bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tectonic and Eustatic Control on Mishrif Regional Reservoir Distribution
Authors: Vogel Koen R. , Follows Edward J.
Published: November 2016

This article exclusively relies on data from published literature.

The development of a foreland basin in the Mesopotamian Basin of South Iraq during the deposition of the Mishrif resulted in facies stacking patterns reflecting the development of a flexural bulge.

Paleogeographic reconstructions rely on carbonate facies as depth indicators, whereby rudist biostromes and coarser bioclastic debris define Shoal Complexes that separate restricted lagoonal deposits from open marine sediments. Ahmadi-Rumaila-Lower Mishrif sediments deposited into a N-S trending basin also showing evidence of precursory foreland basin tectonics: the increasing thickness of Lower Sequence deposits to E and NE reflects an increase of accommodation space in these areas. A disconformity separates the lower and upper Mishrif sequences, and represents the initiation of the flexural forebulge. The lower sequence (Mishrif mC, mB2) is characterised by a N-S oriented platform margin Shoal Complex, while during the upper sequence (Mishrif mB1, mA), a NW-SE orientation prevailed. The origin of the regionally deeper facies at the start of the Upper sequence reflects eustatic sea level rise, after which foreland basin tectonics significantly changed the paleogeography of the basin and enabled the rudist Shoal Complex to spread over a wider area. The Mishrif caprock at the top of the Upper Sequence represents a major regional exposure.

Alpine 1 tectonic activity, previously associated with the Khasib, Tanuma, Sadi and Hartha Formations in the region, actually initiated earlier, impacting the upper and to a lesser extent lower Mishrif sequences. The activity is interpreted in a foreland basin setting, with structural styles similar to but smaller scale than that seen later in the Alpine 2 Zagros emplacement.

Local structuration effects along pre-existing lineaments likely reactivated in different orientations due to the rotating stress fields. NW - directed push leading into Alpine 1 on N-S oriented structures may have resulted in transpressional strike slip related uplift. Such local uplift cannot however explain the observed facies stacking patterns, particularly in the Upper Mishrif.
A Causal Link Between Paleoenvironmental Dynamics and Borehole Instability in a Cenomanian Carbonate Reservoir, Offshore Abu Dhabi
Authors: Yamamoto K. , Obara H. , Tsusaka K. , Tsuji Y. , Al-Farhan Z. A. , Aljneibi M. M. , Takayanagi H. , Kurita H. , Sato T. , Iryu Y.
Published: November 2016

In the studied oil field offshore Abu Dhabi, horizontal wells in the upper part of the Cenomanian "E" Formation composed of shallow-marine carbonates often encounter unexpected rocks characterized by high GR values. They have been referred to as "High-GR section (HGRS)" and thought to cause borehole instability. This paper aims to unravel the geological factors that caused the borehole instability.

Coaly shale observed in cores had long been believed to be the problematic HGRS. Therefore, we conducted litho-, chemo- and biostratigraphic analyses and well log evaluation on the coaly shale and the surrounding deposits.

The obtained results indicate that the coaly shale occurs as thin stratiform layers which were formed under a salt to brackish marsh environment during the deposition of the uppermost part of the "E" Formation. Although the Cenomanian/Turonian transition is the period of the Cretaceous thermal maximum when the global sea level was very high, the "E" Formation was largely exposed in the Turonian due to a regional tectonic uplift caused by the Oman ophiolite obduction onto the southeastern Arabian Plate. Coal deposition and the subsequent significant karstification in the studied field were caused by a greenhouse-induced warm and humid climate.

GR log responses of the HGRS in the horizontal wells are classified into two types. One is a spiky shift that often reaches very-high GR values (>100 gAPI), and the other is a much broader shift with a flat plateau with moderately-high GR values (60–80 gAPI). The latter is always found in the wells with the borehole instability. Calibration of GR logs to the core data in the same vertical/deviated wells suggests that the intervals with very-high GR values (>100 gAPI) observed in the horizontal wells correspond to the coaly shale of the "E" Formation. Whereas, the intervals with moderately-high GR values (60–80 gAPI), which are too low for the coaly shale, are equivalent to marine shale of the overlying "B" Formation.

Karstic features including chaotic cave breccia are often observed in the upper part of the "E" Formation, which suggests that caves were likely formed during the episodic subaerial exposures. Subsequently, cave collapse likely occurred during and/or after the deposition of the "B" Formation, and it could pull down the overlying "B" Formation to the reservoir level of the "E" Formation, accompanying the coaly shale.

