bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Front Line Supervisor FLS Academy
Authors: Keh-Camero Lily , Shukri Mahmoud , Abraham Arun , Qasabi Nasser , Hatmi Nasser
Published: November 2018

Objectives/Scope

The drive to Goal Zero (or no harm to people, damage to asset and impact to environment) has been the cornerstone of the company as a highly reliable and caring organization. It is the "Northern Lights" of Iceland, considered as the majestic natural phenomenon known on earth. Simply put, it is the auroras or bright lights across the darkened night sky in vivid colors. There is never a guarantee that they will lit up the sky the moment we decided to look up. Anyone who wishes to see the "Northern Lights" requires an enormous amount of patience, collaboration, strategic planning, and flawless execution. Similar to Goal Zero, we all have a common goal of no harm people and through collaboration, strategic planning, execution and patience- we will strive to reach Goal Zero. In THE COMPANY, one of the ways to achieve Goal Zero is to promote safe behaviour at the workplace amongst frontline staff by equipping the Frontline Supervisors with the right tools and techniques through FLS Academy.

The FLS Academy or "Safety Leadership for Front Line Supervisors Academy" was introduced in Well Engineering Directorate to address the growing number of incidents; including high potential incidents due to lack of or ineffective supervision at the worksite. The top 3 common causational factors from 2015 are: ▪People (ACTS): Inattention/Lack of Awareness: Improper decision making or lack of judgment▪Process (CONDITIONS): Organisational: Inadequate hazard identification or risk assessment▪Process (CONDITIONS): Organisational: Inadequate work standards/procedures.

In a number of Level 2 audits, it has been identified as one of the major gaps when it comes to frontline supervisory skills, certification and qualification.

The objectives of FLS Academy in supporting and achieving Goal Zero are divided into two parts: For Frontline Supervisors: To improve the Frontline Supervisor’s knowledge of the Safety Leadership responsibilities with emphasis on Behavioral Safety issues and develop a mindset of Chronic Unease amongst staff.To energize and recognize ones role in achieving Goal Zero.To up-skill the Frontline Supervisors to become highly effective in crew engagement at the worksite.To experience a unique opportunity to engage with Senior Leaders (e.g. Managers and Team Leads), breaking down organization barriers and introduce a new approach of safety conversations.For the Senior Leaders: To transform our Managers and Team Leads into Safety Leaders and be advocate of FLS through engagement and facilitation of FLS modules with their Frontline Supervisors (e.g. Drilling Supervisors, Hoist Supervisors, Rig Managers, Night Toolpushers).To bring Senior Leaders closer to the Line/worksite and create a new approach of safety conversation.
Deciphering the Performance of Multi-Lateral and Extended Reach Wells for Reserves Evaluation in Unconventional Resource Plays
Authors: AbdelMawla Ahmed
Published: November 2018

Recent advancements in well design and completion technology have been tested in unconventional resource plays with wide variety of results. This paper discusses the evolution and performance analysis of the different well designs in a tight unconventional oil play in North America. A brief description is given of the different chronological well types in the play (i.e. standard horizontal wells, multi-lateral wells, and extended reach horizontal wells). The performance of such advanced wells is analyzed. The flow regimes encountered around multi-lateral and extended reach horizontal wells are described using diagnostic plots of time rate and pressure (TRP) data. These regimes are related to Arps exponent b-factor. So far, there is little information of such flow regimes or the ranges of b-factor for multi-lateral wells in tight unconventional plays.

In multi-lateral and extended reach horizontal wells, a period of frac water cleaning may be seen at the initial production. Apparent early bilinear or linear flow regimes might be observed afterwards. In this tight oil play, later multi-phase effects dominate the flow regimes and cause deviations from the early bilinear and linear flow. Late second linear flow regime is not seen in the analyzed data of standard horizontal wells, multi-lateral wells, or extended reach horizontal wells. In this play, multi-phase effects cause late time lower b-factor. In many instances, late time b-factor is lower than 1.

This work emphasizes on the reserves estimation of these modern wells in this play. Extended reach horizontal wells have shown better late time b-factor and normalized Initial Production of 90 days "IP90" per lateral length compared to multi-lateral wells. This might give an indication of the higher completion efficiency in the extended reach horizontal wells.

Based on this work, Extended reach horizontal wells have higher Estimated Ultimate Recovery "EUR" compared to both multi-lateral and standard horizontal wells. Development of unconventional plays by drilling longer single lateral horizontal wells while reducing the inter frac stages spacing is becoming the norm.

