bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changing Culture and Behaviors in the Appalachian Basin
Authors: Reavis H. C. , Loop Steve
Published: June 2014

Over the past decades major oil companies left the Appalachian Basin, leaving only small independents to operate the mature oil fields. Many of the regions drilling contractors worked under turnkey operations to drill shallow, vertical wells, developing a "get things done fast" working approach.

During the same period of time, major oil companies in the US adopted and implemented the health, safety and environment management system concept. This along with the maturing of OSHA as a regulatory body during the 1990’s drove significant change in the approach to safety and environmental matters. Larger independent oil companies followed suit. The industry began to realize the good safety and environment practices prevented loss and could even be viewed as a profit center.

The discovery of the Marcellus Shale brought major and large independents back to the Appalachian Basin, as they began to acquire regional independents and merge them into their operations. The safety and environmental performance expectations changed as well and service companies were confronted with the need to change their culture and implement process systems.

The work force was not prepared for the increased demand for trained and competent personnel. Those who had worked in the existing oil and gas industry had a hard time adapting to what seemed to be foreign concepts, such as conducting risk assessments, JSA and reporting every incident. While the concept of accountability was introduced, it took time and repetition of the message to make it take root. This is a two-year case study of a company effort to change corporate culture and behaviors, while at the same time growing the business at a fast pace.
An Optimized Protocol to Expedite Pit Closure
Authors: Hoffmann Rob , Conrad Dwayne , Kamath Roopa , Kolhatkar Ravi , Sabadell Gabriel , Douglas Carri
Published: June 2014

Elimination of oily pits is a significant demonstration of environmental stewardship. A methodology was developed to simplify, expedite and optimize remediation and closure of oily pits at E&P facilities. Protocol development commenced with a lookback at over 400 historical pit closures to identify successful practices and improvement opportunities. The protocol was designed to eliminate process bottlenecks, incorporate recent advances in site characterization and remediation techniques, and embody the collective experience gained. The first step of the protocol is to compile an inventory of oily pits. A simple qualitative assessment addressing key drivers of potential risk is then used to prioritize the pits for characterization. Contrary to expectation, the lookback revealed that characterization generally constituted the longest-duration phase of pit closure. Recent advances in sampling and analysis technologies as well as value-of-information prompts were incorporated into the methodology to keep the characterization phase decision driven. Pit inactivation and content removal activities were included as part of the characterization step to enable full access for sampling. The lookback also indicated that two onsite treatment methods were used successfully to remediate hydrocarbon-impacted soil at about 90% of the locations. Simple predictive algorithms were derived to enable desktop evaluation of the feasibility of these two methods for a given pit, expediting remedial decision making. Land reclamation performed after remediation restores the area of the closed pit and renders it suitable for future use. Best practices in backfill profile design and revegetation were incorporated into the reclamation methodology. This paper will highlight the elements which significantly reduced the cycle time and advanced the state of practice.
Integrating Mental and Behavioral Health into Primary Care Clinics to Develop a System of Care Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Authors: Osofsky Howard , Osofsky Joy , Wells John , Weems Carl , Hansel Tonya , King Lucy , Ciccone Anne
Published: June 2014

1. This presentation will focus on the importance of behavioral health services in meeting community, physical and mental health needs.

2. The Mental and Behavioral Health Capacity Project (MBHCP) is part of the Gulf Region Health Outreach Program (GRHOP), covering impacted coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. In collaboration with the Primary Care Capacity Project (PCCP) and other GRHOP projects, MBHCP is tasked with developing a sustainable system of mental and behavioral health care, decreasing barriers to care, and increasing access to care within primary care clinics. MBHCP directly delivers evidence-based therapeutic and supportive services to the clinics with on-site and telemedical psychiatric and psychological consultation and centralized care management. Lending relevance to the work, community surveillance data collected by LSUHSC Department of Psychiatry (the Louisiana MBHCP partner) in the Fall of 2010 and again one year post oil spill revealed increased symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress compared to national norms, with symptom scores higher for individuals directly impacted by the spill. A higher sense of ability to cope or bounce back from adversity was associated with fewer mental health symptoms.

