bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Methods of Drilling Rate Increase, Near Bit Ejector Application
Authors: Evstifeev S. , Evenko V. , Shakirov A.
Published: May 2011

Desired drilling depths are rapidly increasing i.e. extended reach and ultra deep drilling, thus sharply decreasing the performance of drill bits. The reason for this is the presence of porous, reservoir, and the variable total differential hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures that affect the conditions of rock destruction.

In Near Bit Ejector Pump (NBEP), we developed a new and innovative design based on the principle of using the kinetic energy of the liquid jet. This system reduces the differential pressure in the bit's work zone, thus result in mechanical drilling rate increase of up to 20% and more, mudding the borehole wall and preventing bit balling.

NBEP technology works in the partial loss of washing fluid zones, therefore preventing the phenomenon, moreover retaining the diameter of the hole close to desired nominal diameter. The technology is applicable to all rotary drilling, and in conjunction with hydraulic downhole motors, as well as with both tricone bits and PDC bits. This technology has been used and is still applied successfully in drilling operation of Russian and Libyan oil fields, allowing significant gains to the operating oil companies.
Step Change Technology for Running Tubulars
Authors: Davis Lance , Al-Othman Abdulaziz
Published: May 2011

Oil and gas well construction requires the installation of tubulars at a specific depth, prescribed for reasons of mechanics, formation pressure and wellbore integrity or accessing reserves. Deepwater construction has an additional need to also land all strings in the subsea wellhead with precision. The industry has recognized this significant problem for some time. There have many instances of failed well programs where critical depths have not been secured. A step change technology solution has been created to reduce well construction risk, applicable to all casing strings, liners and completion strings.

An elegant solution has been created with a new family of tools based upon a unique mud motor. Exceptionally, the motor can be drilled up using a normal polycrystalline diamond cutter (PDC) bit in minutes, and for any intermediate string, the cemented shoe track and motor are drilled with the next bottom hole assembly (BHA). The result is a time saving, practical, cost-effective solution which can be systematically applied to ensure all tubulars are placed on depth.

Similarly, with the advent of complex, expensive completion systems, there is an absolute necessity to land on target. An ideal solution also eliminates the need to rotate the completion string. One of the new technologies does this, and provides a gun barrel borehole right in front of the completion. Results of applying this technology are presented in this paper.

To date the technology has provided a new approach to running tubulars, and mitigating operating risk. It provides a significant boost to ensure well integrity and has clearly demonstrated the ability to recover collapsed hole and land completions across the entire reserves section, delivering an outstanding return on the technical investment.
The Technologist Development Program: Saudi Aramco's Strategy to Prepare Today's Professionals for Tomorrow's Challenges
Authors: Al-Ali Hussein , Kersey David G.
Published: May 2011

One of Saudi Aramco's strategic objectives is to prepare the work force to meet evolving technical challenges in Petroleum Engineering (PE). To address this important objective, the Petroleum Engineering Technologist Development Program (TDP) was established to provide the opportunity for young engineers to become recognized experts in critical technical disciplines. The TDP provides organizational support for the participants to progress in professional and managerial careers to ultimately fulfill Saudi Aramco's business needs.

The program is overseen by management and technical advisory committees. New candidates are selected based on competency, years of experience, outstanding performance and strong personal skills. In addition, they must have demonstrated technical ability, resourcefulness, and dedication to address emerging technical and operational challenges. The technical advisory committee will assist in selecting an area of specialty based on Company requirements, candidates' interests and expertise. Also, they will nominate a mentor (subject matter expert) to guide and manage development of technical and soft skills.

Each participant has a competency development road map based on a plan to develop required technical and soft skills. The participants must complete all required tasks and develop expertise in his area of specialty. In addition, the candidates are trained during rotational development assignments and, in many cases, they enroll in an advanced degree program. They need to meet specific TDP graduation requirements including publication in technical journals and active participation in international technical meetings and forums. In addition, to graduate from the TDP, a candidate is must demonstrate to the technical review committee that he has achieved technical expertise in his chosen specialty.

Saudi Aramco designed the TDP to ensure young engineers have the opportunity to become technical experts in critical specialties. The program has successfully met its goals as evidenced by the number of successful graduates.
New Approach of Water Shut off Techniques in Open Holes – and World First Applications of Using Fiber Optic Services with Tension-Compression Sub
Authors: Olarte Jorge Duarte , Haldar Surajit , Said Rifat , Ahmed Mahsoon , Burov Anton , Stuker John , Kharrat Wassim , Wortmann Henry
Published: May 2011

Te oil producer wells, in the southern are of Saudi Arabia, are mostly completed as horizontal open hole (OH). Some of these wells are dead or on itermittent production due to high water cut, which is caused mainly by water influx through carbonate fissures or fractures. Multiple water shut off (WSO) jobs using inflatable packers, were performed between 2005 and 2010 but failed during execution because of the packers setting failure in OH.