This work helps to decipher the performance of multi-lateral and extended reach wells in unconventional plays. This leads to improving the development concepts and reserves evaluation methods of these modern wells in unconventional formations.
The Revese-Selectivity of Nanoporous Membrane for the Separation of Gas Mixtures
Authors: He Zhou , Wang Kean
Published: November 2018

Membrane technology has attracted more and more attentions in oil/gas industries. Most of the membranes separation are based on the difference in molecular dimensions (or the mechanism of molecular sieving). However, this work reports the reverse-selectivity based on the permeation of binary gas mixtures (CO2/He and CO2/H2) through a nanoporous carbon molecular sieve membrane. It was found that adsorption-diffusion mechanism made it a possible for the nanoporous membrane to be selective to the lighter species (He or H2) or to the heavier CO2, possibly due to surface flux. The membrane permselectivity in this case is a function of the feed composition such that CO2 molecules can be preferentially permeated based on ‘surface flow’.
Cost Savings for Subsea Pipelines Using Enhanced Pipe-Soil Interaction Assessment
Authors: Abdel-Hakim Mahmoud , Abdel Azeem Mohamed , Bransby Fraser , Low Han Eng , Clavaud Romain , Bergkamp Bryan , Kizhikkilod Janardanan
Published: November 2018

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the potential benefit of using site- and project-specific pipe-soil interaction (PSI) inputs in HTHP pipeline design. The paper first explains the overall approach used to generate site-specific PSI inputs to pipelines. This includes showing the importance of site investigation (geophysics, in situ testing and sampling) and onshore lab testing which should be integrated to select appropriate seabed parameter ranges for the derivation of site-specific PSI inputs. Then, the importance of using geotechnical calculation methods which consider the unique properties of carbonate soils to calculate pipeline friction factors is discussed. Finally, the paper demonstrates, for a regional case study, how the provided PSI inputs changed pipeline design and reduced project costs.
Optimization of Smart Water Flooding in Carbonate Reservoir
Authors: Fani Mahmood , Al-Hadrami Hamoud , Pourafshary Peyman , Vakili-Nezhaad Gholamreza , Mosavat Nader
Published: November 2018

During smart water injection into carbonates, wettability alteration is subjected to be the main mechanism contributing to incremental oil recovery. Apart from the smart water composition, level of dilution, and the underlying mechanisms, "injection scheme" is of a great importance when developing a field scale flooding project. The pivotal target of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of smart water injection by deploying tertiary smart water "shock slug" injection within the periods of water flooding.

At the first stage, genuine reservoir brine was 10 times diluted. Ion Chromatography analysis was utilized to optimize the composition by adding 2.65 g/ml of MgSO4.7H2O. Core samples were initially flooded by the original high salinity water to reach the residual oil saturation. Smart water shock slugs were chosen in various volumes including, .75, 1, 1.5, and 2 PV. Subsequently, smart water was injected for the selected shock slug sizes. At this stage the procedure was stopped for 12 hours in order to let the smart water interact with rock sample. Afterward the process was followed by the high salinity water injection. To have a comprehensive perspective of the procedure, production data was recorded at all stages of the injection. Also, the contact angle was measured under standard condition by generating a sessile drop of oil on the carbonate surface submerged in the brine environment. The pH of the injection fluids was also measured during contact angle and core flood tests. X-Ray Diffraction inspection was utilized to analyze the mineralogy of the core samples.

Evaluating the results of the contact angle measurements, it was obtained that smart water was capable of altering the wettability towards more water wet. pH of smart water was increased after it was kept in contact with the oil-aged rock for two weeks. Core flooding results indicated that the tertiary injection of the smart water as shock slug leads to a considerable amount of incremental oil recovery at tertiary mode and changes the wettability towards more water wet. This is mainly due to the effective ionic exchange which leads to the favorable wettability alteration during smart water injection.

This study showed that smaller sizes of smart water shock slug can increase the incremental recovery as effective as larger sizes of smart water shock slug in analogues situation. Hence, the asserted method can be a good alternative for conventional low salinity water flooding due to being less time-consuming and cost-effective.
Evaluation of Corrosion Inhibitor Performance Under High Temperature / High Salinity Sweet Conditions
Authors: Hirano Susumu , Sunaba Toshiyuki , Al Jaberi Manea , Al Alawi Faisal
Published: November 2018

CO2 corrosion is a vital problem in oil and gas production. The carbon steel pipe can suffer a long-term use economically under the CO2 corrosion environment by choosing an appropriate corrosion inhibitor. The performance of several corrosion inhibitors at elevated temperature & high salinity CO2 rich condition was evaluated for a field application.

The performance of corrosion inhibitors was evaluated with an electrochemical measurement namely Liner Polarization Resistance (LPR) and weight loss coupons in autoclaves. LPR measures in-situ corrosion rate and it shows the inhibitor adhesion behavior on the metal surface. In the weight loss test, test coupons were mounted in a rotating cage and immersed in the test solution for a week. Test solution was synthetic brines with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 17%. The test solution was aerated with CO2 at ambient temperature and pressure before the corrosion test.