3. Louisiana MBHCP data shows that a large number of clients are being referred by primary care providers for collaborative mental health services. The data show that the integration of mental and behavioral health services into primary care clinics has resulted in significant decreases at follow-up of depression, generalized anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Additionally, a greater decrease in mental health symptoms correlates with a greater decrease in physical health symptoms. Clinic feedback indicates enhanced comfort in dealing with complex mental health conditions.

4. Attention to the ecosystem is of fundamental priority in dealing with the impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. It is important to address the interdependence of the multiple components of the ecosystem and the importance of integration of mental and behavioral health services into primary care. Evidence-based mental health consultations and therapeutic services delivered onsite and with telemedicine can significantly improve physical and mental health of clients. Vicarious traumazation of clinic staff can be addressed, and clinic resilience to future disasters can be increased.
Assuring Safe Transport of Chemicals Land Where Regulations Do Not Exist. Safe Transport of Chemicals Can be Achieved Without Regulation
Authors: Fernandez Carolina Abril , Real Carlos Gomez
Published: June 2014

Being a significant transporter in the Andean, Baker Hughes developed and uses an internal assurance process to ensure chemical mobilization supports the operations of the company, protects the environment (spills), and worker and public safety. Key features of the assurance process include: Specification and Condition of VehiclesDriver QualificationsContractor QualificationsJourney Management PracticesLoad Securement Specification standards

Use of the assurance process, internally and with qualified contractors, demonstrates positive impact to the business: 20% decrease in vehicular accidents during transportation of chemicals.60 % increase in reporting of incidents, demonstrates a shift in local HSE culture, by sub-contractors and local transporting suppliers. Note: In the past such companies did not report spills or problems during transportation until arriving to well site. Today when an incident occurs they inform as the event occurs.30 % improvement with transit control with the contractors, which includes journey tracking, attending emergency calls, monitoring contractor performance, and assurance of JMP (Journey Management Plan) adherence.23% increase in contract companies involved in the process of chemical transportation, with training in HSE standards and practices, quarterly audits to the process and local workshops.

The implementation of this assurance process (driver and vehicle qualifications, training, load securement, etc…) has proven to decrease incidents related to the transportation of chemical products by land.
Using Established Programs and Processes to Transform HSE Performance
Authors: Kraus Brian
Published: June 2014

Few leaders can confidently speak to the quality of safety management across all parts of their operations. Even corporations with the most impressive results have areas they are concerned about. The headline numbers (averages actually) don’t capture the outperformance of the safest operations which compensate for areas with a weak safety culture and poor performance. Of course, HSE functional leaders, keenly aware of divergent performance across their operations, have gone to great lengths to identify the poor performers and get them on board with the program. So why, despite all this effort, do many of the world’s leading companies continue to have serious incidents which everyone realises can create devastating impacts on the business and, of course, on those individuals who happen to be present when it all goes wrong?

This paper describes an integrated approach to achieving zero accidents, in which the entirety of an organization’s HSE apparatus is focused on creating a body of front line behaviours consistent with sustained excellence in HSE performance. It sets out how organisational leaders can transform their performance by better harnessing the staggering investment they make in areas such as control of work processes (which often become little more than tick box routines); HSE training (consider the wasted hours in training which yields little behavioural change); and HSE audit (a burden or source of inspiration?) plus time in the field by front line leaders and responses to accidents which fail to create real change. Much, much more can be made of all of these, but only if those involved do something different with them.