We consider that the borehole instability was primarily induced by penetrating the structurally-depressed "B" Formation, rather than the coaly shale. This new concept is based on a comprehensive understanding of the causal link between the paleoenvironmental dynamics and the borehole instability in the studied field.
Intelligent Use of Data Management Strategies Applied to the Oil and Gas Upstream Lifecycle
Authors: Mancilla Jose J.
Published: November 2016

This work identifies data management pillars and structure, and discusses strategies and processes in each area to obtain data with excellent quality that is centralized in a single database. Upstream data from various data sources is therefore available through a single access point, which enables interpreters to analyze the data quality and to create projects based on certified data.

The data management pillars identified include preserving historical information, new information, data integrity, and basic metadata for key variables and attributes.

Several data management challenges existed that were addressed by the strategy developed. These challenges include preserving information over time, reducing data duplication, achieving consistency across areas and platforms, and ensuring that the data are available. In addition, the strategy must provide information security and improve business decision making capabilities.

The primary benefits of the strategy used to address the challenges include reduced costs, improved time, and increased availability of data.

An integrated solution was implemented in a recent successful case for a major oil company in which key data management pillars were identified, and a new approach was established to improve the data quality of the oil and gas upstream lifecycle information. After implementing the solution, improvements were made for new information quality control and in the availability time for the interpreters. The final users and managers were able to know the status and the key performance indicators (KPIs) of their data projects before beginning work and during the entire interpretation process. In addition, the teams were able to generate synergies to make the necessary validations to preserve geological knowledge. Finally, the technical users could quickly identify the information to be used in the different leases and areas of interest.
Axial Interaction Behavior of Offshore Pipelines
Authors: Senthilkumar M. , Kodikara J. , Rajeev P. , Robert D. J.
Published: November 2016

Pipe-soil interaction behavior in the axial direction is an important design parameter for offshore pipe design. Governed primarily by the axial interaction behavior, the thermal expansion of the pipe wall could cause the pipe to either freely expand, or buckle on the founded seabed. Therefore, it emphasized that by controlling the axial interaction behavior, the overall pipe on-bottom stability can be effectively managed. This paper presents laboratory experiments performed at Monash University to understand the pipe-soil interaction behavior in the axial direction. A special 2-D actuator test setup was developed to study axial walking of pipe on clay seabed under both drained and undrained loading conditions. The effect of pipe loading rate, pipe embedment, and shutdown cycles on axial friction force were explored. Based on the experimental results, the pre-peak, peak and residual components of the axial force-displacement curve were identified and explained using a simplified theoretical framework.
Impact of Individual Ions on Oil/Brine/Rock Interface: A Macroscopic Insight on Wettability Alteration
Authors: AlGeer M. A. , Gmira A. , Al-Enezi S. M , Yousef A. A.
Published: November 2016

SmartWater injection is a proven technology and a successful recovery method in carbonates at tertiary and secondary modes that showed significant incremental oil recovery compared to seawater injection. The objective of this paper is to bring new insights on wettability alteration mechanisms caused by SmartWater by investigating the effects of single ions (monovalent and divalent) at fixed salinity on rock/fluids and fluid/fluid interactions. Contact Angle (CA) measurements of oil, carbonate rock and different SmartWater recipes at fixed salinity were conducted at different temperatures and pressures in an attempt to evaluate the impact of individual components on the wettability of oil/brine/rock systems. Contact angle data are compiled and compared to rock surface potential properties obtained by earlier Interfacial Tension (IFT) measurements. This integration will help to identify the role and influence of individual mono and divalent ions on the wettability alteration mechanisms.

The data analysis confirms the sensitivity of contact angle against different temperatures and reveals the effect of individual key ions on crude oil/water/rock interface. At fixed salinity, different SmartWater recipes give different contact angle values, indicating that the interplay of determining ions is critical to fluid/rock interactions as individual ions play different roles depending on their valence, which will affect the wettability, and ultimately the oil recovery. SmartWater recipes that are composed of Mg2+ ions solely have exhibited a lower level of contact angle values compared to other SmartWater key ionic components. Na+ and Ca2+ have shown a comparable contact angle level, while SO42- ions, generally, have resulted in low contact angle values only at elevated temperatures. The ultimate goal of this study is to enhance our understanding of carbonate wettability alteration by integrating the role of oil/brine/rock interactions and the effect of individual mono and divalent ions. These efforts will ultimately lead to additional oil recovery through optimizing injected SmartWater recipes.
Case Study of CO2 Injection to Enhance Oil Recovery into the Transition Zone of a Tight Carbonate Reservoir
Authors: Luis Figuera , Al Hammadi Khaled , Tanakov Mikhail
Published: November 2016

This paper presents a case of study of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection into the Transition Zone (TZ) of a heterogeneous, low dipping and tight carbonate oil reservoir. In such reservoir, a relatively thick TZ is expected to contain 30% of the oil in place that would not be commercially feasible to target by water flood. Therefore, the development of this area by Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods offers a valuable source of oil production.