It is well known that the inhibitor efficiency is encumbered with many variables, such as temperature, pressure, pH, flow speed and chemical composition of the production fluid. Salt content of formation water varies dependent on the location. Sometimes a production water analysis of a Middle East oil well shows more than 10% by weight. The inhibitors evaluated here had the temperature tolerance up to 100 °C and the same was the maximum test temperature. Some corrosion inhibitors performed better at low temperature than at high temperature. They showed poor inhibitor efficiency in case of pre-corrosion with high salinity at high temperature condition. This study also confirmed the validity of ILSS (Inhibitor Likelihood Success Score) introduced by Crossland et al. The score which was later acknowledged by HSE Office (UK) provided a useful information for inhibitor selection for pipelines in various field conditions.

Several corrosion testing procedures were carried out to confirm the associated impact with/without pre-corrosion on the overall performance of the corrosion inhibitors. It seems that high salinity affects the inhibitor adhesion competing with corrosion product. The pre-corrosion test is an indispensable step for a qualification of corrosion inhibitors for a high salinity field.
Innovative Extension of the Technical Limit for Downhole Memory Gauges in a Severely Sour Environment: A Case Study of a Campaign in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Authors: Quinn Sean , Singh Basant k. , Fraser Craig
Published: November 2018

Increasing regional energy demand is driving the industry to develop the more challenging unconventional resources that includes high H2S gas fields. This paper will outline the downhole memory gauge programme that was carried out on such a field in Abu Dhabi, UAE. With a unique combination of high temperature and high H2S, there was little offset data to allow confidence of being able to achieve the original goals. The reservoir surveillance required long duration downhole monitoring, but due to certain constraints, the field development design couldn't include permanent downhole gauges. However, due to the success of the Downhole Memory Gauge (DHMG) campaign in Phase I, they have been selected as the preferred reservoir monitoring system for Phase II of the Field Development.

The paper will present the reservoir engineering requirements, the type of gauges and batteries selected, the BHA components, the material specification and a high level overview of the operational procedure on site that helped to minimise the failure rate.

The paper will discuss the original expected mean time to failure for the downhole system and the expected maximum survivable duration. Results of the campaign will be presented in terms of the actual downhole condition, the sampling frequency, the time to failure (when gauges stopped recording usable data) and discuss failure modes. Specific technical issues that arose during the campaign and the implemented solutions will be presented.

The paper will conclude with high level recommendations on what can reasonably be expected in terms of timeframes and data quality in the stated downhole environment. It will present how the actual time in the well and the ability of the memory gauge system to gather data in such an extreme environment far exceeded expectations and how this in turn allowed for a broader scope for data gathering to be implemented going forward at an overall reduction in cost and risk.
Innovative Drill Bit Technology with Unique Geometry Cutting Structure Sets Drilling Record in Harsh Rock Application
Authors: Al-Ajmi Abdullah , Al Rushoud AbdulAziz , Gohain Ashis , Alhaj Hussain , Al-naqa Faisal , Al-Mutawa Faisal , AL-Gharib Majed , El-Sherif Mohammed , Al-Ali Fatemah , Ibrahim Geroge , Fathy Ahmed , Saleh Moustafa , Khalil Ahmed , Khalil Karim , Mahi Sofiane , El-Zein Mohamed
Published: November 2018

One of the common challenging drilling environments is harsh rocks which require specially tailored drill bit design features to deliver the maximum drilling efficiency. The interbedded nature of harsh rock formations in combination with high rock strength results in reduced bit aggressivity and premature bit wear which increases the drilling costs. This paper presents field testing a new drill bit technology that addresses those challenges. The bit was deployed and tested in a vertical application in an exploratory well in North of Kuwait and achieved the fastest penetration rate in the application.

Numerous full scale pressurized laboratory tests were conducted on different rocks including limestone, sandstone and shale to develop and validate a new altered cutter geometry designed for carbonate applications. The main target of the simulations was optimizing the cutting action of the PDC cutter while drilling a carbonate formation. This resulted in development of altered cutter geometry designed for fracturing and shearing, offering improved effectiveness in medium to hard formations such as carbonates and clastic rock and more efficient cutting action than conventional round cutters. By creating subsurface cracks that propagate to the rock surface, the new cutter allows creation of thin and uncondensed cuttings, making an efficient use of energy.

The first 12¼ in. 6 blades 16mm configuration bit equipped with the new cutter geometry in conjunction with a stiff rotary BHA was tested in a vertical exploratory well in Bahrah Field, North of Kuwait. The bit delivered improved performance by completing a total interval of 2,655 ft from 5,915 ft to 8,570 ft in 60 hrs resulting in 44.2 ft/hr rate of penetration while drilling from Mutriba to Burgan formations. The bit demonstrated excellent durability with a dull grade of 1-1-WT-A-X-I-NO-TD after drilling in a highly interbedded harsh application where the lithology consists mainly of limestone, shale & sandstone.