The approaches described are applicable to all E&P facilities/construction projects. The application of the approaches described in this paper have been instrumental in delivering 70–80% reductions in incident rates at oil and gas facilities. Despite spending vast amounts of resources on HSE management, the oil and gas sector, including the industry’s most respected operators, continue to experience serious incidents that create devastating impacts on their people, their stockholders and their license to operate. Much more, can and must be made of the resources focused on HSE.
A Benchmark Study of Current Practices and Tools for Sustainability in Petroleum and Other Comparative Industries
Authors: Schroeder Joanne , Honeycutt J. R.
Published: June 2014

In 2008, E2 ManageTech (E2) conducted a benchmark study for Current Practices and Tools for Sustainability. The 2008 survey indicated that the majority of participants had not reached the "tipping point" in their sustainability program defined as implementing some type of corporate Sustainability Managing Information System (SIMS). It was forecasted at that time that a surge would be seen in SIMS (similar to what occurred with Environmental Management Information System (EMIS) in the late 1990’s) as companies realize that they can streamline their collection, manipulation and reporting of sustainability data to save time and money.

In 2013, E2 conducted an updated version of the 2008 survey, analyzing comparative results from several industries in Corporate America, specifically the petroleum/oil & gas industry. While the predicted "surge" did not occur, the 2013 survey did reveal an increase in SIMS usage; and the challenges of implementing a SIMS have taken on a nuance. Prior to initiating this survey, we had fully anticipated more widespread deployment of SIMS. However, it appears that a lack of clarity and standards surrounding metric definition and a desire for indicative metrics may be what is holding back many companies.

Malcom Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking discusses the ability of scientists to predict with 95% accuracy which marriages will end in divorce over a 15-year period by analyzing during a 1-hour period the sequence of emotional interactions between a husband and wife. The emotions analyzed cover the full range from disgust, contempt, defensiveness, and criticism amongst others. In simplest terms, the greater the occurrence of these negative emotions, the greater probability of divorce. Additionally, the greater the occurrence of contempt specifically, the higher the correlation to divorce. Scientists in Gladwell’s book were able to dissect with uncanny accuracy the leading indicators that would predict_whether a new marriage ended in a divorce or not.
Failure Rate Data: How Equipment Fails, Not Just a Numbers Game
Authors: Pettitt Glenn , Brazier Stephen , Pennicott Philip
Published: June 2014

Failure rate databases provide valuable data for frequency estimates of equipment failures. These estimates can be used as input to QRAs to determine the frequency of various hole sizes and hence various hazardous effects, such as jet fires, flash fires, vapour cloud explosions and toxic vapour clouds.

However, there is currently a lack of accurate information on the actual mechanisms of such equipment failures for both offshore and onshore equipment. This results in a lack of understanding by risk analysts on how equipment may fail, and what may be the likely release sizes and characteristics of a release. This may lead to an over estimation of the level of risk.

Work has been conducted to address the gap that sometimes occurs between risk analysts and engineers where there is little information on the various failure mechanisms for loss of containment incidents. Further work is required to build in failure mechanisms and credible release sizes and orientations into offshore and onshore failure rate databases. If such details were recorded for past failures and for those in the future, this would assist with the credibility of QRA output.
Fatal Injuries in Offshore Oil and Gas Operations: United States, 2003–2010
Authors: Hill Ryan , Retzer Kyla , O’Connor Mary , Lincoln Jennifer , Gunter M.
Published: June 2014

During 2003–2010, the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry (onshore and offshore, combined) had a fatality rate seven times higher than for all U.S. workers (27.1 versus 3.8 deaths per 100,000 workers). The 11 lives lost in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion provide a reminder of the hazards involved in offshore drilling. To identify risk factors to offshore oil and gas extraction workers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health analyzed data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, a comprehensive database of fatal work injuries, for the period 2003–2010. This report describes the results of that analysis, which found that 128 fatalities in activities related to offshore oil and gas operations occurred during this period. Transportation events were the leading cause (65 [51%]); the majority of these involved aircraft (49 [75%]). Nearly one fourth (31 [24%]) of the fatalities occurred among workers whose occupations were classified as "transportation and material moving." To reduce fatalities in offshore oil and gas operations, employers should ensure that the most stringent applicable transportation safety guidelines are followed.
Aboriginal Relations Guiding Principles and Guidelines
Authors: Andrews Wayne , Klassen Chelsie , Searle Hart
Published: June 2014

In Canada, 1.4 million people self-identify as Aboriginal, distinctively represented as First Nations, Inuit and Metis. This total comprises 52 cultural groups, 11 major linguistic families and more than 50 distinct indigenous languages.