CO2 injection into oil reservoirs is well known as an efficient EOR process as well as one of the promising technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This study was conducted with the objective to enhance oil recovery in the TZ and also to utilize anthropogenic CO2 as an effective substitute for hydrocarbon (HC) gas injection.

In order to define the optimum production strategy to maximize oil recovery, compositional reservoir simulation models were developed and utilized. The effects of several flood design parameters on the efficiency of the process were evaluated, such as: the number of wells and well patterns, well designs, injection schemes, injection and production rates, etc.

This paper describes primarily the modeling and flow simulation process developed and utilized for the design of the first commercial CO2 EOR project in the Middle East region to become operational in 2016. The modeling workflow incorporates several important steps from 1-D simulation model to large scale complex compositional simulation models with geological high-resolution grids. The simulation work is supported by a comprehensive and reliable experimental data such as PVT, swelling tests, slim tube and core flood displacement experiments. Important operational experience, understanding of CO2 migration within multiple sub-zone and lessons learned from the CO2-EOR pilot previously conducted in the same field2 are used to reduce technical and commercial risks. An extensive reservoir monitoring plan has been developed to further improve the understanding of reservoir performance, calibrate the models and optimize the CO2 flood. This paper concludes with an assessment of the potential benefits of CO2 injection in the TZ that opens additional development opportunities in other fields.
Challenges and Solutions While Cementing Long Extended Reach Wells in UAE
Authors: Navas Luis , Bermudez Romulo , Saleh Medhat G. , Al Katheeri Yousif Saleh , El Hassan Azza , Kapoor Saurabh , Jain Bipin , Pallapothu Surya , Shakour Sherif Abdel , Sinha Ravi Kumar
Published: November 2016

In 2012 ZADCO commenced drilling operations from artificial islands in the Upper Zakum field. The field development is based on drilling extended reach wells up to 35,000 ft measured depth in three different reservoirs. More than twenty wells have been drilled from these islands so far, with the longest well reaching ~31,000 ft MD. Longer than 35,000 ft MD wells are planned to be drilled in the near future. The 9-5/8″ casing in 12-¼″ open hole is set at a measured depth of ~9,000-17,000 ft with cement designed to reach surface. There are several challenges experienced while cementing these wells, due to the narrow pore and fracture pressure gradients. Key challenges include: ECD management, maintaining fluids density and rheology hierarchy, proper centralization, lost circulation, use of NAF drilling fluids and limitations to pipe movement opportunities. Based on ultrasonic imaging of initial wells, the overall desired cement bond was not as good as desired on initial wells. Several improved practices were applied to enhance the cement bond across reservoir sections. However, the log quality was still below expectations. Hence, a more robust solution was required to successfully cement the long maximum reservoir contact (MRC) wells.

These challenges were successfully addressed and mitigated through a step-wise approach. The cement slurry designs were optimized by adjusting rheologies and static gel strength, lowering fluid loss values, adding lost circulation material and using trimodal cement designs. Mud removal was further enhanced by using better cleaners in the spacer system to provide efficient cleaning and de-emulsification. Updated mud conditioning procedures and better centralizers was also implemented.

Cement bond log and interpretation techniques were improved by using ultrasonic measurements and flexural attenuation measurements and imaging the annulus through these tools to determine actual casing centralization. The log showed a significant improvement especially across the horizontal reservoir sections.

The use of these techniques has improved cement quality and enhanced zonal isolation of the producing zones in these horizontal MRC wells and will assist in maintaining the quality for future development of the Upper Zakum field.
Achieving Excellence in Offshore logistics & Supply Chain Management, UZ750 EPC1&EPC2 Modularization and Transportation Directly to UZ Artificial Islands
Authors: Fahmy Ibrahim , Macaulay James , Bufalah Salah J.
Published: November 2016

Zakum Field is the back bone of the UAE economy contributing approximately 35 % of the overall UAE oil revenue.

ZADCO, on behalf of its shareholders, has a strategic target by managing UZ750 Project to increase the production to 750K BPD crude oil from the Zakum Field.

The project involved Building, Transportation and installation of approximately 270 Structures required to complete the Offshore construction of UZ750 EPC1& EPC2 Projects.
Co-Development Plan Optimization of Complex Multiple Reservoirs for Giant Offshore Middle East Oil Field
Authors: Khan Mohammad Yunus , Tiwari Anupam , Ikeda Shuichiro , Syed Fahad I. , Al Sowaidi Alunood K. , Martin John
Published: November 2016

An extensive study was conducted to revise the field development plan (FDP) of a giant offshore Middle East oil field. The subject field contains several stacked reservoirs with light oil and has a long production life extending beyond 100 years. Primary recovery began in 1968. The field has been under water flooding with pattern injection since 1982.