The performance capability was further confirmed when the same bit drilled the second well to section TD completing a total interval of 2,630 ft with ROP of 68.7 ft/hr. achieving the top record run in north Kuwait vertical application in Bahrah field.

The 12¼ in. bit with the non-planar cutters surpassed the average rate of penetration (ROP) for the same application in Bahrah Field by 76% saving the operator significant drilling time and making this bit design the top performing drill bit in the field. As a result of the continuous research and field testing, the new cutter technology has drilled more than 10 million feet globally proving its success and efficiency in a wide range of applications.
Permanent Electric Power Supply for Down Hole Devices in Oil and Gas Wells
Authors: Ammar Eng/Mohamed Nabil , M.Hegazy Prof/Gehad
Published: November 2018

All present time, most of downhole electrical devices operate either retrievable "rechargeable batteries" or permanent electric or fiber cable extend from surface till the bottom associated with high risk and high cost operations.

Commonly both retrievable and permanent devices have advantage such as live data and easy communication. However, the disadvantages are temperature limitation, high cost, high risk, and restrictions moreover not suit many other completion scenarios and wells completion types.

Most of memory gauges could read with 5 sec rate up to 43 days in temperature range 150 C, and it will reduce to 18 days when temperature increase up to 200 C. even increasing the time by reducing number of decimals for the recorded values. However, memory gauge stop working when kept for sleeping mode more that 15 sec.

This research propose a new strategy, road map and conceptual design with different scenarios that aim to overcome the previous disadvantage through generating electrical power through a special downhole turbine utilizing new concept through wells injection and/or production flow rates.

The new recommended turbine either to be installed as a part of the completion as permanent or to be run as retrievable. Moreover, turbine has the ability to generate mandatory power to operate downhole devices fitting any sensors. (eg. memory gauge)

The new self power turbine create a new strategy for gas, oil and water wells completion to be more advanced with no need for the rig to change the completion, tubing and/or install cables.

Theoretically the research succeeded by mean of installing a turbine to generate constant D/C current that could power up any attached memory gauge. This turbine depend on it is design on two main concepts; the first is how to direct the flow toward the blades and the second is how to maximize the vortex effect to maximize velocity and control turbulence, take in consideration hole accessibility for any operation required.
Project Management: Team Motivation, the Eye of the Storm
Authors: Malagon Uribe Cecilia , Ruzhnikov Alexey
Published: November 2018

"Motivation is the catalysing ingredient for every successful innovation." Clayton Christensen.

One of the pillars of project management is motivation. The success of any organisation rests on the ability of a leader to identify the motivation factors of a team and to encourage everyone to maintain positive thoughts and behaviour to achieve challenging targets successfully.

This paper explains the practices implemented in the project that increased the motivation level of the team during the difficult and uncertain times of the oil downturn.

This method consisted of three main phases. First, to conduct an initial survey to understand the motivation level of the team and identify the areas of improvement. Based on the results of the first phase, a master plan was created it to tackle the areas of improvement and lead the team to achieve the organisations annual objectives. To create the plan, it was necessary to identify the unique strengths and passions of every member of the team, address the need for recognition and strengthen the sense of belonging.

After executing the master plan, a final survey was conducted to measure the success of the implementation.

The results were outstanding in several areas. With the results of the final survey, it confirmed that the team's motivation level improved by 12%, and in some areas, such as recognition and belonging in 34%. Besides the statistics, the improvement in the motivation level resulted in a more creative team that was able to develop more than thirty operational initiatives that brought significant savings to the customer. All the challenging key performance objectives were achieved contributing to the company's business success.

In conclusion, it was proven that even during the uncertain and challenging times of the oil industry, if we can keep our team motivated by reducing the weaknesses and building on top of the team's strengths, recognizing people's contribution to the company and showing them that their work clearly contributes to the business, and will always be possible to achieve even the most challenging targets.

The approach is innovative in the sense that goes away from traditional financial incentive plans based on monetary rewards and looks at a deeper and more meaningful aspect of the human been regarding motivation. The methodology is based on Maslow's pyramid and Ikigai concept applied during the most challenging times in the oil industry; resulted in a boost in team motivation and overachievement of challenging key performance objectives.
Automated Optimization of Well Placement via Adaptive Space-Filling Surrogate Modelling and Evolutionary Algorithm
Authors: Redouane Kheireddine , Zeraibi Nourddine , Nait Amar Menad
Published: November 2018

Well placement optimization constitutes a fundamental element in the decision-making process needed for optimizing the field development plans. The use of engineering judgment as well the usual practice of trial and error to solve the challenging problem of well placement may be not sufficient. However, the employment of optimization routines coupled to reservoir simulation models as an automatic aiding tool is a current alternative that could improve the decision-making process. Moreover, despite the successes achieved, automatic optimization strategies still suffer from various drawback such as large computational effort, substantial CPU time consumption due to the expensive simulation model, in addition to the difficulties in handling the realistic field constraints.