The WSO candidate selection process starts with reservoir and production data evaluation, then requires a coiled tubing logging run to identify the water source and adjust the required isolating fluids formulation and volume. For the execution, there is a need to control the placement, inflation, injection and disconnect of the inflatable packers in order to ensure successful WSO treatment.

This paper describes how the fiber optic enabled coiled tubing (FOECT) system, enabling realtime downhole data measurement, can optimize the WSO treatments design, execution and evaluation, and increase their success rate.

For the job design, production logging tools were run with FOECT string to detect the water source, measure the BHT required for the formulation of WSO fluids, obtain a GR log, and get an X-Y OH caliper critical to decide the best setting depth for the inflatable packer and to confirm the required WSO fluids volume.

For the job execution, the depth correlation for the packer setting was performed with the fiber optic bottom hole assembly FOBHA-GR. The inflation of the packer and the injection through it were monitored and adjusted realtime with the FOBHA-PTC measurement inside and outside the FOCT string. The confirmation of the packer setting and the release from it were confirmed with the world's first applications of FOBHA-Tension/Compression sub.

Recent production results showed previously dead well flowed at significant oil rate with 10% water cut after performing a WSO with FOECT innovative solution.

The integrated FOECT solution, eliminating engineering assumptions during the full cycle of design-execution-evaluation, is a proven WSO technique in OH, which can bring many wells back to economical production.
Enhancing Well Testing Performance by Installing a Reliable Water Cut Meter Along with Coriolis Flowmeter
Authors: Al-Mutairi Ahmed R. , Khuzzan Syed Haizir , Helal R. , Raman B.
Published: May 2011

This article shows the impact of installing Weatherford's online Red Eye water cut meter to work with the Micromotion Coriolis meter on the monthly well testing validity. This was applied on HwGOSP-2 test trap which is used to test the GOSP's wells on a monthly basis.

The wells' testing validity has been an issue since the installation of the new Coriolis flow meter. After several comparisons between the Coriolis flowmeter, multiphase flowmeter and the lab sampling results for more than a month, it was concluded that the coriolis was not giving accurate water cut readings, due to the variation in the well's liquids specific gravity.

This analysis revealed that specific gravity independent water cut meter is needed to be installed to work with the existing Coriolis mass flow meter. The water cut reading will be fed into the Distributed Control System (DCS) to report accurate net volumes of oil and water.

It was an opportunity to trial test the Red Eye 2G water cut meter which is using Near Infra Red (NIR) technology for real-time water cut measurement, the technology is based on NIR absorption spectroscopy, and independent of density changes. Red Eye water cut meter has been installed in the liquid leg of the test trap, to accurately measure and evaluate its capabilities of measuring the full range of water cut (0 to 100%) in a commingled oil and water stream.

The success criterion for this meter was defined as having the Red Eye data matching the lab data to a 90% confidence level. These success criteria have been met and the trial test was successfully concluded. The meter is presently operational at HwGOSP-2 since installation in April, 2010; performing to the desired results.
A New Approach to Drill Highly Depleted and Fractured Limestone Reservoir in Pakistan
Authors: Asrar Muhammad , Sabir Shahid Majeed
Published: May 2011

This paper presents the planning phase, operational results and future recommendations of first well drilled with Gasified Fluid Drilling technique in Pakistan.

The project's goal was to minimize non productive time associated with drilling operations and reach the target depth safely. Total loss circulation events were observed while drilling highly depleted and fractured Limestone Reservoir in Balochistan area with conventional drilling techniques in offset wells. This led to adopt technology of Gasified Fluid Drilling for very first time in Pakistan.

A multidisciplinary team planned and executed operation. Objectives were met with no downhole fire, minimal lost circulation and no formation influx. Results from this well showed significant increase in penetration rates and hole cleaning in comparison to offset wells.

This application opened new ventures and recommendations for further mature field development in Pakistan.
Source Rock Characterization of the Hanifa and Tuwaiq Mountain Formations in the Arabian Basin, Based on Rock-Eval Pyrolysis and the Modified Delta Log R Method
Authors: Alyousuf Taqi , Algharbi Waleed , Algeer Rania , Samsudin Azman
Published: May 2011

The Tuwaiq Mountain and Hanifa formations contain both significant hydrocarbon reservoirs and world-class hydrocarbon source rocks. This paper focuses on the characterization of the source rocks within the formations by integrating core-derived geochemical data and well-log responses. The hydrocarbon source rock potential of these stratigraphic intervals in the Arabian intrashelf basin was evaluated using Rock-Eval pyrolysis and the Delta Log R method. Organic geochemical analyses of core samples for S2, total organic carbon (TOC), and hydrogen and oxygen indices were used to determine the quality of organic matter. Most of the source rocks are thermally mature and contain oil-prone Type-II kerogen. The Delta Log R method was used to obtain calculated TOC values to increase the coverage across the zone of interest (uncored intervals) and laterally at the uncored wells. Level of maturity (LOM) is one of the key required inputs for the Delta Log R method. The LOM was derived from predicted vitrinite reflectance values using heat flow distribution within the entire basin. A comparison of TOC values derived from the Delta Log R method with actual laboratory-measured TOC values from core samples shows a very good agreement. This allows confident application of this technique in calculation of TOC values in wells for which no core samples are available. The TOC and effective thickness fairway maps of the Tuwaiq Mountain and Hanifa source rocks generated from this method offer great insights for defining the source rock characteristics.
Single-Sack Fibrous Pill Treatment for High Fluid Loss Zones
Authors: Darugar Qusai A. , Szabo Joseph J. , Clapper Dennis K. , McGuffey Gary
Published: May 2011