In the subject reservoir, most of injector wells are located in a concentric ring along the crest. This reservoir is currently undergoing further redevelopment with a line drive injection pattern utilizing long horizontal wells. Currently, a revised field redevelopment plan is being evaluated to assess increasing the production target of the reservoir while maintaining the production plateau. In order to sustain target oil production and improve recovery, the revised field redevelopment consists of different innovations including maximum reservoir contact (MRC) wells with line drive pattern, gas lift, infill drilling and co-development of multiple reservoirs with single lateral or dual lateral wells with different tubing strings and appropriate EOR technology.

This paper describes the current work to optimize the combined development plan of three vertically adjacent reservoirs by using multiple strings in a given well to access them. The focus was to revise the development plan of the larger reservoir and use the future development wells of this reservoir to access other smaller vertically adjacent reservoirs that are within the drilling reach from different artificial islands. The study addresses optimized well spacing, vertical well placement, well drill sequence and infill well placement. This study also includes assessment of the value of infill wells, dual-lateral and single-lateral wells to target more than one reservoir.

An optimized field development plan is formulated with new MRC wells which include both single and dual-lateral wells accessing one, two or three reservoirs depending upon location and applicability.
Assessment of Simultaneous Water and Gas Injection SWAG Pilot in a Giant Offshore Carbonate Reservoir
Authors: Chen Peng , Al Sowaidi Alunood K. , Patel Harshad , Brantferger Kenneth , Bin Buang Kamarul Ariffin , Syed Fahad I. , Shehhi Rashed Al
Published: November 2016

Gas injection has been widely used by industry for improving oil recovery. A common variation of gas injection is to have water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection which attempts to overcome gas override in an oil reservoir. In this paper, a simultaneous water and gas injection pilot is discussed. Water and gas are injected simultaneously using two strings in the same well with water injected into an upper zone and immiscible hydrocarbon lean gas injected into a lower zone. This is referred as SWAG in the paper.

The subject reservoir is part of a large field located offshore in the Middle East. Water flood started in this under-saturated oil reservoir since 1980’s. Five immiscible gas injection pilots (GIPs) including the SWAG pilot were initiated in late 2001 in this reservoir to assess the benefits of immiscible gas injection in improving oil recovery.

This paper describes the performance analysis from field surveillance data of the SWAG pilot which is also aided by a sector simulation model. Performance comparisons of the SWAG pilot versus the earlier completed gas injection pilots is also demonstrated. The history matched model successfully predicts gas arrival timing in the pattern producer. The model results are used to infer the swelling effect of the injected gas as well as to estimate gas sweep efficiency.

Both RST log and simulation results show that simultaneous water injection introduced in the upper zone is not able to mitigate gas override. The model analysis, coupled with results from special core analysis, suggests the immiscible gas is not as effective as water injection in maximizing oil recovery from this reservoir. The volumetric sweep efficiency of the injected immiscible gas is estimated to be less than 10% pore volume (PV) and the swelling benefit is less than 1% OOIP at the time of gas breakthrough.
Conceptual Study for Sour Gas Processing Emphasized on Acid Gas Injection
Authors: Haristyawan Rendra B. , Yuliatri Mira , Sugiarto I. Totok , Ringoringo Adi F. , Adhi Tri P.
Published: November 2016

Despite of its popularity as cleaner fuel natural gas exist in the ground occasionally contaminated with high contents of acid gases. Venting the acid gases from the resource is somehow unviable in the near future while many countries all over the world has pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This study presents a conceptual approach for processing natural gas to address the acid gas injection option as the environmentally friendly manner to deal with in the development of highly contaminated natural gas, regardless the importance of the acid gas injection, storage, and field economics. Preliminary selection and comparison of gas processing technologies has been evaluated considering the proven technologies as well as the emerging cryogenic technologies. As the results a potential cost saving which may benefit to the field economics and higher process performance can be achieved by the emerging cryogenic technologies compared to current proven technologies as base case. The challenges is how making the technology feasible at commercial scale.
Application of Ultrashort Radius Lateral Drilling Technique in Top Thick Reservoir Exploitation after Long Term Water Flooding
Authors: Liu He , Huang Shouzhi , Sun Qiang , Ming Eryang , Li Tao , Han Weiye , Chen Qiang , Li Yiliang , Pei Xiaohan , Zhang Shaolin
Published: November 2016

Numbers of oil fields in China had entered high water cut stage. The inefficiency circulation happened frequently during water flooding of these oil fields because of seriously intraformational heterogeneity in thick reservoir. Based on oilfield development dynamic data, it indicated that the problems of inefficiency fluid injection and futility circulation could not be solved in vertical well exploitation, no matter using water flood or chemical flood. There was a certain thickness of unexploited or low flushing efficiency oil remained on the top of thick reservoir. The traditional lateral drilling techniques could not be applied in short radius within 5 1/2 inches to 7 inches casing which were regular casing sizes of injection well in these oil fields. To exploit remained oil, the recent method to increase flow conductivity was hydraulic jet technology. But it had several disadvantages, like small aperture diameter, short drilling distance, inaccuracy orientation and limited flow conductivity.