In this paper, A hybrid intelligent approach for optimizing well placement under field constraints is presented that use a constrained space-filling experimental design, genetic algorithm (GA), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) surrogate model and one proposed adaptive sampling framework, as its basis for optimization. The hybrid intelligent strategy is initiated by uniformly distributing a limited number of design sites in the constrained search space by space-filling design, then simulations are made to generate a database to fit the ANFIS model. Thereafter, a proposed adaptive sampling routine, which combines an intelligent neighborhood search mechanism with GA is applied to augment the quality of surrogate, enhance the accuracy of the framework, and thus guide the optimization rapidly into the optimal solution.

Via a full-field reservoir case that dealing with a realistic reservoir model based on the Namorado field, Campos basin, Brazil, the proposed technique is assessed against the widely used automatic routines that are known as direct optimization with GA, offline and online surrogate-based optimization approaches. The comparison indicates that the proposed method is more accurate, reliable and efficient than all the other optimization routines presented in this work. The results of this study highlighted the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach for solving the real well placement problem with high accuracy in reasonable CPU-time. These auspicious features make it a reliable tool to be used on other real optimization projects.
A Data-Driven Technique for Building the Initial Velocity Model for Refraction Tomography
Authors: Re Simone
Published: November 2018

Near-surface characterization is an important part of seismic data processing, especially with land seismic data. The conventional approaches rely on refracted waves and estimate the compressional velocity models from the tomography of the first-break traveltimes (Glushchenko et al., 2012, Speziali et al., 2014). Despite its strong ability to image the subsurface, seismic tomography is a non-unique inverse problem (Kanlı, 2009, Mantovani et al. 2013). Because most inverse geophysical problems are non-unique, each problem must be studied to determine what type of non-uniqueness applies and, thus, determine what type of a-priori information is necessary to find a realistic solution (Ivanov et al., 2005).

There are several ways to incorporate the available a-priori information in the inverse problem; one of them is the definition of the initial model, which is the starting point of the inversion process. In this work, we present a data-driven approach that derives the initial velocity model for a refraction tomography workflow in an automated fashion, thus trying to minimize the amount of subjectivity that influences the starting model definition (Osypov, 2001). We demonstrate the technique by mean of a synthetic, but realistic, 3D example.
Large Scale Subsurface and Surface Integrated Asset Modeling - An Effective Outcome Driven Approach
Authors: Hafez Hafez , Al Mansoori Yousof , Bahamaish Jamal , Saputelli Luigi , Escorcia Alvaro , Sousa Sergio , Rodriguez Jose , Mijares Gerardo
Published: November 2018

Identifying opportunities in the installed capacity and proactively mitigating the limiting factors are paramount objectives for pursuing profitable production assurance. Although integrated asset modeling has been the de facto technology for supporting production planning and optimization work processes, its application is not fully adopted as it presents challenges when attempted to be used in a large-scale of multiple oil and gas assets.

This paper describes ADNOC’s innovative approach to develop a large scale subsurface to surface integrated asset modeling (LSSSIAM) solution by focusing on the desired business outcome. The paper introduces a new concept of right complexity modeling (RCM) to drive the type and level of complexity of the model/simulation based on the desired business outcome and other factors that influence the quality of the decision-making process.

The methodology has been applied on a large-scale of multiple assets for effective production assurance that integrates the subsurface to the surface physical phenomena as required by the desired business outcome—the technical assurance of production plans within the context of a country. For the presented example, the proposed methodology resulted in the design of a solution where the subsurface phenomena are represented with a data-driven model to specifically address the requirements of the decision-making process which the solution supports.

This resulted in the development of a first-of-its-kind countrywide production model that rigorously considers the properties and physics from the wells to the point of supply while also considering the subsurface phenomena as related to the production potential of the reservoirs and wells.

The solution leverages the rigor of first-principle reservoir models to obtain a data-driven proxy model suitable for integration with a first-principle model covering more than 7,000 wells, multiple network and asset facilities, and a supply point transfer countrywide network. The solution can run in a matter of seconds, allowing for the optimization of a desired objective function or the effective analysis of operational scenarios, which can include short- and mid-term production assurance, opportunities identification to increase production to capture value opportunities from a country-wide production capacity context, and compensating for possible shortfalls resulting from unplanned operational disturbances in other assets.
Waste Heat to Power Through Organic Rankine Cycle ORC Technology: Das Island Case Study
Authors: Ferrari Tommaso , Rossetti Nicola , Al-Ameiry Ahmed Abdulkareim , Anzelini Francesco , Salmeen Haitham
Published: November 2018

Same as other energy-intensive industries, ADNOC LNG is looking at the development of energy-efficiency solutions aimed to improve production process sustainability while maintaining effectiveness and competitiveness. The conversion of waste heat into useful power represents a viable and profitable solution to hit these targets. The possibility to implement an ORC-based heat recovery system as a replacement of an open-cycle gas turbine in Das Island facility has been investigated.