The company’s oil and gas production operations and major projects are situated in western and Northern Canada in regions that have an Aboriginal population ranging from 6% to 51% of the total population. With a high density of Aboriginal peoples living in and around our areas of interest, the company recognizes the importance of meaningful engagement to ensure Aboriginal rights and title are respected, relationship risk is managed and the company’s social licence to operate is maintained.

Given these business and social responsibility imperatives, the company created its "Aboriginal Relations Guiding Principles and Guidelines" (GP&G) in 2008. Consisting of five principles reinforced by guidelines in four focus areas, the GP&G represent the company’s formal commitment to how it intends to engage Aboriginal peoples, are a public demonstration of the importance it attaches to Aboriginal relations and are the foundation for supporting plans and programs.
Applying Ecosystem Services Analytical Approaches within Corporate Decision-Making Processes
Authors: Waage Sissel
Published: June 2014

Corporate assessment of the impacts and dependencies associated with ecosystem services is coming of age. The processes has happened quietly, due in part to the 2012 update of the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards, and resulting expansion of due diligence for the 79 banks that have signed on to following the Equator Principles. The result is that a new bar has now been set in terms of expectations of companies and international best practice. This shift may be particularly relevant to the extractives industry in which so many joint venture partners rely on investors who will now consider ecosystem services issues.

For many in the oil and gas industry, however, the question is: How does one undertake an ecosystem services analytical approach?

This paper will describe why and the overall process for how to integrate ecosystem services analytical approach. The findings are based on 7 years of tracking ecosystem services analytical approaches within BSR’s Ecosystem Services Working Group as well as a series of interviews conducted between 2011 and 2013 with corporate pilot testers of ecosystem services analytical approaches. A series of steps are laid out, which can be added to existing processes.
A Risk Analysis Study to Systematically Address the Critical Role of Human and Organizational Factors in Negative Pressure Test for the Offshore Drilling Industry: Policy Recommendations for HSE Specialists
Authors: Tabibzadeh Maryam , Meshkati Najmedin
Published: June 2014

According to the Presidential National Commission report on the BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout, there is need to "integrate more sophisticated risk assessment and risk management practices" in the oil industry. Reviewing the literature of the offshore drilling industry indicates that most of the developed risk analysis methodologies do not fully and more importantly systematically address contribution of Human and Organizational Factors (HOFs) in accident causation. This is while results of a comprehensive study from 1988 to 2005, of more than 600 well-documented major failures in offshore structures show that approximately 80% of those failures are due to HOFs.

This paper introduces a conceptual risk analysis framework to address the critical role of human and organizational factors in conducting and interpreting Negative Pressure Test (NPT), which according to many experts, is a critical step in ascertaining well integrity and quality of cementing during offshore drilling. The introduced framework in this study has been developed based on the analyses and lessons learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon accident and the conducted NPT by the DWH crew. However, the application of this framework is neither limited to the NPT nor to the DWH case. In fact, it can be generalized and be potentially useful for risk analysis of future oil and gas drillings as well.

Along with a series of previous studies, analysis of the developed framework in this paper indicates that organizational factors are root causes of accumulated errors and questionable decisions made by personnel or management. Further analysis of this framework identifies personnel management, communication and processing uncertainties, and economic pressure as the most influencing organizational factors, which resulted in the misinterpretation of the negative pressure test. Investigative studies confirm that organizational factors such as personnel management and economic pressure are common contributing causes of other offshore drilling accidents as well.

