodate tour-
ists trekking in the region. Through the
Planting Tomorrow community devel- Halliburton volunteers in 2018 returned to the Hope Primary School in China’s
opment program, residents were given Sichuan province to contribute to a summer camp that explored science and
the supplies and guidance to upgrade technology while encouraging creativity and cooperation among students.
infrastructure, build lodging, and man- Source: Halliburton.
age day-to-day homestay activities.
The project included the installa- ly 640,000 healthcare workers and gest impact. This is true for the regions
tion of a gravity-driven water system counselors have been trained to help where oil and gas companies both run
to supply clean water to 700 residents prevent, diagnose, and treat the disease, their businesses and operate. It is an
in Imbak Village. Overall, Planting and more than 2.5 million community opportunity to further improve quality
Tomorrow has backed the installation health sessions have been held. of life by fostering learning, whether it
of at least 10 water gravity systems in ExxonMobil has also backed a proof- is during early childhood or early career.
East Malaysia. of-concept project led by the Baylor Col- Employees of Schlumberger are tap-
In Bangladesh’s Greater Sylhet region, lege of Medicine in Houston that uses ping into their scientific and techno-
Chevron is working to stimulate eco- satellite-imaging technology to pin- logical expertise to advance STEM edu-
nomic development in communities point mosquito breeding habitats in cation via the Schlumberger Excellence
around its operations by contributing to Texas. The goal is to find out if remote in Education Development (SEED) pro-
the Bangladesh Partnership Initiative. sensing can be a quick and inexpensive gram. For the more than 20 years, SEED
Its Jibika Project, for example, involves method deployed globally to halt the has linked underserved communities
collaboration with more than 100 vil- spread of the disease. with the technology needed to create
lage development organizations to Elsewhere on the continent, Ango- interactive learning environments cen-
offer enterprise and business manage- la remains one of the most heavily tered on some of the society’s most criti-
ment training. The program promotes landmine-contaminated countries in cal emerging disciplines.
income generation for 18,000 residents the world, as it continues to deal with With a particular focus on robotics,
by establishing 20 producer groups the effects of a nearly three-decade civil computer science, and energy, the pro-
built on the rearing of goats, ducks, war that ended in 2002. gram holds camps and workshops while
and cattle as well as the cultivation But funding for removal has fallen contributing to the professional devel-
of vegetables. over the last decade, according to statis- opment of teachers. As of 2017, SEED
A major cause supported by Exxon- tics from London-based think tank Cha- had put on more 143 workshops consist-
Mobil is the global fight against malaria, tham House. Norway’s Equinor is doing ing of 17,689 students, 1,316 teachers,
“a disease that still leads to an estimated its part to assist the ongoing recovery by and 1,008 volunteers.
445,000 deaths annually despite being supporting a removal project in Malanje In recent years, SEED has made cod-
preventable, treatable, and curable,” the province. On a mission to reclaim the ing a priority, introducing the subject
company says. Since 2000, ExxonMobil countryside for the people, the company to children as young as 6 years old with
has contributed $170 million to the fight and other organizations have demined platforms such as SCRATCH, an online
and provided preventative assistance around 4 million cu m of land. community that allows kids to program
to some 125 million people throughout their own interactive stories, games,
Africa and Asia. Helping Educate the World and animations. Consultants in the pro-
This has resulted in the distribution Maintaining a global supply of qualified gram recently collaborated with edu-
of 14.4 million bed nets, 4.7 million technical personnel is one of the indus- cators in Ecuador to host a robotics
doses of antimalarial drugs, and 3 mil- try’s biggest challenges and an area workshop. SEED has worked with the
lion rapid diagnostic kits. Approximate- where it is equipped to make the big- Nigerian Academy of Science to encour-

are going the extra mile to contribute to

In a project assisted by ConocoPhillips, volunteers tracked the
the preservation of some of the world’s
migratory patterns of the at-risk Common Nighthawk. This required
tagging the birds, which are 22-25 cm, with satellite transmitters most fascinating habitats and culturally
weighing a mere 3.5 grams. Source: Smithsonian Institution. significant locales.
Rich in geographic diversity, Mexico
consists of vast deserts in the north and
lush, green rainforests in the south. One
of the country’s most scenic attractions
is the Lacandon Jungle, where Pemex
recently funded a project to protect a
portion of the Grijalva-Usumacinta
basin. Carried out by nonprofit organi-
zation Natura Mexicana, three conser-
vation stations were set up along the
Lacantun River for monitoring, research,
education, and restoration purposes.
Work involved a thorough evaluation
of the region’s ecosystems. Using trap
cameras, a wide range of species were
observed on the ground, including jag-
uars, white-lipped boars, temazate deer,
age interest in STEM by making avail- School and Masoom to provide STEM and swamp crocodiles. The organization
able practical problem-solving activi- workshops for underprivileged children also studied aquatic ecosystems in the
ties. The organization has also provided who have limited access to educational Lacantun River and its streams, gleaning
workshops on electronic circuits, elec- resources including books. About 850 insights on organism diversity and pop-
tromagnetism, and wind power to stu- students participated in the program ulation growth among invasive species.
dents in Curacao. in 2017. Rescue and protection activities were
In its native Australia, Woodside For those embarking on their careers, undertaken for the scarlet macaw, a
Energy has overseen a similar program, BP in Oman is helping nurture tech- large, colorful parrot native to Central
the Woodside Australia Science Project, nical talent by establishing a multi- and South America. Injured adults and
known as WASP, designed to stoke stu- year training program in disciplines young were administered treatment
dent curiosity in Earth and environmen- such as mechanical and electrical engi- in captivity until they were ready for
tal sciences. In 2017, the Perth-based neering. Participants gain real-world release into the wild.
independent’s STEM in Schools initia- experience in the field with the goal of ConocoPhillips recently collaborat-
tive involved 178 employees delivering becoming contributors to the massive ed with the Smithsonian Conservation
hands-on activities to more than 7,000 Khazzan gas project, which is expect- Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Cen-
secondary students in Western Austra- ed to supply around 40% of the counter to map migratory bird patterns in
lia. Students can explore topics through try’s gas demand. At least 70 Omanis the Western Hemisphere. The project
online quizzes and animations, includ- have graduated from the program and sought to gain a better understanding
ing an iPad app. joined operations. of the survival challenges faced by the
For a decade, Halliburton has main- Chevron’s participation in the Bangla- Common Nighthawk—an at-risk spe-
tained a relationship with the Hope Pri- desh Partnership Initiative also supports cies whose population has plummet-
mary School in China’s Sichuan prov- workforce development in Bangladesh’s ed during the last five decades—while
ince, which was devastated during a Greater Sylhet region. The initiative’s gleaning insight into broader issues in
massive earthquake in 2008. During the Uttoron Project provided vocational the ecosystem.
rebuilding efforts, volunteers contrib- training to 475 local youths, of which 80% Advanced tracking technologies were
uted air conditioning units and school graduated and secured employment. used to follow six nighthawks as they
supplies. Art, music, physical education, traveled 20000 km/year between their
and English courses have since been Environmental, Cultural breeding grounds in northern Alberta in
added, and the learning environment Stewardship Canada and winter homes in Brazil’s trop-
has been made livelier with the inclu- Thanks to advancements in technolo- ical rainforests. Satellite transmitters
sion of 3D animation programs, musical gy and knowhow, oil and gas companies weighing 3.5 grams apiece, or just more
instruments such as harmonicas, and have made strides in curbing their envi- than a penny, were affixed to the birds
English-language audio books. ronmental impacts. However, being a and regularly collected location data.
British major BP is working along- steward of the Earth requires more than While researchers initially thought the
side Mumbai-based NGOs Door Step just reducing CO2 emissions. These firms nighthawk would migrate southward-

Baker Hughes, a GE company, and Kuwait Oil Company together removed a

half ton of garbage from Mangaf Beach, south of Kuwait City. Source: BHGE.
ly over Mexico, they found the birds trash for each unified sweep of the area. facts that lend insight into a once thriv-
took an entirely different route, cross- In Algiers, some 150 volunteers previ- ing society.
ing the Gulf of Mexico with some land- ously teamed to collect 50 bags of refuse Near Majnoon operations are the
ward guidance via Florida and Cuba. In weighing 1500 kg. remnants of Charax Spasinou, a never-
the spring, they returned within 1 km Almost as important as maintaining before surveyed ancient port on the
of where they were originally tagged. the planet’s life-sustaining ecosystems Persian Gulf founded by Alexander the
These findings, along with additional is preserving the cultural heritage of Great around 300 BC. As Shell entered
research, will be used to determine how regions that humanity’s early innova- the area, it ensured safe archeological
to better conserve the species. tors called home. And, as it so happens, and oil operations by undertaking a pro-
On Haimen Island in China’s Fujian some of world’s archeological goldmines gram to remove still-live ammunition
province, Saudi Aramco recently took double as its richest oil provinces. remaining from the Iran-Iraq war that
part in a conservation project targeting Since 2010, Royal Dutch Shell has took place decades earlier. The firm col-
the region’s biodiverse swamps through been operator of Iraq’s Majnoon field, laborated with Qahtan al-Abeed, arche-
planting mangroves—small trees with which lies in close proximity to Meso- ologist and director of the Basra Muse-
complex root systems that serve to pro- potamia, the “Cradle of Civilization.” um, to prevent disturbance of historic
tect coastal wetlands and their inhab- Here, Shell is using advancements in sites and collect artifacts it happened
itants amid warm, salty conditions. petroleum technology to produce oil to encounter, which would be sent to
Supporting the China Mangrove Con- and gas more efficiently. Thousands of the museum.
servation Network, Aramco adopted its years ago, our ancestors in the region While al-Abeed told Shell he was ini-
very own portion of land on the island to made humanity’s first technologi- tially worried about the presence of oil
oversee. Activity began in 2018 and ran cal breakthrough: the wheel. But long- producers in the region, he found that
through February. standing social conflict in the region “sites inside oilfield areas are general-
During the initiative’s first few months, has jeopardized preservation of arti- ly better protected than those outside.”
volunteers and local residents planted
about half of the 22,000 mangroves first
targeted for the entire island. Activity
included the removal of invasive species
and marine litter.
Baker Hughes, a GE company, and
Kuwait Oil Company teamed last year
to eliminate a half ton of garbage from
Mangaf Beach, south of Kuwait City on
the Persian Gulf. Part of the BHGE Vol-
unteer Beach Cleaning Campaign, the
day-long event involved 85 employees,
including leadership from both firms.
GE has sponsored similar cleanups in
the past, both in Kuwait and Algeria.
On Kuwait’s Messilla beach, volunteers A temple in the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian city of Ur in Southern Iraq,
previously cleared as much as 5 cu m of near the Shell-operated Majnoon field. Source: Qahtan Al-Abeed.

How the Oil and Gas Industry

Is Contributing to Sustainability
Kamel Bennaceur, Chief Economist, ADNOC
I n September 2015, the United Nations

adopted 17 Sustainable Development
Goals, addressing the global challeng-
lic image, especially with the young-
er generation. Given the 2018 Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change
that took into account universal access
to energy, a reduction of emissions in
line with the so-called Paris Agree-
es facing humanity, including poverty, report that raised alarm bells about the ment regarding climate change, and a
inequality, health, education, energy, consequences of just a small change major improvement in air quality, which
climate, the environment, and prosper- in average global temperatures, how is the cause of millions of premature
ity. The organization’s 2030 Agenda for can the industry support the ambi- deaths. In this “sustainable develop-
Sustainable Development is a continu- tious agenda of the UN’s sustain- ment scenario,” which does not require
ation of its Eight Millennium Develop- ability goals? a major increase in energy-related
ment Goals, with, among notable addi- Several organizations—including investment compared with the baseline
tions, the inclusion of energy access as energy agencies, major oil and gas com- case, it is projected that global ener-
a separate goal. panies, and research and consulting gy demand will continue to increase
Energy is central to many of these groups—have developed energy sup- and, that by 2040, the oil and gas share
goals through its linkage to the econo- ply and demand outlooks based on vari- of the global energy mix will still be
my, education, health, the environment, ous scenarios. These outlooks (not fore- 50%, representing the major enabler
and water. In 2019, nearly a billion peo- casts) show the potential evolution of for universal energy access. The major
ple (more than 13% of the world popu- energy demand in the future (generally emission-reduction wedges for this
lation) do not have access to electricity, 2040/2050/2060), and the correspond- energy transition are: energy efficien-
and 3 billion people lack access to clean ing energy mix. cy, renewables, CO2 capture/utiliza-
cooking solutions, even within oil and In these models, energy demand tion/storage, and switching from coal
gas producing/exporting countries. grows between 3% and 44% from now to natural gas.
Sustainable Development Goal no. until 2040, while the share of oil and The oil and gas industry has many
7 sets five ambitious objectives to be gas in the energy mix varies between opportunities to move public percep-
reached by 2030, including univer- 53% today and between 50-58% in tion of it as being part of the sustain-
sal access to affordable, reliable, and 2040. Therefore, oil and, more impor- ability problem to being part of the
modern energy services; a significant tantly, natural gas will be important solution. The industry has been fuel-
increase in the share of renewable ener- sources in meeting the world’s increasing major economic growth since World
gy in the global energy mix; and a dou- ing energy demand going forward. Most War II, enabling access to transporta-
bling of the global rate of improve- of the outlooks, however, do not take tion and electricity to an increasing-
ment in energy efficiency. Despite into account the multiple requirements ly larger share of the world’s popula-
its importance in world energy sup- associated with the UN’s sustainable tion. Major international and national
ply, and its lower environmental foot- development goals. oil and gas companies are participating
print compared with coal, the oil and In 2017, the International Energy actively in an economically and social-
gas industry suffers from a poor pub- Agency published an energy outlook ly acceptable energy transition to the
future. Several initiatives are under
way, including:
◗◗ The majors’ shift to natural gas
Kamel Bennaceur, SPE, is chief economist with the ADNOC and its role as a major bridge to a
Group based in Abu Dhabi. He has more than 35 years of expe- low-carbon future. Technological
rience in the oil and gas industry and, prior to taking the posi- developments such as LNG,
tion with ADNOC in 2017, was director of sustainable energy floating storage and regasification
policies and technologies with the International Energy Agency. units, and floating LNG are
Before that, he was Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mines for contributing to larger access
the government of Tunisia. Bennaceur held several positions at at the country level to natural
Schlumberger including chief economist, vice president of technology, and vice gas. Additionally, renewables
president of CO2 solutions and services. He is an author or coauthor of 15 books such as solar and wind, which
and more than 120 articles. Bennaceur received degrees from the Ecole have seen major cost decreases
Polytechnique in France and Ecole Normale Superieure with an aggregation over the past decade and are
of mathematics. competing with fossil fuels for

power generation, suffer from this technology meet the most SPE and its members’ role in the sus‑
their intermittency and need to stringent regulatory requirements. tainability process is highlighted in the
be combined with cost‑effective ◗ Energy efficiency and clean new SPE Strategic Plan: “Advance the oil
energy storage solutions and/or energy in the development and and gas community’s ability to meet the
a baseload energy supply such as production of hydrocarbons world’s energy demand in a safe, envi‑
natural gas. and in the downstream sectors. ronmentally responsible, and sustain‑
◗ The Oil and Gas Climate Technological advances associated able manner” and by the strategic pri‑
Initiative, with a $1 billion fund with technologies such as ority regarding professional pride: “SPE
over 10 years to take practical digitalization are helping the members understand and are inspired
action on climate change and industry improve its efficiency. by our industry’s contribution to society
reduce the carbon footprint Collaboration through industry and represent the industry positively to
of energy value chains. The organizations such as IPIECA and the public.”
initiative was started by 10 IOCs IOGP are providing participants SPE has actively pursued this agenda.
and NOCs, and has been recently the opportunity to benchmark In 2018, a memorandum of understand‑
joined by three North American their operational performance. ing was signed by SPE, the Internation‑
IOCs. Among its initiatives are In the refining sector (the most al Association of Oil and Gas Producers
to monitor and reduce methane energy‑intensive activity of the (IOGP), and the International Petroleum
leakage and the development oil industry), voluntary use of Industry Environmental Conservation
of carbon capture and storage benchmarks such as the Solomon Association (IPIECA) to promote social
projects. Energy Intensity Index has responsibility and sustainability. SPE’s
◗ The Clean Energy Ministerial helped participants improve Sustainable Development Technical Sec‑
and Mission Innovation initiatives, performance. Novel conversion tion has more than 1,500 members and
which involves public and private routes such as crude‑to‑chemicals has been involved with an extensive pro‑
organizations (including oil provide further potential for gram of conferences, workshops, and
companies) making progress efficiency. Other innovation in the webinars. In addition, 2019 SPE Presi‑
on a range of issues, including upstream sector is the increased dent Sami Alnuaim has made sustain‑
sustainability themes as diverse use of renewables as an energy ability a key theme of his term in office.
as gender diversity in the energy source for enhanced recovery When faced with a skeptical audience,
sector, energy efficiency, and (e.g., solar for steam generation). SPE members should inform themselves
clean hydrogen. ◗ Development of renewables through the Society’s events and knowl‑
◗ The Greenhouse Gas Flaring and energy storage solutions. edge resources about the industry’s sus‑
Reduction Partnership, a Oil companies are investing tainability activities, and also investi‑
public‑private initiative, led in novel third‑generation gate the resources listed below.
by the World Bank, to address biofuels such as algae. They
the issue of gas flaring, which also are providing expertise For Further Reading
wastes resources and creates for offshore wind projects United Nations (2015): The Sustainable
an environmental problem. The based on experience developing Development Goals. https://www.un.org/
partnership disseminates best platforms. Reduction in the sustainabledevelopment/energy/
practices and helps develop cost of energy storage and Newell, R (2018).: “8th IEA‑IEF‑OPEC
country‑specific gas flaring its improved reliability has Outlook Symposium Comparative
reduction programs. also been featured in company Analysis Findings”, https://www.ief.org/_
◗ Carbon capture, utilization, and strategies. resources/files/events/the‑eight‑iea‑ief‑
storage as a single technology, ◗ Several IOCs have created opec‑symposium‑on‑energy‑outlooks/
which has the potential to be the technology venture arms to presentations/ief‑rff‑comparative‑
largest decarbonization component invest in startups associated analysis‑findings‑‑‑richard‑newell.pdf
in the energy transition. Its with the energy transition. International Energy Agency (2017): The
application expands beyond Another sustainability requirement World Energy Outlook, OECD/IEA.
capture from natural gas to for oil and gas companies is a clos‑ Alnuaim, S. (2019): “Oil and Gas
include power plants as well as er association with the development Sustainability,” presentation at the
industry (steel, cement, aluminum, of local populations. The industry has University of Houston, January 2019.
petrochemicals). Having been a engaged in many aspects of corporate IPIECA‑UNDP‑UNFCC (2017): “Sustainable
pioneer in carbon capture, and and social responsibility and transpar‑ Development Goals Atlas”, http://www.
through its subsurface‑related ency in this area, and most IOCs and ipieca.org/resources/awareness‑briefing/
technologies, the oil industry NOCs include a corporate responsibility mapping‑the‑oil‑and‑gas‑industry‑to‑the‑
can play a major role in making review in their annual reports. sustainable‑development‑goals‑an‑atlas/

How Oil Innovation Has Benefited

Other Industries
Trent Jacobs, JPT Digital Editor
T echnology transfer in the oil and gas

industry is often viewed as a one-
way, inbound street. It comes with a good
others. In either case, the most well-
trod pathways of this technology transfer
lead into the areas of Earth and life sci-
group of technologists first launched in
Houston to explore synergies between
the oil and gas and medical sectors.
reason. The industry, from upstream ences, space exploration, and renewable Fiber optics have also been around
to downstream, has a well-established energy where exploration and produc- for decades, and are considered to be
track record of seeking out and ingest- tion innovations are enabling new areas the backbone of the world’s communica-
ing external innovation. And thanks to of research and understanding. tions network. The oil and gas industry
the expanding menu of digital technolo- has used the technology for an extended
gies available today—advanced comput- Medical Science period as well to monitor the habits of
ing programs, the internet-of-things, and Reservoir models are easy to take for their oil wells, including how their pres-
robotics—this appetite is growing. granted since they have been a fixture of sure changes.
One of the most important periods the modern oil and gas sector for more Quebec-based Opsens is one of the
of technology transfer for the oil and than a generation. But a government- companies that began in this applica-
gas industry came in the years follow- backed study in Norway aims to see if the tion area but has recently adapted its
ing World War II. Military technolo- technology can be carried over into the fiber-optic sensors to be used inside the
gies without a war to help fight would medical world to improve how doctors human body. The medical version of its
find new homes within engineer- interpret magnetic resonance imaging technology has been approved to take
ing companies tasked with moderniz- (MRI), which may save lives. pressure measurements inside arteries
ing the upstream sector. Some of the The idea is based on the similarities that affect heart function. The potential-
most successful adaptations include between the human brain and oil res- ly disruptive procedure it enables allows
shaped charges, offshore structures, and ervoirs. Because both are dual-porosity doctors to quickly assess the severi-
reeled pipelines. media, researchers think the indus- ty of blockages and legions to see if
But sometimes a new link is added to try’s reservoir models could lead to a they require angioplasty or less inva-
this chain of innovation. As the technol- breakthrough. The $1.1 million proj- sive therapies.
ogy that comes into the oil and gas busi- ect is being led by The Internation-
ness becomes refined, its potential soon al Research Institute of Stavanger, or Earth Science
trickles into the periphery of another IRIS, which has more than 20 years of Cable-free seismometers, or seismic
sector. The other side of this outbound experience in reservoir modeling. The nodes, were first developed to enhance
transfer includes native-born technolo- roots of the collaboration began with oil and gas exploration efforts, and are
gies that are adapted to the benefit of Pumps and Pipes, an international now a new tool for seismologists. The
wireless capability of the nodes simpli-
fies the logistics (no transport or burying
of cables required) of earthquake moni-
toring and allows large swaths of seis-
mically active areas to be monitored for
weeks at a time.
A 2014 seismic study used more than
900 wireless nodes to monitor trem-
ors at one of the most active volcanoes
in the US, Washington state’s Mount
St. Helens. Researchers said the nodal
array improved earthquake detection
rates by two orders of magnitude.
Airborne magnetic surveys were
invented by the US during World War II
for submarine hunting, but their geo-
physical value would be realized before
The legacy of oilfield diving technology includes help in designing key
the war’s end. In 1946, the first oil indus-
components of manned space flight, including space suits: Source NASA. try attempt at such a survey was car-

NA3D
NA2 POR (v/v)
NA1A 0.30
0.27
RJS19
0.24
0.21
0.18
0.15
0.12
0.09
0.06
0.03
0.0
They may not seem so alike, but experts think that brain scans (left) could benefit from the technology used to model
oil and gas reservoirs. Source: Wikicommons/Susana Santos.
ried out to assess petroleum reserves in 100 deep-sea marine biology studies suits for the shuttle program. One key
northern Alaska. since 2002, many carried out from active contribution from Oceaneering is a leak
Oil and gas companies continued to drillships or production facilities. detection system for the suits. The com-
advance the technology as a frontline pany continues to provide operation-
exploration tool that led to several nota- Space and Extraterrestrial al and maintenance services to NASA
ble discoveries, including one that has Exploration at its Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in
had a major impact on paleontology. In Before ROVs could be relied upon for Houston where astronauts train for
1978, while working for Mexican state subsea work, the oil and gas industry extravehicular activities. The facility is
oil company Pemex, an airborne survey needed humans to take the risk of float- a cornerstone of all modern US space
conducted offshore Mexico revealed the ing to the bottom to help install or fix missions involving space walks, includ-
first evidence of what is now known as subsea systems. One of the pioneers of ing the assembly of the International
the Chicxulub crater. Its 93-mile diame- oilfield diving is Oceaneering Interna- Space Station.
ter suggests that the crater was caused by tional which has been lending its unique Going a little farther out, about 34 mil-
an asteroid or a comet up to 50 miles in expertise to NASA’s manned space pro- lion miles, is another good example of
diameter itself, large enough to cause the gram for more than 35 years. how oil and gas technology is enabling
mass extinction of dinosaurs when it hit The collaboration started as way for the space program. In 2013, the Mars
Earth 65.5 million years ago. NASA to borrow learnings from pres- rover Curiosity used its small percussion
The early work on remotely operat- surized diving suits to create its space- drill—an ancient oil and gas technology
ed vehicles (ROVs) also came thanks to
inventive military minds, but the advent
of work-class ROVs is credited to the oil
and gas industry. These underwater sys-
tems arrived in the 1970s with robotic
arms, known as manipulators, and unlike
their predecessors, they could be used
for more than simply observing the sub-
sea environment.
Scientists and researchers quickly saw
the potential in work-class ROVs and
have used them over the years to search
for famous shipwrecks and discover new
marine species. The SERPENT project is
one of the best examples of this technol-
ogy transfer. As a collaboration between
the oil industry and the oceanographic Mount St. Helens, one of the most active volcanoes in the US, seen in 2016.
sector, SERPENT has led to more than Source: Washington State University Vancouver.

Researchers and technicians from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California use two ROVs for routine
studies of the ocean’s biodiversity and have discovered new marine species. Source: MBARI.
invented during China’s Han dynasty— tion. But for the hottest wells, and there- mostly used for enhanced oil recovery
to make the Red Planet’s first borehole fore most potentially productive, the projects, but that could change as the
to a total depth of 2.5 in. The tiny drilling geothermal sector has had to turn to some global society becomes more aggres-
operation led to a big discovery: the geo- of this industry’s most advanced high- sive on efforts to curb greenhouse
chemical conditions on Mars were once pressure/high-temperature systems. gas emissions.
capable of sustaining life. One such case involves a geothermal There are big challenges facing those
To learn more, and to know if that life project in Iceland that is tapping into who wish to scale up CO2 capture proj-
did indeed exist too, NASA will likely rocks so hot that traditional drill bits ects, which means the world will need
need to drill deeper during manned mis- melted when first used. In 2017, Baker oil and gas engineers to help develop
sions. The space agency expects this will Hughes helped drill the second well with successful approaches. The good news
also require a more robust drilling sys- a newly designed bit and motor that is that many of the technologies need-
tem, which has led it to examine how it work in temperatures above 570°F— ed for CO2 capture and storage have
could adapt, or miniaturize, several com- double the rating of most downhole already been proven out by the industry,
mercial oilfield technologies. Of specif- equipment. The third well is planned for from the injection systems to the model-
ic interest: pressurized downhole fluid this year, and will test a measurement- ing software.
sampling systems, borehole imaging, in- while-drilling, or MWD, component. If Oil and gas companies continue to
situ fluid analyzers, coiled tubing, and the project is a success, it will produce invest in the technology but there is
blowout preventers. geothermal wells with 5–10 times the the potential that they will play an even
electrical generation output of conven- bigger role going forward. The indus-
Renewable and Sustainable tional wells. try’s depleted reservoirs, which helped
Technologies Another hot area of interest in the sus- unleash an age of affordable energy, may
The geothermal sector has long relied on tainable sector is CO2 capture, the tech- serve the world anew by being re-used
oilfield systems that span the full spec- nical expertise of which was born within to hold what experts estimate could be
trum: drilling, completions, and produc- the oil and gas industry. CO2 capture is hundreds of billions of tons of CO2.
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory run by Oceaneering Bits used for geothermal well drilling range (left to right)
and used to train astronauts for their missions holds from a standard tri-cone bit, a geothermal design, and one
6.2 million gallons of water and is big enough to hold designed by designed by Baker Hughes to run at 570°F.
the International Space Station. Source: Kenneth Lu. Source: SPE 189677.