The study evolved in two main phases. The first one was aimed to identify the most suitable waste heat sources present on site. This included the quantification of the waste heat sources needed to achieve the forecasted power demand while complying with layout constrains. The second one was directed to the technical and economic analysis of different heat recovery configurations, in order to understand the best ORC solution. The outcome of the second phase constitutes the reference business case that will be used to compare the ORC with the alternative power production technology, i.e. an open-cycle gas turbine.

With a view to the commissioning of new projects in Das Island and the resulting power consumption increase, ADNOC LNG was originally planning to cover this extra power demand by installing a new open-cycle gas turbine. Given the presence on site of other several open-cycle gas turbines, a waste-heat-to-power solution appeared to be an alternative and feasible solution. The ORC technology, thanks to the use of an organic working fluid, is able to recover the exhaust gas sensible heat and produce power, resulting in a simple power plant with extremely low operation and maintenance costs, high availability, simplicity of operation and no water consumption if an air-cooled condenser solution is selected. Depending on the combination of gas turbines considered for heat recovery in Das Island, the ORC power output can reach up to 30+ MW el., covering a not-negligible portion of Das Island electrical consumption and allowing considerable fuel savings, computed in 10 MMSCFD of fuel gas that can be saved and thus re-allocated to produce useful gas products. The study showed that the ORC solution is viable and can produce the required power at the allocated plot area, which was reserved for the open-cycle gas turbine.

Das Island case study represents one of the first systematic analysis aimed at the integration of an ORC-based heat recovery system within an existing LNG facility. The results of the investigation appear very promising: with a computed LCOE < 30 USD/MWh and breakeven of 3 years, the ORC embodies a possible alternative to traditional power-production technologies. This type of project would be the first in the Region, making ADNOC LNG a pioneer of the technology.
Unlocking Undeveloped Carbonates, A T1 NMR Spectrum Case Study
Authors: Serry Amr , Al-Hassani Sultan , Budebes Sultan , AbouJmeih Hassan , Kaouche Salim , Aki Ahmet , Vican Kresimir , Essam Ramy , Lee Jonathan
Published: November 2018

This case study demonstrates the role of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) T1 spectra, as used to drill complex undeveloped carbonate formations offshore Abu Dhabi. The scope of this project exceeds the traditional porosity-permeability approach to exploit the wealth of information about the rock texture, pore size distribution, flow units and a new methodology of NMR T1 data processing.

Evaluation of pore size distributions based on T1 vs. T2 spectra is addressed in two case study wells; one using a 6 ¾-in., and the other a 4 ¾-in. mandrel size for the first time in UAE. Finally, other log-derived permeabilities are presented, together with high-resolution microresistivity image interpretation and production log results in an integrated approach for improved understanding of the petrophysical character of these undeveloped units.

NMR T1 measurements are utilized for the first time in the lateral sections as part of a bottomhole assembly (BHA) consisting of a rotary steerable system (RSS), and logging-while-drilling (LWD) sensors, including high-resolution microresistivity imaging, laterolog and azimuthal electromagnetic wave resistivities, thermal neutron porosity, azimuthal density, azimuthal multipole acoustic, ultrasonic caliper and near-bit azimuthal gamma ray. During NMR T1 measurements, the spin relaxation time carries information about the liquid-solid surface relaxation and bulk-fluid relaxation, hence, it is neither affected by rock internal magnetic field gradients nor by differences in fluid diffusivity. Also, T1 logging measurements are influenced by instrument artefacts to a much lesser extent than T2 results, having several advantages over T2, especially regarding polarization and tool motion while drilling.

The real-time availability of NMR sourceless porosity measurements significantly improved drilling decisions to place the two case history wells into favourable zones and NMR T1 permeabilities were derived together with acoustic and high-resolution microresistivity image-based permeabilities which were then correlated to production logs.

The results indicate that T1 measurements are an effective, practical solution for rock quality evaluation using LWD real-time datasets free from BHA motion and fluid diffusion effects. Comparisons of T1 and T2 logs show that T1 yields equivalent formation evaluation answers, despite its sparser nature.

The T1 spectra facilitated improved pore size distribution, permeability estimation and marking of the hydraulic flow units in the heterogeneous, undeveloped Upper Jurassic reservoir units, paving the way for the consideration of T1 logging as a viable, and in some cases superior alternative to T2 logging. This paper presents the multidisciplinary approach used to benchmark and optimize the future field development program.
Overview of Reservoir Deposits in the Pike and Jackfish Oil Sands Project Areas, Southern Athabasca Oil Sands, Canada
Authors: Baniak Greg M. , Caddel E. Matt , Kingsmith Kelly G.
Published: November 2018

The Lower Cretaceous McMurray Formation in western Canada has over 1.8 trillion barrels of bitumen resource in place. Due to the bitumen in its natural state having a very low API (6-12°) and corresponding high viscosity, traditional primary (pump jacks) and secondary (water flood) recovery techniques cannot be used. Instead, economic extraction of the bitumen occurs via surface mining and subsurface steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). Using the Pike and Jackfish oil sands project areas as a case study, it will be shown that successful SAGD operations requires a thorough understanding of the depositional fabric and stratigraphic architecture of the reservoir.