This paper introduces an ultrashort radius lateral drilling technique (URLD) which provides an efficient method to increase production by drilling into the target reservoir to build a flow channel between unexploited reservoir and wellbore. The ultrashort radius lateral drilling technique includes flexible lateral drilling tool, deflecting tool, directional tool, etc. The flexible lateral drilling tool, which is the key in URLD technique, is consisted of several flexible nipples in the length of 15 cm. It is connected by double offset universal joint between adjacent flexible nipples. The movable angle between adjacent flexible nipples is 4-6 degree. And a PDC drill bit is connected in front end of tool. The URLD technique can realize lateral drilling within 5 1/2 inches to 7 inches casing. It can be applied to target reservoir thicker than 2 m. The drilling track is controllable. Target error is within ±1 %. Minimum deflecting radius is 1.8 m. The drilling hole diameter is 114 mm. The length of lateral drilling is more than 100m in 5 1/2 inches casing and 200 m in 7 inches casing.

The URLD technique has applied in more than 20 wells in China, and barels oil per day increases by 3 to 5 times in average. The URLD technique provides a solution to exploit remained oil after long term water flooding, and increases the production of mature oil field in economical way.
Delivery, Acceptance and Mobalization of a New Built Offshore Lift Boat
Authors: Alyafei Othman
Published: November 2016

The majority of Offshore Accommodation Jack Up Barge units in the area operate in shallow water depth of 50-60 m. The accommodation barge serves offshore operations as a reliable unit facilitating all required work programs.

Dolphin Energy entered into an agreement with a local Qatari contractor in July 2014 to deliver a new build, self-propelled Offshore Jack up Barge to support maintenance, well services, and shutdown campaigns at Dolphin Energy’s Offshore production platforms operated in unmanned mode. The barge is considered to be the first locally built barge.

Dolphin Energy was involved from design and construction phases to the trial phase. It was possible to share the operational problems faced with the barge utilized in the past and address these for the new barge.

The purpose was to build a barge which could safely operate and efficiently support wide range of well intervention and construction activities offshore.

The contractor was able to construct and deliver effectively the required barge. The jacking up and sea trials were witnessed by Dolphin Energy’s Marine Team. The barge was then moved to offshore and jacked up on along side the Platform in February 2016.

This paper describes the challenges faced that were then overcome during the execution of the project.
Energy Efficiency Improvement and Design Review to Allow for use of High Corrosion Resistant Material with Design Temperature Lower than Operation Temperature
Authors: Whateley Thomas
Published: November 2016

This paper investigates issues related to metallurgical specification for Waste Heat Recovery superheater coils in a Sulphur Recovery Unit Thermal Incinerator as part of a Sour Gas Processing Facility for energy efficiency and environmental benefits.

This paper looks at the various operating scenarios for Waste Heat Recovery steam superheater coils in a Sulphur Recovery Unit Thermal Incinerator package and assesses the areas of concern regarding material specification related to corrosion resistance and design temperature. Several materials were identified that could be operated at the high flue gas temperature, but these were found to be unsuitable from a corrosion resistance perspective. Materials that are adequately corrosion resistant do not have a sufficiently high design temperature to allow sustained operation at the normal operating temperature of the Thermal Incinerator.

In liaison with specialist vendors, it was identified that to have corrosion resistant material for the superheater coils, the normal process scheme and start up and shutdown operating philosophy of the unit had to be modified to ensure a continuous flow of steam to the superheater coils. This minimum flow of steam inside the coils acts as a cooling medium and ensures the superheater coils will not exceed their design temperature. The paper acknowledges that to achieve the energy efficiency gained through operating superheater coils in a Sulphur Recovery Unit Thermal Incinerator a Process scheme must be developed that can allow corrosion resistant materials to operate safely without exceeding their design temperature, despite normal operating temperature of the Thermal Incinerator exceeding the material design temperature.