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© 2019 National Oilwell Varco | All Rights Reserved

Ten Technologies From the 1980s and 1990s

That Made Today’s Oil and Gas Industry
Henry Edmundson, Author and Consultant at R9 Energy Consultants
C ontrary to popular imagination,

which favors John Wayne stereo-
types heroically rescuing the oil indus-
imagination must be sustained at every
hurdle, to force progress and eventual
success. This is as valid for the glamor-
1981: Horizontal Wells Increase
Production
The Soviet Union pioneered horizontal
try with wrench and hammer, the oil- ous game-changing innovation as it is wells in the late 1960s only to turn its
field is a place of exquisite engineering, for a leap-of-faith improvement to exist- back on furthering the development of
the match of anything on Earth, a mar- ing technological practice. the practice in favor of vertical wells that
vel of innovation at the biggest and Since the 1980s, our industry has were easier and faster to drill. But the
smallest scales. experienced a technology renaissance mantle was picked up by Jacques Bosio,
The office-block sized blowout pre- all along this innovation spectrum— a drilling engineer with French oil com-
venters on the ocean floor or the min- the oil price volatility in this modern era pany Elf Aquitaine, which needed hori-
ute geopositioning electronics inside a of our industry certainly focused minds zontal drilling to intersect fractures and
logging while drilling (LWD) tool both on doing things more efficiently at less increase production from a karst res-
are designed to operate perfectly within cost. As a celebration of these years of ervoir found off the Italian coast, the
exacting environmental specifications. technical innovation, we now make so Rospo Mare field.
Almost every aspect of upstream exploi- bold as to list perhaps 10 of the most In 1981, for twice the cost of a verti-
tation is the result of exhaustively lever- significant contributions. cal well, horizontal drilling was sanc-
aging the glorious value chain of math, No doubt it is foolhardy to propose tioned. The first well would bring in
science, and engineering. such a list because we all have an opin- 3,000 B/D—more than 20 times its off-
Along this trajectory, failure is met ion on what should be on it. Neverthe- set vertical well. By the mid-1980s, hor-
more often than success, as ideas and less, there is surely enough common izontal drilling was seeing wider adop-
developments are tried out and eventu- ground to guarantee some degree of tion as a way to target thin oil and
ally fine-tuned until something begins objectivity. What may be objectionable gas reservoirs in Texas, the Middle
to work reliably. The journey is not for is limiting the number to 10. Within that East, and the North Sea. Operators had
the faint-hearted. Whether it be one constraint, however, just the intellectual known about these skinny hydrocarbon-
obsessive individual or a team with an and practical bravado displayed surely bearing layers for years—now they had
equal desire to win, both energy and merits all 10 to be included. a way to contact them with enough sur-
face area to make money. Bosio would
go on to become the first SPE President
from outside the US, in 1993.
1982: The Topdrive Improves

Efficiency, Begins Drilling
Automation
George Boyadjieff, an aerospace engi-
neer, spent much of his career with Varco
International challenging himself to find
a better way to turn to the right. His early
innovations led to the iron roughneck in
the mid-1970s, a notable development in
its own right.
Other advances came to the drill floor
to accelerate the rate of penetration, such
as the power swivel, but although this
saved time, pipe handling and tripping
remained a bottleneck.
Contracted to help with the design
Cutting-edge technologies on display at the 1992 Offshore Technology
Conference in Houston. During this period, a series of emerging innovations of two new jack-up rigs, Boyadjieff was
would find commercial success and reshape the upstream industry into the aware of these issues and conceived a
21st century. Source: SPE. machine that would hang from the der-

downhole technologies and interven-

tion practices.
1985: 3D Seismic Becomes

Everyday Tool For Reservoir
Engineering
The 2D seismic interpretations that oil
and gas companies had been studying
for decades left them wanting more.
Vertical slices of the subsurface were
essential for exploration, but not
cut out for reservoir development.
For landing wells in reservoir sweet
spots, engineers needed a 3D cube of
Jacques Bosio, a drilling engineer and 1993 SPE President, led the charge to seismic data.
develop the Rospo Mare field using horizontal wells. The platforms where this Esso performed the first 3D seis-
pioneering work was done still stand offshore Italy. Source: SPE/Edison. mic experiment in 1964 just outside of
Houston. After that, a consortium of
rick’s traveling block and drill 90-ft-long Schlumberger, which notes that the pro- oil companies and independent efforts
stands of drill pipe vs. the 30-ft-stands gram has been cited in more than 1,500 fine-tuned the technique. But the com-
used with the power swivels. In 1982, SPE papers and is used in 70 countries. puters needed to organize and inter-
Varco released the realization of this idea pret this new data set were expen-
as the topdrive. By decade’s end, it would 1983: Coiled Tubing Gives New sive and so large that their use had to
be in use on most of the industry’s large Life to Old Wells be rationed.
rigs and is now ubiquitous. Service companies and operators were Then in the mid-1980s, the deci-
experimenting with flexible tubing for sive development arrived as the indus-
1983: Reservoir Simulation well interventions but found that the try started using workstations that
Enables Field-Wide Reservoir fatigue caused by spooling and unspool- allowed engineers to study the 3D seis-
Development ing made for a short service life. In mic data from their desks. Pivotal play-
Efforts to simulate the production of early testing, this meant more money ers on the software and acquisition
a reservoir had been under way since was being made on fishing coiled tub- side included Sun Microsystems, Land-
the early 1950s but a push by the Unit- ing out of wells than from any pro- mark Graphics, GeoQuest Systems, and
ed Kingdom’s government helped bring duction improvements they deliv- the Geco seismic company. As more
it to the fore. The UK Department of ered, and operators quickly grew cold operators adopted their technologies,
Energy needed to predict the future of on the idea. major projects would never move for-
the country’s North Sea reserves and Then in 1983, Quality Tubing in Japan ward without 3D seismic. By repeating
found a theoretical physicist in the began making longer sheets of steel, 3D seismic surveys over time, a tech-
nuclear industry, Ian Cheshire, who which meant fewer welds were need- nique called 4D seismic even became
could help. ed to create a coiled tubing system possible to monitor fluid movement in
In 1977, Cheshire and his team would and, therefore, less points of potential the reservoir.
release a new simulation software that failure. By the 1990s, thanks to con-
presented the reservoir in three dimen- tinued improvements, coiled tubing 1985: MWD and LWD Guarantee
sions and with multiphase flow. He became synonymous with workover the Future of Horizontal Wells
would later be hired by a London-based operations. The technology went on to The commercialization of measure-
group, Exploration Consultants Limited be an enabling vehicle for a host of ment-while-drilling (MWD) suffered
(ECL), to perfect his simulation software
for the oil industry.
His crowning achievement was
released in 1983 as ECLIPSE—short Henry Edmundson is the director of R9 Energy Consultants
for ECL’s Implicit Program for Simulat- based in Cambridge, England. He spent 45 years with
ing Everything. ECLIPSE enjoyed wide- Schlumberger where he was the founding editor of the Oilfield
spread adoption because it allowed engi- Review and latterly global director of the company’s petroleum
neers to alter a reservoir model’s cell technologists. The entries in this list are based on excerpts taken
sizes to help match unique geometries; from Edmundson’s book, Groundbreakers: The Story of Oilfield
in other words, it made things more Technology and the People Who Made It Happen, which he
realistic. ECLIPSE was later acquired by co-authored with Mark Mau and published in 2015.

This led to the first buildup and draw-

down tests developed in the 1950s that
gave clues to a formation’s permeabil-
ity. Building on this, a method was soon
developed to establish the distance from
the wellbore to sealing faults and other
reservoir structures. Schlumberger
jumped in by 1955 and made it possible
to do some of this testing with wireline
instead of drill pipe.
Wireline testing, however, could not
reliably capture uncontaminated res-
ervoir fluids. There was no way to con-
trol the influx of drilling mud and mud
filtrate. A group of the service com
pany’s Houston-based engineers led the
breakthrough. They simply packaged
into the downhole tool a way of moni-
toring production so you could be sure
the sample was pure reservoir fluid.
Brought to market in 1989, their mod-
ular dynamics formation tester com-
bined many other technical features
and bolstered the industry’s ability to
The topdrive (center of the photo) is a defining component of modern drilling certify reserves.
systems and enabled a step-change in efficiency when it was introduced. It
continues to be critical to automation efforts. Source: Getty Images. 1990: Engineering Enters
the Deepwater Era
from years of setbacks that included Wireline survived the introduction of The offshore sector had been inching
the limitations of electronics, teleme- LWD, but operators now had an ability into deeper waters from the late 1940s
try, and industry trust. But by the early to log in horizontal wells too tough to using drill ships and fixed-leg produc-
1980s these issues started to break access with wireline, and even see ahead tion facilities. But with more deposits
down and MWD would see wider use by of and around the bit. This dramatically waiting to be tapped in deeper waters,
directional drillers interested in know- increased the odds of targeting not just companies would need to invest in the
ing where their bits were headed. the reservoir, but its most productive development of floating production sys-
The next step was to see if well logs sweet spots. tems, especially ones that could handle
could be run in a similar fashion. This the worst that the open seas had to offer.
innovation would become logging- 1989: Third-Generation Two of the most critical solutions
while-drilling (LWD) and it promised Wireline Formation Testing came from a single man. Ed Horton,
engineers a way to evaluate formations Gives A Taste of the Reservoir an engineer and founder of Deep Oil
without waiting for wireline to be run. Since the 1920s, engineers had some Technologies, is credited with invent-
In 1985, Sperry Sun led the market with understanding that testing the forma- ing both the tension leg platform (TLP)
its first LWD tool and the SPE paper tion prior to producing a well had value. and the spar. First conceived in the
it shared about the innovation pushed Innovation here started with tools that 1970s, Horton’s contributions would
others to follow. measured reservoir pressure and flow. become widely adopted for offshore
production by the 1990s as companies
began drilling wells in depths that ex-
Ian Cheshire was recruited from his work
ceeded 1,500 ft.
at the United Kingdom’s Atomic Energy
His legacy is perhaps most felt in the
Research Establishment to develop a novel Gulf of Mexico where TLPs and spars
reservoir simulator. His work led to ECLIPSE, dominate the deepwater landscape. This
which is one of the industry’s most well- includes Shell’s Perdido spar, which set
known and relied upon commercial software. the record in 2010 for the deepest sub-
sea project on the planet. This record
Source: SPE.
was nabbed in 2016 by Shell’s Stones
development (also in the Gulf), which is

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The Heidrun tension leg platform (TLP) in the North Sea Over a period of 20 years in the US, wellheads such as
was commissioned by Conoco in 1995 as the world’s this one connected to a hydraulic fracturing manifold
fifth TLP and is the only one to be built using reinforced would transition from a unique sight to an unremarkable
concrete. Operated today by Equinor, the platform is one thanks to the efforts of undaunted engineers from
connected to 51 producing wells in water depths of more around the world. Source: Getty Images.
than 1,100 ft. Source: Equinor/Harald Pettersen.
using a Brazilian-born innovation, the 1997: From Just A Hunch and recent advances in MWD/LWD,
floating production storage and offload- To A Revolution Mitchell and his engineers seized on the
ing unit or FPSO, to produce from wells As one of his gas fields dried up, oilman idea that they might be able to do this
at depths of 9,500 ft. George Mitchell was inspired to find a by combining horizontal drilling with
way to produce from ultra-tight rocks hydraulic fracturing.
1992: Inflow Control Devices called the Barnett Shale. On the shoul- The first of their trial wellbores was
For Horizontal Well Production ders of government-funded research drilled and fractured in 1991, but many
As companies drilled more horizon- attempts failed to unlock acceptable
tal wells and logged them, they real- quantities of gas. Then in 1997, Nick
ized that production was not evenly dis- Steinsberger, a petroleum engineer
tributed along the wellbore. Engineers working for Mitchell, earned his entry
at Norway’s Norsk Hydro were keen into the history books with an acciden-
to solve the issue in one of their off- tal discovery. Inadvertently blending gel
shore wells in which 75% of production into the fracturing fluids resulted in a
was contributed by the section clos- more watery mix than had been previ-
est to the heel. To augment the produc- ously used. This appeared to do the job.
tion profile, they came up with a com- The technique would become known
pletion tool called the inflow control as a “slickwater frac” and it enabled
device (ICD). Mitchell Energy to double its overall
First built in 1992, the ICD used fil- gas production. The company was sold
ters and chokes distributed along the to Devon Energy in 2002 and a few
length of a horizontal well that could be years later headlines would report that
tailored to optimize production. Others the shale revolution had been born. In
realized the opportunity the ICD rep- Advances made in the 1980s created the next decade, contrary to historical
resented, including Saudi Aramco, now a new breed of computers called trends, the US became the largest com-
the biggest user of the technology. For workstations, such as this model being bined producer of oil and gas. The tan-
Aramco, the advent of the ICD meant it demonstrated at the 1988 Offshore dem of hydraulic fracturing and hori-
Technology Conference (OTC) in
could economically develop tight forma- zontal drilling is now used globally as
Houston. They became indispensable,
tions with multilateral wells that greatly allowing engineers to visualize 3D programs of varying maturity are under
enhance the wellbore’s reservoir con- simulations of oil and gas reservoirs way in Canada, Argentina, China, and
tact area. from their desks. Source: SPE. Saudi Arabia.

Engineering Miracles: A Short Distance

Between Creation and Value to Society
Priscilla G. McLeroy, P.E., Texas A&M University
I n the JPT issue celebrating SPE’s 50th

anniversary, John C. Calhoun addressed
how distinctive petroleum engineering is
◗ Systematizing technological
management and coupling it with
business decision making (e.g.,
existing technologies, such as slickwater
fracturing adopted from Union Pacific
Resources Group, Mitchell’s engineer-
from other engineering disciplines: history matching, risk analysis, ing ushered in new sources of economic
“During the past several decades, con- reservoir management, software reserves, rebalancing top global suppli-
solidation and integration of four major packages, and team projects).”1 er positions between North America and
elements of petroleum engineering have Since that issue a little over a decade the Middle East.
occupied the profession. The following ago, petroleum engineering feats have An equal contributor to shale success
lists these elements. expanded on the past and made tower- was horizontal drilling. While slant drill-
◗ Extending our capabilities to gain ing breakthroughs in resource recovery. ing was derisive in the 1920s, legal and
access to, to couple with, and to Those breakthroughs came about with more reliable horizontal drilling evolved
operate within a greater portion of added emphasis on decision and risk with major advancement in the 1970s
the subsurface environment (e.g., analysis as an essential project element; through the use of mud motors, “bent
offshore locations, over-pressured a step up from what was referred to as subs,” whipstocks, and measurement-
environments, marginal reservoirs, a coupling with business. Reviewing our while-drilling tools. The petroleum engi-
horizontal drilling, complex technology history thus requires high- neer’s ability to reduce trips, monitor,
flow systems, acidizing, and lighting the tangible breakthroughs with and course correct through tight later-
hydrofracturing). the necessary intangibles that enabled al intervals advanced getting wells on
◗ Developing methods for detailed faster transformations with commercial production sooner, with lowered risks
characterization of subsurface success (Fig. 1). and better financial results. Direct pub-
formations, their fluids, and their lic benefit from results such as this are
surroundings (e.g., geostatistics, Tangible Breakthroughs exemplified by the number of sover-
well logging, indirect geophysical Arguably the biggest breakthrough dur- eign wealth funds established using oil
measurements, well-performance ing the past 50 years was Mitchell Ener- and gas proceeds: the Alaska Permanent
analysis, and basin analysis). gy’s approach to making shale produc- Fund, Texas Permanent University Fund,
◗ Recovering a greater proportion tion viable. Well stimulation began in the and funds in Norway and the Middle
of the petroleum within reservoirs mid-1800s with torpedoes used on Penn- East, to name a few.
that have been accessed and sylvania wells. It was the subject of the
understanding the transfer first JPT technology article published in Intangible Breakthroughs
operations that accompany 1949, “A Hydraulic Process for Increas- “Picasso had a saying: ‘good artists copy,
the recovery (e.g., a broadened ing the Productivity of Wells,” by J.B. great artists steal’ and we have always
spectrum of injected fluids and fluid Clark.2 Mitchell’s approach was not so been shameless about stealing great
additives, phased fluid injection destructive as the torpedo approach and ideas,”3 Apple founder Steve Jobs once
programs, extensions of reservoir packed more energy per square nano- told an interviewer. Over the past 50
flow paths, in-field drilling, and meter to tip the scales of global supply years, the oil and gas industry has moved
horizontal wellbores). sourcing. By leveraging the refinement of past “it wasn’t invented here.” Our indus-
try’s ability to adopt game-changing
ideas—giving due credit, of course—and
Priscilla G. McLeroy, SPE, is an adjunct professor at Texas A&M leverage them into engineered designs
University based in Houston, specializing in energy investment has been a great way to quickly tackle oil-
risk analysis and integrated asset design. She has worked in sev- field problems, driving more profitable
eral major E&P regions globally for BP, Chevron, A.D. Little, breakthroughs. As important as the tech-
Jefferies & Co., and in technology commercialization with SRI nology itself was the enabling process
International (formerly Stanford Research Institute). She is a reg- used to shepherd it to commerciality.
istered engineer in Texas, and holds an MS degree in petroleum Modern decision theory provides
engineering from Stanford University. She served as president of the SPE Golden structure to mitigate risks. Before, heu-
Gate Section and is a contributing technical reviewer to Energy Policy journal. Her ristics used in making executive deci-
most recent publication was Encyclopedia Britannica sections on “petroleum” and sions under uncertainty were system-
“petroleum engineer” in 2018. atic and predictable in error generation

(e.g., over budget, over time). Decision ity with markets as well as economic and strong. Gratefully, the 50 people solic-
processing gained traction in the 1970s social sustainability. ited for comment offered perspectives
and 1980s and then became de rigueur well worth recalling.
in the 1990s for evaluating major cap- Technologies The question I posed was simple, “What
ital projects under volatile hydrocar- That Benefit Society can you point to that petroleum engi-
bons pricing. In the 2000s, as more Tackling unconventional resources with neering was the genesis to make happen
strategic complexities weighed in on hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drill- that benefited society?” Past and pres-
petroleum engineers, projects with ing is the greatest petroleum engineering ent senior operating executives, National
multi-interactions were being evaluated accomplishment of the past half century. Academy of Engineering member petro-
with game theory principles. The impact on society was challenged— leum engineers, former SPE presidents,
Closely related to the field of decision claims of flaming faucet water, increased national oil company executives, oil and
theory, game theory addresses interac- earthquakes—and taken under study to gas investors, public policy advisors, oil
tions of agents whose decisions affect reveal sources beyond first reactions. and gas sovereign wealth managers, aca-
each other, whereas decision theory is What petroleum engineers are realizing demics, and drilling and reservoir young
concerned with choices of individual is that transparency is appreciated when professionals all contributed. Following
agents.4 Looking beyond the individual put into context of its benefit to the pub- are a few of the notable achievements
elements, deterministically or stochasti- lic, a gap engineers often overlook when cited with some perspective offered.
cally, is firmly established within petro- describing technological successes.
leum engineering projects. Reserves and Adequately capturing the best and “I believe what we, as a profession,
resources are evaluated more consistent- most valued petroleum engineering tech- do not often get recognition for the
ly now with systems such as the Petro- nologies for society since the late 1960s many industrial (manufacturing
leum Resource Management System cre- requires input from those closest to the and engineering) applications of the
ated by SPE and other associations (or subject. Having benefited from working processes and technologies that we
similarly updated classification/categori- alongside great petroleum engineers in have developed and the significant
zation for reserves and resources), which operating companies, technology com- benefits they have brought to society.
consider project parameters beyond mercialization labs, investment bank- Examples include advances our
technical recovery; namely, geological ing, energy management, and academia, industry has brought to the medical
knowledge, project status, and feasibil- the list to draw upon was diverse and field, the aeronautical and automotive
1960s 1970s 1980s

Super Giant Openings Deepwater, EOR, Early Big Play Reveals
Reservoir Analyses
❑ Tar sands, Canada ❑ Mobile offshore production unit ❑ Barnett hydraulic fracturing
❑ Prudhoe Bay, US ❑ Drillship without anchors ❑ NYMEX crude oil futures trading
❑ North Sea ❑ >1000 ft water depth production ❑ Completely steerable bottomhole
assembly
❑ Upper Zakum, UAE ❑ Heavy oil thermal EOR, CO2 EOR
❑ Multiphase P/L modeling
❑ Initial LNG sales, Algeria ❑ Type curves, use of source
and Green's functions ❑ Top-drive drilling
1990s 2000s 2010s

Technology Application Surges Economies of Scale New Evolutions
❑ Horizontal wells, slickwater fracturing ❑ 4D life of field seismic ❑ Cloud-based fiber optic downhole
data management
❑ Real-time analysis; multivariate ❑ Fast drilling process
optimization of production systems ❑ Field development and operations
❑ Subsalt production optimization; front-end loading
❑ Permanent downhole gauges ❑ Field fiber optics, wireless visualizations
❑ 3D seismic, subsalt discoveries advances subsea ❑ Well integrity, mitigation for extended
❑ Deconvolution and derivative reach drilling and subsea
❑ TLP, spar production, >6000 ft water
depth production analysis ❑ CO2 sequestration in aquifers
❑ Fast marching method for
Fig. 1—A 50-year sampling of petroleum engineering results, technologies, unconventional reservoir analysis
and enablers.

industries, the agriculture industry, “Since its US-based origins, the Final thoughts circle back to Calhoun,
and advances in the world of material reservoir model has evolved to who more than 50 years ago delivered
science, to name but a few.”— support international needs for an address challenging engineers to con-
Academia, former SPE president understanding CO2 containment, tinue to reflect on their value to soci-
geothermal (nonisothermal, nonlinear ety as much as creating value with the
“While renewable energy sources get two-phase flow), gas hydrates, and next technology breakthrough: “Today’s
a lot of attention when deployed in more complex issues with porous rapidly changing technologically based
developing countries, it is natural media.—Academia world can and will grow healthfully only
gas and oil development that enables to the degree that we bring a basic under-
industrial manufacturing and “In a nutshell, the combination
standing of the concepts and causes of
economic growth in these countries.” of horizontal drilling and
change to the public. The engineer has
—Public policy multistage hydraulic fracturing in
been too quiet on these subjects. He has
unconventional reservoirs has given
been reluctant to talk about his own func-
“Integrating big oil with big data mankind a virtually unlimited supply
tion and his own role in the develop-
using machine learning, augmented of inexpensive energy for as long as we
ment of civilization, to identify himself
reality, user interactions, and the need to run on fossil fuels. Petroleum
with the total change that is taking place,
Internet of Things in the oil and engineers made this happen.”—
and to point out the social relationships
gas industry is lowering costs to Academia, SPE Director
that are involved and the pitfalls that are
customers and creating exponentially
inherent. It is my opinion that we need
more innovations.”—Oil and gas
Petroleum Engineers to have a general diffusion to all walks
services
and Society of life of knowledge about engineering,
“Gas gave us the chance to save our No doubt petroleum engineers will con- the unifying principles of engineering,
trees from using it as firewood and tinue to excel in what they do best: inno- and the diversity of systems which the
diverted us from burning dirtier vations securing fossil fuels for mar- engineer can create and control. This,
coal.” —Central Asian young kets. A challenge is how best to show our more than knowledge of science, will
professional value to greater society. Easy first steps produce a public better informed and
are breaking down degrees of separation better able to assimilate these things
“… the North Sea fields, and their between the value petroleum engineers into the changing social structure that
impact on Scotland and the UK. provide and the greater society. How will be necessary to accommodate our
Forties was discovered in 1970, and many degrees, on average? Not as many technological evolution.”6
Brent in 1971.” During the first 40 as the popular 6° that is often quoted. For
years of operation, the Brent and residents of Michigan, the natural gas References
Forties fields were keystone assets that petroleum engineers produce along 1. Calhoun, J. C. (1999, January 1). A
that ushered the UK North Sea the US Gulf Coast provides necessary Historical Perspective on Petroleum
industry into global prominence. winter heating. Petroleum engineers are Engineering. Society of Petroleum
For Forties alone, Oil and Gas UK likewise involved with characterizing the Engineers. doi:10.2118/0199-0030-JPT
cites 330,000 “other” jobs directly Michigan reservoirs that yield the best 2. Clark, J. B. (1949, January 1). A Hydraulic
sustained by the industry with deliverability rates supporting storage Process for Increasing the Productivity
207,000 people within the wider reservoir pressure through the injection of Wells. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
supply chain and a further 100,000 and production cycles. This is critical for doi:10.2118/949001-G
jobs supported by the economic managing Michigan’s peak load needs, 3. Jobs, S. (1996, June). PBS Interview, “The
activity created by employee and allowed Patti Poppe, the president Television Program Transcripts: Triumph
spending.—Academia and CEO of Consumers Energy, the dis- of the Nerds Part III”. https://www.pbs.
org/nerds/part3.html
cretionary option of offering free energy
“(For an NOC) in the exploration 4. Myerson, R. B. (1991). “1.2: Basic Concepts
to those facing hardship in her state of
phase, petroleum engineering has of Decision Theory”. Game theory analysis
Michigan this past winter.5
given the tools to be a knowledgeable of conflict. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
How many degrees of separation? In
counterpart to the IOCs Harvard University Press. ISBN
this case, fewer than three: 1) petroleum
(international oil companies), from 9780674728615
engineers produced the gas and 2) saw 5. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-
assessing the prospective resources that it was transported to Michigan, and releases/consumers-energy-provides-10-
so we request a reasonable profit for 3) accepted the gas to Michigan’s 150 BCF million-to-help-families-in-michigan-
the state in exchange for the contract working storage reservoirs. And, how with-winter-heating-bills-300773267.
and the exploratory work, but also in much value to society? Life-saving for html, (2019, January 7)
monitoring the operations: seismic, some Michigan residents. Our challenge 6. Calhoun, J. C. (1961, January 1).
drilling, logs evaluation, etc.”— is stretching our thinking to see the end- Engineering In A World Of Change. Society
National Oil Company users’ perspective. of Petroleum Engineers.

What Lies Ahead for Hydrocarbons

in the Global Energy Mix?
Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer
C ontinual change is an indisputable

feature of the oil and gas industry.
The industry that exists today bears little
Energy Outlook, a collection of modeled
projections of what may happen in the
energy sector given certain assumptions
cast panel discussing key findings from
the outlook, moderator Jason Grumet,
founder and president of the Bipartisan
resemblance to the one that existed 40 and methodologies. Its reference case Policy Center, said that based on the sce-
years ago. Forty years from now, energy projection is the agency’s best assess- narios outlined in the Paris Agreement
demand, consumption habits, technolo- ment of how US and world energy mar- and a report by the UN Intergovernmen-
gies to produce and deliver energy, and kets will operate through 2050, assuming tal Panel on Climate Change released last
regulations will again have changed in improvement in known energy produc- year, the energy industry will need to
ways known and unknown. tion, delivery, and consumption technol- innovate to reduce emissions to levels
One of the big drivers in the shift mov- ogy trends. needed to limit global warming.
ing forward is climate change, and the The outlook focused on US oil and gas BP emphasized a similar view in its
downward pressure on carbon emissions production in the near term, but it also 2018 Annual Outlook. It examined car-
needed to achieve goals outlined in the discussed the changing mix in energy bon emissions from energy in three sce-
Paris Agreement, an intergovernmen- sources expected to materialize over the narios: an evolving transition, a faster
tal climate deal aimed at taking steps next couple of decades. Renewable ener- transition, and an “even faster” transi-
to limit the increase in global warming. gy will become a larger part of the mix. tion where the power sector is almost
World energy demand will continue to Driven by solar and wind, renewables entirely decarbonized in 2040. Emis-
rise, and fueling the world will require today make up nearly 20% of electric- sions drop dramatically in the faster
abundant resources from a variety of ity generation, a change that has result- transitions, but continue to grow in the
sources. The transition is already under ed in the overall carbon dioxide intensity evolving scenario, increasing by approx-
way to diversify the fuel mix, and hydro- of the electric power sector declining by imately 10% by 2040. While this rate of
carbons remain in a position to meet the 25% from the mid-2000s to today. EIA growth would be far slower than the past
needs of a changing environment, what- projects this downward trend to continue 25 years, when emissions increased by
ever they may be. through 2050. 55%, it is much higher than the sharp
While increased renewable use has led decline thought necessary to be con-
The New Energy Landscape to reduction in CO2 intensity in some sistent with achieving the climate goals
In January, the US Energy Information areas, some are questioning whether that set in the Paris Agreement. BP said this
Administration (EIA) released its 2019 reduction is enough. During an EIA web- “highlights the need for a more decisive
break” from the past.
40 Another webcast panelist, Kevin Book,
Carbon Emissions
managing director of ClearView Energy
35 Partners, said that innovation tracks in
two ways relative to expectations. Incre-
30 mental change tends to move faster and
Billion tonnes CO2
revolutionary change moves slower.