In summary, significance and contribution of this paper is based on three main factors: introducing a substantial risk assessment framework, analyzing HOFs as a main contributing cause of offshore drilling accidents, and concentrating on the NPT misinterpretation as a primary factor that affected the loss of well control and the subsequent blowout on the DWH.
Journey Management: A Strategic Approach to Reducing Your Workers’ Greatest Risk
Authors: Retzer Kyla , Tate Derek , Hill Ryan
Published: June 2014

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. oil and gas extraction workers; the motor vehicle fatality rate in this industry is 8.5 times higher than for all U.S. workers (Retzer et al., 2013). This may be due to a variety of factors, including long work hours and long distances traveled, often on rural roads which may lack safety features. There are four main strategies for reducing the number of work-related motor vehicle fatalities: 1) reduce the risk of injury by reducing the total amount of travel, 2) substitute the means of travel (e.g., road vs. air), to reduce the level of risk to the worker, 3) reduce the risks for necessary road travel, and 4) reduce crash severity, thereby reducing injury severity.

Journey management is a promising prevention strategy to reduce the total number of miles driven and to reduce the risks associated with road travel. Journey management is accomplished through company policies and procedures that systematically question the need for trips and select the safest routes, driving conditions, drivers, and vehicles for necessary road travel. Many oil and gas companies have implemented a journey management procedure to protect their workers and assets. As a result of the success of journey management, the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) recommends that all oil and gas extraction companies implement a journey management procedure as part of an overall land transportation safety program (OGP 2011a). However, the application of journey management is somewhat limited in the U.S. and there appears to be a need for more clarification of journey management and the elements of a journey management procedure.

This paper will define journey management, describe the elements of a journey management procedure, and describe the steps to develop a journey management procedure tailored to your company’s driving environment.1
Continuing Development of a Safety Culture from the Ground Up: Building Competencies of HSE Employees to Become Better Business Partners to the Organization
Authors: Acosta S. , Breitsprecher K. , Moffatt R. , Worley A.
Published: June 2014

Traditional approaches to safety culture improvements generally focus on factors such as behavioral safety programs, human error and leadership skills. Programs tend to focus exclusively on the employees and managers. All too often the important role of HSE staff in the development of a safety culture is neglected. Yet, the organization turns to the HSE function for expertise, advice, and support. Thus, it is essential that the HSE organization is competent in technical matters and behavioral knowledge. Neglecting the role of the HSE staff reduces the effectiveness of safety culture improvements. However, when HSE staff is competent and consistently motivating the organization towards a strong safety culture, operational managers, and then supervisors, and ultimately employees will consistently follow.

An HSE technical program for HSE staff was developed, providing core technical and behavioral skills for them to fulfil their roles efficiently and effectively as business partners in the organization. The aim of the project was to increase technical and core non-technical competencies of HSE, thereby accelerating the development of a strong safety culture.

This paper discusses the HSE Technical Academy Program, the benefits to the business, preliminary findings, and critical aspects for success.

It is proposed that increasing technical and core non-technical competencies of HSE staff offers value to our industry as a means to support the continuing journey towards creating a safe industry.
Appalachia Shale Gas Water Management Best Practices
Authors: Beecroft Sean , Svarczkopf Tim
Published: June 2014

Hydraulic fracturing for acquiring shale gas requires a significant amount of water to be used. Sourcing, transport, storage, reuse, and disposal can each pose environmental and social challenges. The hydraulic fracturing industry has been targeted for consumption of fresh water and for the traffic trucks on the road introduce to local communities. Pits used for storage of water can pose an eyesore and require extensive reclamation.

Chevron Appalachia has implemented a number of water management best practices and shares these here. Best practices include storing water in above ground storage tanks, treating and reusing water rather than disposing of water, increasing use of non-potable water, and installing fresh water pipelines rather than trucking fresh water. Above ground storage tanks built to a design standard allow for reduction of potential impacts to the environment during construction and also improve reclamation. Chemical treatment of water can be accomplished in a cost effective and environmentally sound manner that can then enable its reuse, resulting in less disposal volumes and less draw upon other sources of water.