Within the study area, reservoir intervals in the form of cross-bedded sandstones and sandy inclined heterolithic strata (IHS) are present within both the middle and upper McMurray. Overlying the middle McMurray are upper McMurray parasequence cycles reflective of brackish bays and deltaic embayment deposits. In many areas, however, these parasequences are absent and instead substituted by fluvial channels with brackish water overprint. The facies within these fluvial channels are very similar in character to the those seen within the middle McMurray. To help progress our understanding of baffles and barriers to flow within these aforementioned reservoir facies, dip meter and seismic data are presented as data that can be used. From this, a better understanding of the complex interplay of facies and stratigraphic relationships can be made. More importantly, clearer insights into SAGD performance (pre- and post-steam) can also be achieved.

Using the McMurray Formation as an underpinning, the wider implications of understanding fluvial sedimentation will be addressed by using reservoirs from the Middle East as examples. For example, many siliciclastic reservoirs in locations such as Kuwait (Wara Formation) and Iraq (Zubair Formation) are also influenced to a large degree by fluvial sedimentation. Not unlike SAGD, any successful secondary recovery techniques applied within these reservoirs will also require a detailed characterization of the channel stacking patterns and channel orientations prior to implementation.
Assessment of Innovation Capabilities of Oil and Gas Industry in Sudan
Authors: Ali Fadl Ali
Published: November 2018

This study aims to propose, map, and assess innovation capabilities of oil and gas industry in Sudan. The author proposed a theoretical framework (the SSPP framework) composed of four main dimensions; Strategy, Structure, People, and Processes to assess innovation capabilities of oil and gas industry in Sudan. The quantitative methodology was adopted and the primary data had been obtained from 435 usable questionnaires (66.9 % of the total questionnaires) distributed to individuals working in 14 firms representing the three parts of oil and gas industry (regulatory bodies, upstream and downstream companies). Exploratory factor analysis was applied to check goodness of the measures. The multiple regression analysis has been used to test the hypotheses. The SSPP framework explained 42.1 % of the variance in innovation capabilities of oil and gas industry in Sudan; (R square = 0.421). The findings of the study revealed that value-chain governance, organizational knowledge, rewards & recognition, and work procedures have positive influence over innovation capabilities of oil and gas industry in Sudan. Whereas, the strategy formulation and organizational culture haven't such influence. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that top management of oil and gas sector in Sudan has to make due consideration to strategy formulation and organizational culture aiming to enhance innovation capabilities. Another important recommendation is to establish a national oil and gas innovation system to integrate innovative capabilities of its constituents.
Process Safety in Design Verification in Operational Phase for Onshore Gas Production Plant
Authors: Mohammed Abdelsalam Omar
Published: November 2018

It is a mandatory company requirement for all offshore and onshore assets to secure the documentation and demonstration of process safety in design (PSID). The common way to conduct the PSID is to apply it within the "Design phase" and after the "Execute phase" to remove or minimize hazards and identify areas of process design that warrant specific focus. In this paper, we will show a case of implementing the PSID verification on an onshore gas production plant during operation phase which is different from the main approach and way of verification during earlier stages of project execution.

Verification is intended to confirm that the detailed documentation and calculations supporting the requirements of the Process Engineering Process Safety Design Standard have been correctly performed.

In broad terms the objective of the verification in the "Operation phase" was;To confirm that the extent of documentation available meets the minimum requirements of the company standards.To confirm that adequate layers of protection are being provided throughout the process to reduce risks to ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable).To confirm that all Blowdown systems and relief valve calculations have been correctly conducted and appropriate relief cases and basis have been used.To confirm that HAZOP/HAZID has been conducted in a reasonable manner and the actions have been closed out.To confirm that layers of protection analysis "LOPA" for all site safety instrumented functions (SIFs) as part of Safety Integrated Levels (SIL) assessment have been assessed and verified.To confirm that specification breaks have been properly located and HP/LP interfaces correctly designed.To confirm that the philosophies are complete, adequate and implemented.To confirm that process safety is being assured for the project and to identify and record any failings or flaws in approach, detailed calculations or design that require rectification.