25
“If the evolutions are faster than we
expect, the revolutions—the solid-state
20
batteries, the nuclear fusion—they’re
15 kind of 6 years away forever. That ten-
Evolving transition dency locks us into solutions that are less
10 the stuff of dreams and more a question
Faster transition of how you address different challeng-
5 es, where they’re economic or climate-
Even faster transition
based. What it means is that solving these
0 economic and environmental problems
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 requires new and creative ways to work
Fig. 1—In the evolving transition scenario—marked by a gradual shift toward with what you’ve got,” he said.
natural gas and renewable energy production—BP projected a slower rise in Incremental change is not necessar-
carbon emissions to 2050. Source: BP 2018 Annual Outlook. ily a bad thing. Book said the diffu-

sion of technologies that mature and 20

Transport End-Use Sector
scale throughout networks already in
place can lead to unanticipated para- Industry*
digm shifts, citing the US’ rapid move
toward energy independence as an 15 Non-combusted
example. Arshad Mansoor, senior vice Buildings
president of research and development
Billion toe
at the Electric Power Research Insti-
10
tute, made a similar observation. He
said that production volumes and lower
costs often drive the adoption of inno-
vative solutions. For example, improve- 5
ments in solar panel efficiency over the
past 60 years have led to a dramatic
drop in price. The cost to power the first
silicon commercial solar cell in 1955 0
was more than $1,785 per watt (roughly 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040
$18,300 in 2018 US dollars), a far cry *Industry excludes non-combusted use of fuels
from today where the average price per

Fig. 2—BP projects a slowdown in global energy demand growth between
watt ranges from $2 to $4. Solar power 2018 and 2040. Demand is projected to increase by about a third, led by the
is projected to make up nearly half of industrial sector, but this is a slower rate of increase from previous decades.
renewable power generation by 2050 in Source: BP 2018 Annual Outlook.
the EIA Outlook.
The drop in solar cost over a 60-year decide a new technology is better for with a laptop and an iPhone, I would also
period is an extreme case, but Mansoor them, industry will adapt. need an iPad? But guess how many iPads
said it shows how affordability and avail- “It’s hard to predict customer behav- or tablets have been sold. You go and
ability drives adoption. If consumers ior. Who would have predicted that look at the behavior of the people who
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World Oil Demand Growth (year-on-year change) require a doubling of approvals of con-
ventional oil projects from their current
1.8 levels. Without such an increase, US shale
1.6 production would have to add more than
10 million B/D between present day and
1.4
2025, which the IEA said was “a histori-
1.2 cally unprecedented feat.”
The IEA forecasts non-OECD (Orga-
mb/d
1.0
Rest of
nization for Economic Cooperation and
0.8
the world Development) countries dominating
0.6 global oil demand growth over the next 4
0.4
to 5 years. The pace of growth is project-
India
ed to slow down to 1 million B/D by 2023
0.2 as other energy sources become more
China
0.0 prevalent. The IEA cited China, which
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 has implemented stringent fuel efficien-
Fig. 3—World oil demand growth is projected to slow to 1 million B/D by 2023, cy and emissions regulations in an effort
with China and India providing a large plurality of that demand. Source: IEA. to tackle poor air quality in its cities. A
rising number of electric buses and LNG-
have bought an electric vehicle and ask Both EIA and BP project a growth in fueled trucks in China should slow oil
them if they will go back to an [internal global energy demand, offset by a decline demand growth significantly.
combustion] engine car, they will prob- in energy intensity as consumer products The EIA projects the US becoming a
ably say not. Most of them will stay with increase in efficiency. BP projected glob- net energy exporter in 2020 in large part
EVs. We are a firm believer that, at the al energy demand growing by around a to significant increases in crude oil and
end of the day, customers decide what third by 2040, marking a significantly natural gas plant liquids. US dry natural
they want for their purpose. It could be slower rate of growth than in the previ- gas production will increase as a result of
driven by costs, a desire for clean ener- ous 25 years. continued development of tight and shale
gy, or it could be driven by reliability,” LNG will increase the global availabil- resources, which EIA said will account
Mansoor said. ity of gas, with supply more than dou- for nearly 90% of dry natural gas pro-
bling due in large part to exports from the duction. Across all of its cases, onshore
Natural Gas Holds Leading Role US and Qatar—BP projected that those production of natural gas from sources
EIA projects natural gas taking an even two countries will account for almost half other than tight oil and shale gas, such as
greater share of US electricity generation of all global LNG exports by 2040. EIA coalbed methane, will generally continue
by 2050, rising from 34% today to 39%, said that, after LNG export facilities cur- to decline through 2050 because of unfa-
driven by projected low natural gas pric- rently under construction are complet- vorable economic conditions for produc-
es. In its reference case, the industrial ed by 2022, US LNG export capacity will tion. If gas is playing a major role in the
sector will become the largest consumer increase even further, and Asian demand energy mix moving forward, oil will have
of natural gas starting in the early 2020s. growth will allow US natural gas to remain to play a role as well.
The use of natural gas will increase as competitive there in the short term. After “The role of gas is decidedly linked to the
a feedstock in the chemical industries, 2030, additional suppliers are projected abundance of crude that will come out in
for industrial heat and power, and lique- to enter the global LNG market, includ- the right market and policy circumstanc-
fied natural gas (LNG) production. Low ing Mexico, and this may make additional es because it’s associated gas. Also, high
natural gas prices will also drive a sig- US export capacity uneconomic. prices mean that, when we think about
nificant increase in gas consumption for In the short term, liquids will still play what we want out of energy in the US, low
electric power. a role in the energy mix, but projec- pump prices might start to lose their eco-
“I have no problem whatsoever with tions on the extent of that role vary from nomic appeal. An export-focused producer
gas trending the way that it does from source to source. In its World Energy nation needs more out of the ground and
a policy perspective and a former regu- Outlook 2018, the International Energy into the world to produce that greener,
latory background,” Colette Honorable, Agency (IEA) writes that oil markets are cleaner gas-based mix,” Book said.
former commissioner of the US Federal soon to enter a period of renewed uncer- In the future, BP said the global fuel
Energy Regulatory Commission and cur- tainty and volatility, including a possible mix will be the most diversified ever
rent member of Reed Smith’s Energy and supply gap in the early 2020s. IEA proj- seen, and abundant and diversified ener-
Natural Resources Group, said. “In fact, ects a rise in oil consumption in com- gy supplies will make for a challenging
given the very strong onslaught of renew- ing decades due to rising petrochemi- marketplace. Honorable said that the
ables that we’ll see, we need that gas, so cals, trucking, and aviation demand, but industry will be equipped to handle what-
that’s very encouraging to me.” meeting that growth in the near term will ever comes its way.

Why We Matter
Scott Wilson, Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott Company
W hen worldwide oil and gas con-

sumption reached record lev-
els yet again in 2017, SPE members were
ing, heating, and cooling), populations
were vulnerable not only to extreme
weather events, but also to the effects
spend the activists 30 to 1 to defend
itself. One of the ironies of the vote was
that those who lived near wells, and who
there when it counted, helping to generate of everyday weather. With this strong would theoretically benefit from addi-
more light and power for billions of peo- record of benefitting mankind, it would tional “safety” measures, voted against
ple across the world. The United Nations seem natural that those in the industry the new regulations (75–25%), while
Human Development Index (HDI), which could rest on their accomplishments. But those in urban areas voted (30–70%) for
serves as a proxy for quality of life, shows notice the shape of the curve as the devel- greater restrictions on development that
that populations that consume more fossil opment index approaches 1 and incre- would consequently happen somewhere
fuels are better educated, wealthier, and mental consumption does not neces- else. If the regulations made people liv-
live longer (Fig. 1). The greatest incremen- sarily improve human flourishing. Have ing near wells safer, why wouldn’t they
tal benefit comes to those who are lifted wealthy populations reached the point of vote for these measures? And why would
out of poverty by their first access to cheap diminishing returns, forgetting what life those who live far from development vote
energy (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/ was like without fossil fuels? for new regulations that would restrict
energising-human-development). In 2018, the residents of Colorado voted their access to cheap energy?
For more than five generations, the oil on a new regulation proposed by environ- Can the HDI plot explain these coun-
and gas industry has helped raise living mental activists that, ostensibly in the terintuitive results? Those who voted
standards; protected environments by name of safety, would have pushed the against the new regulations are primarily
replacing firewood with natural gas and oil and gas industry out of the state by rural. They may benefit directly through
propane; and provided food to hungry cutting off access to future drilling loca- a job in the industry or support indus-
people by increasing farming productivity, tions (https://dcgop.org/proposition112/). tries; they may be farmers or royalty
transportation, refrigeration, and packag- Before the vote, I decided to walk the owners who receive income from pro-
ing. Before hydrocarbons, the great whales streets of my neighborhood to make the ducers. They know what our industry
were almost hunted to extinction to pro- case for fossil fuels, asking each neigh- does and see how it improves their lives
vide oil for lamps. Before the use of hydro- bor how he or she felt about effectively each day. The other group consists chiefly
carbons, Europe had cut down almost all banning the oil and gas industry. Some, I of urban professionals, working in finan-
of its trees to provide heat. Author Michael quickly realized, were motivated by fear cial services, software, or government.
Crichton postulated that, before internal and beliefs not rooted in reality. To them, Some urbanites may not even own cars
combustion engines were common, one of this sinister new trend known as “frack- because fleets of vehicles can deliver all
the greatest environmental challenges of ing” was responsible for sinkholes, pipe- they need to their front doors, one item
the future would have been finding a way line leaks, all earthquakes, and inclement at a time. Those high on the HDI scale
to dispose of mountains of horse manure. weather. While each person with whom I may be willing to pay additional costs for
Life before hydrocarbons was much hard- spoke was polite and talked with me until an unquantifiable climate benefit in the
er, and the HDI curve shows that, for those I had worn out my welcome, this vocal distant future, but are they demanding
who have no access to hydrocarbons, life minority seemed uninterested in infor- that their less-fortunate neighbors make
is still very challenging indeed. mation that might challenge their beliefs. an even greater proportional sacrifice?
Without the products provided by the The proposition was defeated, The yellow-vest protests in France
industry (shelter, transportation, cloth- 58–42%, but the industry had to out- began when increased fuel taxes designed
to meet climate-change targets were sup-
Scott Wilson, SPE, is a senior vice president for Ryder Scott in ported in urban areas, but were resisted
Denver. He specializes in well-performance prediction and optimi- by those who felt the costs immediately,
zation, reserves appraisals, simulation studies, custom software and who knew benefits would never be
development, and training. Wilson has worked in all major pro- measurable. France outlawed hydraulic
ducing regions in his 30-year career as an engineer and consultant fracturing in 2011. The US subsidiary of
with Arco and Ryder Scott. He served as cochairperson of the the largest French bank pledged to “no
Reserves and Economics Technology Interest Group and chairper- longer do business with companies whose
son of the Denver Section of the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers and cur- main activity is exploring, producing, dis-
rently serves on the JPT Editorial Committee. Wilson holds a BS degree in petroleum tributing, marketing, or trading oil and
engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA degree from the gas from shale,” while Schlumberger, with
University of Colorado. He holds three patents and is a registered professional engi- the second-largest pressure-pumping
neer in Alaska, Colorado, Texas, and Wyoming. fleet on the planet, also is based in France.

The ironies do not end in France, how- 1.0
UN Human Development Index

ever. Because of abundant hydropower
not available elsewhere, Norway consid- 0.9
ers itself a very green country. Yet Norwe- 0.8
gians also produce huge amounts of fos-
sil fuel for others and are one of the few 0.7
countries that still hunt whales. In 2016,
0.6
Norway’s Minister of Climate and the
Environment acknowledged that Norwe- 0.5
gians “have been living well from oil and
0.4
gas. But there is no country in the world
that has done more to undermine the oil 0.3
and gas industry than Norway.” When 0 5 10 15 20 25
this irony was pointed out, he replied, CO2 Emissions per person (metric tons/yr)
“We know there is a paradox.” Fig. 1—The relationship between CO2 emissions per person and quality of life
Even though the first multifractured as expressed in the United Nations Human Development Index.
horizontal well was drilled in the North
Sea in 1987, the only recent well to be two electric circulating pumps was more cycle repeats itself as soon as our collec-
hydraulically fractured onshore in the than the cost of gas to heat an equivalent tive memory forgets the last cycle. The
UK experienced multiple shutdowns dur- amount of hot water. fossil fuel era began around 1920, and
ing stimulation operations as sensitive Is the public blind to such “paradox- the shifting Hubbert’s Peak oil curve cur-
instruments measured tremors above the es”? The message behind the goal of “sav- rently predicts it may last another cen-
legal limit of 0.5 on the Richter scale. ing” the planet is so powerful, so compel- tury. Renewables are improving and now
Because that scale is logarithmic, a 0.5 ling, that reason and critical thinking are make up 11% of consumption in the US
reading is roughly 1,000 times less than often discarded in pursuit of the elusive (https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.
the 3 reading at which humans actually Utopian future. Can’t we in the indus- php?id=92&t=4). That is a good thing,
can feel movement. What defines a “safe” try work to build a more comprehen- because new, diverse sources will preserve
tremor is a moving target, because vibra- sive awareness, perhaps even describe fossil fuels for future use, and petroleum
tions of 0.5 are merely background noise an Atlas Shrugged scenario of what life engineers joining the industry in 2050
in seismically active places such as Los would be like without fossil fuels? We will benefit from healthy competition.
Angeles, Tokyo, and Jakarta. could, but unfortunately, such measures How do we, SPE members and indus-
Fossil fuel alternatives—portrayed as rarely work. The Fossil Fuel Free Chal- try professionals, maintain our moti-
clean, free, and powerful—never seem lenge (http://www.fffchallenge.com/), for vation when many have forgotten what
to live up to the advertising. After a tsu- instance, was perceived as unwelcome life was like before our industry changed
nami caused the Fukushima Daiichi self-promotion. the world? We do so for the same rea-
nuclear disaster, for instance, Germany In 1980, when coal mines were being son we care about family members who
announced it would close all its zero- shut down across Colorado, I saw bum- might give us a heartfelt hug immediately
emission nuclear plants by 2022, even per stickers in affected towns reading, before asking for a ride to attend an anti-
though only one of 17 active plants was “Ban Mining, Let the (expletive)s Freeze fossil fuel rally. We should listen to and
near an ocean. The power generated by in the Dark.” At the time, I did not under- be respectful of those on the extreme, but
idled nuclear plants has been replaced stand the frustration expressed by those not allow ourselves to be bullied. We can
by lignite coal-fired generation, increas- stickers, because I did not realize that the take solace in the knowledge that there
ing carbon emissions for the foreseeable electricity I used (and still use) was pri- is a large silent majority that supports
future. Thousands of mirrors that focus marily generated with coal. My life did us but may not always show it. We have
solar power at large-scale concentrated not need coal, so I would be fine if it went helped set the stage for the flourishing
solar facilities also produce showers of away. We take for granted that which we of the human race for 100 years, and we
flaming birds after they unwittingly fly do not have to worry about. have raised worldwide living standards
into the path of these powerful new clean Working in a car parts factory in 1978 more than any industry in the history
energy sources. The US Fish and Wildlife and considering a career in oil and gas, of mankind. If you want to meet people
Service estimates that wind turbines will I seriously wondered if oil shale (where who truly appreciate the energy that we
cause 1.4 million avian deaths per year by one digs up shale, then cooks it to release supply, I suggest visiting a village in the
2030, when wind will supply 20% of US oil) could keep the oil industry alive after developing world where electricity has
electricity needs. And even in the realm the experts estimated we would run out recently arrived, where it is considered
of the individual, complexities exist; it of regular oil—in 1985. The death of the magical and represents the start of a bet-
was only after I installed a solar hot water fossil fuel industry has been premature- ter, more promising life. Stand tall, and
system that I realized the cost to run the ly reported for at least 50 years, and the be proud of what we have accomplished.

The X-Factor in PE: Women in the Industry

Judy Feder, JPT Technology Editor
Hollub Hoff Olson Chakraborty
E mployment of petroleum engi-

neers is projected to grow 15%
from 2016 to 2026, much faster than
the talent and expertise in our company
afforded us a much bigger opportunity
to lower our cost structure by signifi-
challenge is learning how to provide suf-
ficient clarity about the strength of our
story to the investment community.”
the average for all occupations. There cantly improving our capital efficiency Regarding mistakes, Hollub said,
is a strong movement within the indus- and lowering operating costs.” “I’ve learned more from my mistakes
try and among the companies that com- Hollub placed particular emphasis than from successes, so I call them
prise it to ensure that as this growth on the Permian Basin, where she had my learning experiences. I want our
occurs, the percentage of women in the been actively involved in operations and employees to view mistakes the same
global workforce and in senior posi- management since 2007, and which had way. We learn from them and should
tions also grows. Increased gender been a consistent driver of profits. By share them to help others avoid the
diversity has been proven to benefit July 2017, half of Oxy’s output was com- same ones.”
organizational performance through ing from the Permian Basin, with the She recalled some of her biggest mis-
higher-quality teamwork, improved other half from Qatar, Oman, the United takes coming from trying to fix a prob-
problem solving, greater creativity, and Arab Emirates, and Colombia. At that lem before telling anyone because she
lower-risk decision making, as exem- time, Forbes magazine wrote that Hol- was embarrassed to admit she had got-
plified by the women interviewed for lub’s focus on high-producing oil fields ten in over her head or things weren’t
this article. had made Occidental “leaner” and going according to plan.
“poised to gusher cash for the next half- “In a couple of cases, I waited so late
century.” Oxy outperformed the market that, by the time I asked for help, the
Vicki Hollub, in 2017 despite depressed oil prices glob- project was too far along to get back
Occidental Petroleum ally, with shares up more than 25% year to plan. This undermined value for our
over year. company and bothered me for a long
Vicki Hollub, president and chief oper- Since 2008, Fortune has ranked Oxy time. Communication early and often
ating officer of Occidental Petroleum No. 1 every year in its Most Admired especially when an issue is critical,”
(Oxy), is the first female CEO of a major Companies in Mining, Crude Oil Produc- she advised.
US oil company. She was appointed CEO tion ranking. Hollub believes that technical profi-
in April 2016 during a severe downturn Asked about her career planning, ciency has been, and will continue to be,
in the industry. Hollub said, “I stumbled into this indus- the hallmark of successful oil and gas
Under Hollub, Oxy cut production try almost accidentally and have enjoyed companies, but points out that from this
costs in response to falling crude prices, almost every minute of it. I wanted to be point on, it needs to expand beyond the
but decided not to lay off employees, and the best petroleum engineer I could be. fundamentals of engineering and geo-
focused instead on existing core opera- I never aspired to become CEO. I loved science to include areas such as data
tions in the Middle East, the US, and operations and the technical challenges analytics, climate science, and human
Colombia, and selling low-yield fields in of our industry.” capital management.
the US and Middle East. In fact, she said, her biggest challenge “I would advise any young person
Commenting on her decision not to has been transitioning from operations interested in becoming a petroleum
lay off employees, Hollub said, “There to CEO. engineer to make sure they take cours-
were some who questioned us and “Part of the challenge is the isolation. es that will help them maneuver through
thought we were neglecting our fiducia- There are issues you can’t discuss with and maximize value from the Internet of
ry duty to lower costs. But we knew that anyone internally or externally. Another Things,” she said.

She also believes that, to bring more understanding the interactions among at 30% less cost than vertical wells. Her
women into petroleum engineering, the these groups and the needs of each to team also completed the first commer-
industry needs to get to young girls as be effective. cial shale well in Australia. And, she led
early as elementary school. She then asked to work as a drill- the company’s corporate HSE functions,
“Their paradigms are being shaped ing foreman and became the sole site which spanned multiple states, and fed-
very early in life,” she said. supervisor of offshore workover rigs in eral and international regimes.
the gulf and drilling rigs across many Hoff has served as vice president of
western US onshore basins. operations for Antero Resources since
Diana Hoff, Antero Resources “Becoming a drilling foreman was a June 2017.
big highlight,” Hoff recalled. “I went “Coming full circle back to West Vir-
Diana Hoff, vice president of opera- offshore at the age of 27 and worked ginia and having an impact on how
tions for Antero Resources, says petro- 7-on-7-off or 14 and 14 hitches for 4 resources are being developed in my
leum engineering has been a lifelong years. So much of drilling is experien- home state has been very gratifying,”
connection to her “pumper Grandpa” tial, and to go out at a young age and said Hoff. “This is such an incredibly
and a life’s work with meaning. show I could learn quickly and lead 40 important opportunity for Appalachia
Hoff began her career as a produc- to 70 guys gave me ‘street cred’ among to have sustained jobs at home for the
tion engineer for Chevron in the US my peers. It was hard, and it was so crit- next generation and to make sure it’s
Gulf of Mexico, often supervising jobs ical to do.” done in a way that minimizes impacts.
such as wireline interventions and stim- In 2010, she moved to Australia to “The people in this industry are salt
ulations herself on site. Starting in pro- lead the global drilling and completions of the Earth, and I love being around
duction gave her the opportunity to operations for Santos, where she led the them,” she continued. “It’s such a team
interact with diverse groups across res- transition from conventional to uncon- environment, particularly in drilling
ervoir engineering, geoscience, drill- ventional operations. The first signifi- and completions. I’ve let my career be
ing and completions, and joint ven- cant multiwell pad development in Aus- guided by just a few requirements. Am
tures, and built a solid foundation in tralia was delivered under her leadership I having fun? Am I making a difference?
Am I learning and being challenged?
Holding true to these has led me to some
unexpected places.
“In the late 1990s we were told there
Words of Wisdom For—and From—Women was no future for us because the US
in Petroleum Engineering would run out of oil and gas and it would
be importing both,” she remembered.
Vicki Hollub, Karen Olson, Diana Hoff, and Soma Chakraborty were asked
what advice they would give other women petroleum engineers.
“The transformation to US energy inde-
pendence and low prices for consumers
◗ Communicate directly, more like a man (but respect the culture where here gives me so much pride in our col-
you are working). lective accomplishments. To have done
◗ Engage in discussion. what we were told was impossible and
◗ Learn to talk about diverse topics, not just what interests you. changed world economies and balances
◗ Learn to say, “No.”
of power is very gratifying.”
◗ Take risks.
◗ Communicate early and often, especially when you have made a mistake. Karen Olson,
◗ Use and appreciate humor. Southwestern Energy
◗ Raise your hand if you must to be recognized and break through the
noise. Karen Olson, technology director for
◗ Reach out; don’t wait for things or people to come to you. Southwestern Energy, is recognized
for leading industry efforts to manage
◗ Stand up for yourself in a professional way.
water use and become better stewards
◗ Understand and leverage the power of collaboration. of fresh water. Her SPE Distinguished
◗ Take courses beyond the basics of engineering and geoscience. Lecture, “Freshwater Neutral: Manag-
◗ Seek out and learn from male and female mentors and role models. ing Water Use and Giving Back to the
◗ Use your “soft” skills to strengthen your company’s interaction with Environment,” is based on her leading
people in the communities where you live and work. role in Southwestern Energy’s ECH2O—
Energy Conserving Water—initiative to
replenish or offset each gallon of fresh
water used in hydraulic fracturing oper-

ations through conservation practices, tying the results back to the field—an the success of the bit development,
projects, and technologies. approach she learned from her mas- Chakraborty replied, “Absolutely, yes.”
The initiative, the first by any oil and ter’s degree professors at Texas A&M “The project required thinking out-
gas company, was launched in late 2012 and from her mentors, and applied as a side the box and meticulous attention to
and had achieved freshwater neutrality completions engineer and stimulation detail. And, being a member of the com-
for each operational basin by the end of team leader for BP to maximize produc- pletions organization on a drill bit proj-
2016. By the end of 2018, the company tion and recovery for the Valhall flank ect, required strong engagement skills
had completed nine aquatic conserva- development in the North Sea. Based and the flexibility to collaborate across
tion projects in three states in concert on numerical modeling and lab testing, disciplines in a company that historical-
with multiple and varied stakeholders. her team completed some of the larg- ly had been very siloed.”
All told, the sum of the conservation est commercial-rate wells in the Val- She also credits an internal LinkedIn-
projects currently provides a freshwater hall field, which had been producing type network and the technical forums
benefit of more than 71 million bbl/year since 1982. that were popular in her company
to the local environments.” After joining Southwestern Energy in at the time as enabling the tech-
“We got the idea from Coca Cola, 2010, Olson and her team applied the nology breakthrough.
which had done something similar, and technical fundamentals of data gather- “A colleague in our drill bits group
began by defining the meaning and set- ing and diagnostics, using large blocks had seen my name on our internal net-
ting standards,” said Olson. “The initia- of outcrop rock analogous to different work and approached me to talk about
tive also included chemical safety and horizons in the Fayetteville shale, to nanodiamond research I had con-
wellbore integrity. And, we allowed uni- advance understanding of fracture com- ducted at Rice,” she said. “That con-
versities to research groundwater while plexity. Their work led to understand- versation led to my being part of a
we were fracturing and to publish their ing that fracture complexity is in the technological breakthrough and an invi-
findings without our review.” rock and can be enhanced with fluids tation to present our work to our board
Yale University published a report of and other techniques, but not created of directors.”
its findings, concluding that the envi- with them. Chakraborty’s contribution to the
ronmental impact of the company’s She is also proud that she has two breakthrough bit technology also led to
hydraulic fracturing operations was daughters, both engineers, working in her becoming one of five people selected
minimal. But the research also revealed the oil industry as field frac engineers. to participate in an accelerated technol-
something else. There was pre-existing ogy leadership program, during which
methane in water wells drilled in area she helped prove the feasibility of fore-
valleys prior to any oil and gas develop- Soma Chakraborty, cast models to integrate with software
ment, while water wells in the hills con- Baker Hughes algorithms, develop product hierarchy
tained no methane. for multiple product lines, and facili-
“So the methane in that valley water Soma Chakraborty is engineering tech- tate change management and sales and
was from the Pennsylvania geology,” nical leader for Baker Hughes, a GE operations planning for integrated busi-
Olson said. company, an expert in nanotechnolo- ness management within the company.
For Olson, leading the charge on gy, and a pioneer in its application in Her team also analyzed nuclear mag-
freshwater neutrality was a logical oilfield operations. Chakraborty, who netic resonance (NMR) as a reservoir
extension of her extensive, career-long holds a PhD in chemistry from the India logging tool and drafted a white paper
work in design, modeling, and opera- Institute of Technology in Mumbai and providing opportunity mapping for the
tional execution of hydraulic fracturing. completed a post-doctoral fellowship development of NMR for unconvention-
It was also an opportunity to apply the in nanotechnology at Rice University, al reservoirs.
approach she believes has been a key joined Baker Hughes in 2008. Chakraborty’s most recent project has
enabler of her accomplishments. She and her team developed a nano- been as technical lead for the develop-
“Every project, every accomplish- technology strategy, defined a technol- ment of a new asset integrity manage-
ment, follows a pattern,” Olson said. ogy roadmap for nanocarbon research ment technology that could provide a
“I set goals and I try to assemble a in Baker Hughes, and helped develop a breakthrough in sour operations man-
solid team. Then I plant those goals as a strong intellectual property position. A agement. Using molecular science to
vision for the team and throughout the key project incorporated nanodiamond understand chemistry synergies, her
company. I try always to think outside into PDC drill bits to increase dura- team developed a chemistry for mitigat-
the box, to ask what’s happening, and bility, especially at high-pressure/high- ing H2S that eliminates several ancillary
why. I really try to focus on understand- temperature conditions, and delivered effects commonly associated with H2S
ing the why,” she said. significant performance benefits over scavengers. The technology is designed
Understanding the why always general purpose unleached cutters. to enable a new approach for H2S miti-
involves data gathering or lab test- Asked whether she thought being gation across upstream, midstream, and
ing, then validating the findings, and a female team leader contributed to downstream applications.