All of these best practices require a workforce dedicated to water management, focus, and acceptance of change. Water management must be effectively integrated from the start of asset development to execute wells in a manner that reduces the potential environmental impacts of water consumption as well as allowing for the delivery of cost efficient wells. Many of these practices have yielded significant cost savings for operators while diminishing potential impacts on the environment. The best practices shared in this paper can be used by other operators not only in the Marcellus shale but also in many other shale plays around the world.
Driving HSE Excellence Through Kaizen Philosophy: The Singapore Assembly, Maintenance, and Overhaul (AMO) Experience
Authors: Leong Weng Fei , Ng Wei Hian , Tan Bee Lin , Gupta Shivangi
Published: June 2014

Kaizen, or rapid improvement processes, focuses on eliminating waste, improving productivity, and achieving sustained continual improvement in targeted activities and processes. This philosophy promotes small, incremental changes and when routinely applied over long periods results in significant improvements. The Kaizen strategy aims to involve workers from all levels and functions in the organization in working together to address or improve a problem or process. In addition to improved operational efficiencies and reliability of products and services, successful implementation of Kaizen also brings about a step change in HSE ownership which is driven to multiple levels of the organization. The journey in implementing the Kaizen philosophy in an Assembly, Maintenance and Overhaul (AMO) facility of a global oilfield services company in Singapore will be examined in detail. The immediate impact of the Kaizen implementation is a tidy, ordered work environment and an optimized work flow for processing equipment. Both have the effect of reducing exposure and risk, and overall improve human reliability. Sustained focus and involvement of employees also helps to shift the HSE culture barometer towards an Interdependent HSE Culture in the AMO facility. Specific initiatives like the 6S program that are part of the Kaizen implementation will be discussed in detail. The successes with Kaizen will not stop at the Singapore AMO facility. Ongoing efforts to expand the implementation to other AMO locations are underway. While there have been early successes, recognizing the varying level of infrastructure and support will provide some notable challenges when driving this philosophy across a multinational organization in the Asia Pacific region. Looking further afield, expanding the Kaizen philosophy into field operations offers exciting opportunities to further drive HSE excellence throughout the organization and perhaps serve as a model for the industry.
HES Assessments of Non-Operated Joint Ventures
Authors: Operational Excellence Audit Group _
Published: June 2014

Chevron’s Operational Excellence (OE) management system is in place to sustain world-class performance across global operations in the areas of leadership, OE culture, process safety, workforce safety, and environmental management. Over the past several years, Chevron has been on a journey to create an enterprise-wide OE culture. Integral to the success of this effort is collaborative engagement with Non-Operated Joint Venture (NOJV) partners.

This paper summarizes the approach Chevron employed to design and implement a process for assessing the health, environment, and safety (HES) capabilities of NOJVs and NOJV operators, which is part of a long-term collaborative effort to support good HES performance.
Discrete Fracture Network Generation from Microseismic Data using Moment-Tensor Constrained Hough Transforms
Authors: Yu Xin , Rutledge Jim , Leaney Scott , Maxwell Shawn
Published: June 2014

Reservoir simulation and prediction of production associated with hydraulic fracturing requires the input of the fracture geometry and the fracture properties such as the porosity and retained permeability. Various methods have been suggested and applied for deriving discrete fracture networks (DFN) from microseismic data as a framework for modeling reservoir performance. Although microseismic data is the best diagnostic for revealing the volume of rock fractured, its incompleteness in representing the deformation induced presents a challenge to calibrate and represent complex fracture networks created and connected during hydraulic fracture stimulation. We present an automated method to generate DFN models constrained by the microseismic locations and fracture plane orientations derived from moment tensor analysis. We use a Hough transform technique to find significant planar features from combinations of the microseismic source locations. We have modified the technique by using an equal-probability voting scheme to remove an inherent bias for horizontal planes. The voting mechanism is a general grid search in the space of fracture strike, dip and location (respectively) with grid cell sizes scaled by uncertainty estimates . We constrain fracture orientations with weighting based on the moment-tensor orientations of neighboring events and their associated uncertainties. Using two case studies, we demonstrate that our automated technique can reliably extract the complex fracture network based on good matches with the event cloud trends and the input moment tensor orientations. We also tested the sensitivity of the technique to event location uncertainty. With increasing location uncertainty, the details of the fracture network extracted are diminished with events grouping to larger scale features, but the general shape and orientation of the fracture network obtained is insensitive to the location uncertainty.
New Processes and Tools for Design and Execution to Optimize Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments in Shale Reservoirs
Authors: Dusterhoft Ron , Kumar Amit , Siddiqui Shameem , Spade Geoff , Schischka Nick , Johnson Bill , Dahl Jeff , Spaid John
Published: June 2014