This paper will be of interest to any operator of a Sulphur Recovery unit who is looking for energy efficiency improvements, or operators of Thermal Incinerators with existing superheater coils who are experiencing asset integrity issues with their operation.
Safety Champions: A Grass Roots Approach to Create a Culture of Care
Authors: Al Sayaari Awad Marei , Ford Stacey
Published: November 2016

The challenge of developing a strong, competent, and safe construction labor workforce is not a new concern, but is more challenging in regions with a large percentage of third country nationals. The Gulf Region is characterised by a multi-cultural multi-national workforce, with over 85% of the population being South Asian, predominantly from low-income economies such as India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. A high proportion of these immigrants work as laborers in the oil and gas industry. Given that their education and skills are often limited due to low educational attainment and poor literacy levels, it is crucial to provide them with the knowledge required to work safely and contribute to a safe work environment.

Third country nationals as the main source of labor in the Gulf Region provides increasing challenges to host countries. The need for effective, well-managed, competent, safe workforce is getting stronger at a national and international level.

This paper summarizes one program that has successfully worked to build a solid workforce foundation and provided continued education in safety with multi-national labor-level workforce.
Advancing Women in the Oil Sector of Kuwait Challenges and Progress
Authors: Capello M. A. , Hashim H. , Abdul Raheem B. , Borisly N.
Published: November 2016

Gender balance is a goal cherished by modern organizations, as a proven way to boost productivity, ensure motivation of the workforce, and enrich the internal workflows related to leadership, development and succession planning of the organization. The oil sector of the State of Kuwait pioneered the advancement of women in oil and gas in the Arabic Gulf, launching the Professional Women Network (PWN) of Kuwait Oil Company back in 2009, later on expanded to Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its Subsidiaries in 2014.

The challenges that have been faced in the evolution of this initiative are related most importantly to unconscious biases, cultural setting, and resistance to change of the established style and corporate workflows, because of the clear aim of PWN to implement a new framework to enable the empowerment of women in all technical disciplines and support roles in the corporation.

Not all challenges have been surmounted, which is a commonality of all companies in Oil and Gas, where women are still a minority in the workforce. Nevertheless, and remarkably, 2016 finds an accomplished PWN that has piled up results of tremendous transcendence and outreach, which demonstrate the importance the initiative has had for all the 3,100 women in KPC and its subsidiaries, in the upand down-stream sectors of the oil industry in Kuwait: Enhancement of Work Conditions in Operations: The progress of this effort for the upstream sector has reached 90% of completion, being finalized for 23 Gathering Centers, 3 effluent-water disposal plants, and in 6 Gas Booster Stations. Additionally, this effort to provide a separate or dedicated space for females was achieved for 29 rigs of drilling new wells and workover that currently encompass the drilling force of Kuwait.Diversity Statistics Monitoring: Gaps in gender and nationality diversity are only visible when reliable data is analyzed, enabling the identification of attention areas and gaps. After more than 60 years of oil production, Kuwait oil sector will formally monitor and report the evolution of Gender-balance and Diversity indicators, in annual reports, starting in their fiscal year 2016/17.Enhanced communication workflows: The unconscious bias prevailing in men and women is a difficult barrier to overcome, as it is grounded on education and culture. PWN has raised the levels of awareness about women matters, gender-balance, and dual-career couples of issues in all personnel and in high-management and management ranks of the eight K-companies that shape the corporation. This was achieved by a permanent presence on the social media of the corporation, encompassing Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, where the main female role models are showcased. Additionally, PWN has conducted since 2009 more than 15 workshops and activities of networking that have expanded the knowledge about the objectives of this organization as well as promoted the self-empowerment of the female workforce.
Gas Condensate Field Infrastructure Reengineering on the Declining Production Stage to Increase Profitability of Exploitation
Authors: Mukhametova N. , Kolchin A. , Elizarieva N. , Akhtyamov A. , Ovechnikov A. , Kurochkin A.
Published: November 2016

The objective of the work is to develop technical measures for the reconstruction of a major gas condensate field processing facilities – central processing plant of Valanginian horizon raw gas of the Vostochno-Urengoyskoe gas condensate field (design pressure – 6.0 MPa), and the assessment of the impact of these measures on the economic efficiency of the plant.

Developed technical measures require minimal investment and include application of fractionation technology by means of available energy flows at an intermediate separation stage as well as at gas condensate stabilization, optimization of piping arrangement scheme, recycling of unstable condensate weathering gas. The implementation of these measures allows: to improve the separation degree of light and heavy gas components (improves the quality and yield of commercial gas and increases the yield of stable gas condensate), to ensure the recovery of the cold reduced condensate (reduces the temperature at the stage of the low-temperature separation), to reduce the pressure loss during preliminary raw gas treatment (which increases feasible pressure drop at the low-temperature separation stage) and decrease the amount of gas flared (increases yield of commercial gas).