Petroleum: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Vikram Rao, Research Triangle Energy Consortium
I n 1798, Thomas Malthus, an English

cleric and scholar, published An Essay
on the Principle of Population. The cen-
Haber-Bosch is hard, if not impossi-
ble, to beat. While food (together with
water) is arguably the most impor-
the US became an exporter of LNG. The
net effect was that natural gas pric-
es dropped and stabilized worldwide,
tral thesis was that population would tant human need in terms of sustain- although at higher levels than in the
grow exponentially, while food producing life, affordable energy is an impor- US. And increased availability of LNG in
tion would do so linearly, leading to cat- tant determinant of the quality of that Europe resulted in gas no longer being
astrophic famine beyond the cross-over life. Low-cost energy is the tide that lifts considered as a potential weapon of
point. He did explore interventions on all boats of economic prosperity. Inno- political will.
population growth, but the linearity of vation in the petroleum industry has, Shale gas single-handedly accounted
food production was not seriously chal- in the past decade alone, created wide- for the emergence of the US from the
lenged until a century later. spread low-cost energy that appears to last recession. Natural gas is either a
In 1909, Fritz Haber invented a means be here to stay. critical raw material (e.g., for ammonia
to produce industrial-scale ammonia It began with shale gas. The first or methanol synthesis) or is a source
(later perfected in collaboration with decade of this century saw wild fluc- of energy for a reaction such as in steel
a BASF colleague, Carl Bosch, yielding tuation in the price of natural gas. Few making. Cheap and plentiful natural gas
the Haber-Bosch process) by reacting parameters dampen the enthusiasm for catapulted the growth of the associated
hydrogen from natural gas with nitro- capital investment more than uncer- industrial processes.
gen from the air. For this he received the tainty in the price of key consumables. The effect of shale oil production was
Nobel Prize in 1918, although not with- Unlike oil, gas pricing is regional. The even more profound. It helped cut the
out controversy due to his wartime role chemical industry fed by natural gas, price of oil in half in 2015 and pric-
in the production of chlorine as a chem- such as methanol production, fled from es have, by and large, stayed in that
ical weapon. Ammonia-based fertiliz- the US to countries with cheap gas. range. Net importing nations such as
er, primarily in the form of ammonium Then, a combination of the technolo- India were able to spend the savings
nitrate and urea, transformed agricul- gies of horizontal drilling and hydrau- on other domestic priorities. OPEC lost
tural production, resulting in complete lic fracturing led to the exploitation most of its ability to manipulate prices.
avoidance of the “Malthusian catastro- of gas in geologies previously consid- The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has
phe.” This was the first dramatic con- ered intractable: shale gas deposits. become passé; the oil in the ground is the
tribution of the petroleum industry for An explosion of drilling resulted in gas reserve, because of the ability to produce
the betterment of the human condition. priced under $3/million BTU. The vol- quickly from new wells. North America
For sheer impact, in touching the lives umes eliminated the need for import- is now essentially energy secure, and a
of virtually everybody on the planet, ed liquefied natural gas (LNG). In fact, bright line can be drawn between energy
security and national security.
What are the chances that gift will
keep on giving? Very good, for the fol-
Vikram Rao is executive director of the Research Triangle Energy lowing reasons. The shale oil production
Consortium (www.rtec-rtp.org), a nonprofit in energy founded by that rocked the oil pricing world has
Duke University, North Carolina State University, RTI International, continued unabated. Many properties
and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Its mission is to changed hands, and the supermajors
illuminate US national energy priorities, and those of the world by are now seriously in play. Innovation
extension, and to catalyze research to address these priorities. allows shale oil to be profitable even at
Rao has advised the nonprofit RTI International, venture capi- depressed prices, which, in my opinion,
talist Energy Ventures AS, and firms BioLargo Inc., Global Energy Talent Ltd., and are here to stay awhile longer.
Integro Earth Fuels Inc. and served on the Science Council of Royal Dutch Shell. He Now for an interesting statistic. Shale
retired as senior vice president and chief technology officer of Halliburton in 2008. gas drilling rigs have declined by 87%
He also served as chairman of the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission. over the past decade, and yet shale gas
His book, Shale Gas: the Promise and the Peril, was released in 2012 by RTI Press. production has increased by 58%. The
Rao holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology reason lies in the increased oil produc-
in Madras, India, and a master’s degree and doctorate in engineering from Stanford tion over the same period, from 5 mil-
University. He is the author of more than 50 publications and has been awarded 40 lion B/D in 2008 to 11.6 million B/D in
US patents and foreign analogs.
(Continued on page 63)

All in the Family

P erhaps the best compliment paid
to a profession is when a child fol-
lows his parent’s footsteps into it. Many
Kyla Gau, Lead Production
Engineer, HEAL Systems
of those currently working in the oil and
gas industry had parents or grandparents Kyla’s father, Donald Cameron, retired as
who also were part of the industry, and vice president of environment, health,
many more daughters are now following safety, and risk management at Spectra
their fathers into the profession. JPT put Energy. “My dad was overjoyed to hand
out a call on social media to those who down his boxes and boxes of knowledge Chuck Lohn is third-generation oil
had more than one generation involved and books! It’s also been nice to bounce industry and now CEO of PetroSuite.
in oil and gas engineering. Here are some ideas off of him or ask for opinions or
of their stories. advice. Growing up, I wasn’t interested in engineering classes in college and once
engineering at first. But science and math I was on the job, that transformed me.”
Marius Stamnes, Sales Manager, were my strengths in school and, in first
Scale Protection year general science at university, I saw Chuck Lohn, Chief Executive
the connection and made the switch. My Officer, PetroSuite
Marius’ father, Tom Stamnes, has worked dad had had a very successful career as
for several rig companies as well as an engineer and I wanted to get a degree “My grandfather, Earl Lohn, started drill-
Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Halli- that would give me a good job and future ing oil wells back in the early 1900s, in
burton. “My dad worked his way up from like that also.” Pennsylvania and then followed the busi-
roustabout to assistant driller and, later, ness to east Texas.
(positions such as) directional driller and Raaz Pathan, Stim Field “My father, Cecil Lohn, joined the Air
supervisor. I was always fascinated by the Engineer, BJ Services Force in World War II ... (and then) and
fact that when we picked up my father worked his way through Texas A&M. He
from work, it was often at the local air- Raaz Pathan, who graduated from uni- ended up taking a job with Halliburton
port. He was a huge inspiration for my versity in May 2017, is a stim field engi- in one of their labs in Louisiana, working
choice to study petroleum engineering, neer at BJ Services and a member of the with various rubber compounds to help
and provided me with firsthand updat- SPE Permian Basin Section. His father, develop the first set of downhole pack-
ed and relevant knowledge about drill- Saeed Pathan, is senior quality managers. He climbed the corporate ladder and
ing and completion throughout my stud- er, pressure pumping for Baker Hughes, retired as a regional vice president for
ies at Norwegian University of Science a member of the SPE Gulf Coast Section, Halliburton in Houston.
and Technology. … The most inspiring and has been in the industry for more “When I was growing up I was an
thing about working in the industry for than 30 years. “The biggest reason I avid climber (and) dreamed of traveling
me is the vast opportunities it presents in went into petroleum engineering was my around the world and saw the oil and gas
terms of interdisciplinary work as well as father. He would talk about his experi- business as my ticket to achieving this. So
the possibility to work all over the world ences and showed me around. He was the I ended up getting a degree in petroleum
with different nationalities.” inspiration, and then when I went to the engineering from Texas A&M.” He even-
Offshore Technology Conference in 2013, tually worked for Unocal in Thailand. “We
Amber Voithofer, President, I was really impressed with the technol- drilled the fastest wells ever in Thailand,
Elite Optimization ogy and how people were sharing ideas. Vietnam, China, and Malaysia. But drill-
I got interested even more when I took ing the technical limit had its challenges
“I’m third-generation oilfield but first so I had an idea to move all of our opera-
with a petroleum engineering degree. tions procedures to a cloud-based system
Grandpa and dad worked in the oilfield to let everyone know what is happening in
in Alberta as wellsite supervisors, and I real time. We formed a company 9 years
started there too, working safety, then ago to develop a cloud-based system to
to workover rigs before going to school manage operations called PetroSuite.
for petroleum engineering. My dad was “Throughout the years, we have all
not too happy when his little girl wanted been members of SPE. At one time my
to be a roughneck but, after a few years father was the president of the SPE (Gulf
and having worked side by side, we real- Saeed Pathan, left, and Raaz Pathan
Coast) section in Houston. SPE was the
ly bonded and we share a passion for have attended the Offshore Technology ‘glue’ that held all of us together over
the oilfield.” Conference together the past 4 years. the years.”

An Actionable Path for Oil and Gas

in the Fight Against Climate Change
Nansen G. Saleri, Quantum Reservoir Impact, Christine Ehlig-Economides, University of Houston,
and Howard J. Herzog, MIT
G lobal climate concerns, amplified

in the public consciousness by a
steady stream of violent weather events
Central to the issues at hand are
questions that demand unambiguous
answers: What should be ambitious
and capacity in providing the world’s
energy supplies.
such as hurricanes and California wild- yet achievable goals for the upstream Net GHG Emissions
fires, are generating a new set of reali- industry over the short and long term As a basic premise, it is the net emis-
ties for the energy industry. The oil (e.g., by the year 2050) and what spe- sions of all greenhouse gases (GHG),
and gas upstream sector, accounting for cific programs in the spirit of an Apollo not just CO2, that drive climate change.
approximately 60% of current world project for oil and gas should be envi- Hence, the upstream industry’s overrid-
energy needs, faces existential threats sioned? The often-cited argument that ing goal should be reduction and even-
to its market share—where inaction upstream companies are “extractors tual elimination of net GHG emissions.
and/or insistence on marginal impro- and not emitters,” and thus its respon- Here the key operative words are “net
visations on past practices do not offer sibility in climate matters confined only GHG emissions,” a distinction worth
constructive and, ultimately, impactful to the extraction process, is shortsight- highlighting. This opens up numerous
solutions that the industry is most capa- ed and dilutes steps that could be taken GHG management options, including
ble of delivering. to maintain the industry’s leading role CO2 capture and storage (CCS), utiliza-
Nansen G. Saleri is the chairman, CEO, engineering, pressure transient analysis, integrated reservoir
and cofounder of Quantum Reservoir characterization, complex well design, and production
Impact (QRI), an advisory and advanced enhancement. She was a Schlumberger engineer, and for
analytics firm in the upstream sector since 10 years taught petroleum engineering at Texas A&M
2007. He is one of the industry’s pre- University and founded the Center for Energy, Environment,
eminent authorities on reservoir manage- and Transportation Innovation. She has published more
ment. As the former head of Reservoir than 115 papers, lectured or consulted in 50 countries, and
Management for Saudi Aramco for a decade, Saleri led has authored two patents. In 2016, Ehlig-Economides
efforts in introducing best-in-class programs in waterflood- became the first woman to be awarded the John Franklin
ing and maximum reservoir contact wells, most notably in Carll Award, which recognizes distinguished contributions
Ghawar, the world’s most prolific oil field. He is a recipient of applying engineering principles to petroleum development
the SPE John Franklin Carll Award (2006), was an SPE and recovery.
Distinguished Lecturer (1991/1992), and is an SPE
Distinguished Member. He holds six patents and has been Howard J. Herzog is a senior research
published or cited in numerous publications on global ener- engineer in the MIT Energy Initiative in
gy issues including The Wall Street Journal, Houston Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he
Chronicle, Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNBC. Saleri received a works on sponsored research involving
BSc in chemical engineering from Bosphorus University, and energy and the environment, with an
MSc and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the emphasis on greenhouse gas mitigation
University of Virginia. technologies. He received his undergradu-
ate and graduate education in chemical engineering at
Christine Ehlig-Economides is the first- MIT. Herzog was a coordinating lead author for the
ever William C. Miller Endowed Chair Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report
Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage and a coauthor on
University of Houston. She became the the MIT The Future of Coal study. He was awarded the 2010
first American woman to earn a PhD in Greenman Award by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D
petroleum engineering when she obtained Programme “in recognition of contributions made to the
her doctorate from Stanford University in development of greenhouse gas control technologies,” and
1979. Ehlig-Economides is regarded as an expert in reservoir is the author of the recently published book Carbon Capture.

tion, and removal (CDR) pathways such enhance the odds of achieving the ulti- structive way forward, we propose the
as afforestation, reforestation, and bio- mate goal—to have a positive, substan- following goals and steps.
energy with CCS. This diverse portfo- tive impact on climate change. 1. Promote establishment of universal
lio enhances the ability of both market As an example, take the production net GHG emission definitions
forces and new technologies to produce of hydrogen. Many zero-emission sce- and standards to assure an even
evergreen solutions for reducing net narios include hydrogen. What is prob- playing field among all forms
GHG emissions. lematic about this notion is the assump- of energy.
Equally flawed as the “upstream tions regarding the source of hydrogen. 2. Reduce net emissions by 100%.
are only extractors” notion is the idea Today, over 95% of hydrogen produc- 3. Dedicate a non-trivial percentage
that the oil and gas industry should tion is from fossil fuels because hydro- of annual revenues to R&D
be accepting a carbon-free world ener- gen production via electrolysis is efforts to develop technologies
gy model fueled 100% by renewable several-fold more expensive than pro- that reduce net GHG emissions.
energy sources. While renewables are duction from steam methane reform- 4. Set stand-alone CO2 storage
an important part of the solution in ing (SMR). Our analysis shows that add- targets decoupled from EOR
addressing climate change, they are ing CCS to SMR to produce carbon-free projects. While EOR has been
nowhere nearly capable of replacing hydrogen will still be significantly less a stepping stone for CCS,
what oil and gas offers in support of expensive than carbon-free hydrogen EOR-based storage efforts
the modern lifestyle. Substantive life- from electrolysis. are not realistically scalable
style sacrifices, however, are unlike- and, therefore, we must move
ly at a global scale and so should not The Transportation Challenge beyond them to achieve net zero
constitute the underlying assumption With its overwhelming reliance on crude GHG emissions.
for an ecofriendly energy future. As oil, transportation poses several chal- We do recognize the complexity
a further tenet for clean energy, elec- lenges. Proposals to migrate transporta- and the associated ethical impera-
tric vehicles, power grids (current- tion to electric or hydrogen vehicles pro- tives of the issues at hand. Climate
ly 85% fueled by fossil and nucle- voke upstream industry fears of demand change is a challenge for the energy
ar), and battery manufacturing plants decline. However, such scenarios stage industry that demands careful con-
should also be judged on net emis- new opportunities. Carbon-free hydro- sideration of economic, political,
sion standards. gen can be produced from oil and gas. social, and technological aspects. We
There are no silver bullets in the fight Furthermore, rightfully abandoned in are hoping to catalyze an upstream
against climate change. We need every the 1970s due to supply constraints, the discussion toward “what can be
bullet in our arsenal. Eliminating cer- use of crude oil in electric power gener- done” without delay with an eye on
tain solution pathways, such as nucle- ation could be reinitiated in new plants 2050 when oil and gas can claim to
ar or fossil fuels, just makes a difficult incorporating CCS. be a premier ecofriendly supplier of
task much more difficult and expensive. The upstream industry is well posi- energy. The question that drives us
By the same token, the prospect of oil tioned to provide bullets to help in the is, “What is the alternative for the oil
and gas playing an active role will only fight against climate change. As a con- and gas industry?” JPT
Petroleum: The Gift That Keeps On Giving (Continued from page 60)
2018. The bulk of this is shale oil. Being people forever. In the 1967 movie The packaging, and a host of other medical
light (made up of relatively smaller Graduate, Dustin Hoffman’s character applications. In most cases, the starting
molecules), it has significant associated is given the advice to go into “plastics” material to produce the plastic is a com-
natural gas. In the Permian Basin, cur- as a career. Back then such advice was ponent of natural gas.
rently the hottest play, every additional either prescient, ill-informed, or sim- The last hundred years were book-
million B/D of oil produces 2.2 Bcf/d ply in jest. Today, we cannot do with- ended by two petroleum industry-
of associated gas. More oil, a virtu- out them. They are inexpensive, have driven events that had a major impact
al certainty now, means more natural a multiplicity of uses, and are endur- on the populace and the time in between
gas. Low to moderate gas prices are ing replacements for glass and metal was interspersed with a stream of inno-
here to stay. in many applications. I doubt anybody vations and materials that markedly
Finally, hydrocarbon-fed petrochemi- wishes for the days before disposable improved quality of life worldwide. The
cals, as a class, have changed the lives of syringes, medical instruments in sterile gift does, indeed, keep on giving.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Artificial Lift
Greg Stephenson, SPE, Senior Engineering Adviser, Occidental Petroleum
With all the emphasis placed on Standards help and performance ratings for equipment.
artificial-lift run-life improvement, you Operators have greater peace of mind
might wonder if there are any tricks left level the playing field, knowing their equipment is supported
in that bag. I contend there is one really enabling suppliers by sound engineering practices and will
big secret left—and it is hiding in plain
to segment the market perform as promised. When standards
sight. That trick is to use international are referenced in requests for proposal,
standards as the foundation of your reli- more effectively. vendors are able to provide responses
ability program. that are more appropriate for the appli-
A Chinese proverb says, “The jour- acteristics that can be used consistently to cation, resulting in a greater chance
ney of a thousand miles begins with a ensure that materials, products, process- of success in the field. Operators can
single step.” There are many steps in the es, and services are fit for their purpose.” also make an apples-to-apples compari-
long journey toward maximizing run life, Today, the American Petroleum Institute son when evaluating the proposals they
including proper installation, operation, (API) and the ISO provide such stan- receive. Standards help level the playing
training, surveillance, audits, service- dards for electrical submersible pumps, field, enabling suppliers to segment the
quality reviews, teardowns, and root- progressing-cavity pumps, sucker-rod market more effectively. And they enable
cause analysis. But, the first step should pumps, gas lift, and plunger lift, and API manufacturers to implement consistent,
be to identify the requirements for your complements their standards with rec- effective quality-assurance processes
artificial-lift system and to communi- ommended practices that provide guid- while avoiding the time and expense of
cate those requirements effectively to ance from industry experts in the use of custom solutions.
the vendor. In many cases, this is the such technologies. So, who writes all of these standards,
most challenging step, largely because A surprisingly small number of oper- anyway? The short answer is that we all
operators and suppliers often speak dif- ators purchase monogrammed equip- do. API and ISO committees are generally
ferent languages. ment or even reference the standards composed of subject-matter experts rep-
Fortunately, international standards in their purchasing documents or con- resenting an equal number of operators
are there for us to bridge that language tracts. This is unfortunate because stan- and vendors, often from different parts
gap. The International Organization for dards can make everyone’s lives much of the world. You can join one of these
Standardization (ISO) defines a standard easier, allowing operators and suppliers committees to help improve a particular
as “a document that provides require- to speak the same language by provid- standard. The key to making standards
ments, specifications, guidelines, or char- ing consistent nomenclature, definitions, work for all of us is to use them. The more
we use standards in our business, the bet-
ter they will become over time. JPT
Greg Stephenson, SPE, is a senior engineering advisor for artifi-
cial lift in Occidental Petroleum’s Worldwide Engineering and
Operations Group in Houston. In this role, he provides technical Recommended additional reading
support, mentoring, and training on all forms of artificial lift used
at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
throughout the company. Stephenson specializes in the various
aspects of artificial lift, production surveillance, automation, and SPE 190920 Visualizing Rod Design
optimization. He has taught numerous industry courses through- and Analysis Through the Wave Equation
by Walter Phillips, 3DWellbore.com
out the world and written a variety of technical papers and pub-
lications. Stephenson currently serves on the JPT Editorial Committee, is an associate SPE 190950 Effect of Gas Lift
editor for the SPE Production & Operations journal, is the program chairperson for the Design in Unconventional Wells—A
2018 SPE Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition—Americas, serves on the board of Delaware Basin Operator’s Perspective
directors of the Artificial Lift Research and Development Council, and is an active by Subash K. Kannan, Anadarko, et al.
contributor and voting member for a variety of international standards and recom- SPE 192511 ESP Run-Life Improvement
mended practices related to gas lift technology through API Task Group 19G. Through Auditing of ESP Workshops
Stephenson can be reached at greg_stephenson@oxy.com. by Tamer Edries, Khalda Petroleum, et al.

Gas Lift Operations Require Accurate
Predictions of Downhole Annulus Pressure
D ownhole annulus pressure is

required for any gas lift design.
This paper presents several methods
creep into computer calculations in-
crease linearly as surface injection pres-
sure increases. Additionally, the choice
Monographs. Monographs were the
original method for calculating annulus
pressure at depth. Various assumptions
of determining annulus pressure at of which correlation to use to model such as temperature, temperature gra-
depth and helps determine which the critical properties of the gas and dient, depth, and gas gravity were in-
method is most appropriate for which compressibility factor correla- corporated into each monograph. When
specific conditions. It also provides tion to use also affect the accuracy of conditions did not match the assump-
advice on the accuracy of a the calculation. tions inherent in the monograph, charts
combination of different critical As a gas lift well transitions from a provided a means to correct the raw gra-
properties and compressibility geothermal to a flowing temperature dient. Today, computer programs offer
correlations, offers an alternative profile during unloading and lifting, the more-accurate simulations of annulus
design technique to account for annulus pressure at depth decreases de- pressure over a wide range of conditions
changing annulus temperature during spite surface injection pressure remain- but often at the expense of the design-
unloading, and provides guidelines ing unchanged. The change in annulus er’s opportunity to exercise judgment in
for modeling changes in annulus pressure is governed by the volume of assigning an annulus pressure gradient.
pressure during unloading. gas present in the annulus. Reduction in
gas volume decreases pressure. Full-Depth Calculation With Density
Introduction Traditional design techniques ignore Equation. When the integral form of
While many methods of computing gas this reality and substitute a simplified the density equation is used to calcu-
pressure in a flowing environment are analogy of valve performance that in- late pressure at full depth, the user is
available, what is needed in the case of curs errors and misconceptions about allowed to enter the well’s actual av-
gas lift is the static annulus pressure how the annulus pressure changes dur- erage temperature—an improvement
at depth. ing unloading. A more-detailed dis- over the monograph’s assumed aver-
Historically, the method of using av- cussion of these issues and proposed age temperature. The average tempera-
erage temperature and pressure to com- questions for program developers is ture and average compressibility (ATAC)
pute compressibility factors and assum- presented in the complete paper. method, as originally proposed, calcu-
ing linear well-temperature gradients lated the pressure drop over the entire
made gas lift design relatively simple. Annulus Pressure depth of the well using this depth in a
The small errors were tolerable and Calculation Methods single calculation. Later work provid-
within the normal design safety mar- Methods of determining downhole an- ed techniques for segmenting the well-
gins of operating systems with surface nulus pressure include monographs, bore to increase accuracy. With cur-
pressures of less than 1,500 psi. density equations used to full depth with rent computing power, ATAC achieves
When surface injection pressures ex- average pressure and temperature, and comparable results by using a smaller
ceed 1,500 psi, calculations become density equations used in small depth depth increment. When the full-depth
more important. Computers are now increments with average temperature calculation is compared with the in-
used to calculate downhole annulus and pressure within the increment. An cremented method for linear tempera-
pressure, and the designer must trust examination of one of these monographs ture profiles, the difference in annulus
the number that appears on the com- is shown in Fig. 1. The choice of which pressure prediction at 10,000 ft is less
puter screen. That trust may not be method to use comes with limitations on than ±5 psi for wellhead pressures of
warranted, depending on the method the accuracy of the predicted pressure 1,200 psig and light gas gravities. How-
of calculation. The small errors that at depth. ever, the amount of error associated
with the full-depth method, when the
pressure is 2,000 psig and the gas grav-
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of ity is 0.85, is 36 psi. This amount of
paper SPE 190929, “Gas Lift Annulus Pressure,” by Kenneth Decker, SPE, retired, error is considerable and will affect the
and Robert P. Sutton, SPE, consultant, prepared for the 2018 SPE Artificial Lift design. Generally, the amount of error
Conference and Exhibition—Americas, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 28–30 August. increases with pressure and gravity. In
The paper has not been peer reviewed. the complete paper, the authors empha-
For a limited time, the complete paper is free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt.