The use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has been credited for much of the success achieved in ultra-low permeability shale reservoirs, making it economically possible to produce natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil. Although thousands of wells have been drilled and completed using these technologies, there are relatively few modeling tools available to the industry designed specifically for these applications, leaving much of the optimization process to trial- and-error techniques that are costly and time-consuming.

A focused effort to develop useful software tools for industry professionals to better design and more reliably predict well performance has resulted in a new generation of hydraulic fracture and reservoir simulation tools built specifically for these complex well geometries and difficult reservoir conditions. These tools have also been designed to provide information that can enable completion engineers to make informed decisions to help ensure the desired results are achieved and well performance maximized.

The workflow is focused on designing stimulation treatments that maximize the stimulated volume of the reservoir around the wellbore and also maximizes the connected fracture area within this volume. This combination can result in increased production rates while also increasing the possible ultimate recovery that can be achieved from a given wellbore, thus having a significant impact on the economic success of a well and an entire asset.

This paper provides details on these new tools and workflows, as well as the results of early trials that have yielded impressive results, even when applied in an established shale field within the US.
Comprehensive Multiple Fracture Pressure Analysis Tests to Appraise and Develop Unconventional Organic-Rich Carbonaceous Shales in North Kuwait
Authors: Fidan Erkan , Darous Christophe , Bloushi Taha , Pradhan San P. , Singh J. R. , Dashti Qasem. M. , Al-Mutairi Mubarak D.
Published: June 2014

A comprehensive diagnostic data-fracturing campaign (Fracture Pressure Analysis: FPA) was undertaken by the Gas Fields Development Group (GFDG) of North Kuwait in January-March 2013. The campaign involved executing FPAs on the primary zone of interest (Organic-rich Carbonaceous Shale: OCS) as well as underlying and overlying carbonates to establish "fraccability" and in particular the hydraulic frac vertical containment aspect, which are much needed for the successful planning of an appraisal program.

This paper summarizes the resuts of those FPA tests and how the acquired data is used to calibrate the wellbore geomechanical model. This initial FPA campaign is the onset of a more comprehensive evaluation program planned for 2013 onwards. FPA sequences were executed on the OCS, underlying and overlying formations with encouraging results. The main concern was whether the OCS would yield hydraulic fracture (fracture initiation) below surface treatment pressure limitation of 13,500 psi (Maximum allowable surface pressure). The fracture initiation was successfully established in all three zones. In addition, multiple "fracture re-opening tests" were performed to evaluate the ranges of the fracture closure stresses during the leak-off. Multiple down-hole memory gauges were utilized to ensure elimination of wellbore effects on treatment pressure. KCl-laden incompressible water-based fluid system enhanced with friction reducer was utilized in all three stages to ensure minimal friction loss and damage. This formation suite has very complex mineralogical attributes as it is a mixture of clastics, carbonates and hydrocarbons, with reservoirs that can be very tight (possibly at micro-Darcy).