Lost circulation is a leading cause of downtime in drilling operations and is encountered in most drilling jobs. It can result in complete loss of the hole along with costly drilling equipment. To successfully prevent losses of drilling fluid, it is vital to rapidly prepare and place a lost circulation treatment into the loss zone when losses are encountered. A fibrous lost circulation pill has been developed to address common operational concerns that exist with current lost circulation materials and applications. This one-sack product does not require any activators, retarders, set time calculations, or temperature activation. It has been specifically designed for rapid mixing and pumping with minimal equipment.

Laboratory testing has demonstrated the ability of the fibrous pill slurries to rapidly dewater/de-oil and form a sealing plug on both ceramic filter discs and slotted metal discs. Testing also shows that the product forms a sealing plug in depleted sand formations. This pill can easily be weighted using barite to help control hydrostatic pressures. The fibrous product is suitable, and has been tested, with a wide range of fluids including freshwater, brines, and base oils. This product also meets strict environmental requirements for use in both the Gulf of Mexico and Norway. It can be rapidly mixed and pumped on location using standard rig equipment and only requires base fluid, barite and the product. The pill formulation is compatible with all mud systems and is easily removed using standard solids control equipment.

This new approach to control severe losses has been successfully applied in several field tests, which have reflected a variety of lost circulation conditions. A few of these field applications will be discussed in detail.
Utilizing Fiber Optic Enabled Coil Tubing Telemetry in Extended Reach Horizontal Well Mechanical Rigless Water Shut-Off (WSO) Operation (Case Study)
Authors: Shawly Alaa S. , Al-Buali Mohammed H. , Dashash Alaa A. , Haldar Surajit , Olarte Jorge E. , Burov Anton
Published: May 2011

In many fields, high water production can cause adverse effects on the reservoir performance, which can result in production losses. To mitigate this situation, it is crucial to utilize water management to reduce water production, optimize oil production, increase the well life and revive dead wells. One of the options is utilizing a workover rig to isolate the water entry zone by running swellable or inflatable packers. This option is costly and time consuming, taking into consideration the time required to prepare the location for the rig, stripping out and returning back flowline and cleaning wells prior returning to production. To overcome this challenge, it was essential to look for an alternative solution that requires less time and cost. One of those solutions is isolating the water producing zone by rigless water shut-off (WSO), using mechanical isolation. This kind of operation is more challenging for extended reach horizontal wells.

This paper highlights the mechanical rigless WSO method used to mechanically isolate a water contribution zone by utilizing fiber optic enabled coiled tubing (FOECT) telemetry and setting an inflatable packer combined with a capped with cement. This successful WSO treatment positively impacted the overall performance of a dead horizontal oil producer with 4,000 ft of reservoir contact. The WSO resulted in decreasing the water cut from 68% to 0%, and revived the dead well with 10 thousand barrels per day (MBOD) oil gain.

Real-time downhole temperature, pressure (inside and outside the coil tubing) and casing collar locator (CCL) measurements, obtained by FOECT was utilized to get accurate packer setting depth, confirm packer setting and ensure the suitability of cement recipe slurry design. The whole cycle of candidate selection, job design, execution challenges, post job evaluation, lessons learned and the experience gained to optimize the similar future jobs are covered in this paper.
Deviation from Darcy's Flow in Fractured Tight Gas Sand Reservoirs
Authors: Khlaifat Abdelaziz , Qutob Hani , Arastoopour Hamid
Published: May 2011

Unconventional gas resources will significantly affect the future of the energy sector worldwide in the coming years. The importance of non-Darcy flow has been highlighted in the literature in the context of highly productive fractured gas wells. The low gas flow rates from typical tight gas wells contradict this assumption. Neglecting the non-Darcy flow effect in tight reservoirs will lead to an overestimation of production and other misleading facts about tight gas reservoirs behavior. The interpretation of deviation from Darcy's flow through tight sand porous medium is addressed, in this work, by conducting a series of single phase gas flow experiments. The considered porous medium sample was slot-and-solution pore type tight sand collected from the Travis Peak Formation at a depth of 2654 m with permeability in microdarcy range and porosity of 7%. Two gases, nitrogen and helium, were used. Single-phase gas experiments were carried out at different pressure drops and overburden pressures. The experimental results showed that the examined slot-and-solution tight sand porous media is very sensitive to overburden pressure. Pore size distribution measurements, by mercury intrusion porosimetry and sorption isotherm, showed the existence of a wide range of pore size distribution (from 0.4 to 400 nm). The analysis shows that single phase gas flow through tight gas sand particularly at low pressure is of Knudsen diffusion type. Thus, the gas molecules may slip at the wall of the capillary and the Klinkenberg formulation may be the approach to describe the deviation from Darcy's law when the pore size and particle size are almost the same.
An Alternative Approach to Modeling Non-Darcy Flow for Pressure Transient Analysis in Porous and Fractured Reservoirs
Authors: Al-Otaibi Ajab , Wu Yu-Shu
Published: May 2011