Annulus Pressure Chart sion and suggestions for ensuring accu-
90 rate Z-factors.
80 γg=0.9
Specific Gravity of Injected Gas
Pressure Gradient, psi/1,000 ft
70 The paper provides an example to

show that the most-accurate comput-
60 γg=0.8
ing method with the most-accurate Z-
50 factor correlation and well-temperature
γg=0.7 profile can still lead to significant er-
40
γg=0.6 rors if the specific gravity of the gas
30 used in the well is not what the designer
thought. The issue of gas gravity, which
20
can change through time as a result of
10 operational changes in surface facili-
ties, is important during both design
0
200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600
and producing phases. These changes
Surface Gas Pressure, psia affect annulus pressure at depth. If a gas
lift design is installed and operated with
Fig. 1—Example monograph used to determine annulus pressure gradient. the expectation of a specific gravity and
γg=gas specific gravity.
the specific gravity of the gas chang-
es over time, the operating parameters
size the need for ample safety margins actual temperature of the annulus dur- also will change, and troubleshooting
when using a full-depth method of an- ing the different phases of gas lift will methods must account for it. Month-
nulus pressure calculation. produce a more-accurate pressure at ly analysis of sales-gas composition is
depth. Calculating the integral form of a good way to obtain a periodic value
Incremental Calculation With Den- the density equation at 500-ft incre- of gas gravity. When production rate,
sity Equation. The pressure at depth ments to full depth with average tem- well composition, or separator condi-
is sensitive to temperature directly as perature and compressibility within the tions change, specific gravity is affect-
a result of the real gas law and the ef- increment enables accurate determina- ed. The importance of designing and
fect on gas density. Accounting for the tion of annulus pressure at geothermal, troubleshooting with the most-accurate
design, and flowing temperatures. This available specific gravity of the gas
is the most-accurate downhole pres- being injected cannot be understated.
sure prediction method because it al- This is especially true at higher injec-
lows a variety of temperature profiles tion pressures.
to be mapped to the well. If a comput-
er is being used to assist with the gas Design Considerations
lift design, the incremental calculation With the majority of gas lift designs
method should be used and the pro- now performed using computers, in-
gram should allow nonlinear tempera- cremental annulus pressure calculation
ture profiles. at depth provides the most-robust and
-accurate outcomes. The question of
Critical Constants and Z-Factor Corre- which pseudocritical properties corre-
lations. The calculation of annulus pres- lation to use in combination with which
sure is highly dependent on gas grav- Z-factor correlation is left to the user’s
ity and the resulting gas compressibility discretion. This issue does not become
factor (Z-factor). The authors do not rec- significant until surface injection pres-
ommend the simple methods of calcu- sures exceed 1,500 psig. However, for
lating the Z-factor mentioned in gas lift higher-gravity gases, even low-pressure
literature because of a lack of reliability systems are affected by the choice of
under varying conditions. Instead, they calculation method. When that occurs,
say, the most-accurate methods are de- the user must pay particular attention
rived from equations of state. to the composition of the injected gas
Because the calculation of gas Z-factor and ensure that the specific gravity of
is based on the calculation of pseudo- the gas regularly matches that used for
reduced pressure and temperature, the design.
pseudocritical pressure and temperature Gas lift design safety margins for an-
of the gas must be determined. The com- nulus pressure use a flowing tempera-
plete paper includes a detailed discus- ture profile for the annulus pressure

during the design phase. The valves’ thors claim that the theories and flow- can be correlated with hydrocarbon
bellows pressure continues to use the performance models that justify the gas gravity.
design temperature profile. This strat- experience are incorrect. This paper ◗ Accurate calculations of gas
egy predicts less annulus pressure at presents an approach that may explain pressure at depth require
depth during design, which could cause the annulus pressure changes using knowledge of the injection gas
valves to be spaced closer together. physical laws that can be applied when gravity and should be performed
However, the benefit is that the actual experience is lacking. using segmented length increments
annulus pressure during unloading and over the depth of the well. The
lifting will always be higher than the Conclusions increment size should capture
design annulus pressure, regardless of ◗ Accurate estimates of pressure/ the character of a nonlinear
well temperature. volume/temperature properties temperature profile if present.
The current design technique for (gas Z-factor) are necessary to ◗ The change in wellhead injection
injection-pressure-operated gas lift calculate accurate pressure at pressure during unloading
valves advises that the annulus pressure depth. can be modeled using the real
used to calculate the bellows pressure ◗ Methods for calculating gas gas law.
be reduced by 20–40 psi for each lower Z-factor fall into two groups: ◗ Surface gas-injection-rate and
unloading valve. This stair-stepping gas direct calculation and iterative valve-performance models can
injection scenario allows the most effi- equation of state derived. The be used to model the annulus
cient use of gas to lift fluids. latter is more accurate. pressure during unloading and
The current, experience-based design ◗ Gas Z-factor calculations require provide a means for refining the
methodology is successful, but the au- pseudocritical properties, which gas lift design. JPT
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Study Evaluates Ability of Tailpipe Systems
To Optimize Artificial Lift in Horizontal Wells
T he performance of artificial-lift
systems on horizontal wells is
greatly influenced by both the volume
isolation location, whether at the top or
bottom of the tailpipe, to aid in design-
ing future systems. A comparison of the
liquids. When they reach the artificial-lift
system, slugs can cause incomplete fill-
age in SRPs or cycling in ESPs.
of gas produced and the tendency for two separators was attempted, and vari- Gas can enter SRPs for a variety of
gas slugging. With a sucker rod pump ous operational challenges are discussed reasons, but one common reason is in-
(SRP) system, gas slugging leads to gas in the complete paper to improve the de- sufficient or nonexistent gas-separation
interference at the pump, reducing sign, installation, startup, and operation equipment, which is typically designed
system efficiency and equipment run of these systems. on the basis of daily production rates.
life. With an electrical submersible Some installations were outfitted This is a reasonable approach when a
pump (ESP), gas slugs can cause cycling with downhole gauges (DHGs) measur- well’s inflow is fairly consistent, but when
of the ESP, which may shorten run ing pressure and temperature at several production varies throughout the day, as
life significantly. A trial project was points along the tailpipe. The DHGs re- is common in horizontal wells, the sepa-
launched to evaluate the performance corded pressure at the tailpipe inlet and rator cannot prevent gas from entering
of two tailpipe systems that could be outlet, pump intake pressure, and pump the pump.
applied to both forms of artificial lift. discharge pressure. This surveillance Similarly, gas in an ESP causes the
package allowed for real-time monitor- pump to shut down frequently. This cy-
Introduction ing of the performance of both the tail- cling stresses the motor and shortens its
The two tailpipe systems were tested in a pipe and the artificial-lift system while life. The design’s gas-handling equipment
number of wells using SRPs, and one well also providing data for modeling the flow helps, but, like a rod pump, when the
was tested using an ESP. The goal was to regime through the tailpipe. The mod- production varies, the pump may receive
◗ Reduce the frequency and eling results were used to forecast long- more gas than it is designed to handle.
magnitude of slugging behavior term performance of the system as well These issues are significant drivers of
seen at the pump production declines over time. failure rate and operating expense. Gas
◗ Reduce the flowing bottomhole Results from the field trial show the in pumps is one of the largest causes of
pressure without having to land performance of each system from a va- artificial-lift failures in the operator’s
pumps past the kickoff point (KOP) riety of standpoints: changes in flowing Permian Basin operations, especially in
◗ Improve separation of free gas bottomhole pressure, flowing behavior horizontal unconventional wells.
from the produced fluid before through the tailpipe, separation effec- The issue of drawdown is a prima-
it reaches the pump intake tiveness, and changes in production. ry point of concern when designing an
The two systems differ in both sepa- artificial-lift philosophy. The usual ap-
rator design and packer location. The Background proach is to evacuate the wellbore of
first uses a conventional packer-style gas Even after they are drilled, horizontal liquids to maximize the drawdown on
separator with a reduced-inner-diameter wells pose more challenges than verti- the reservoir and maximize inflow. To
(ID) tailpipe extending below the sepa- cal wells, particularly with regard to gas achieve these goals, the pump is landed
rator and past the KOP. The second uses slugging and reservoir drawdown. Geom- as low as possible in the wellbore, ideally
a special cyclonic separator with a re- etries such as toe-up, toe-down, or undu- below the perforated interval. In a hori-
duced-ID tailpipe, and the packer is lo- lations can allow gas pockets to build in zontal well, that would require running
cated at the lower end of the tailpipe. the lateral. Eventually, these gas pockets, the pump around the curve into the lat-
The authors examined the differences or slugs, will flow into the vertical sec- eral. For a rod pump, this would lead to
between the two systems regarding the tion, partially or completely displacing high side loads and significant rod-on-
tubing wear in the curve. For an ESP, it
might mean running the pump with the
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of
shaft bent, which puts stress on the shaft
paper SPE 190938, “Evaluating Tailpipe Systems Designed To Optimize Artificial Lift and shortens run life.
Performance in Horizontal Wells,” by C.R. Humphreys, SPE, B.N. Vangolen, SPE, To avoid these problems, the operator
A.P. Allison, SPE, D. Yin, SPE, and C. Yicon, SPE, Occidental Petroleum, prepared generally locates the pump in the vertical
for the 2018 SPE Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition–Americas held in The section for as long as possible, running it
Woodlands, Texas, USA, 28–30 August. The paper has not been peer reviewed. into the curve later in the well’s life. The

pump is landed well above the depth of
the lateral (typically 700 ft total verti-
cal depth higher), resulting in 200- to
300-psi additional backpressure on the
reservoir, which can have a significant
effect on the production rate.
Tailpipe systems offer the opportuni-
ty to address these issues. Although the
physics of these systems is not addressed
in this paper, the systems are designed to
change the flow regime of the reservoir
fluids as they travel through the curve
to a pump intake in the vertical por-
tion of the well. The intention is twofold:
to mitigate the slugging behavior and to
reduce the static head of the fluid column
in the curve.
System Comparison
The two tailpipe systems tested comprise
three key elements.
◗ A sized velocity string with an ID
designed to change the flow regime
as required Fig. 1—Tailpipe System A separator. Fig. 2—Tailpipe System B separator.
◗ A tool to isolate the annulus
between the casing and tubing to ◗ Do the systems work as advertised? To study the behavior of the systems,
force the flow from the reservoir ◗ If they both work, does one work pressure gauges were installed along the
into the velocity string better? Of particular concern with tubing string of three wells as follows:
◗ A separator at the top of the string System A was the isolation at the ◗ One at the bottom of the velocity
to separate gas from liquids before top of the string. Would the annular string
the liquids flow into the pump space below the isolation provide ◗ One at the top of the velocity string
intake a place for gas to build up and then ◗ One at the pump intake
There are two key differences between slug into the velocity string? For ◗ One at the pump discharge
these systems. The isolation tool is at System B, the main concern was A large number of systems also were
the top of the velocity string for System about running full-diameter tools installed without gauges to confirm
A and at the bottom for System B. Addi- into laterals, with the potential the findings in the gauged wells and
tionally, the flow paths are quite differ- for becoming stuck and having to helped determine operational success
ent for the two systems, as illustrated in fish them. Because the system is factors using conventional surveillance
Figs. 1 and 2. designed for solids to settle in the and monitoring tools. Success param-
The separator used for System A has annular space above the isolation eters focused on the pressure difference
flow paths similar to that of a conven- packer, could the tubing or even across the velocity string, PIP, pump fill-
tional packer-style separator. Fluids flow the packer become stuck? age, and changes in production. Evalua-
from the tailpipe into the body of the sep- ◗ Which parameters are useful to tion was ongoing, with changes made as
arator, then turn a 90° corner to flow into predict success—gas/oil ratio, pump results dictated.
the annulus between the tubing and cas- intake pressure (PIP), total liquid
ing. Separation occurs in that space, and or gas rate, or something else? Conclusions
the liquids fall down to a liquid dip tube, For each useful parameter, what This study is not yet complete, but the au-
which carries the liquids to the pump. is the range of successful values? thors drew some firm conclusions. Tail-
The System B separator is different. Are there dependencies between pipe systems can achieve the effects for
Fluids from the tailpipe exit the separator the variables? For example, does which they are designed, in particular
head into the annulus in a near-vertical the range of good gas/liquid ratio slug mitigation and increased drawdown
direction, which is assumed to be less vary with PIP? in some wells. Both systems can perform
turbulent to produce better separation. Testing focused on SRP and ESP instal- as intended, although questions remain
lations because they are more prone to about particular risks the different de-
Trial Details problems with gas interference than gas- signs pose and about production vari-
To understand the utility and operating lifted wells. All but one of the test instal- ance in the trial wells. Details from the
ranges of these systems, extensive field lations were SRPs, for which the tailpipe trial wells and additional conclusions are
testing addressed the following questions. technology is most fully developed. presented in the complete paper. JPT

Through-Tubing-Conveyed ESP Technology
Overcomes North Slope Challenges
WRESP—Generation 2
E lectrical-submersible-pump (ESP)
technology is a proven artificial-
lift method for shallow, low-pressure
Run 1—plug arm/motor/seal Run 2—pumps
Run 4—tubing stop
Run 3—packoff
reservoirs such as those found in the

West Sak viscous oil field in Alaska.
However, the unconsolidated nature of
the West Sak sands challenges the long-
term lifting performance and reliability
of conventional ESP systems. The case
TTCESP—Generation 1
study in this paper includes the analysis
of the two generations of rigless ESP
systems, quantifying the success rate Conventional ESP
in varying conditions in more than 300
rigless ESP replacements in a high-sand,
high-deviation environment on Alaska’s
North Slope. Fig. 1—Rigless ESP evolution. For conventional ESPs, a failed pump or motor
must be replaced with a rig. In Generation 1, the pump can be replaced with SL
or CT. In Generation 2, the pump, seal, and motor can be replaced with SL or
Through-Tubing (Rigless) ESP CT, leaving full-bore access to the wellbore.
Technology: Generation 1
and Generation 2 lower completion and producing zone. In well deviation returned to vertical to fa-
In 1998, the operator developed through- addition to the ability to replace a failed cilitate running the completion. As hori-
tubing-conveyed (TTC) ESP (TTCESP)/TTC pump or motor, this fully retrievable ESP zontal (and later, multilateral) comple-
progressive-cavity-pump (PCP) (TTCPCP) system brought additional value by al- tions were implemented, well trajectories
technology to allow failed pumps (ESP or lowing simple, low-cost SL, electric-line, became even more challenging, with de-
PCP) to be replaced quickly and economi- and CT access to the lower completion viations increasing to 80° with either
cally using conventional equipment with- once the ESP was retrieved without the 7⅝- or 9⅝-in. casing.
out a rig. In this first-generation rigless need for a rig. Both Generation 1 and Generation 2
ESP system, a rig deploys conventionally, Fig. 1 shows the progression of systems have been able to pass through
on tubing, the electric cable, motor, and through-tubing development from the dogleg severity of 12°/100 ft and inclina-
seal sections, with a special latching de- conventional tubing-conveyed ESP to the tions of 65° with SL, relying on weight
vice that allows the pump (only the pump, TTCESP and, finally, to the Generation 2 and gravity to deploy the equipment to
not the motor or seal) to be pulled and wireline-retrievable ESP (WRESP). the pump setting depth. When the equip-
replaced by use of slickline (SL) or coiled ment cannot be deployed because of high
tubing (CT), without a rig. Completion Designs deviation, it can be pumped down to
In 2014, a second-generation rigless A range of completion designs has been the setting depth. CT has been used to
ESP system was introduced that added implemented over the 20-year history run equipment in wellbores with angles
the ability to deploy and retrieve the of rigless ESP deployments in Alaska. greater than 65°.
motor and seal using conventional SL The earliest wells were 7⅝-in. cased, Over these two decades, sand deposi-
equipment, leaving full-bore access to the S-shaped trajectory designs in which the tion has been a major challenge because
of high sand production in West Sak wells.
Sand settling is a function of velocity and
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
the inclination of the flow path. For the
paper SPE 193783, “Through-Tubing-Conveyed Wireless ESP Technology: A 20-Year
through-tubing equipment, the tubing
Case History of Wireline-Retrievable ESPs,” by John Patterson, Patterson Consulting; is larger than that seen in convention-
Grant Dornan and Gary Targac, SPE, ConocoPhillips; David Malone and Samer al completions to allow through-tubing-
Cheblak, AccessSEP; Jennifer Julian, SPE, BP; and Matthew Walker, AccessESP, conveyed equipment to pass (typically
prepared for the 2018 SPE International Heavy Oil Conference and Exhibition, Kuwait 4.5 in. instead of 3.5 in. or smaller). The
City, Kuwait, 10–12 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed. larger tubing diameter results in fluid-

velocity reduction above the pump, which Generation 1 Rigless ESP is a complete through-tubing rigless ESP
can lead to sand accumulation, particular- Systems: Retrieval History system that, once removed through tubing
ly in horizontal or high-deviation wells. A detailed review of 20 years of wireline- with SL or CT, leaves 3.8-in. full-bore access
Sand deposition can also occur in the service reports was performed for the to the lower completion (production zone).
lower completion below the ESP. In both through-tubing Generation 1 equipment. The commercial deployment of the
cases, a flow-stabilized sand dune is cre- This history has been summarized by Generation 2 rigless ESP system began in
ated and, upon ESP shutdown, the sand pump type (ESP and PCP) and well incli- Alaska in 2014. To date, there have been
may plug the well, either above or below nation at the ESP setting depth. no failures of either the SL-retrievable
the ESP. To eliminate this risk, a check In total, for the Generation 1 rigless portion of the system (pump/motor/seal/
valve is run above the ESP to prevent flow- ESP system, there were 280 successful wet-connect) or the tubing-deployed
back into the pump during shutdowns. rigless pump-replacement operations portion of the system (downhole side
In the Generation 1 design, if a sand out of 293 attempted for a 96% success pocket mandrel wet-connect/cable).
blockage was created below the ESP, the rate. These were performed using SL, CT, The intervention performance of the
sand could not be removed without pull- or wireline tractor, depending on well Generation 2 system has continued the
ing the tubing with a rig. The Generation inclination. This is an impressive result, success of the first-generation hardware.
2 design was developed to allow access particularly considering the high devia- As for the first Generation 2 well installa-
below the ESP setting depth once the tions and significant sand production in tion in Alaska in 2014, after almost 5 years
pump, seal, and motor were pulled with most West Sak wells. of operation, this well has had one entire
SL, allowing full-bore access to clean out The 13 unsuccessful operations were ESP swap (pump/seal/motor/wet-connect)
sand below the ESP without the necessi- caused by inability to pull stuck pump, and three pump-only swaps (four ESP in-
ty of pulling the tubing with a rig. Addi- pump-to-motor coupling damage, hard- terventions in total). Each of the interven-
tionally, Generation 2 systems provided packed sand, parted pump and rotary gas tions was proactive, using SL in a live well
the significant benefit of allowing a failed separator, inability to seat the pump, and to replace a pump with degrading perfor-
motor/seal to be replaced without a rig packoff sticking. Though it is often pre- mance before it failed. The lost produc-
intervention (i.e., rigless). dicted that the through-tubing pump will tion time was only 2–6 days per inter-
be difficult to pull (particularly in sand- vention. A conventional ESP would have
Generation 1 prone areas), field experience shows that required a rig to pull tubing to replace a
Rigless ESP Systems: this is not the case. failed pump or motor with an associated 6
Operating Observations An analysis of the Generation 1 data to 18 months of lost production. In almost
The mean time to failures (MTTF) for the shows that a total of 380 interventions 5 years since this Generation 2 system was
through-tubing Generation 1 systems are were required in these wells over the 20- installed, there have only been 200 hours
divided into two categories: the through- year period. Of these 380 interventions, of downtime (less than 9 days).
tubing pump and the rig-deployed bot- 280 were resolved with SL interventions.
tomhole assembly (BHA). These are The remaining 100 required a tubing pull Conclusions
further subdivided into TTCESP and (rig) because the rigless intervention was Since the introduction of rigless ESP tech-
TTCPCP systems. For the TTCESP sys- not successful or, in the majority of these nology in Alaska, more than 300 through-
tems, the MTTF for the pump has aver- cases, the cause of failure could not be tubing SL, CT, and tractor (i.e., rigless)
aged 2 years and the MTTF for the BHA addressed with the Generation 1 system. pump/ESP replacements have been per-
has averaged 4 years. For the TTCPCP Of the 100 rig workovers required with formed at West Sak and geologically ana-
systems, the MTTF for the pump has av- the Generation 1 system, 63 could have logous fields across the North Slope with
eraged 1.5 years and the BHA (pump can, been resolved with an SL or CT interven- a 96% success rate (the intervention was
seal, and motor) has averaged 5 years. tion using the additional functionality successful without pulling tubing with a
Component failures of the Generation of the Generation 2 system, avoiding a rig). These interventions were performed
1 system (for both TTCESP and TTCPCP) rig workover. This suggests that running with SL, CT, and tractors depending on
were typically related to erosive wear of Generation 2 systems vs. Generation 1 the maximum well deviation above the
the pump or plugging caused by sand. In systems results in 63% fewer rig work- pump setting depth. This technology has
these cases, pump replacement was ac- overs. Compared with a conventional reduced production downtime in these
complished with SL intervention. How- ESP, 343 of 380 interventions could have high-rate wells while providing low-cost
ever, in the Generation 1 system (in both been resolved using SL or CT, resulting in access to perform well interventions.
TTCESP and TTCPCP), tubing-deployed 90% fewer rig workovers. In addition, the introduction of the
component failures or sand cleanouts Generation 2 system has demonstrated
below the ESP required a rig workover, Generation 2: the value of a proactive ESP-operating
typically leading to a loss of 6 to 18 months Successful Performance philosophy. The ability to pull and re-
of production. This drove Generation 2 de- The Generation 2 system is identical to the place the ESP system efficiently and in-
velopment to further prolong the time be- Generation 1 system, with added function- expensively with SL or CT creates the op-
tween rig workovers, with the additional ality to allow the retrieval of the motor/ portunity to nearly eliminate ESP-related
benefit of full-bore access to the produc- seal section through tubing, with one ad- downtime by pulling and maintaining
ing interval below the pump setting depth. ditional SL run. The Generation 2 system ESP systems before failure. JPT

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Production Monitoring
Rohit Mittal, SPE, Reservoir Engineer
It stands to reason that a major draw These new technologies the monitoring difficulties posed by the
for JPT’s readers is the continual discus- waterflooding process.
sion of new technologies and emerging prove that Finally, as the big data revolution over-
methods in its pages. Professionals in petroleum engineers takes our industry as well as many oth-
our industry, working in a highly techni-
remain at the forefront ers, increased attention has been paid to
cal field to begin with, appreciate inno- the area of machine learning. The authors
vation backed by rigorous study that will of innovation and discovery. of paper SPE 192819 use artificial neural
make their jobs easier and enable the goal networks to interpret data and estimate
of improving life for the planet’s popula- production rate effectively in both simu-
tion. (For more reflections on this theme, without requiring costly interventions lated and field data. Though many factors
please see the Professional Pride sec- and associated health, safety, and envi- can influence the outcomes (as with any
tion.) To this end, I have selected three ronmental risks. type of measurement), the method holds
papers that join this desire for innova- In a similar vein, precise monitoring of promise for improving the flowmetering
tion with the potential offered by emerg- the waterflooding process by tradition- and back-allocation phases of monitoring.
ing technologies. al means of seismic- and gravity-based As noted last year in this space, our
Oil-rim position is literally a mov- methods is problematic for a variety of industry is one often considered reac-
ing target in the context of production reasons. One potential solution is the tive and overly tradition-bound. These
monitoring and is often too challeng- use of controlled-source electromag- new technologies, however—and, more
ing a task for the conventional approach netic (CSEM) techniques, but these have importantly, the drive of these research-
of using periodic gradiometric surveys. mostly been limited to 2D geometries. ers to harness their capabilities—prove
The authors of paper SPE 188868, how- In paper SPE 191544, the authors dis- that petroleum engineers remain at the
ever, explore the possibilities presented cuss the implementation of a technique forefront of innovation and discovery
by optical pressure gauges in capturing that marries CSEM technology with and that we all may share in their profes-
these fluid levels with greater accuracy 3D-measurement capability to overcome sional pride. JPT
Rohit Mittal, SPE, is a reservoir engineer with more than 5 years of Recommended additional reading
experience in reserves estimation, reservoir simulation, fluid model- at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
ing, and advanced data analytics. He most recently worked for the
SPE 193051 Revisiting Petrophysical
reservoir-consulting arm of Baker Hughes, a GE company, in and Fluid Characteristics of a Mature
Houston. As a reservoir engineer, Mittal has worked on most of the Smectite-Rich Shally Sand Reservoir for
major shale plays in the US and a number of Gulf of Mexico fields. EOR Screening in the Sultanate of Oman
His current area of interest is the application of machine learning to by Arwa al-Harrasi, Petroleum Development
find insights hidden in a large amount of data. Mittal holds a bach- Oman, et al.
elor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, India; a SPE 193183 Real-Time Hydrocarbon
master’s degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University; and an MBA Mapping by Time-Lapse Borehole Electric
degree from INSEAD, France. He is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee and can be Tomography by Paolo Dell’Aversana, Eni,
reached at rohit.mittal17d@insead.edu. et al.

Permanent Fiber-Optic System
Monitors Oil-Rim Movement
I n highly fractured carbonate reservoirs,

the conventional method of monitoring
oil-rim movement is running wireline
quires a well intervention; as can be imag-
ined, the process is relatively expensive
and introduces health, safety, and environ-
subtle pressure changes resulting from
small fluid-level changes. Dozens of such
gauges could be deployed in a series on
gradiometric surveys periodically. mental (HSE) risks while the well is open. one optical cable connected to a single
However, some operators have found that Consequently, gradiometric surveys are surface-acquisition unit (interrogator).
this method is inconclusive and is unable generally commissioned at a low frequen-
to provide information in a manner cy, perhaps only one or two measurements System Development
timely enough to influence operations per year within key observation wells. and Trial Deployments
because the gradiometric surveys are only In 2003, the operator approached a com-
run a few times a year. In this paper, the New Methodology pany involved in the development and
authors describe a project to design, field In the early 2000s, a potential was rec- commercialization of FBG technology
trial, and qualify an alternative solution ognized to provide an array of perma- across numerous industrial sectors. The
for real-time monitoring of the oil rim nently deployed pressure gauges in the company had recently developed a dia-
in carbonate reservoirs that overcomes wellbore to measure the density of the phragm pressure transducer for monitor-
these disadvantages. media between adjacent gauges. From ing the load within a high-performance
this measurement, the interfaces be- aerospace composite. The transducer
Current Methodology tween the media of different densities converted changes in the hydrostatic pres-
The methodology of performing gradio- could be derived accurately. sure of its surroundings into the deforma-
metric surveys can be applied in reser- The idea of measuring pressure with- tion of a pressure-sensitive diaphragm,
voirs successfully where the permeabil- in a well is not new; pressure transducers and then into the strain, within an optical
ity of the formation is high and where based on numerous electronic measure- fiber attached to the diaphragm.
the formation is fractured such that good ment principles have been used by the in- For oil and gas applications, use of the
communication exists between fluid dustry for decades. However, these elec- optical fiber as a means of data transmis-
within the formation and within the ob- tronic gauges are not optimal for use in sion brings several benefits, including
servation well (given that the well casing the described application because of their the following:
is highly perforated across the full length relatively short service life at the elevated ◗ The efficiency of transmission
of the reservoir section). Under these temperatures found in wellbores and be- allows the interrogator to be located
conditions, the fluid levels measured by cause of the logistical difficulties and high several tens of kilometers away
the gradiometric surveys give the oper- cost associated with deploying a string of from the downhole gauges, allowing
ator enough information about the oil multiple electronic gauges in a single well. use in very deep wells and even in
rim within the reservoir to adopt an ac- The operator’s in-well technology team ex- deepwater subsea wells at the end
tive smart-field production method. The amined the emerging use of optical-fiber of long tiebacks.
term “smart field” is used by the operator Bragg gratings (FBGs) for pressure me- ◗ Data are encoded in the wavelength
to describe oilfield operations where sur- trology applications in extreme environ- of the light, which is not affected
face decisions are supported by measurements. The gauges used in this technolo- by attenuating features within the
ments from within the reservoirs. gy required no downhole electronics and fiber, meaning that data quality and
While the use of gradiometric surveys offered long service at elevated downhole accuracy are maintained even with
for production optimization is helpful, it temperatures. The technology offered the long transmission lengths.
does have disadvantages. Each survey re- long-term stability required to detect the ◗ Data are immune to the electro-
magnetic influence of machines often
found in the downhole, subsea, and
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights
surface environments.
of paper SPE 188868, “Development and Field Application of a Permanent Fiber-
Collaboration toward a downhole FBG
Optic Wellbore-Fluid-Level Monitoring System,” by C. Staveley, SPE, C. Doyle, and distributed pressure and temperature
C. Coetzee, Smart Fibres; A. Franzen, H. Den Boer, A. van Rooyen, and W. Birch, sensing (DPTS) system began in 2003. The
Shell; and A.B. Biderkab and E. Moes, Petroleum Development Oman, prepared for first trial deployment was made in 2010,
the 2017 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, when nine downhole gauges were in-
13–16 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. stalled in an observation well (Fig. 1). The

mind: improved deployment methodol-
ogy and increased service temperature.
Further developments to the manu-
facturing process of the downhole pres-
sure gauges will enable application of
the system to production monitoring in
ultrahigh-temperature thermal-recovery
wells, where fluid temperatures up to
280°C can be expected.
System Value
Fig. 1—Images of initial DPTS installation. Left: pressure gauges being clamped Providing a quantitative statement of sys-
to tubing string. Middle: fiber-optic cable exits the wellhead. Right: solar-
powered surface instrumentation records and transmits pressure data.
tem value is not possible because of the
confidential nature of production rates
gauges were tubing-deployed, strapped the interrogator hardware was and other operational statistics. However,
to the outside of a 3½-in. tubing string increased steadily to suit summer the ways in which the system has provid-
that was run in hole by a workover rig. desert wellhead temperatures. ed value, in addition to improved reser-
The optical cable connecting the down- ◗ The company’s software engineers voir understanding, can be summarized
hole gauges to the surface interrogator worked on an algorithm to convert as follows:
was strapped to the tubing as the string the pressure data into fluid-contact ◗ Reduction of production deferment—
was run in hole and then passed through a or “cut” levels. This algorithm Use of real-time monitoring prevents
surface pressure barrier after penetrating took advantage of the multitude the repeat of previous situations in
the wellhead. From there, the optical cable of combined data points between which gradiometric surveys missed
was trenched to the location of a pole- the various gauges in the system the thinning and the lowering of the
mounted instrument cabinet some tens of to deliver a result with lower oil rim.
meters away in a nearby safe area. Here, uncertainty. Furthermore, the ◗ Operational expenditure reduction—
the surface interrogator collected the data algorithm automatically identified Long-term cost reductions can be
from the downhole gauges and passed and discounted erroneous data seen when comparing the cost of a
them to an industrial computer, which points within the system. single DPTS system deployment with
then transmitted the data to the local flow Two further trial deployments were that of repeated gradiometric surveys.
station through a remote telemetry unit. conducted to demonstrate that the solu- ◗ HSE risk reduction—A DPTS system
The first deployment encouraged the tion could be replicated and to validate requires only one well intervention
sponsors to support further work on the system-design improvements. during the life of the well completion.
improvements to the system: ◗ System-expansion capability—The
◗ The mechanical design of the gauge Results fiber used in the DPTS system could
was amended to reduce the cross The three trial deployments progres- also be used for distributed acoustic
section to a ¾-in. diameter and sively provided more accurate data and sensing, vertical seismic profiling,
to relocate the sensitive pressure greater system reliability. In particular, or distributed temperature sensing,
diaphragm from the outside of the the stability of the pressure measure- enabling the simple addition of
gauge to inside. ments from the downhole optical gauges other monitoring systems.
◗ The optical cable interconnection was very high—critical in avoiding a false
between the gauges was changed indication of fluid-contact movement. Conclusions
from a commercial optical con- Pressure and temperature measure- The authors present a project in which
nector, which had proved unreliable, ments, and system-health and self- the possibility of measuring fluid lev-
to a custom-built splicing chamber, diagnostic data, are transmitted from els in a wellbore using optical pressure
within which permanent spliced the wellhead interrogator into a data- gauges was conceived, prototyped, field-
fiber connections could be isolated base at 3-hour intervals. When new data trialed, and refined to the point of wide-
from wellbore fluids and pressure. sets are received, an algorithm processes spread commercialization. The system
◗ The surface interrogator evolved them into gas/oil-contact and oil/water- provides real-time data to the desk of the
from a laboratory-grade instrument contact locations. Using a suite of vi- operator’s reservoir engineers, inform-
to a field-grade model. A power- sualization tools, engineers are able to ing production-optimization decisions
hungry and temperature-range- view real-time and historical pressure, and delivering significant value. The per-
limited polarization scrambler temperature, and fluid-level data, which formance of the final trial deployment
was removed. An industrial are used to influence the production- led to the determination that the system
computer was removed by optimization program. was sufficiently mature to pass its final
integrating its functionality DPTS technology has been continually technology-readiness level, informing
into the field interrogator. The developed since the trial deployments in operating units that the DPTS solution
operating temperature range of the Sultanate of Oman, with two goals in was commercially available. JPT