The design contractor produced a Process Safety Dossier which contained sections as following:Design PhilosophiesRelief and Blowdown DesignHP/LP InterfacesLOPAHAZOP/HAZID verification

The outcome of the verification on the existing gas production plant was a list of findings categorized – from 1 to 4 – according to their priority from safety point of view. We ensured closure of the actions starting from code 1 and code 2 in a tight time frame to avoid any risk to be released.
Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Automatic Simulation Models Matching with Field Data
Authors: Giuliani Marco , Cadei Luca , Montini Marco , Bianco Amalia , Niccolai Alessandro , Mussetta Marco , Grimaccia Francesco
Published: November 2018

Asset optimization has recently become a crucial issue in Oil&Gas industry, considering oil price conjuncture and an increased awareness on environmental aspects. In this paper, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique is presented, which is able to manage big dataset to automatically match the entire production model against measured field data. The tool is based on a hybrid in-house developed AI technique, integrating deep neural networks, biogenetical algorithms, commercial simulators and real-time data.

The workflow starts with the modeling of the production system through physics-based commercial simulators. A sensitivity analysis identifies the critical variables, which are then randomly varied with a Sobol distribution, exploring the entire solution domain. With these data, a proxy model to the commercial software is generated using an artificial neural network. Finally, the AI tool fed by real-time data is used to match the field behavior: uncertain parameters are modified through a differential evolution algorithm that minimizes the error between calculated and measured variables. The matching parameters are, then, passed to the simulators achieving a field representative model.

The tool has been developed considering an operating field in offshore western Africa. The typical uncertain parameters in this kind of field are related to the fluid characteristics, in particular densities and compositions, but also to the physical characterization of the pipelines such as roughness and heat transfer characteristics. The matching process has been performed coupling the proxy model, which is a neural network able to replicate the field behavior, and a differential evolution algorithm as the optimization algorithm. The fitness function to be minimized is a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) that represents the distance between the actual field production parameters and the modelled ones. The best configuration of both the neural network and the differential evolution algorithm required a computational time of 6 seconds with a MAPE equal to 2.6%. These results are compared to the one obtained coupling the same differential evolution algorithm with the commercial simulator to perform the matching. The required computational time is equal to about 20 hours (70400s) and a MAPE equal to 2.2%. The big gain with the novel approach is clearly the knocking down of computational time with a comparable error.

In this paper, it has been shown how substituting the physical model with a proxy one can give substantial advantages in terms of computational time. In principle, with the velocity of the tool implemented, the matching procedure could be done on a daily basis. This is a breakthrough because it allows having the simulator model always tuned and ready to be utilized.
Electrical Submersible Pumps Condition Monitoring Using Motor Current Signature Analysis
Authors: Popaleny Peter , Duyar Ahmet , Ozel Cumali , Erdogan Yusuf
Published: November 2018

The paper discusses how the Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP) mechanical and electrical malfunctions are reflected in the dynamic current spectrum using Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA). The paper further shows the real case studies, analyses and findings on ESP. Since MCSA does not require any sensor installation on the ESP itself and the measurement is carried out remotely in the ESP motor control unit, it is especially attractive for inaccessible driven equipment and well suited for the monitoring of Electrical Submersible Pumps.
Optimization of Maintenance Strategy for Large Rotating Equipment
Authors: Hayat Khalid , Ibrahim Makki
Published: November 2018

Present PM philosophy of CB CRU is scheduled maintenance based on running hours of the engine. This time based maintenance is fixed at every 7500 running hours, referred to as Mini-check, others as Intermediate and Major Overhaul that are fixed at 15000 and 30000 running hours respectively.

The current operational practice is also such that it is only functional when the primary CRU i.e. ManTurbo is under maintenance, making CB-CRU function as interim or during summer when electrical power consumption is to be reduced.

Even though the CB-CRU is operated less frequently for the last 4 years, the number of failures has increased.

Hence, a review of the maintenance philosophy was required due to change in operating scenario. Scientific/statistical (RCM) approach was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing maintenance philosophy.

Reliability analysis tools were used to analyze failure data collected from site logbook and PM records from year 2009 to date. The data were segregated and following methods were used:Weibull Analysis, Recurrent Data Analysis for analysis of failure frequency and pattern.FMEA & RCM to review Mini-check scope and formulate the proactive maintenance task.

One of the major outcome of the study was that while performing Mini-check there is always a possibility of introducing inherent failures. This would negatively affect the purpose of doing Mini-check in terms of unscheduled maintenance.Hence based on the study it is recommend to stop the PM @7500 hours to monitor and observe the impact on CB CRU availability, for a period of three years.

While the scheduled maintenance at 7500 hours is stop, the following additional activities/recommendations are to be implement based on the study:Increase Recip-Trap frequency to twice a month.Compressor Gland Leakage Inspection once in a month.Lubrication System, start at least once a month and operate for 24 hours when CB-CRU is in standby mode for prolonged period.Engine to be started at least quarterly and operated for 4 hours with no-load.Intermediate Overhaul to be conducted in every 4 years or 15000 running hours.Awareness Sessions to be conducted once a year for all relevant teams.Auto Ignition and Pressure balancing system to be implemented in one CB CRU as pilot.