Non-Darcy flow is an important factor affecting productivity of gas and high production rate oil wells and the analysis of pressure-transient well tests in porous media. The motivation for this study to investigate, validate and extend the Barree-Conway model (BCM) for pressure-transient analysis of wells involving hydraulic fractures and naturally fractured reservoirs. Numerical models based on finite control-volume method were developed according to not only the Forchheimer equation and, for the first time in the literature, but also the Barree-Conway model specifically for pressure-transient analysis of single-phase fluid flow in porous and fractured reservoirs. The developed numerical models are capable of simulating all near wellbore effects coupled with the non-Darcy flow behavior in porous and fractured reservoirs.

This study shows that the BCM can be applied, similar to the Forchheimer model, to analyzing and interpreting pressure-transient responses of non-Darcy flow in porous and fractured reservoirs. The BCM predicts similar pressure-transient responses of non-Darcy flow as predicted by the Forchheimer model. The parameter of characteristic length among the BCM model parameters is more sensitive than the minimum permeability. The minimum permeability is only sensitive at low values of characteristic length or at extremely high flow rates. Numerical simulation results indicate that the value of characteristic length must be low for significant effect of non-Darcy flow and it is related to small effective radius. The non-Darcy flow parameters of the BCM may not be all estimated from single-rate tests in single-porosity reservoirs using conventional analysis approaches. However, they can be estimated by a fitting process based on non-linear optimization algorithm incorporated into the numerical model. Type curves generated by the BCM are provided to demonstrate a methodology for analyzing the effect of non-Darcy flow on pressure-transient tests in porous and fractured reservoirs. As application examples, numerical models of non-Darcy flow are used to model and interpret actual field pressure-transient data from high production rate oil wells in Kuwait.
A Novel Technique for Log-based Pore Volume Compressibility in Complex Carbonates through Effective Aspect Ratio
Authors: Saxena Vimal
Published: May 2011

Pore volume compressibility is a critical parameter to evaluate the reservoir potential and recovery factor. It is ideally determined through uniaxial core measurements, but may also be inferred through conversion of hydrostatic core analysis to ‘effective’ uniaxial values. Alternatively, determination of pore volume compressibility (PVC) through logs offers the option to devise an early PVC strategy for field development without extensive SCAL. While some successful siliciclastic case studies are available for log-based PVC estimation, little is established for similar techniques in carbonates due to its complex pore network. Devising a truly log based method that can serve equally well in carbonates is a challenge to the industry. This paper describes a new technique for log-based estimation of PVC.

The evaluation of dry frame bulk compressibility and matrix bulk compressibility are the basic pre-requisites for PVC determination in a rock poro-elastic model. Volumetric log analysis is utilized to determine relative components of complex matrix volumes and porosity. Hashin-Shtikman (HS) bounds are adopted to determine matrix elastic properties of a composite system. To determine the dry frame elastic properties, the present technique utilizes a Differential Effective Medium model and adopts the concept of effective aspect ratio that simulates the rock elastic behavior. It employs the assumption of constant rock shear compressibility under wet and dry conditions to predict dry rock behavior. In an iterative procedure, the approach predicts effective aspect ratio, dry frame bulk compressibility and in-situ pore volume compressibility for the each log depth. The shear compressibility input for DEM analysis is derived through sonic and density logs.

Thes technique is implemented in dolomite dominant complex carbonates in the south of the Sultanate of Oman. The model is validated in test wells where excellent match is observed between log-computed PVC and uniaxial core values. It is observed that pore volume compressibility is strongly dependent upon the effective aspect ratio and the porosity. This study delineates this relationship. For comparison, an inverse Gassmann's equation was used to determine dry bulk compressibility and found to highly underestimate pore compressibility.
A Novel Turbidity-Based Method to Determine the Insoluble Residue in Polymer Samples
Authors: Sabhapondit Anupom , Loveless David , Harris Phillip C. , Nanda Jajati K.
Published: May 2011

Water-soluble polymers are used to viscosify water-based fracturing fluids. This facilitates the growth of fractures and the placement of proppants. After placing proppants, polymers are removed to maximize productivity. To achieve optimum residual-polymer removal, it is essential to break the polymer gel to a low-viscosity fluid. Internal breakers or an acid flush are commonly used to break the polymer gels. Any insoluble or unbreakable residue can block pore spaces, leading to lower productivity. Therefore, it is very important that the polymers used for fracturing applications contain a minimum amount of insoluble residues or no insoluble residues.