Surface-to-Borehole Electromagnetics
Hold Promise for 3D Waterflood Monitoring
M onitoring the waterflooding oil-

recovery process is a difficult
task for seismic-based methods in hard
Insulating
bridle
Wireline
carbonate reservoirs. The changes in

H1
velocity and density caused by water/
oil substitution are too small when Electrical
compared with the errors involved insulation
H2
in repeating the measurements. The
authors detail the development of a
technique based on surface-to-borehole Electrode 1
controlled-source electromagnetics E1–XRS3 (4.85 m)
(CSEM), which exploits the large Electrode 2
contrast in resistivity between injected Electrode 3
water and oil to derive 3D resistivity E2–XRS4 (4.85 m)
distributions, proportional to Electrode 4
saturations, in the reservoir.
Introduction
Fig. 1—Details of the electric and magnetic borehole receiver array and wireline
CSEM techniques for reservoir-fluid char- operations at the observation well.
acterization and monitoring are applied
on a commercial basis for cross-well con- years. The results of the study led to mod- forming the dipole antennas were in-
figurations. The method is based on elec- ifications of the cross-well EM acquisition stalled at a 200-m separation forming a
tromagnetic (EM) induction and, as such, system where electric field sensors were setup of 48 inline (radial-direction) and
uses magnetic sources and magnetic re- added to the existing magnetic field sen- 48 cross-line (tangential-direction) di-
ceivers. While it has been implement- sors. A powerful custom electric-current poles generating Ez and a vertical mag-
ed successfully in many field trials, the source was also developed. netic field (Hz) at the observation well.
method is limited to 2D geometries and The borehole receiver comprised two
its sensitivity is biased toward detecting Survey Design vertical magnetic field sensors (H1 and
conductors. Modeling has shown that the Three-dimensional surface-to-borehole H2) and two vertical electric field sen-
setup of magnetic sources and magnet- CSEM data were acquired in a deep sors (E1 and E2) coupled to the borehole
ic receivers in a 3D surface-to-borehole (reservoir-level) research well drilled walls by means of well centralizers. The
configuration does not provide a useful near the known waterfront position. Sur- receiver array was operated as a wire-
signal above the estimated noise floor. For face current dipoles (transmitting anten- line tool, with which special care had to
such configurations, an electric source nae) were prepared by drilling shallow be taken to insulate the electrodes from
needs to be adopted. Realistic modeling boreholes and completing them with a the wireline cable and from the body of
of 3D surface-to-borehole CSEM suggest- steel pipe coupled to the rock formations the tool (Fig. 1). The receiver (Rx) setup
ed that the vertical electric field (Ez) is the using a slurry of carbon backfill (coke was operated by means of a crane, and
only component of EM radiation showing breeze) to achieve sufficient electrical synchronization of the Rx and the trans-
a signal above the estimated noise floor contact. The electrode setup was com- mitting (Tx) position was provided by
for waterfront variation over a period of 2 pleted by cementing the top. Electrodes Global Positioning System timing. Low-
frequency magnetotelluric and surface/
surface CSEM data were also acquired to
build a 3D model of the overburden. The
of paper SPE 191544, “Surface-to-Borehole Electromagnetics for 3D Waterflood additional data provide primary sensitiv-
Monitoring: Results From First Field Deployment,” by Daniele Colombo and Gary ity to the overburden and allow control
McNeice, Saudi Aramco, and Nestor Cuevas and Mauro Pezzoli, Schlumberger, and discrimination of the response of the
prepared for the 2018 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, overburden from the response of the res-
24–26 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed. ervoir during interpretation.

Measured data are of good quality and ropy (azimuthal variation) exists from can be modeled to obtain estimates of
recorded the fundamental transmitted the west to the east directions relative their effect on the measurements.
frequency of 8 Hz even from the most- to the well. This pattern is in very good The repetition errors in the Ez field are
distant Tx positions at 3.5 km (horizon- agreement with the saturation estimates then compared with the signal changes
tal) from the observation well. The 8-Hz provided by the reservoir simulator. Sim- estimated from reservoir simulator mod-
transmitted signal is not affected by other ilar spatial variations are observed in Ez eling. The calculated 2-year and 5-year
signals. Considering that this was the first amplitudes, while variations in Hz (am- time-lapse Ez signal is then compared
time that such surface-to-borehole EM plitude or phase) are much smoother with the amplitude differences from the
measurements were taken, this repre- and lower-amplitude, though they still repeated measurements. The repeatabil-
sented a milestone of the experiment, correlate well with estimated reservoir- ity analysis suggests that the time-lapse
suggesting that the acquisition setup was saturation variations. These observa- measurements should be able to pro-
effective and working as expected. tions are in agreement with the results vide the requested information about the
of the modeling study on the same well. waterfront evolution.
Data Analysis With the signal-to-noise and repeat-
The amplitude measurements slowly Measurement Repeatability. The au- ability of the surface-to-borehole mea-
decay with depth as the distance from thors, to this point, have evaluated the surements assessed, the key steps to de-
the Tx source increases. The relative off- sensitivity of the surface-to-borehole rive a robust estimate of 3D resistivity
set between the curves is related to the CSEM data to the static distribution of distribution can be identified. Some of
increasing distance from the Tx posi- reservoir resistivity around the observa- the most important aspects in this work
tion from the well. An azimuthal analysis tion well. The next step is to analyze the flow are modeling the steel casing effect
around the well also shows small varia- sensitivity of the Ez measurements to the and adopting the strategies to account
tions of Hz, suggesting little sensitivity to variations of the waterfront in time (time- for it in the data. The work flow is de-
reservoir-saturation variations. The Ez lapse analysis). The first objective of the scribed in the complete paper.
measurements provide a large sensitivity project, in fact, is to detect and map the
to the resistivity structure at the well when variations of the waterfront position to 3D Inversion
compared with the resistivity log. Verti- enable the use of this information for The 3D inversion for the reservoir resis-
cal changes in resistivity cause changes in reservoir-management decisions. Time- tivity distribution is performed using the
Ez at the borehole because of the require- lapse analysis is useful for this goal be- Ez field data at 8 Hz. A representation of
ment that the vertical current density (Jz) cause, given a reliable baseline resistivity the well casing is incorporated into the
be continuous. The measured Ez field is in- distribution, the time-related changes are model using a finite-difference scheme
fluenced primarily by the reservoir resis- occurring only in the reservoir and are and material-property-averaging tech-
tivity structure at the well position. Using unbiased by previous assumptions on sat- niques. The inversion was run for a single
a reference resistivity of an Ez logged sec- uration distributions. The effectiveness of depth of observation located 70 m below
tion beneath the reservoir, the relative time-lapse observations is related inher- the casing shoe.
Ez variations can be calibrated and the ently to the amount of signal and noise in Inversion results are consistent with
reservoir resistivity profile reconstruct- the measurements that are also related to those already observed from spatial vari-
ed directly from the Ez measurements. the rate of movement of the waterfront. It ations in the Ez field. Repeating the in-
The reconstructed resistivity distribution is therefore critical to analyze the amount version using a smoothed version of the
matches quite well with the log resistivity, of signal change produced in a certain reservoir simulator resistivity distribu-
except in the upper section of the reser- time frame or the time frame necessary tion as a starting model further extends
voir, where the effect of the casing begins to achieve a sufficient signal change above the sensitivity of the inversion to approx-
to influence the Ez measurements. The Ez an estimated noise threshold. imately 1.8 km from the monitoring well.
measurements need to be corrected for Acquisition of a depth profile was re- The consistency of the two inversion re-
the secondary field produced by the steel peated with an interval of 4 days from sults indicates the overall robustness of
casing, which decays rapidly with increas- a Tx position 2.3 km from the well. The the inversion procedure, with little de-
ing distance from the casing shoe. Ez profiles, in terms of amplitude and pendency on the starting model.
Azimuthal and offset variations in the phase, indicate overall good repeatabili-
data are compared using circular plots ty of the measurements, where the upper Conclusions
of the interpolated Ez data and the cor- section of the well performed better A surface-to-borehole CSEM technolo-
responding resistivity variations derived (0.3% error in log amplitude and 1.2% gy was tested for the first time over a
from the reservoir simulator. A finite- error in phase) than the lower interval relatively deep reservoir in a large on-
difference representation of the steel cas- (0.4% error in log amplitude and 4.7% shore oil field. The pilot survey, with
ing is also incorporated in the model error in phase), where caliper informa- the technological solutions identified and
during the forward calculation. The re- tion indicates the presence of a washout. the theoretical framework built around
sidual Ez phase data are therefore the During the survey, the well fluids were the interpretation of the data, provided
primary source of information for the depleting slowly and required repeated very positive indications for the technol-
saturation-related resistivity distribu- pumping operations. Tilting, depth er- ogy to be upscaled to a potential new oil-
tions in the reservoir. A marked anisot- rors, and fluid-composition variations field service. JPT

Machine Learning Improves Accuracy
of Virtual Flowmetering and Back-Allocation
I n this study, the authors investigated

a fully data-driven approach using
artificial neural networks (ANNs) for
Input Layer
Middle
Layer x2
x1
w1 Threshold
Output Unit
Summer
real-time virtual flowmetering and back- Layer w2
allocation in production wells. The main x3
w3
goal was to develop computationally Output
efficient data-driven models to
wn
determine multiphase production rates Artificial Neuron
of individual phases (gas and liquid) in 1
xn
wells using existing measured data in w1,w2,w3,wn—Weights of Connection
fields. The results showed that ANNs b x1,x2,x3,xn—Inputs b—Bias
were capable of estimating multiphase
flow rates accurately in both simulated
and field data. Fig. 1—An example of a feed-forward ANN (left) and a mathematical
representation of a feed-forward neural network (right).
Introduction
Virtual-flowmetering (VFM) methods poral dependencies. ANNs were used for Recurrent neural networks (RNNs)
are categorized in two types generally: real-time gas flowmetering at an individ- are suggested for prediction of systems
physics-based models (hydrodynamical ual well level using total production rates in which states are changing continu-
approach) and data-driven models. In measured downstream of the combined ously before reaching an equilibrium,
the physics-based approach, multiphase production separators. or when the time-dependency of states
flow rates are estimated by simplified hy- is crucial for predicting these states. A
drodynamical models using sensor data Methodology common disadvantage of some RNNs is
(e.g., pressure and temperature) as input The feed-forward ANN is a suitable meth- their inability to capture long-term de-
parameters. The second approach is sole- od for modeling the relations between pendencies in the data. Use of an LSTM
ly dependent on the available data in the a set of features and output parameters network is suggested for predictions in-
field, performing statistical analysis on by functional mapping of the features volving systems in which both short- and
this data and deriving relations between in the input layer to the outputs. Fig. 1 long-term dependencies are present. An
input features and quantities of interest shows a schematic of a feed-forward LSTM network is composed of sever-
(in this case, multiphase flow rates). Such ANN. The relation of the input to the al units of RNN, with each unit com-
an approach requires a sufficient data output parameters is found by calibrat- posed of a cell with an input, output,
set to train the models. In the context of ing the weights and biases in the hidden and forget gate.
data-driven VFM, such a data set could (middle) layers. Depending on the com- For the feed-forward neural net-
be obtained from periodic test-separator plexity of the input/output relations, the works, a single hidden layer was used
data or well tests. number of hidden layers, and neurons and the number of neurons in the hid-
In this study, two types of ANNs were therein, could be varied. The disadvan- den layer was varied to find the archi-
assessed: feed-forward (multilayer- tage of feed-forward networks is their tecture that provided optimal accuracy
perceptron) and recurrent [long short- inability to identify temporal trends in for flow-rate estimation. The Levenberg-
term memory (LSTM)] to capture tem- the data set. Marquardt back-propagation method
was used for training the feed-forward
neural network.
of paper SPE 192819, “Improving the Accuracy of Virtual Flowmetering and Back-
Case Study
Allocation Through Machine Learning,” by Pejman Shoeibi Omrani, SPE, Iulian Simulated Data. Steady-State Gas and
Dobrovolschi, and Stefan Belfroid, SPE, TNO, and Peter Kronberger and Esteban Liquid Flow Rates. The simulated data
Munoz, Wintershall Noordzee, prepared for the 2018 Abu Dhabi International set for the steady-state predictions was
Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 12–15 November. The paper has not used for training and validating the ANN
been peer reviewed. model. A feed-forward neural network

with one hidden layer and six neurons in neural network under both steady-state that the correlation of the liquid flow
the hidden layer was used for flow-rate and transient conditions. rates and other measured parameters
estimation and 80% of the data set was One of the characteristics of mature was captured accurately with the ANN
used for training. wet gas wells is the increase in liquid/ model trained with limited data.
The results for the steady-state gas gas ratio (LGR) over time. It could be Back-Allocation. The goal of the last
flow rate show that using only two pres- seen that the LSTM network was bet- part of the study was to validate the
sure parameters as inputs for the neu- ter capable of capturing the LGR trend, data-driven approach by testing it with
ral network does not result in accurate and, consequently, the liquid flow rate high-resolution field data to make a
estimation of gas flow rates. By includ- in time. real-time virtual flowmeter.
ing the third parameter, wellhead tem- A data set from a platform with four
perature, the prediction accuracy was Field Data. Daily Liquid Flow Rates. wells in the North Sea was used. On this
increased. These results suggest that Field data of a gas well in the North Sea platform, pressures, temperatures (bot-
the relation of the gas mass-flow rate to were used. The available data for this tomhole and topside), and gas flow rates
the pressure difference and gas density field include daily pressure, tempera- of each well were measured hourly with
was captured using the neural network. ture, choke setting, and flow rates. An the total gas flow rate. In this test, only
The steady-state liquid flow-rate results ANN was used to create a model predict- the results for gas-flow-rate allocation
showed an accurate estimation using ing the liquid flow rates using all other is presented because of unavailability of
bottomhole and wellhead pressure to- available parameters. the separator liquid levels.
gether with gas flow rates. Both feed-forward neural networks Within the available data set, 300 data
Transient Cases. In practice, steady- and RNNs were evaluated for this test points (300 hours) were found in which
state operations are rare, especially in case. For the feed-forward neural net- only one of the wells was producing. The
mature wells. Therefore, rather than work, different numbers of neurons trained model, on the basis of the total
using steady-state data, transient data were tested; the results with 10 neurons flow rates, was used to predict the flow
are used. For this purpose, several tran- are presented in the complete paper. For rate of this well for the period in which
sient simulations were performed by the selected field, 6.5 years of produc- it was producing alone. For this predic-
changing the valve opening in time. tion data were available for training and tion, other wells were assumed to be in
As a first step, the performance of a testing the neural network. Half of the the shut-in mode.
feed-forward neural network, trained data set was used for training the ANN, The mean of the relative error (error
on the steady-state data set in predict- and the second half was used for testing of the estimated value compared with
ing the liquid rate, was evaluated. The the ANN. Because the liquid rate was in- the field value) is on the order of 1%,
inputs that led to the highest accuracy in creasing in time in this field, both feed- which indicates a relatively small drift
predicting the steady-state liquid rates forward and RNN networks were used in the estimation. The standard devia-
were used: bottomhole pressure, well- for the liquid rate estimation. tion provides a more-accurate measure
head pressure, and gas flow rates. The The computation of the liquid flow of relative error, which is approximate-
results showed that, during the steady- rate using the feed-forward neural ly 25% around the mean error. It can
state periods, the liquid flow rate could network underpredicted the liquid be concluded that the prediction of gas
be estimated accurately; however, dur- flow rate; the error of the prediction flow rate when only one of the wells is
ing the shut-in periods, the prediction increased in time. As expected, time producing has a high accuracy margin
was no longer accurate. Additionally, dependencies could not be accurate- with respect to the actual flow from the
the dynamic trends of well shut-in or ly captured using the feed-forward data set. The steady-state production
transients in the liquid flow rate were neural network; this could be a rea- rates are better predicted than the dy-
not captured correctly. son for underprediction of the liquid namic conditions.
To increase the accuracy in produc- rates. However, the results of the RNN This method could be devised as a
tion transient periods, the training of confirmed that the increase in liquid simple computational tool trained on
the feed-forward model was performed flow rates in time was better captured available data in the field. It can accu-
on the transient data. The training was with the RNN. rately monitor multiphase flow rates
performed on half of the production The last test performed on the daily produced from each well in a real-time
data, and the test was performed on the averaged liquid-rate-estimation data manner. It is suggested that this ap-
second half of the data set. The results was to assess the size of the data set proach be tested on several fields for
show that the prediction was improved required to train the model while which reliable total liquid-flow-rate
by including the transient data in the maintaining the accuracy of future data are also available.
training. The dynamics in production liquid-flow-rates estimation. For this The results also showed that the
were also captured correctly by the neu- specific field, it was found that with a model predictions were not greatly af-
ral network. Thus, these results confirm limited number of data (daily data for 10 fected by the uncertainties in the mea-
that the relation between the pressures months), an accurate estimation could surement data and that this model could
and gas flow rate to the liquid flow rate be made for the liquid flow rates for the be used as a robust model to estimate
can be captured using a feed-forward next 4 months. These results confirmed flow rates. JPT

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
High Pressure/High Temperature

Robert Ziegler, SPE, Global Director, Well-Control Technology, Weatherford
After a year, I could begin my editorial If above-threshold drilling major operator mentioned previously
the same way I did in 2018, with the shows, frontiers of technology such as
words, “The industry is slowly recovering costs shelve a project, (extreme) HP/HT are best explored in the
from the worst downturn we have seen we can have the nicest spirit (and the contractual framework) of
in many decades … .” But now, at least,
production hardware technology partnerships, because very
we see some clear indications that the little of the required equipment and pro-
“HP/HT spring” is upon us, most nota- in the world, but the project cedures is commodified enough to allow
bly the announcement by Chevron and will not fly. And, without the corporate supply chain to decide
Transocean that they will partner on what the most-cost-effective solution for
construction of an ultradeepwater drill- projects, all HP/HT a project may be. This is not even con-
ship. Because significant financial com- know-how and equipment sidering the rare and valuable innova-
mitment is behind this agreement, tive HP/HT know-how that only a few
we can safely say that ultradeepwater
quickly disappears. experts in our industry really possess
high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) and can apply, allowing the cost sav-
drilling is alive and well and that geol- and equipment quickly disappears. So, ings of this new level of HP/HT drilling
ogists see major resource potential in this focus is in the interest of the entire efficiency to be realized. I hope that the
this environment. HP/HT value chain. papers selected will enhance the broad-
That said, the mantra given out at the Being able to construct wells efficient- er dissemination of this efficient HP/HT,
beginning of the downturn, “Fit for 50,” ly is especially important for a techno- narrow-margin well-construction knowl-
by then SPE President Helge Haldorsen logical frontier operation such as HP/HT. edge and lead to a step change in HP/HT
of Equinor, is still the benchmark many Industry veterans remember the enthu- drilling-cost efficiency that is necessary
(wisely) applied for their projects—and, siasm of the 1980s for subalpine HP/HT in our operating environment. Interest-
given the volatility of oil prices we have exploration. The resource basis was ingly, geographically, the eastern Medi-
seen in the past year, rightly so. There- there, but the failure of several wells terranean and Asia Pacific regions seem
fore, and similar to last year’s HP/HT to reach their objective (unfortunately to be at the forefront of this develop-
feature, we must concentrate our paper something that happens all too often in ment, as the selected papers show. I hope
selection on technology and operat- conventional HP/HT exploration drill- you will enjoy them and learn a lot. And,
ing methods that make HP/HT drilling ing) killed the potentially very important please, provide any feedback you believe
operations faster, safer, and more cost- resource development that could have to be useful to advance efficient HP/HT
efficient. If above-threshold drilling mitigated the decline of own-gas produc- well-construction practices. JPT
costs shelve a project, we can have tion in western and central Europe with
the nicest production hardware in the all its geopolitical consequences.
world, but the project will not fly. And As the technical and commercial part- Recommended additional reading
without projects, all HP/HT know-how nership of a drilling contractor and a at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
OTC 28327 Maharaja Lela South:
Robert Ziegler, SPE, is global director for well-control technol- Innovation at Work To Push the Limits
ogy at Weatherford International. His career spans 30 years in and To Deliver by Sebastien Cochet,
the industry, mainly with Shell, Chevron, Petronas, and Cairn Vallourec Asia Pacific, et al.
India. Ziegler’s achievements include involvement in the first OTC 28624 Subsea High-Pressure/
deepwater application of preblowout-preventer riserless mud- High-Temperature Technology Verification,
line pumping and the first application of a commercial deep- Validation, and Regulatory Requirements:
water dual-gradient system in the form of post-blowout- HP/HT Riser Technology Challenges
preventer-controlled mud level. He also has overseen dozens of by Selcuk Dincal, 2H Offshore, et al.
successful offshore managed-pressure-drilling jobs using rotating control devices for OTC 18869 HP/HT Hands-Free Drilling
several operators on both jackup rigs and semisubmersible rigs as well as the com- Riser System With Superior Fatigue
mercial use of directional casing drilling offshore, with more than 100 sections drilled. Performance by Colton Sandman,
Ziegler is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee. Dril-Quip, et al.

Managed-Pressure Drilling Used Successfully
for Offshore HP/HT Exploration Wells
T he South China YQ Basin, with

its 15 trillion m3 of natural gas, is
typical of ultrahigh-pressure/
◗ Formation pressure is hard
to predict accurately, and the
associated error is greater than
◗ Establish the ESD model by
considering the elastic compression
effect of high pressure and the
high-temperature (ultra-HP/HT) 20% in some complex wells. thermal expansion effect of high
plays, with the highest bottomhole ◗ Formation drillability is bad temperature.
temperature (BHT) at 249°C, the because the main targeted layer ◗ Establish the drilling-fluid
maximum bottomhole pressure (BHP) is over 5000 m. As a result, the rheological property model on
at 142 MPa, and an extremely narrow rate of penetration (ROP) is very the basis of the Herschel-Bulkley
pressure window. Predictably, drilling low, which leads to longer drilling model by considering the effect
challenges in these plays are numerous. cycles and more-frequent downhole of ultra-HP/HT on dynamic shear
This paper discusses the successful accidents and issues such as force, consistency coefficient, and
application of managed-pressure casing wear. liquidity index.
drilling (MPD) in the basin with ◗ The natural environment is harsh ◗ Consider the effects of cuttings
reduction in risks and well costs. (i.e., frequent typhoons in summer). concentration on ECD on the basis
of the solid/liquid two-phase flow.
Overview of the YQ Basin Operational Design of MPD The ECD model is then established
In recent years, approximately 27% of The operational design of MPD consists on the basis of the previously men-
major oil and gas discoveries have come of three parts: the precise calculation of tioned models.
from HP/HT fields. The South China drilling-fluid equivalent circulating den-
YQ Basin is one of the three major off- sity (ECD), the optimization of opera- Optimization of Operational Param-
shore HP/HT regions in the world and tional parameters, and well control. eters. This step involves the determi-
is located at the intersection of the nation of the two key operational pa-
Eurasian, Pacific, and Indo-Australian Calculation of ECD. This process in- rameters: the mud weight (MW) and the
plates and has a complex geologi- cludes four models: surface backpressure (SBP). It includes
cal structure. ◗ Wellbore-temperature field model the following two steps:
The drilling in this basin, as is the case ◗ Drilling-fluid equivalent-static- ◗ Determine the MW on the basis
in any HP/HT area, faces various techni- density (ESD) model of the critical pressure constraint
cal challenges, including the following: ◗ Drilling-fluid rheological-property principle through the operational-
◗ The temperature and pressure model window simulation of different well
gradient is very high. The highest ◗ A model representing the effect of depths and fluid volumes.
temperature gradient is 5.51°C/ cuttings concentration on ECD ◗ Determine the SBP of pump-on
100 m. The formation-pressure The process involves the following and pump-off by considering the
transition zone is short, and the four steps: rated operating pressure of the
formation pressure rises rapidly. ◗ Establish the instantaneous equipment, the calculated pressure
◗ The safety drilling-fluid-density wellbore-temperature model loss, and the BHP as compared with
window between pore pressure on the basis of the convection formation pressure.
and fracture pressure is extremely and thermal conductivity theory The principle of micro-overbalance and
narrow, and the safety factor is by dividing the wellbore into microleakage is applied to operational
very small. five areas. designs of MPD in offshore ultra-HP/HT
exploration wells through the follow-
ing criteria:
◗ BHP must be within the safe
of paper SPE 191060, “Operational Design and Application of MPD in Offshore
drilling-fluid-density window in the
Ultra-HP/HT Exploration Wells,” by Qishuai Yin and Jin Yang, China University open hole, which prevents downhole
of Petroleum; Bo Zhou, CNPC; Ming Luo, Wentuo Li, and Yi Huang, CNOOC; and accidents such as kicks, collapses,
Ting Sun, Xinxin Hou, Xiaodong Wu, and Junxiang Wang, China University and leakages.
of Petroleum, prepared for the 2018 IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology ◗ Maximum SBP must be within
Conference, Bangkok, 27–29 August. The paper has not been peer reviewed. the rated working pressure of the

rotating control device (RCD),
and conventional well-control
technology must be used to control
BHP if the RCD fails.
◗ Wellbore annulus pressure must be
less than 80% of casing internal-
pressure resistance.
◗ Operational design must meet the
principle of annulus flow control;
the ideal gas/liquid two-phase
flow pattern near the wellbore
is bubble flow.
The following steps describe the pro-
cess of operational design of MPD on
the basis of the design principles pro-
vided previously.
◗ The MW of each spud is Fig. 1—Field installation of MPD equipment.
determined on the basis of the
critical pressure-constraint
principle by the operational ◗ Borehole conditions cannot meet swabbing pressure. In addition, time of
window simulation of different MPD requirements. tripping out is reduced to lessen the risk
well depths and fluid volumes. of sticking during pipe connection. The
◗ Pressure loss is calculated before MPD Applications SBP is controlled to 120 psi during trip-
MPD begins. MPD is successfully applied to the X gas ping out, which is equivalent to an ECD
◗ BHP is 1 to 2 MPa higher than field featuring offshore ultra-HP/HT increase of 0.02 sg.
formation pressure. conditions. The casing structure is op-
◗ SBP is determined on the basis timized from seven or eight layers to Effect of MPD Application. As previ-
of the idea that SBP is 0 to 3 MPa five layers, and the well is drilled in a ously mentioned, the casing structure is
during drilling and 2 to 8 MPa micropressure window of 0.01 to 0.02 sg optimized from seven or eight layers to
during pipe connection. The without accidents. five layers. Also, drilling operation speed
maximum SBP is 5 MPa considering is increased significantly. In Well X-1, for
a 30% safety margin. Field Installation of MPD Equipment. example, the planned time was 90 days
The following steps describe the pro- but the actual time saved was 26.37 days.
Well Control. This process considers cess of equipment installation (shown Additionally, nonproductive time (NPT)
plans for three cases: downhole acci- in Fig. 1): decreases by 60% and the well cost is
dents, equipment failures, and termina- ◗ MPD equipment is installed offline, obviously reduced.
tion conditions for MPD. It includes the and the platform, logging, and
following three steps: cementing are remodeled. MPD Outlook
◗ Establish emergency measures ◗ MPD equipment is installed online With increasing difficulty in exploration
against downhole accidents by during dismantling of the fourth and development come more-frequent
means of a well-control matrix. wellhead. complex downhole accidents and higher
◗ Establish emergency measures ◗ The operational process is tested, drilling costs. Consequently, MPD will be
against the failure of equipment and the pressure is qualified to more widely used because of its positive
such as the RCD. meet operational requirements. effect on NPT and expense, particular-
◗ Determine MPD termination ly in extreme narrow-pressure-window
conditions. Field Application of MPD Equipment. conditions, especially those involv-
MPD should be terminated immediate- MPD is used during the fifth spud. First, ing volcanic rocks, carbonate rocks,
ly when the following conditions occur: a wellbore dynamic pressure test is com- faults, unconformities, fracture zones,
◗ Well leakage is serious when drilling pleted in order to allow accurate con- piedmont structures, push struc-
big cracks, which causes MPD trol of BHP. The ECD is dynamically tures, unusually high and low pres-
failure. increased to comply with the test by ad- sures, and severe leaks. MPD will be
◗ MPD equipment cannot meet justing the opening of the throttle valve used extensively in deepwater drill-
requirements. to control the SBP; fluctuations of BHP ing and will be applied to the develop-
◗ Downhole complex accidents, are within 1 psi. ment of gas hydrates. Generally, MPD
causing MPD failure, occur Next, the SBP is applied during trip- in these environments yields time and
frequently. ping out to avoid the kicks caused by cost savings. JPT