It's shown that providing the high quality of commercial products at inlet pressure decrease to 2-2,5 MPa, commercial gas output increase up to 1,5-2% and stable gas condensate up to 12-15% are the results of developed solutions implementation that prolongs the terms of highly profitable field operation for 10-15 years and increases integral profitability of business by 30-40%. Thus, reengineering is an effective margin increase instrument of gas-condensate fields development.
Automated Pressure Integrity Testing APIT-A Step Change Approach
Authors: Islam M. A. , Helstrup O. A. , Moi S. , Carlsen L. A.
Published: November 2016

APIT is a computational software based system which performs real-time test analysis, reporting and automated result interpretation of FITs/LOTs/XLOTs based on surface and downhole data. This paper presents the challenges for the current pressure integrity testing and introduced a new solution called automated pressure testing (APIT) system. This has included system framework and integration to cementing units, models and algorithms to determine system compliance and fluid leakage, fracture closure pressure, calibration techniques and validated results. Based on a minimum of preconfigured user input, the APIT system covers all test phases, from pressurization, fracture propagation to shut-in and flowback. The system identifies unexpected test behavior and triggers warnings by continuously evaluating key test metrics such as leakage rate, system compliance and surface pressure during each test phase.

This APIT system was tested optimized and validated using various historical field data in order to provide Proof-of-Concept of algorithms, test sequences and graphics user interface (GUI). Both successful and unsuccessful data chosen from NCS and the international arena were tested. The automatic interpretation algorithms from APIT are aligned with manual test interpretation performed internally in Statoil.

The APIT system is believed to be a safer and more efficient pressure testing alternative to the current manual counterpart.
First Results from the EAGE Middle-East Boot Camp Seismic Survey in the Jebel Hafeet Area
Authors: Vesnaver Aldo , Iqbal Mohammed , Bouzidi Youcef , Bruno Pier Paolo , Ali Mohammed
Published: November 2016

Between October and November 2015, the first EAGE Middle-East BootCamp was held in the United Arab Emirates, in the Jebel Hafeet area. A seismic profile was acquired to improve our understanding of the geological evolution of the outcropping ophiolite formation, which is very rare worldwide. A major goal for this event was training both Emirati and international students in the seismic data acquisition, using state-of-the-art technology as the Single-Source Single-Sensor one. The BootCamp was promoted by EAGE (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) and run by faculties of the Petroleum Institute of Abu Dhabi. We present the preliminary results and the current challenges in processing and interpreting this data.
Pore Pressure Prediction Based on Seismic Data for Exploration Well Before Drilling
Authors: Xin Chen , Xiaodong Wei , Hongmei Wang , Mingqiu Zhao , Wenyuan Tian , Yuwei Wang , Yanjing Li , Yaliang Xia , Xiaohuan Yan , Xiaomig Zhou
Published: November 2016

Pore pressure prediction before drilling is significant on ensuring drilling safety, reasonable drilling mud density, and designing well profile. It can also reduce the drilling cost and protect the hydrocarbon reservoir. With the increasing quality of seismic data and widely application of new methods, high-resolution seismic was used to reduce the uncertainty of the pore pressure prediction in this paper.

Through the past years study, workflows were developed which use the high resolution seismic for pore pressure prediction. The workflows mainly include three steps. The first step is the mechanisms analysis for pore pressure prediction. The geological genesis is the key to pore pressure prediction. Base on the geological genesis, Fillippone method was optimization and adjustment, such as seismic velocity analysis and variation rate of seismic velocity estimation based on geological consistency. After the method optimization, the overburden pressure and pore pressure will be estimated by the seismic data, integrated with regional geological data and shallow well logging data.

A postmortem from southwest of Iraq is presented showing a successful well that were better predicted before the well were drilled. The prediction result accuracy error is less than 5% compared with the measured data which is tested by well drilling and this indicates that the method can greatly improve the accuracy of pressure prediction before drilling.

With the increasing quality of seismic data, the high-resolution seismic data will play more and more important role in pore pressure prediction. The method integrated seismic, geological and well logging data for formation pressure prediction will reduce the uncertainty greatly.
Shale Gas Production Profiling by NMR
Authors: Valori Andrea , Ali Farhan , Taherian Reza , Badri Mohammed , Abdallah Wael , Cheshire Stephen G.
Published: November 2016

One of the most uncertain aspects of producing gas shale is the prediction of production with time. Typically, the production qualitatively exhibits a two-component decline. It drops at a fast rate just after the well is stimulated (fractured), then settles with slow declining long-term production. Quantifying this decline is a crucial aspect in determining the economic viability of the well and making revenue predictions.