In the widely used gravimetric method for determining residue, the polymer is first hydrated and then degraded before using gravimetric techniques. A standard gravimetric method takes more than 24 hr for one polymer sample. The accuracy of the results depends on consistency of laboratory techniques, such as filtration and weighing. Therefore, it was considered worth examining if a turbidity-based method could be developed to determine the insoluble residue quickly.

A linear correlation was found between turbidity and acid-insoluble residue of guar. The acid-insoluble residue, after keeping the guar sample in an aqueous fluid at pH 1.0 and 110°F for 24 hr, bears a linear correlation with the turbidity of the solution. The turbidity of guar solution after 2 hr of hydration at pH 7.0 also bears a linear correlation with the acid-insoluble residue. However, the turbidity did not bear any correlation with the total water-insoluble residue.

This study led to the development of a turbidity-based method to determine the acid-insoluble residue in guar after approximately 2 hr. This is possibly the first study to correlate turbidity with acid-insoluble residue in guar and has the potential to be used for other polymers as well.
Devonian Spore Assemblages from the Jubah, Jauf and Tawil Formations at Southern Ghawar Field, Eastern Saudi Arabia
Authors: Al-Ghazi Abdulla , Al-Ruwaili Mansour , Miller Merrell
Published: May 2011

An apparently complete representation of palynozones from D2 through D4B was recorded throughout the studied section. D2 was recognized from interval 1 and is indicative of the occurrence of ?Frasnian-late Eifelian. D3A spanning the Jubah/Jauf formational boundary occurs from interval 2. D3B, which caps the jauf reservoir, occurs within interval 2 (D3A and D3B are late Emsian to Eifelian in age). Palynozones D3/D4-D4A of Emsian-Pragian age are present in intervals 2 and 3 and span the Jauf/Tawil formational boundary. Lochkovian D4B was recognized in interval 3 and suggests the presence of the Tawil. The three lowermost samples from interval 3 were barren of palynomorphs.
When Should We Use Chelating Agents in Carbonate Stimulation?
Authors: Mahmoud M. A. , Mohamed I. M. , Nasr-El-Din H. A. , De Wolf C. A.
Published: May 2011

Carbonate reservoir stimulation has been carried out for years using HCl-based fluids. High HCl concentrations should not be used when the well completion has Cr-based alloy in which the protective layer is chrome oxide, which is soluble in HCl. HCl or its based fluids are not recommended either in shallow reservoirs where the fracture pressure is low (face dissolution) or in deep reservoirs where it will cause severe corrosion problems.

Different chelating agents have been proposed to be used as alternatives to HCl in the cases that HCl cannot be used. Chelating agents such as HEDTA (hydroxyethylenediaminetriaceticacid), and GLDA (L-glutamic acid −N, N-diacetic acid) have been used to stimulate carbonate cores. The benefits of chelating agents over HCl are the low reaction and corrosion rates. In this study, the effect of core length on the volume required to create wormhole was investigated using Indiana limestone cores of an average permeability 3 md and core lengths from 1 to 20 in. Chelating agents were tested at pH value of 4 and a concentration of 0.6M and their performance was compared with that of 15 wt% HCl.

Experimental results showed that the volume of HCl required to create wormholes increased when core length was 20 in. This effect was different from that noted when chelating agent were used. Increasing the core length for chelating agents decreased the volume required to create wormholes in the carbonate cores at the same conditions. This is because of the increased contact time by increasing the core length. Chelating agents can be used to stimulate shallow reservoirs where HCl causes face dissolution. They can be used in deep reservoirs where HCl can cause severe corrosion to well tubulars.
A New Wireline Rotary Coring Tool: Development Overview and Experience from the Middle East
Authors: Rourke Marvin , Torne Juan
Published: May 2011

The prediction of reservoir quality and producibility from petrophysical measurements in carbonates is a well-known challenge. A detailed reservoir characterization requires a suite of petrophysical logs, including imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance, capture spectroscopy for mineralogy, and formation testing logs. These logs are integrated with and often calibrated to measurements made from core analyses. Conventional cores that are cut while drilling are typically time consuming and expensive to acquire; they also require good geological control to pick the required coring depths. Conversely, wireline coring is faster; it provides precise depth control, and core plugs can be selected from a wide range of formations, which would not be practical for conventional coring.

In this paper, we introduce a new wireline rotary sidewall coring tool (RSCT™) device that can be used to selectively drill lateral core plugs from the formation. These core plugs are of sufficient size and quality for conventional and SCAL analyses. Recent improvements in the technology enable better core plug quality by providing digital interactive control of the downhole drilling process, which makes the new tool more reliable and less dependent on the experience of the operator.