Managed-Pressure Drilling Solves
HP/HT Challenges Offshore Vietnam
D rilling in deeper formations

with high-pressure/high-
temperature (HP/HT) margins
ry rift basins created on Vietnam’s con-
tinental shelf as a consequence of the
East Sea seafloor spreading.
operator’s drilling team decided to de-
ploy MPD technology with constant
bottomhole pressure (CBHP) and early
increases the tendency and frequency The formation pressure profiles of kick-loss detection capabilities on Wells
of well-control incidents related to offset wells in the central NCS basin, WHP-HT 2 and 3.
anomalies of formation pressures and including the Hai Thach and Moc Tinh
temperatures. This paper discusses gas fields, are characterized by over- Well 1 Drilling Background
how managed-pressure-drilling (MPD) pressure beneath the late Pliocene/Qua- and Challenges
technology led to cost savings in two ternary deltaic sedimentary section. Well WHP-HT1 was the second well
wells drilled in the Hai Thach gas field The overpressure occurs with a high- drilled from the Hai Thach platform.
offshore southern Vietnam. The wells pressure ramp in the thick, post-rift, It was drilled conventionally, with no
were drilled from a semisubmersible deep marine, Late Miocene/Early Plio- application of MPD. While drilling the
tender-assisted rig with an automated cene shale interval. Overpressure re- 12¼-in.-hole section, several well-
MPD choke manifold and docking- tains in the syn-rift and pre-rift sedi- control issues occurred as a result of
station rotating control device (RCD), mentary section with lower ramp. unexpected higher pore pressure and
integrated on a flexible plug-and-play A higher pore pressure of approxi- lower-than- expected extended leak-
basis to enable easy rig up and rig mately 17.3 lbm/gal at a shallower-than- off test (XLOT) results at the 14½-in.
down and the moving of equipment predicted depth was encountered when oversize shoe.
between wells. drilling the 12¼-×14½-in. under- The contingency plan was to stop drill-
reamed (UR) section of Bien Dong Well ing and set a contingency 11¾-×13⅝-in.
Introduction WHP-HT1. Increasing mud weight (MW) expandable liner to cover the weak for-
MPD systems have built a track record was not practical because high equiva- mation zone, and then raise MW as re-
of success in mitigating drilling haz- lent circulating density (ECD) exceeded quired to continue drilling the 12¼-in.-
ards related to uncertain formation pore the unexpected, low leakoff test result at hole section. The expandable liner was
pressures and narrow-pressure oper- the casing shoe. This led to the decision run and cemented successfully.
ating windows common to HP/HT ex- to call off the well total depth (TD) early When drilling the 12¼-in. upper sec-
ploration and development wells. In and set the contingency 11¾-×13⅝-in. tion, the well experienced partial mud
these wells, slow rates of penetration, expandable liner to cover the weak for- losses while circulating to bottom be-
wellbore-stability issues, ballooning, mation. A total of 46 days was required fore pulling out of the hole for contin-
accuracy of influx-detection systems, to complete the planned depth of the gency UR equipment. MW was reduced
and differential sticking can result in well section. from 17.6 to 17.4 lbm/gal. The low XLOT
well-control problems and nonproduc- As a part of remedial actions based at the 14½-in. shoe and excessive ECD
tive time (NPT). on the experience of drilling Well 1, caused by high MW led to loss issues
The Nam Con Son (NCS) basin off the and with added concern of potential while drilling. During well-control mit-
southern coast of Vietnam presents such ballooning given high pore pressures igation, the rig damaged the blowout-
challenges. It is one of a series of Tertia- and a narrow operating window, the preventer annular packer while circulat-
ing and stripping through it.
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of The drilling team determined that
paper SPE 191927, “Application of Managed Pressure Drilling on a Semisubmersible MPD technology would allow drilling at
Tender-Assisted Rig To Address Drilling Challenges in HP/HT Gas Condensate Wells, balance for a similar well case and would
also save time when mitigating well-
Offshore Vietnam,” by Harpreeet Kaur Dalgit Singh, SPE, Bao Ta Quoc, and Tan
control situations.
Chai Yong, SPE, Weatherford; Do Van Khanh, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, and Hoang
Thanh Tung, PV Drilling; and Truong Hoai Nam, Ngo Huu Hai, Dang Anh Tuan, Operational and
Trinh Ngoc Bao, Tran Nam Hung, and Nguyen Pham Huy Cuong, Bien Dong Engineering Planning
Petroleum Operating Company, prepared for the 2018 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas The drilling team followed a detailed
Conference and Exhibition, Brisbane, Australia, 23–25 October. The paper has not plan to engineer the optimal MPD-
been peer reviewed. CBHP application for the next two wells.

The MPD system and equipment were 17.2-lbm/gal MW and maximum flow trol to energize fluid in the wellbore. In-
designed to permit application of CBHP rate of 450 gal/min. Higher flow rate jecting mud flow through the flowmeter
drilling until section TD; allow flexible would expose the formation to fractur- keeps it reliable in an active monitor-
switching between MPD and conven- ing because of high ECD. It was recom- ing mode for kick-loss detection during
tional drilling at any time, if required; mended to drill out the 10-in. shoe with pump off.
and complement rig well-control equip- conservative parameters (280 gal/min,
ment without changing it. 80 rev/min) within the casing shoe pres- MPD of Wells 2 and 3
A static, slightly overbalanced MW sure limits. A 200- to 250-psi SBP would Wells WHP-HT2 and WHP-HT3 were
(approximately 100-psi overbalance) be applied to maintain CBHP while drilled using MPD, enabling the well
was premodeled to comply with the op- pumps were off. team to apply sufficient SBP to com-
erator’s well-design policy. Prehydrau- pensate for downhole friction loss from
lic modeling was used to analyze well MPD System Description pressure fluctuation while maintaining
data to ensure that Wells WHP-HT2 and MPD equipment consists of two main a reliable active monitoring mode with
WHP-HT3 could be drilled successfully components: an RCD and an MPD kick-loss detection. Time savings were
by walking the line. Calculating antici- choke manifold. The RCD forms a pres- realized by running in the hole with SBP
pated surface backpressure (SBP) was sure seal at the top of the wellbore; applied instead of washing down with
required at any unplanned event to com- the MPD choke manifold is installed every stand during a trip.
ply with the pressure capability of the at the MPD main return flowline with The RCD bearing assembly was in-
MPD surface-control equipment. an accurate Coriolis flowmeter to pro- stalled, followed by MPD fingerprint-
vide real-time wellbore pressure control ing, while the bottomhole assembly
ECD Management when drilling. was still inside the 13⅝-in. casing shoe
The annulus flow behavior during MPD The system also includes isolation before drilling the shoe track. This is
application was simulated to define cir- valves, flowline piping and hoses, and recognized as the in-casing test, or
culating parameters to be used as ref- crossovers to route fluid returns. An cased-hole fingerprinting. Its main pur-
erence points during actual well op- MPD degassing line is connected to the pose is to ensure effective communi-
erations. The operating window was rig mud/gas separator from downstream cation and practical training with the
interpreted by maintaining the dynam- of the MPD choke manifold to safely rig crews, especially the tool pusher,
ic and static downhole pressure with- vent formation gas when required. Ded- driller, and assistant driller, who con-
in a window bounded by the difference icated rig mud pumps must be capable trol the annulus pressure during con-
between maximum formation pressure of operating simultaneously and inde- nections, tripping, and unexpected
of 17.3 lbm/gal and a minimum expect- pendently to pump into the drillstring pumpoff events.
ed fluid loss pressure of 18.1 lbm/gal and annulus during operation. Using MPD-CBHP to drill Wells 2 and
equivalent MW throughout the 12¼-in.- With input of hydraulic modeling 3 made it possible to apply sufficient
hole section. Both limits were evaluated and system pressure readings through SBP to compensate for downhole fric-
throughout the operation by adjusting the external standpipe manifold and tion loss from wellbore-pressure fluc-
SBP to enable instantaneous chang- SBP sensors, a proprietary control al- tuation while maintaining a reliable ac-
es in ECD. The ECD management plan gorithm of an automated MPD choke- tive monitoring mode with kick-loss
was computed using bit depth/TD as a control system allows calculation of detection. Applying the technology also
pivot point. the amount of SBP required for any enabled the crew to identify and dif-
Preliminary hydraulic analysis based given change of flow and pressure. ferentiate between ballooning and in-
on initial well data indicated that both When the MPD system detects chang- fluxes, which saved the operator sig-
wells could be drilled safely by walking es in the model-calculated ECD, the ac- nificant operational days and cost. Well
the line immediately above predicted tive chokes adjust until a measured SBP WHP-HT1 took 46 days to reach sec-
pore pressure because applying MPD has reached the calculated set point to tion TD and did not achieve its ob-
would allow maintaining a CBHP condi- compensate for the actual downhole jectives. Well objectives for the next
tion, overbalanced during pumpoff sce- friction loss. two wells were achieved using MPD,
narios, especially while making connec- During a connection or any other which enabled drilling the 12¼-in.-
tions. This would enable maintaining pumpoff event, the driller brings up hole section with the lowest MW to ac-
the bottomhole pressure at greater than dedicated rig pumps as MPD auxiliary commodate the narrow drilling win-
the pore pressure without fracturing pumps before turning off the drilling dow. The wells took a total of 10 days
the formation. pumps. With the drilling-mud pumps and 14 days, respectively, to reach
Preliminary hydraulic analysis of off, the injected mud flow to annulus well section TD. Drilling curves for all
the 8½-in.-hole section indicated through the MPD choke manifold pro- three wells are included in the com-
that it could be drilled to TD with vides the required volume for SBP con- plete paper. JPT

Continuous-Circulation Technique
Drills Narrow-Margin Deepwater Wells
U ltradeepwater wells are commonly

characterized by a narrow margin
between pore and fracture gradients.
with the use of a dynamically positioned
rig with continuous-circulation technol-
ogy installed. The estimated water depth
at approximately 4000 m measured
depth, approximately 100 m above the
bottom of the theoretical evaporitic se-
In these wells, even a small variation of the area was greater than 2000 m. The quence but before entering the possible
in pressure profile may lead to severe distance of the nearest reference well overpressured zone.
operational issues. This paper describes from Well A was more than 90 km. Be-
the drilling of high-pressure/high- cause of this long distance, the degree of Execution. Operation on Well A went
temperature (HP/HT) deepwater wells uncertainty of the predicted PPFG was as planned through the drilling phase,
through an ultranarrow pore-pressure very high. The well was planned to ex- when the 20-in. casing was run and ce-
fracture gradient (PPFG) window by plore sands targets at a total depth (TD) mented. The surface casing shoe was
means of technology application and of approximately 6000 m. placed per the drilling program inside
strict procedural control. From a well-design viewpoint, atten- the massive salt halite using brine to
tion was paid mainly to identify the cas- drill (pump-and-dump technique). Then
Introduction ing points; otherwise, because the nar- the 17½-in. drilling section was drilled
An exploratory well with a narrow drill- row margin between pore and fracture through the halite at a planned depth
ing margin can be realized successfully gradients was so tight, the targets could with the use of proprietary valves with-
by use of a customized design concept. require reaching the TD in 6-in. hole out encountering any operating issues.
Such a concept may not follow standard instead of the planned 8½-in. hole. The 13⅝-in. casing also was run and
procedures strictly as ordinarily defined This development could compromise cemented without issue.
but still can fulfill the guidelines and con- data collection. While drilling with the system per the
cepts behind conventional approaches. Because of these factors, it was de- drilling plan, the team found the pore
To apply such a customized concept, cided to use the operator’s proprietary pressure to be higher than expected,
a multidisciplinary team was created to device and continuous-circulation sys- while the fracture profile appeared high-
design the well through all the possi- tem to add an additional safety margin to er, but not enough to guarantee the drill-
ble expected scenarios. An integrated as- the geopressure fluctuation. Continuous ing margin per the prognosis.
sessment was prepared, evaluating how circulation was planned to be used from In this challenging scenario, the
real-time monitoring could mitigate the the drilling of the intermediate hole size management-of-change process was ap-
operating risk of the exploration activity. until the well reached TD and also while plied to create a real-time technical sup-
The operator’s guidelines used for stan- running the casing/liner. This project saw port starting with the well data. All new
dard parameters such as kick tolerance the first installation of the system on a data were analyzed and updated in order
and choke margin were reviewed and re- drilling ship. Uncertainties were expect- to design a new well model from a multi-
interpreted for this specific application, ed to be managed primarily with stan- disciplinary point of view. The only ap-
because the introduction of new technol- dard operational precautions; in fact, the proach in this scenario would be to create
ogies could allow different design factors ability to place the casing shoes inside a new hydraulic model while designing
to control the bottomhole pressure (BHP) the right formation was very important new mud characteristics. The static mud
without affecting the margin of risk. and the correct depth had to be deter- weight needed to be slightly less than
mined while drilling the well. the pore pressure to ensure that the con-
Well A The salt was supposed to be drilled tinuous dynamic pressure could guar-
Planning. This was the first exploration with a 17½-in. bottomhole assembly. The antee a safe drilling margin. The casing
well drilled in a Mediterranean block casing point of this section was planned design also was updated to meet the ac-
tual high-pressure scenario. This well-
design analysis required a nonstandard
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of
review practice.
paper SPE 192749, “Deepwater High-Pressure/High-Temperature Drilling Through Because of the uncertainties of the geo-
an Ultranarrow Pore-Pressure Fracture Gradient Window: A Case Study,” by Enrico pressure prognosis, especially in an ex-
Squintani, Andrea Uslenghi, Susanna Ferrari, and Luca Affede, Eni, prepared for ploration environment, the conventional
the 2018 Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, drilling technique applied for standard
12–15 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. wells could prove very risky. The geopres-

sure team provides the pressure progno-
sis that incorporates safety factors with
the aim of minimizing the margin of error. Drillpipe
When dealing with an already narrow
drilling margin in accordance with deep-
water scenarios, a conventional mitiga- Check
tion approach might make such margins Valve
even narrower. The direct approach was
to modify and control the BHP with the
use of the operator’s proprietary system. Drillpipe
The system valves can guarantee con-
tinuous circulation, even during connec-
tion, in order to have a stable value of an-
nular hole pressure because the dynamic
mud pressure is always applied while
drilling. Thus, the intrinsic variability of
BHP is reduced dramatically. Continuous
hole cleaning also enhanced bottomhole
stability. The use of these valves was help-
ful in two ways: They reduced the mud-
Fig. 1—Schematic of near-
trip margin while drilling and minimized balanced drilling system.
the continuous circulation that the pres-
sure fluctuation induced by tripping. circulation technique will minimize pres- The 6¾-in. section was drilled, and the
sure fluctuation created by pump on/ main well target was reached. At 4733 m,
Well B pump off during pipe connection. The a decision was made to stop drilling op-
Planning. Well B had been abandoned by main difference between this technique erations because of the extremely nar-
the previous operators after well-control and conventional MPD techniques is the row operational window. Nonetheless,
problems. Because of the very narrow capability of ensuring the continuity of the operational objectives were achieved
margin between pore and fracture gradi- the circulation-pressure losses that con- and the well was drilled successfully to
ents, two contingent casing strings have tribute to build up the BHP. From the the last 6¾-in. section.
been used to reach the planned interme- management standpoint, this application The proprietary technique allowed
diate depth. The budgeted time and cost has another important benefit: The pres- drilling of the 6¾-in. section, where the
was exceeded, and, eventually, the well ence of an active surface choke system pore-fracture window was so narrow
was considered not safely drillable to the can guarantee an efficient and prompt that use of conventional drilling tech-
final planned well TD. virtual mud-weight adjustment. niques was impossible. The technique of
The operator decided to re-enter the An engineered mud system was de- drilling the well in static underbalanced
well with confidence that the experience signed with the aim of minimizing the mud conditions was applied continuous-
gathered in Well A was useful to redesign hydraulic effect on the fluid system. ly to all three new drilled sections. The
the well deepening with a more-efficient Water-based mud was selected because static mud condition was almost always
approach but with a safe risk margin. The of its lower compressibility properties. below the pore gradient; meanwhile,
main data gathered from the previous op- the dynamic mud condition was always
erator were reanalyzed and calibrated, and Execution. The 10⅝-in.-hole section was over the pore gradient but below the
new operating margins were established. drilled per the plan to 4105 m despite the fracture value.
Narrow-margin engineering adopted fact that the gradients encountered were The actual operating margins encoun-
to design well re-entry and deepening much more challenging than expected. tered were so low that the most-critical
was focused on equivalent mud density The operating window at section TD was operation was not drilling the section but
on the bottom while drilling in dynamic only approximately 0.07 sg. The 9⅝-in. replacing the dynamic mud condition
conditions. For Well B, the continuous- liner was run and cemented. An 8½-in. with static mud conditions in order to re-
circulation system (near-balanced drill- pilot hole was drilled to 4543 m, where a main in overbalance while tripping out
ing) appeared to be the optimal solution kick was experienced because of an un- and tripping in.
from the planning phase (Fig. 1). predictable sudden increase in the pore- A dedicated, accurate hydraulic pro-
MPD technology, in conjunction with pressure gradient. The PPFG window at gram was prepared to displace the light
the continuous-circulation system, was 4490 m was only approximately 0.07 sg. mud used to drill the section with heavy
the natural evolution of the experience The following well-control operations mud to be used for tripping out and in.
performed on Well A. The MPD system ended with a sidetrack to 4498 m: The Correct mud-weight and appropriate
allows safe drilling with a static mud hole was enlarged to 10¼ in., and 7⅝-in. flow-rate programs were designed for
weight lower than that of the pore gra- expandable liner was run and cemented each phase and updated continually to
dient; meanwhile, the continuous- at 4498 m. avoid the risk of losses. JPT

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Seismic
Mark S. Egan, SPE, Consulting Geophysicist
Last year saw continued contraction in Last year saw continued covered other important seismic topics.
the seismic data-acquisition industry. These included inversion and reservoir
This included both onshore and offshore contraction in the seismic characterization, 4D interpretation, seis-
operations. Most notably, WesternGeco data-acquisition industry. mic for carbonate plays, and machine
exited land and marine data acquisi-
This included both onshore learning. (Similar to what is happening
tion. (In the case of marine, Western- in other industries, machine learning is
Geco sold all of its vessels, facilities, and and offshore operations. receiving tremendous attention now in
technologies to Shearwater GeoServices.) the seismic world.) Though industry fluc-
Ironically, it was just 1 year ago when I tuations may affect our areas of specialty,
discussed in this column the new and of Thailand. Another paper deals with there will always be room for improve-
exciting acquisition-related advances in leading-edge techniques that were used ment driven by innovation. JPT
the industry that had been developed for in a recent onshore 3D survey in Abu
the purpose of better data sampling. Dhabi. And a third paper showcases the
With this drop in acquisition busi- application of a relatively new technol- Recommended additional reading
ness, it is not surprising that there were ogy, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org.
fewer seismic data-acquisition papers DAS is rapidly finding a home in vertical-
published in SPE proceedings. Neverthe- seismic-profile surveys and in unconven- SPE 189888 Seismic Attributes
Application for the Distributed Acoustic
less, several excellent SPE papers cov- tional programs. Indeed, this third paper Sensing Data for the Marcellus Shale:
ered important acquisition and process- deals with a DAS study performed in the New Insights to Cross-Stage Flow
ing topics. One of the papers deals with Marcellus Shale. Communication by Payam Kavousi
the current state of the art for address- Offsetting the drop in the number of Ghahfarokhi, West Virginia University, et al.
ing marine challenges. This is described acquisition papers was a proportionate SPE 192948 How Broadband, High-
with a 3D case history from the Gulf increase in the number of SPE papers that Density, Full-Azimuth, and Point-Source
Point-Receiver Acquisition Improves
Seismic Interpretation in Onshore Abu
Dhabi by Sheikha Al-Naqbi, ADNOC
Mark S. Egan, SPE, is a consulting geophysicist. He worked for Onshore, et al.
Schlumberger and its heritage companies from 1975 to 2016, at
SPE 192956 Comparing Seismic Inversion
which time he retired. Egan’s last position at Schlumberger was as Methods on a Carbonate Reservoir: A Case
global chief area geophysicist in the Land Unconventionals Group Study From the Mishrif Reservoir, Rumaila
within the WesternGeco segment. His previous postings included Field, Iraq by Olabode Joseph Olatoke, BP,
chief geophysicist positions in North America, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, et al.
and London. Egan holds a PhD degree in geophysics, an MS degree SPE 192927 Effect of Seismic Acquisition
in acoustics, and a BS degree in physics and mathematics. He is a and Processing Techniques in Challenging
member of SPE, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the European Association of Subsurface Imaging, Block G11/48, Gulf
Geoscientists and Engineers, and various local societies. Egan is a member of the JPT of Thailand by Phansakorn Kaewprain,
Editorial Committee and can be reached at egan9@hotmail.com. Mubadala

Machine-Learning Approach
Identifies Wolfcamp Reservoirs
T his paper discusses a project

with the objective of leveraging
prestack and poststack seismic data in
however, much of the porosity was oc-
cluded by cementation after burial. The
porosity was enhanced by fracturing that
constraints, and experimental design.
Therefore, the work flow is to create an
operator by using learning techniques.
order to reconstruct 3D images of thin, occurred after burial, caused by differ- As with any learning method, the pre-
discontinuous, oil-filled packstone pay ential compaction beneath and tectonic sented technique, democratic neural net-
facies of the Upper and Lower Wolfcamp faulting in the deeper formations. Many work association (DNNA), needs a rep-
formation. The classification results millions of years after burial, oil leaked resentative data set in order to build a
were created by neural networks, which into the Tannehill sand (Middle Wolf- robust operator. Unfortunately, rock type
can be used as a substitute for traditional camp) detrital, then migrated up the de- is not available as a volume and has to be
amplitude-vs.-offset, inversion, and trital zone into the delta, which is located approximated by the lithofacies distri-
cross-plotting techniques for seismic 2 km west of the study area. Then, the bution defined within vertical windows
reservoir characterization. oil migrated out of the delta and into the along the borehole.
study area itself. Middle Wolfcamp delta- Many limitations are identified clear-
Introduction ic sands are not collocated with the seis- ly for discrete prediction using seismic
The problem encountered by the opera- mic survey and thus are not part of this data. Lithological information, interpret-
tor in this oil field is that the reservoir, study. They were, however, the conduit ed and gathered at wells, is not linearly
an oil-filled packstone, is thin and later- for oil migration into the ESM wells. correlated with seismic data. Facies are
ally discontinuous. Despite having col- The total drilled depth for these verti- not ordered, and there is no notion of
lected a high-resolution, state-of-the-art cal wells is approximately 1500 m. Each mathematical separation between them.
3D seismic survey with usable frequen- successful well produces approximately A specific neural network is designed to
cies up to 138 Hz, and despite having 3–4 million bbl of reserves. These wells learn in a specific way; therefore, using
generated seismic attribute volumes in flow naturally, without the need for hy- only one supervised neural network
order to assist interpretation, the opera- draulic fracturing. tends to bias the results of the training.
tor was unable to generate an interpreta- The problem of well-to-seismic data
tion manually that matched the rock-type Theory and Definitions classification renders this one-goal ap-
interpretation at the wells. Therefore, The technique developed in this paper proach unsatisfying because classes often
the decision was taken to supplement the assumes the existence of a relation- overlap. The use of several networks run-
human interpretation with a machine- ship between a seismic response at a ning simultaneously as an associative
learning methodology. given point and the rock-type distri- combination is preferred.
bution around this point. However, no With regard to the data, different ap-
Geological Setting model has been established yet and the proaches can be considered for simulta-
The East Soldier Mount (ESM) study area mathematical formulation of such an neously training several neural networks.
is approximately 200 km northeast of operator is complex. Its determination Usually, multiple-view learning methods
Midland, Texas, USA, on the eastern shelf would imply the need for a long empiri- are used. The application of this kind of
of the Permian Basin. The study area con- cal process to evaluate the consequence approach to facies prediction is not opti-
tains both Upper and Lower Wolfcamp of rock-type distribution on seismic re- mal in a reservoir-characterization sense
oil-filled packstones, which are thin and sponse. Estimating the number of pa- because seismic data are interdependent.
laterally discontinuous. Bioturbation and rameters is challenging and is a function The second approach is to simultane-
oolitic shoals caused the initial porosity; of the geological context, measurement ously run different neural networks to be
trained with the same hard data set. This
single-view colearning approach pro-
vides the ability to handle the training
of paper SPE 193002, “Exploring for Wolfcamp Reservoirs, Eastern Shelf of the
of associative neural networks (ASNNs)
Permian Basin, Using a Machine-Learning Approach,” by Bruno de Ribet and Peter with a unique set of seismic data at-
Wang, Emerson; Monte Meers, independent geologist; Howard Renick, independent tributes that are not necessarily inde-
geophysicist; Russ Creath, Hardin International; and Ryan McKee, RAM Imaging, pendent, paired with the well informa-
prepared for the 2018 SPE Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and tion. This is the approach preferred by
Conference, Abu Dhabi, 11–14 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. the authors.