In this work, we reproduced in the laboratory the depletion of a gas shale reservoir using three different shale core plugs. Starting from a sample saturated with methane gas, we monitored the depletion for several days by continuously acquiring the nuclear magnetic resonance transverse relaxation time (NMR-T2) signal arising from the methane in different pore types. The results showed that we were able to develop an experimental workflow to quantify methane saturation in a shale sample down to fractions of porosity units and monitor production of gas over several days, which allowed the determination of production rates of different T2 environments in shale. We were also able to predict reasonable permeabilities with a highly simplified model in the range of 1.4 nD to 145 nD. The results also showed different behaviors of production rates despite the very similar native T2 distributions measured from the samples.

This workflow using NMR time dependent monitoring allowed us to extract an extremely rich dataset, demonstrating that permeability in unconventional reservoirs is an extremely complex phenomenon not accurately describable with a single number.
Porosity and Permeability Mapping of Heterogeneous Upper Jurassic Carbonate Reservoirs Using Enhanced Data Processing of Electrical Borehole Images, Onshore Field Abu Dhabi
Authors: Damiani P. S. , Prabantara A. , Shah R. A. , Budideti R. A.
Published: November 2016

The accurate quantification of the secondary porosity portion and the characterization of the macro-porous features seem achievable only through extensive logging services and lengthy coring campaigns. Traditional logging measurements have limitations when trying to characterize the nature of the dual-porosity system of carbonate reservoirs. In a complex carbonate reservoir, such as in the Middle East case analyzed in this study, the processing of borehole images has enabled location, characterization, and quantification of the secondary porosity portion. The use of high-resolution electrical images provides the additional information necessary to obtain a continuous, detailed core-like view of the reservoir.

This paper presents the results of a pilot study performed over four key wells located in an onshore Field, 210km SW of Abu Dhabi City, UAE. The zone of interest is the Lower Arab D Member, which is part of the Upper Jurassic Arab Formation.

The novel approach presented in this paper integrates high-resolution electrical images with conventional reservoir characterization logs. This combination provides detailed full mapping and quantification of the dual-porosity system in wells logged with water-based mud. Additionally, the high-quality logging-while-drilling (LWD) and wireline images have been further exploited to obtain a continuous high-resolution permeability curve along the full length of the drain. A subsequent calibration of the results with available core data determined key paramenters that could be applied to uncored wells. Similar coefficients were used on wells with similar log signatures, structural position and image electro-facies to cored wells to obtain accurate and continuous high-resolution permeability readings.

Accurate identification of the unit with the best secondary porosity attributes will support further field development plans of the Lower Arab D Member. With the help of high-resolution full-bore electrical images, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between secondary porosity and the presence of dissolution features and natural fractures.
Management System For Effective Treatment And Cost Reduction Of Corrosion Control Chemicals In Oil Production Facilities
Authors: El-Khatib Amin , Ahli Mohamed , Al Ameri Saleh
Published: November 2016

In any process safety system for oil and gas industry, chemical treatment for control of internal corrosion is an important barrier that would prevent loss of containment. The effectiveness of this barrier depends on input from several stakeholders in the field.

Several areas for improvement exist in the chemical handling & treatment cycle in the field such as planning of chemicals orders, scattered documentation of chemicals QA/QC, fragmented records for monitoring of injection rate, the need for comparison between actual vs. ordered chemical consumption and the need for estimating chemical injection availability.

Also, area for improvement exist in reducing annual cost of chemical consumption through improved planning of chemical orders and optimizing the dosage rate against pre-set KPIs.
Opportunities for 2nd & 3rd Generation CO2 Capture Technologies and Energy Integration in Natural Gas Processing for Use in EOR
Authors: Singh Prachi , Geuzebroek Frank
Published: November 2016

A high level methodology was developed for CO2 capture project in natural gas processing. This work highlights the potential CO2 emission sources in natural gas processing plant, such as from gas turbines, heaters, boiler and effluent gas of Sulphur Recovery tail gas treatment units. A preliminary evaluation of different CO2 capture technologies was conducted mainly post-combustion and oxyfiring, based on the CO2 emission sources. It was identified that for gas turbines, the post-combustion capture process together with exhaust gas recycling shows potential for application. For utility boilers and heaters both postcombustion and oxyfiring technology can be applied. CO2 capture from effluent gas from tail gas treatment unit can be done by both post-combustion and oxyfiring. A brief overview of 2nd and 3rd generation advanced CO2 post-combustion capture technologies is given. This work also highlights the potential to use available high and low grade waste heat available in natural gas processing plant for the CO2 capture process. Moreover, the impact of high ambient conditions on the CO2 capture process, mainly for amine based absorption process is highlighted. This work identifies further developments and evaluations required for current and 2nd and 3rd generation CO2 capture technologies.