This paper reviews experience and examples in which wireline acquired cores were drilled in various carbonate and silica-clastic reservoirs of the Middle East. The cases include carbonates with oomoldic porosity and brittle-fissile shales.
An Innovative One-Trip Optimized Wellbore Solution for Non-Cemented Liner, Wellbore Cleanup, and Sand Screen Placement Completion
Authors: Xu Yang , Duncan David , Paul Darren
Published: May 2011

An innovative optimized wellbore solution (OWS) has been developed to change how the industry completes lower or intermediate completion installations. In an openhole, non-cemented liner and sand screen type of completion, traditionally two trips are required. The production packer area is cleaned, the wellbore fluid is filtered, and fluids are displaced in the first trip. In the second trip, the sand screen with liner hanger will be deployed. Sometimes a third trip is run with a retrievable packer to perform negative liner top inflow test.

This optimized wellbore solution allows for setting the lower completion, cleaning the wellbore, and enabling displacement from drilling fluid to completion fluid in the wellbore in a single trip. On wells where there are concerns over equivalent circulating densities (ECDs), the optimized wellbore solution would include tools to isolate tubing pressures to the formation. This method would use the wellbore test packer (inflow test packer) and drillpipe shut-in valve while conducting the upper clean up and fluid displacement. It significantly reduces operating cost without impacting operating efficiencies.

A number of wells have been completed by this system. One completion was conducted for a major operator west of Shetland. An integral wellbore clean up string, along with the liner hanger and sand screen, were successfully deployed and helped the operator achieve their commercial goal of reducing operating cost. The saving was a reduction of approximately 32 hours.

In this paper, the one-trip optimized wellbore solution will be presented, along with the case history west of Shetland.
A Case Study: Production Management Solution "A New Method of Back Allocation Using Downhole Pressure and Temperature Measurements and Advance Well Monitoring"
Authors: Rasoul Reda Rabiee
Published: May 2011

Production allocation is of utmost importance for optimum reservoir development and production optimization. The need for quality oil, water and gas rate allocation has been increasing for determining the hydrocarbon delivery history for each well. The allocation becomes more complex when no periodic well test, no reservoir pressure recorded during pump shut in period, Malfunction of the pump sensors (Intake Pump pressure (Pi), Discharge Pump pressure (Pd)), Chock sizes per each well are not recorded with time, no surface gas/oil rate measurements or even the majority of well tests were conducted in commingle mode.

This paper presents an iterative methodology for oil and gas rate allocation. It combines the inflow performance relationship and vertical lift performance with real time wellhead data to create the flow model for each well. Furthermore, by combining the down-hole sensor data from ESP pump with Gilbert choke equation using the upstream and downstream pressures, accurate oil and gas rate allocation can be predicted. This methodology provides the hydrocarbon delivery of the well to give the chance for production optimization. This methodology was applied on a field case from western desert in Egypt for oil and gas production rate allocation and it is verified against sporadic well test points
Revisiting Dielectric Logging in Saudi Arabia: Recent Experiences and Applications in Development and Exploration Wells
Authors: Schmitt Denis P. , Al-Harbi Ahmed , Saldungaray Pablo , Akkurt Ridvan , Zhang Tianhua
Published: May 2011

Dielectric logging was introduced in late 70s to mostly measure water filled porosity in the flushed zone independent of water salinity and Archie exponents m and n. Although the technology generated a lot of interest upon its introduction, it eventually disappeared over the years, mostly due to moderate accuracy of the early devices, oversimplified interpretation models and other hardware related complications.

Results from extensive field testing of a new generation of dielectric wireline tools indicate that robust and reliable dielectric logging is now feasible in a wide range of environmental conditions and formations.

Benchmarking of dielectric measurements against other logs and core data has shown that water-filled porosity can be measured accurately using dielectric logging tools, provided the matrix mineralogy is well defined. Consequently, the technology has gained rapid acceptance in applications involving flushed zone water saturation in environments with variable or unknown salinity, heavy oil identification, and discrimination of non-reservoir rock with high organic content. Dielectric logging is gradually replacing NMR Log-Inject-Log for residual/remaining oil saturation (ROS) measurement, especially in the situations where connate and injected water salinities can be vastly different.

Due to the success in ROS applications, most of the recent testing has been focused towards carbonates drilled with water-based-mud. This technology is also being tested in shaly sands and in wells drilled with oil based mud at present.