Fig. 1—Training data set (lithofacies plus extracted seismic traces along borehole) for each well.
The training steps of the democratic ◗ Lithofacies logs at the three In the lithofacies reconstruction re-
ASNN can be summarized as follows: ESM wells sults at the wells (Fig. 2), there are three
◗ Define a number p of neural ◗ Poststack seismic attributes, well tracks. The first is the input litho-
networks. including: facies, the second is the upscaled litho-
◗ Apply learning over the p neural o High-resolution, 138-Hz prestack facies (identical to the input lithofacies
networks with each training set time-migrated stack log), and the third is the reconstructed
and examine the training quality o Instantaneous frequency lithofacies log curve. By the term recon-
by analyzing misclassification o Instantaneous Q factor structed, the authors mean that this is
rates at well locations. o P-impedance from seismic the predicted lithofacies curve that re-
◗ Apply a democratic vote system over inversion sults from applying the neural network
a user-defined set of soft data and o Semblance model at the well location using only
add the ones that pass the majority o Dominant frequency seismic data as input. Therefore, it is a
vote test as training data, with a o Most-negative curvature best-case scenario for reconstruction
lower weight than hard data. ◗ Prestack seismic data in the form of lithofacies using this method. Imme-
◗ Apply learning over p neural of partial angle stacks (from 0 to diately to the right of the reconstructed
networks using the expanded 40°, every 5°) lithofacies curve is the maximum prob-
training set now containing hard ability curve, which shows the probabil-
and soft data. Data and Results ity of the most-probable reconstructed
The final output result of the work flow Fig. 1 shows the well and seismic data lithofacies. Finally, to the far right are
is a lithofacies distribution for each point at the well location (training data set), the individual nine facies probabilities
in the area of interest, as well as the max- which are inputs to the DNNA process. for each of the nine lithofacies classes.
imum probability for all facies and the From left to right appear a lithofacies The facies prediction is extremely good
probability for each facies. log, then another lithofacies log that is compared with the input lithofacies;
a duplicate of the first one (because op- this is true for all three wells. There are
Equipment and Processes tional upscaling was not chosen, the up- small differences in lithofacies predic-
◗ To carry out the DNNA machine- scaled log is identical to the input litho- tion, and occasionally the DNNA meth-
learning rock-type classification facies log). Next, there are 15 seismic od loses a few thin beds. There are also
procedure, a number of different traces representing the 15 seismic at- some minor differences in terms of the
data objects had to be delivered tributes extracted at the well location. positioning and thickness of the litho-
by the exploration and production Together, the lithofacies logs and the facies, but overall, the reconstruction is
company to be used as inputs. 15 seismic-attribute traces comprise the excellent. The collection of lithofacies
◗ Top and base of the interval training data set for DNNA. The collec- logs and probability logs is duplicated
of interest, as 3D seismic tion of lithofacies logs, upscaled litho- three times, again representing the
interpretation horizons, in two- facies logs, and 15 seismic traces is du- three wells collocated within the ESM
way time plicated three times, representing the 3D seismic survey.
◗ Accurate time-depth curves for the three wells collocated within the ESM 3D In examining the overall quality of
three ESM wells seismic survey. the lithofacies log reconstruction, each

Fig. 2—Facies reconstruction results at the wells from the DNNA process.
of the three wells has a well reconstruc- When pay facies are juxtaposed pay facies, using lithofacies logs and 15
tion rate varying between 96 and 98%. against lithofacies logs in 3D space, the 3D seismic volumes as input, then prop-
The lithofacies class reconstruction rate voxel-visualization display allows the agated to the full volume using the final
varies between 75% for Class 8 to 100% analyst to visualize where the pay facies operator. At the wells, the training statis-
for Classes 1 through 6. The global aver- may be located. A map view of a two- tics are high quality; most importantly,
age reconstruction rate is 97% for the way time/thickness evaluation of the oil- there is no confusion about pay facies.
entire project. filled packstone pay facies shows clearly Higher vertical and horizontal resolution
In the 3D classification results, the ver- that there are other drilling opportuni- was obtained compared with that ob-
tical resolution of the 3D volume match- ties in this area. tained by conventional high-resolution
es that of the lithofacies logs and there 138-Hz prestack time-migrated seismic
is a near-perfect tie at the well locations, Conclusions volume. This project suggests that the
which is expected considering the 97% The ensemble of neural networks was method has validity in Permian carbon-
global facies reconstruction rate. trained at the wells to identify a specific ate rocks in west Texas. JPT
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4D Seismic With Reservoir Simulation
Improves Reservoir Forecasting
S tandard history-matching work

flows use qualitative 4D seismic
observations in reservoir modeling
tory matching is the process of selecting
nonunique and multiple history-matched
reservoir models by altering the uncer-
the dynamic fluid and pressure distribu-
tions between wells and facilitates choos-
ing models that mimic the interwell areal
and simulation. However, such work tain static and dynamic parameters to ob- fluid distributions accurately. Integra-
flows lack a robust framework for tain a range of possible forecasts. Typi- tion of 4D seismic data into reservoir-
quantitatively integrating 4D seismic cally, in probabilistic work flows, objective simulation models has been used typi-
interpretations. Four-dimensional, functions composed of a combination of cally to improve the reliability of simu-
or time-lapse, seismic interpretations differences in measured and simulated lation by aiming to capture relative loca-
provide valuable interwell saturation bottomhole pressure data and individual tions of water and gas fronts accurately.
and pressure information. Quantitatively fluid-phase flow rates are used to identify Traditionally, 4D seismic data in the form
integrating these data can help constrain significant factors or uncertainties. The of interpreted saturation and pressure
simulation parameters and improve functions are typically based on surveil- changes have been used to aid in qual-
the reliability of production modeling. lance data obtained at well locations and itative and deterministic updating of
This paper outlines the value of 4D for therefore may not be sensitive to key res- reservoir-simulation models. Porosity
reducing uncertainty in the range of ervoir uncertainty away from wells. A good and permeability typically are the main
history-matched models and improving match with production data for a given variables updated to match the evolution
the production forecast. reservoir model does not ensure robust- of flood fronts between well locations.
ness in making performance forecasts. Stochastic modeling techniques, in-
Introduction Reservoir heterogeneities—high- cluding ensemble- and streamline-based
Reservoir-simulation models play an es- permeability pathways, barriers and baf- methods, have gained popularity by
sential role in generating optimal field- fles, or vertical connections forged from using 4D seismic data to update the res-
development strategies, but they need to geologic erosion—can significantly affect ervoir models. These methods require a
be history-matched before they can be drainage and swept patterns and well- large set of simulations to work efficient-
used for reliable forecasting. Traditional production forecasts. Especially during ly and avoid collapsing, which increases
history matching of a reservoir involves early stages of field production, histo- the computational resources and time
matching observed production and pres- ry matching to pressure and fluid-rate needed. A correlation-based adaptive lo-
sure data at well locations by changing production data often lacks information calization scheme that uses the spatial
the uncertain parameters in the reser- necessary to resolve these critical het- distributions of correlations to update
voir model within the acceptable range. erogeneities fully, which may significant- the reservoir models has been proposed.
The parameters can be classified broadly ly affect production. Even a well-posed More recently, a streamline-based data-
as static and dynamic. Static parameters probabilistic history-matching approach integration method was used to assimi-
include permeability, porosity, and net to cannot incorporate the variety and com- late 4D data into reservoir-simulation
gross, among many others. Dynamic pa- plexities of heterogeneities that are yet models by calibrating the permeability
rameters may include oil/water contacts, to have a strong imprint on future pro- field at the simulation-grid-cell level.
fault transmissibilities, relative permea- duction because of insufficient data away
bility curves, and flow pathways. from wells and the sheer number of stat- Quantitative Method
Deterministic modeling focuses on a ic and dynamic uncertainties that can Reduces Uncertainty
single scenario of the reservoir model, affect production. The methodology presented in this
ignoring the effect of uncertainty in the Surveillance seismic data, or 4D seis- paper uses history-matched reservoir-
parameters considered. Probabilistic his- mic, provides a spatial interpretation of simulation models and a filtering work
flow (called 4DHAM by the authors) to
use spatial constraints generated from 4D
This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of
seismic data to reduce uncertainty and
paper SPE 191521, “Quantitative Integration of 4D Seismic with Reservoir Simulation,” improve production performance. The
by Sarath Pavan Ketineni, SPE, Subhash Kalla, SPE, Shauna Oppert, SPE, method endeavors to incorporate spatial
and Travis Billiter, SPE, Chevron, prepared for the 2018 SPE Annual Technical locations of flood fronts, address uncer-
Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, 24–26 September. The paper has not been tainty in the full range of static and dy-
peer reviewed. namic parameters, and analyze the history

0.12 120,000 0.21 210,000
0.10 100,000 0.18 180,000
Frequency
Frequency
Probability
Probability
0.08 0.15 150,000
80,000
0.12 120,000
0.06 60,000
0.09 90,000
0.04 40,000
0.06 60,000
0.02 20,000
0.03 30,000
0.00 0 0.00 0
OOIP (MMSTBO)—4D+Production Filters Cumulative Oil (End of Lease) (MMSTBO)—4D+Production Filters
OOIP (MMSTBO)—4D Filter Only Cumulative Oil (End of Lease) (MMSTBO)—4D Filter Only
OOIP (MMSTBO)—Production Filter Only Cumulative Oil (End of Lease) (MMSTBO)—Production Filter Only
OOIP (MMSTBO)—Unfiltered Cumulative Oil (End of Lease) (MMSTBO)—Unfiltered
Fig. 1—The 4DAHM work flow provides updates to key metrics such as original oil in place. MMSTBO=million stock-tank
barrels of oil.
matching quantitatively and probabilisti- tional overheads. Resolution differences Deepwater Africa Case Study
cally. In comparison with other methods, that arise from seismic and synthetical- A detailed case study and results from
one of the main advantages of this method ly modeled data from simulation mod- adopting the 4DAHM filtering work flow
is the ability to reduce uncertainty with a els increase the challenges of achieving a in two different deepwater reservoirs off-
relatively small amount of work or time. history match. shore Africa are presented in the com-
If the uncertainty in the seismic pre- The third approach—proposed in this plete paper. Using the proposed method-
diction of flow properties is understood, paper—assumes the seismic data can be ology not only reduced uncertainty but
incorporating seismic data in a probabi- interpreted or inverted for pressure and also provided information on key perfor-
listic history-matching work flow is rela- saturation changes, avoiding additional mance indicators critical in obtaining a
tively straightforward. Seismic data can steps whereby the reservoir-simulation robust history match to informing deci-
be integrated into reservoir models in model must be modified to determine a sions on infill drilling opportunities.
three different approaches: match to seismic. Mismatches can be an- History matching was achieved by
◗ Matching the seismic response alyzed quickly and used to drive chang- changing both dynamic and static prop-
through forward seismic modeling es or selections to improve the histo- erties. Erosional contacts and sand-
◗ Matching the changes in elastic ry match. The proposed work flow uses on-sand connections were established
properties with seismic inversion pressure and saturation changes inter- through 4DAHM efforts. Pore volume,
◗ Matching interpreted pressure and preted from 4D surveillance data and transmissibility, and multiplier ranges
saturation changes compares them with simulation out- were tested. Latin hypercube sampling
The first approach is computation- comes, eliminating the need to have a was used to generate 500 probabilistic
ally extensive, requiring seismic for- fully coupled model for history matching. simulations and, subsequent to chang-
ward modeling, which usually adds un- Design of experiments is used ini- es in water saturation, changes in pres-
certainties associated with the seismic tially to generate the probabilistic sure were extracted. Production rate and
data. The second approach also is com- history-match simulations by varying the pressure matching reduced the 500 sim-
putationally intensive because it requires range of uncertain parameters. Satura- ulations to a subset of 77, which were fur-
the simulation model to be coupled with tion maps are extracted from the pro- ther reduced to 20 simulation models
a given petroelastic model, as well as duction history-matched simulations after applying a 4D filter. Original oil in
an inversion of the seismic data to es- and then compared with 4D-predicted place (OOIP), estimated ultimate recov-
timate changes in elastic properties. In swept anomalies. An automated extrac- ery (EUR), and initial parameter distribu-
both approaches, the reservoir models tion method was created and is used tions were analyzed for the simulations
must be transformed into a space to be to reconcile spatial sampling differences before and after 4D filtering to quantify
compared with the seismic data, which between 4D data and simulation output. the effect (Fig. 1). The analysis indicated
inhibits speed and efficiency in history Interpreted 4D data are compared with that 4D filtering resulted in an increase
matching. A variety of cases have used simulation output, and the mismatch of 24% P50 OOIP, an increase in P10
forward modeling techniques to calculate generated is used as a 4D filter to refine EUR, and assistance in reliably estimat-
impedance changes, or seismic attribute the suite of reservoir-simulation models. ing the sweep patterns at the target loca-
changes, as a function of reservoir prop- The selected models are used to identify tions. In addition to a reduction of OOIP
erties such as porosity, pore pressure, reservoir-simulation parameters that are uncertainty, the work flow helped quan-
and saturations. These techniques pro- sensitive for generating a good match. tify the optimal infill well target location
duce nonunique solutions, which makes The methodology and the steps involved by providing updated S-curves of satura-
constraining reservoir-simulation mod- in the work flow are discussed in detail in tion change. It also produced significant
els an iterative procedure with computa- the complete paper. cycle-time savings. JPT

4D Seismic Pilot Successfully
Interprets Carbonate Reservoir
T his paper describes interpretation

results of a 4D seismic-monitoring
program in a challenging Middle East
Field-Production and
4D Monitoring Objectives
The principal oil-producing reser-
Phase 1 4D Processing
Challenges
The seismic baseline and monitor data
carbonate reservoir. The program voir belongs to the Upper Jurassic and sets were reformatted from archived car-
consists of a 4D pilot [oceanbottom is a mixture of limestones, dolomite, tridge data. All shot points and receiver
cable (OBC)] over a giant field divided and anhydrite. It contains the prima- positions were checked, as well as the
into two phases. The authors discuss ry 4D monitoring target for this pilot. geometry of acquisition using the analy-
the difficulties faced by both phases First oil was produced in the 1960s, sis of refraction first breaks. Indeed,
of the pilot, and prove that a reliable followed by peripheral water injec- some subtle errors in geometry that are
4D signal can be extracted over a tion in the 1970s and crestal gas in- hardly noticeable in 3D can have a sig-
Middle East carbonate reservoir. jection in the 1990s. Thus, the 1994 nificant effect in 4D.
4D baseline survey is an OBC seis- Overall, 4D processing was complicated
Introduction mic acquired after a rich and complex because of the high noise level recorded on
The time-lapse, or 4D, seismic method production history. the data, particularly the incoherent noise
consists of repeating seismic survey ac- Four-dimensional monitoring is jus- related to seabed currents. The water-
quisitions over the production time of a tified by the fact that many expensive bottom depth and near-surface charac-
field. Newer vintages are compared with wells are drilled every year and their po- teristics explain the important Scholte
previous ones, and the signal differenc- sitioning is not straightforward. In par- waves and guided waves contaminating
es are interpreted to characterize effects ticular, the crucial fluid-movement the data in the area. These were reduced
of the production spatially. Though this prediction (gas and water) is challeng- through filtering methods, avoiding any
technique is mature and has been widely ing and, thus, is considered the main modern adaptative techniques which, by
used in clastic reservoir environments, it monitoring objective. definition, are less 4D-compliant.
is still used rarely, in operational terms, The very-shallow-water context (ap-
to monitor carbonate fields. Phase 1 Acquisition Status proximately 20 m) characterized by a
An opportunity for a 4D proof-of- Repeating baseline acquisition param- hard water bottom and strong shallow
concept program in a Middle East ma- eters during the monitoring survey is reflections led to aggressive data pollu-
rine carbonate environment was iden- crucial. Any deviation from this princi- tion by nonrepeatable multiples. These
tified during a new OBC seismic acqui- ple is likely to generate a 4D noise that were mitigated not only by PZ summa-
sition in 2013. While the survey was will be difficult to remove. tion but also with a specifically designed
intended for 3D imaging purposes, In this pilot, taking advantage of a shallow-water demultiple flow and high-
the operator decided to acquire a 4D seismic crew mobilization for a mod- resolution radon filtering.
pilot over a test area of approximate- ern wide-azimuth OBC acquisition,
ly 25 km2 (Phase 1) while repeating as the field operator decided to try to re- Petrophysical Challenges
best as possible the 1994 acquisition peat, in a small patch, an older OBC Because of a relatively small petroelastic
design (baseline for this 4D study). The survey as a 4D pilot. In fact, this lega- response to reservoir modification, 4D
goal was, first, to process this test, and cy vintage, which has a very different in carbonate was believed to have a small
then, if a reliable 4D signal (above noise narrow-azimuth design, only was re- probability of success. Indeed, the 4D re-
level) could be established, to propose peated over three swaths. The geometri- sponse is challenging because of the rock
interpretation in accordance with the cal repeatability was good, except in the type, but several examples have emerged
field-production mechanisms. obstruction areas. that prove it is highly context-dependent
and that there is no a priori killing factor.
Therefore, a useful tool to estimate and
understand potential 4D response to pro-
of paper SPE 193063, “A Successful 4D Seismic-Monitoring Pilot in a Middle East duction is a rock-physics model. Despite
Carbonate Reservoir Context,” by F. Cailly, T. Al-Romani, C. Hubans, and A. issues in the quality of some sonic log
Lafram, Total, and A. Al Kaabi, ADNOC, prepared for the 2018 SPE Abu Dhabi measurements, a 4D rock-physics model
International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, Abu Dhabi, 11–14 November. The was built on the basis of key wells avail-
paper has not been peer reviewed. able in the 4D pilot area.

if water replaces oil in the reservoir, then
impedance increases. However, 4D inter-
pretation is ambiguous and other pro-
duction phenomena can explain imped-
ance increase, so the interpretation must
be assessed carefully.
The second step is to calibrate this in-
terpretation to well data. A clear correla-
tion can be seen between the 4D anomaly
and water cut: All wells that began pro-
ducing water during the 4D time lapse are
superimposed to the 4D anomaly, and the
opposite is also true. The interpretation
is therefore robust and consistent with
Fig. 1—North/south transect over 4D Phase 1 pilot area; impedance change
after 4D inversion. An interpretation is proposed for every validated 4D
production data.
anomaly with different degrees of confidence.
Phase 2
4D Seismic-Attribute not predicted by the reservoir model) are The 4D pilot was successful. One reason
Generation and highlighted as potentially corresponding is because the monitor acquisition re-
Interpretation Strategy to an added value. peated the baseline vintage design as best
At the end of the 4D processing, after an as possible. However, the new full-field
initial 4D quality-control step and 4D Results and Interpretation reservoir seismic acquisition is a totally
noise analysis, meaningful 4D attributes Fig. 1 illustrates impedance-change 4D different design (though both are OBC).
were extracted through a fully integrated attributes on a north/south sectional While the 1994 data set was acquired with
inversion-process chain, including three view. The figure shows clear different a parallel shooting (and, thus, narrow-
steps with back loops. The work flow negative (impedance-decrease) and pos- azimuth), the new one is a source-spread
consisted of the following stages: itive (impedance-increase) 4D anoma- acquisition for a wide-azimuth objective.
1. Implementation of warping, which lies exhibiting different magnitudes, de- For verification, 4D processing was
is a purely data-driven inversion scribed as follows: performed over a larger pilot area
process recovering time shifts ◗ Light positive (blue) impedance (Phase 2) to compare it with the Phase 1
between baseline and monitor changes in R3, R4, and R5 in the 4D results (the Phase 2 surface overlaps
data while generating 4D relative northern part of the section that of Phase 1). The key purpose of the
velocity-change attributes. ◗ Strong positive (blue) impedance pilot was to set up the optimal 4D pro-
2. 4D calibration delivering both changes in R4 and R5 in the cessing work flow to handle these differ-
relative velocity and density southern part of the section ences successfully.
changes for local calibration ◗ Light negative (orange) impedance As expected, the image of water move-
of anomalies. changes in R4 and R5 in the northern ments is not as accurate as in Phase 1
3. 4D inversion is performed after part below the light-blue anomaly (with a dedicated repeated 4D acquisi-
calibration and from aligned baseline ◗ Medium to strong negative (orange/ tion), but a smooth water front was inter-
and monitor data to estimate relative red) impedance changes on the preted and critical unexpected heteroge-
impedance changes. upper part of the section neities were highlighted.
Steps 1 and 3 deliver full-field 4D attri- All anomalies are above the 4D noise
butes that can be mapped or interpreted level and, with confidence, are not linked Conclusions
in 3D through the delineation of 3D geo- to residual multiple issues. Thus, the ques- This 4D pilot presents a successful case
bodies. Step 2 allows the precise, quan- tion is whether this image can be inter- study. A validated 4D signal is established
titative assessment of the uncertainty in preted in terms of production phenomena. at reservoir levels using a thorough inter-
Steps 1 and 3 by incorporating strong Demonstration, in this paper, focuses pretation work flow and integration of
stratigraphic layering in the inversion on the water-front-movement interpre- production information. The interpreta-
process at the well location. tation because it is a well-understood tion of the water-front movement during
Throughout this work flow, 4D anom- mechanism and is critical information the 4D time lapse is calibrated to well data
alies are compared with the noise level for the field. Other anomalies can be in- and can be judged as robust, proving that
for validation. Some 4D anomalies can terpreted with an associated level of con- a reliable 4D signal can be extracted over
be discarded to avoid misinterpretation. fidence as described in the figure. such carbonate reservoirs. The Phase 2
Next, 4D composite maps are created and The first validated anomaly mentioned pilot has demonstrated that, although re-
4D anomalies are interpreted in terms of previously (light positive-impedance sults will be less accurate than with a ded-
production phenomena and calibrated changes) is interpreted as the water- icated repeat of the base survey, they will
with well data. Once calibrated, unex- saturation change during the 4D time still contain critical information about
pected phenomena (i.e., heterogeneities lapse. This is consistent petrophysically; the water-front movement. JPT

SPE NEWS
Saudi Arabia Section Celebrates 60 Years

of Excellence
Editor’s Note: SPE’s Kingdom were known as the cities of steel (oil was chairman to 1 year. Nine years later,
of Saudi Arabia Section (SPE- also discovered in Pennsylvania). Haider Al-Awami became the first Saudi
KSA) recently celebrated its 60th Approaching the 1950s, the mem- chairman of the section in 1983. By
anniversary with a ceremony hosting bership’s significant growth led to a 1989, the section had already won a
Saudi Aramco President and CEO restructuring decision that shaped the total of 30 awards, marking the birth of
Amin H. Nasser. SPE-KSA is the future of the Society of Petroleum Engi- a shining star. This number of awards
largest section outside the US, with neers (SPE). In 1957, the new society doubled in the 10 years that followed,
more than 11,000 members, and has was established to address the tech- and continues to grow to this day.
won 11 consecutive SPE President’s nical interests of its growing mem- The section showed itself to be a
Awards for Section Excellence. bership. Today, SPE’s total profes- source of industry knowledge, leader-
sional and student membership is ship, and excellence, growing in scope
This article was written by Section more than 158,000 members from and scale. In 1990, it held the first Annu-
Chairman Bander Al-Ghamdi about 143 countries. al Technical Symposium and the number
the history of the section and the Two years later, this strong founda- of local events and activities continued
history of SPE in Saudi Arabia. tion found its way to the leading oil to increase.
exporter in the world, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi section marked its first
On 16 January, 1959, the SPE Saudi SPE international president in 2007
It all started in 1859 with the discov- Arabian Section was established as the with the appointment of Abdul Jaleel
ery of oil. With the growing petroleum first section outside of the United States. Al-Khalifah, the first Saudi and Mid-
industry, a standing committee on oil The chairman of the section at that dle Easterner to reach this prestigious
and gas was created within the Amer- time was D. Brown. Today, we are one position. That year marked another
ican Institute of Mining Engineers of 204 SPE sections around the world milestone, the inauguration of a pro-
(AIME) in 1913. The American Institute and one of the largest with more than gram dedicated to young professionals
of Mining was founded in 1871 in Penn- 11,000 members. and student outreach. The program is
sylvania to advance the production of In 1974, Bert Golding become chair- aimed to empower the youth and devel-
metals, as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh man, and established the term of each op future leadership.
Our history is full of success stories,
resembling the determination of our
members, sponsors, executive board of
directors, and all of our supporters. In
2008, the section received its first Presi-
dent’s Award for Section Excellence and
since then has received it for 11 consecu-
tive years.
SPE-KSA continued serving the SPE
family with diversified technical pro-
grams and community outreach endeav-
ors. We are proud of our history, marked
by many achievements aiming to indulge
our members’ interests in promoting
the latest industry trends in techno-
logical advancements and operational
risk mitigation. The section has eager-
Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser (left) with SPE-KSA
2015–2016 Chairman Bander Khamies during the SPE-KSA 60th anniversary
ly worked to build partnerships with
ceremony. the public sector, private enterprises,

neering Certification Exam are from the
Saudi section. The success rate of our
professionals on the certification exam
is 96%, compared with the 68% pass-
ing rate globally.
This year the section is celebrat-
ing Sami Alnuaim as 2019 SPE Presi-
dent, the second Saudi to hold this title.
Alnuaim has accumulated 30 years of
service to SPE.
The historical development of the
section has been characterized by out-
standing regional and international
awards, winning more than 300 region-
Presenting a token of appreciation to Nasser during the celebration were, from al and international awards.
left to right: Bander Al-Ghamdi, SPE-KSA 2018–2019 chairman; Mohammed Our 60-year journey has been marked
Y. Al-Qahtani, Saudi Aramco senior vice president of upstream and honorary by commitment and professionalism.
chairman of SPE-KSA Board of Directors; Saudi Aramco President and CEO
Through the years, individuals from dif-
Amin H. Nasser; Nasir K. Al-Naimi, Saudi Aramco vice president of petroleum
engineering and development and chairman of the SPE-KSA Board of ferent demographics, cultures, knowl-
Directors; 2019 SPE President Sami Alnuaim; and Bander Khamies, SPE-KSA edge bases, and genders have decided
2015–2016 chairman. that what was previously an achieve-
ment has become a practice, and what
and non-profit organizations across the we reached more than 15,000 students was impossible before is another goal
Kingdom to emphasize the importance as part of an effort to bridge the gap in to be achieved. With a significant global
of technical dissemination, professional technical competency and ignite inter- and industrial base, the SPE-KSA sec-
networking, and volunteerism. est in our industry. tion’s executive board and chairman will
Our programs today amount to 400 SPE-KSA provides its members with continue to build on the tremendous
events annually. We have become a plat- many opportunities to unlock their full strides of the SPE-KSA section, growing
form that drives innovation and collab- potential, and 56% of members who in scale and scope, making giant leaps
oration and attracts top talent. In 2017, have passed the SPE Petroleum Engi- toward achieving our vision.
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M A R C H 2 0 1 9 • VO LU M E 7 1 , N U M B E R 3 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

14 GUEST EDITORIAL • COMPLETION-SYSTEM

17 SPECIAL SECTION: THE VALUE AND FUTURE

70 Through-Tubing-Conveyed ESP Technology Overcomes North

82 Managed-Pressure Drilling Solves HP/HT Challenges Offshore Vietnam

87 Machine-Learning Approach Identifies Wolfcamp Reservoirs

DIRECTOR FOR ACADEMIA

JPT STAFF The Journal of Petroleum Technology® magazine is a

Brent 74.41 74.25 72.53 78.89 81.03 64.75 57.36 59.41

Other4 12679 12349 12496 12758 Europe 80 85 86 92 83 95 86

Asia Pacific 229 225 222 221 222 231 232

6 JPT • MARCH 2019

Coiled Tubing Intervention

002622_Annonse_0319_1.indd 1 11.02.2019 15:44

estimated at 250 million BOE. CNOOC is east of the BP-operated Na Kika platform,

8 JPT • MARCH 2019

©2019 GEODynamics, Inc.

The Technology Arm of Sustainability

10 JPT • MARCH 2019

JPT • MARCH 2019 11

A Lot to Be Proud Of William Bailey, Schlumberger

life will continue. JPT Rosa Swartwout, BHGE

To contact JPT’s editor, email jdonnelly@spe.org.

12 JPT • MARCH 2019

100YearAd_JPT_Dec.indd 1 11/28/2018 11:40:43 AM

Completion-System Reliability: Where Have

All completions systems should enable Infant Wear Out

Weak components Degradation

14 JPT • MARCH 2019

JPT • MARCH 2019 15

Chris Carpenter, JPT Technology Editor

16 JPT • MARCH 2019

Petroleum Engineering—The Best

S hort of choosing a life partner, decid-

JPT • MARCH 2019 17

18 JPT • MARCH 2019

Meeting the World’s Energy Needs

Nengkoda Saputelli Holtzclaw Delamaide Lehr

Marathe Knode Rylance Babadagli

What are the most positive aspects of being a petroleum engineer?

JPT • MARCH 2019 19

20 JPT • MARCH 2019

JPT • MARCH 2019 21

What recent technical achievements in the industry do you find

22 JPT • MARCH 2019

The unparalleled engineering of our Tru-Mill composite

Did I Make the Right Career Choice?

Clemens Rivas Atkinson Mohan Garg

Pradhan Ighalo Nunoo Mandzhieva Lal

24 JPT • MARCH 2019

career growth and development. I’m particularly impressed by

JPT • MARCH 2019

The Challenge of Public Perception

F or petroleum engineers, it is aggra-

JPT • MARCH 2019 27

Oil and Gas Industry Attributes

53% 54% 56%

28 JPT • MARCH 2019

sage in his book, The Moral Case for Fos-

JPT • MARCH 2019 29

Negative Positive Negative Positive

30 JPT • MARCH 2019

JPT • MARCH 2019 31

70 Through-Tubing-Conveyed ESP Technology Overcomes North