Additional work is underway to accurately characterize dielectric properties of carbonates so as to be able to perform quantitative textural analysis. In shaly sands, high resolution clay volumes and thin bed analysis are challenges that will be addressed in the future.
Investigation of Polymer Flood Performance in High Salinity Oil Reservoirs
Authors: Algharaib M. , Alajmi A. , Gharbi R.
Published: May 2011

The application of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques is encouraged by the growing demand for oil. Optimizing oil production from current resources is becoming the main strategy for many oil producing companies around the world. Among EOR processes, polymer flooding is an attractive option in many reservoirs. The objective of polymer flooding is to control water mobility inside the reservoir to favor higher oil recovery. Several design parameters are critical for the success or failure of polymer flooding applications. The salinity of formation water is one of the parameters which impose a limitation on polymer flood applicability. In Kuwait, most of oil reservoirs are high water salinity reservoirs. Therefore, improving the performance of polymer floods under high water salinity conditions may unlock these resources which can have enormous positive effects on oil reserves. One way for this improvement is to condition the reservoir under polymer flood applications by injecting a slug of water (preflush), ahead of polymer, with specific characteristics. In this work, lab experiments are conducted in which the effects of several design parameters of polymer flooding are investigated under high water salinity conditions. Design parameters include preflush salinity, preflush viscosity and preflush slug size. The results suggest these parameters correlate differently with oil recovery factor.
Results from Pilot Tests Prove the Potential of Advanced Mud Logging
Authors: Loermans Ton , Kimour Farouk , Bradford Charles , Meridji Yacine , Bondabou Karim , Kasprzykowski Pawel , Karoum Reda , Naigeon Mathieu , Marsala Alberto
Published: May 2011

While traditional mudlogging techniques provide largely qualitative data, the objective of Advanced Mud Logging (AML) is to provide quantitative real time measurements and information in aid of drilling and a complete formation evaluation. Hence, during the past few years, various techniques which before were limited to laboratories, have been adapted for well site usage. Also, the whole surface logging system, from sensors to computer operating systems, have been enhanced.

A systematic comparison of results between laboratory instrument and field version instruments proved that the quality of results does not need to be given up when applying these techniques at the wellsite. At present AML well site techniques thus include (i) enhanced monitoring of drilling parameters, (ii) sophisticated mud gas analysis capabilities, (iii) enhanced cuttings image acquisition and processing, and (iv) several direct petrophysical measurements on cuttings.

We present some results of several field tests done in Saudi Arabia with a dedicated AML unit, where all these new techniques have been integrated. In this unit, next to conventional techniques, such as calcimetry, measurements on cuttings include X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), spectral GR, grain density and porosity.

Examples in each of the four areas mentioned above confirm the potential of AML. AML mud gas analysis gives quantitative compositional HC analysis which perfectly matches results from PVT tests done on subsequent wireline fluid sampling. Also: while the depth resolution of mudlogging measurements, typically several feet, is less than of especially wireline logging, normally sampled at half foot increments, the latest AML NMR measurements have the potential for very high resolution measurements, making it possible to establish the petrophysical properties of very thinly laminated sequences, where normally neither conventional wireline logs nor core plug measurements can resolve those.
An Effective Health, Safety and Environmental Management System for Production Engineering Organization
Authors: Al-Shuwaikhat Hisham I. , Al-Mubarak Yousef A. , Al-Khalaf Ahmed A. , Khan Rafaqat A. , Al-Shuwaier Saud A. , Gazal Mohammed A. , Gilani SyedKhalid M.
Published: May 2011

Successful health, safety and environmental (HSE) management is critical to the oil and gas Industry as no one can put a price tag on human life. HSE performance and business success are interdependent to achieve organizational goals.

Saudi Aramco has created a corporate HSE management system for its organizations to address its own unique operating needs. Saudi Aramco also requested each organization to create its own HSE management systems based on the corporate HSE management system. The Southern Area Production Engineering Department (SAPED) at Saudi Aramco has developed a production engineering and operation HSE safety management system that addresses several safety items, such as risk assessment, operating standards, asset integrity, incident reporting, and emergency handling in 11 key elements. These elements are intended to provide clarity to SAPED personnel on the safety requirements and their roles and responsibilities.

The appearance of this management system is seen as a milestone event and the vision is perceived as the objective. The move to management systems in operational fields recognizes the need for accountability, measurement, hazard management, feedback and priority of resource allocation. The management system deals with valuable human resources and assets including employees, wells, facilities, equipment and vehicles. For effective communication of these processes, SAPED assigned an HSE advisor for each organization and an HSE coordinator for each division to ensure full HSE compliance and implementation to enhance the overall organization HSE performance.

SAPED has established systematic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure meeting specific, measurable, applicable, realistic and time-bounded (SMART) objectives. This initiative has provided positive results, which include improved awareness of the SAPED HSE management system's expectations, improved understanding of SAPED HSE requirements, improved cooperation towards achieving the HSE goals and targets, and lowered accidents and incidents, which ultimately resulted in enhanced HSE performance. This paper outlines the processes, methodology and leading indicators analysis being used by SAPED for enhancing its HSE and KPIs performance through an effective HSE management system.
Internal Multiple Elimination on Land Data Using Inverse Scattering Series
Authors: Sindi Ghada , Luo Yi , Kelamis Panos G. , Huo Shoudong , Hsu Shih Ying , Weglein Arthur B. , Fu Qiang
Published: May 2011

We utilize theoretical concepts from the Inverse Scattering Series (ISS) formulation to develop internal multiple elimination algorithms for land seismic data. ISS-based methods are fully data-driven, therefore, they do not require any subsurface knowledge. Internal multiples from all possible generators are computed and adaptively subtracted from the input data. These methods are equally well suited for pre- and post-stack applications, and are effective even when there is little or no moveout difference between primary reflections and multiples. The performance of the ISS approach is demonstrated using realistic synthetic and field datasets from the Arabian Peninsula.
ARNOVA's Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits
Authors: Jeavons Thomas
Published: May 2011

There are serious gaps in our knowledge and understanding of how public policy at the federal, state, and local levels affects the work of a wide array of nonprofit organizations. On October 4th and 5th, 2010, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Organizations (ARNOVA), with the support and encouragement of the Bill and Melinda Gates, Kresge and C.S. Mott foundations, convened a group of thirty nonprofit scholars and leaders to explore what we know about the impact of public policy on the nonprofit sector. The conference focused on how public policy helps or harms the ability of nonprofit organizations, particularly but not exclusively public charities, to fulfill their missions.
Mode of inheritance of dry matter content in onion (Allium cepa L.) bulb
Authors: Pavlovic Nenad , Cvikic Dejan , Zdravkovic Jasmina , Mijatovic Мirjana , Brdar-Jokanovic Milka
Published: May 2011

Onion dry matter content is very important in terms of processing. The study
was undertaken in order to investigate dry matter content inheritance pattern
in fresh onion bulb. Five divergent onion genotypes, originating from
different geographical areas, have been crossed. Full diallel crossing method
(without reciprocals) was applied in order to obtain F1 and F2 generation
offspring. Field trial including parents and F1 and F2 hybrids was performed
at the Institute for Vegetable Crops experimental plot, Smederevska Palanka.
The trial was conducted in randomized blocks, with five replications.
Intermediate inheritance pattern prevailed for both F1 and F2 generation.
Additive genetic component value was higher than dominant for both F1 and F2
generation, which implies additive effect of genes. Hybrid combination PR x
BB was characterized by the highest heterosis value (11.85%). Better general
combining abilities were confirmed for three lines in comparison with other
lines, whereas special combining abilities were significant for one F1
hybrid. Neither general nor special combining abilities were significant for
F2 generation.
The dynamics of germination and morphometrics properties of Austrian pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) saplings in terms of early indicators of tolerance toward the drought
Authors: Mataruga Milan , Isajev Vasilije , Danicic Vanja , Cvjetkovic Branislav
Published: May 2011

Genetic markers, from morphological to molecular, in function with early
indicators of tolerance toward drought, have been an object of research and
scientific papers for many years. It starts with the hypothesis that
seedlings produced from seeds that were collected from population of
extremely different site conditions, on the level of open pollinated
families, will have different results concerning drought tolerance. By
tracking the dynamics of germination and morphological parameters of
saplings, we are researching the interdependence of these parameters with the
survival and growth of two-year-old seedlings in conditions where there is a
lack of water. Austrian Pine seeds were collected from forty trees,
distributed over five provenances on the Balkan Peninsula. Within each
provenance a group is assigned to an extremely harsh and dry habitat, while
also another group is assigned to prosperous (the most productive) habitat.
The analysis of the twenty-one-day-old seedlings (saplings) is performed in
the laboratory, while the tolerance test of the two-year-old seedlings is
performed in the field. Seedlings that are exposed to conditions in which
there is lack of water, have the coefficient of water formation evaluation
22.59 times bigger than sandy-clay soil with fraction of sand bigger than 60
percent. The results show significant and positive correlation between some
parameters of saplings and the dynamics of growth (high increments) of the
seedlings in drought, but no correlation with the survival of the seedlings.
Recurrent headache and migraine within the family
Authors: Knezevic-Pogancev Marija
Published: May 2011

The aim of this research was to determine risk for family appearance of the
recurrent headache (non-migraine and migraine). The recurrent headache can be
understood as being a heterogeneous state, consisting of some more, still not
found, hereditary disposition factors which altogether, interacting with
surrounding factors give the recognizable clinical picture. The current
heredity concept suggests multifactor heredity. The research was conducted in
Vojvodina, the Northern Province of Serbia. The population of Vojvodina is
around 2 million people belonging to more than 20 different ethnic groups.
During the 20 years period (1988-2008), 30363 children aged 3 to 17 years
were tested, independent of the place of birth. The presence of headaches
similar to those tested was compared among all the members of the family
within three generations. Positive family data of the recurrent headaches was
detected among 98,6% children with migraine headaches, 64,7% children with
non- migraine headaches, and 32,4% children without recurrent headaches. The
relation among the members of the nuclear family (contingency quotient of
0,429) is significantly stronger than the relation to the members of wider
family (contingency quotient of 0,338). The probability of a child having the
migraine headache, and not the non-migraine one, is 0,664 for a mother, 0,644
for a father, 0,411 for a father`s mother, - 0,175 for a mother`s mother,
0,165 for a mother`s father, and - 0,102 for a father`s father having similar
recurrent headaches.