This campaign will lead to an optimal selection among the vertical completion options (hydro-fracturing design), and will help to successfully plan for horizontal well completions.
Enhancing Recovery in Shales Through Stimulation of Pre-Existing Fracture Networks
Authors: Urbancic Ted , Baig Adam
Published: June 2014

Microseismic monitoring has become an attractive option for tracking hydraulic fracture stimulations because, unlike most other monitoring techniques, it can illuminate the behavior of fractures away from treatment wells. However, in most cases, the potential for microseismics in terms of developing an overall picture of fracture interactions within the reservoir is not fully exploited. Based on the analysis of microseismicity associated with stimulations in naturally fractured shale reservoirs, we illustrate how, using advanced seismic signal analysis techniques, namely seismic moment tensor inversion (SMTI) approaches, we can stimulate a pre-existing fracture network. As well, we can identify: 1) the failure type, such as shear or tensile failure associated with rough fracture surfaces, 2) the fracture connectivity related to the number of intersecting fractures in a volume, 3) the fracture intensity based on the developed fracture lengths per volume, 4) the fluid flow pathways and enhanced fluid flow volume as related to the relative degree of open fractures, and 5) the distribution of fracture lengths (power law distribution). Based on our analysis, we identify that most failures observed are mixed-mode failures, typically shear-tensile with either crack opening or crack closure components of failure. The fractures themselves are generally related to the failure of pre-existing natural fractures rather than in the creation of new fractures. Based on the finite sampling (bandwidth limitations), fracture sizes are limited to joint lengths and follow a power law distribution. By examining the spatial and temporal behavior of opening dominated failures, maps of over-lapping zones of potential enhanced fluid flow were identified. In many ways, stress induced fractures during single stages prepared the reservoir for subsequent stages that overall enhanced the interconnectivity and complexity of fractures thereby enhancing fluid flow opportunities. We further discuss, as outlined in these case studies, how, using SMTI, the microseismic data show that the stimulation program as designed achieved its objectives. Overall, we further suggest that these defined seismic parameters can then be used to refine, validate and constrain geomechanical models used as input to reservoir models and further optimize well and stage spacing to effectively drain a reservoir and provide better defined reserve estimates.
Calibration of Well Logs with Mini-Frac Data for Estimating the Minimum Horizontal Stress in the Tight Gas Monteith Formation of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin: A Case Study
Authors: Lopez Bruno , Yu Guang , Aguilera Roberto , Settari Antonin (Tony)
Published: June 2014

The determination of the minimum horizontal in-situ stress is one of the most important aspects in the characterization of geomechanical behavior of petroleum reservoirs, since a good knowledge of such stress is critical in many activities of practical importance, including design of hydraulic fracturing treatments and estimation of the distribution of minimum horizontal stresses for reservoir simulation purposes.

The main objective of the study is to calibrate well logs with available mini-frac data for estimating the minimum horizontal stress in the tight gas Monteith formation, Nikanassin Group of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). For deep formations like Monteith, the minimum stress is generally horizontal. Thus, the focus of this research is the minimum horizontal stress of the Monteith formation.

First, actual values of the minimum horizontal stress at different well locations are acquired from the analysis of surface pressure data during mini-frac treatments. Next, the estimates calculated from an existing correlation and from actual mini-frac data are matched for calibration purposes. Finally, Biot's constant values are determined in order to generate a correlation applicable to the Monteith formation. Vertical Biot's constants ranging between 0.1 and 0.2 are obtained in this study. Horizontal Biot's constant is assumed to be equal to 1.0.

Three vertical wells located in the same township with available compressional and shear sonic logs and mini-frac data are selected for this work. Five additional wells in the same general area are selected to assist in the analysis. The Monteith was hydraulically fractured in isolation in these wells. This aspect is important because there are many commingled completions in the area from which selective Monteith data are not available. It is concluded that assuming a vertical Biot's constant equal to 1.0 is not appropriate for the Monteith formation in the study area. The procedure presented in this paper is robust and has the potential to help obtaining more reliable values in other tight formations around the world.
Stimulated Reservoir Volume: A Misapplied Concept?
Authors: Cipolla Craig , Wallace Jon
Published: June 2014

The interpretation of microseismic data was initially focused on hydraulic fracture length and height, providing an important measurement to calibrate planar fracture propagation models. However, microseismic data in the Barnett shale exhibited significantly more complex patterns compared to typical tight-gas sands. The concept of stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) was developed to provide some quantitative measure of stimulation effectiveness in the Barnett shale based on the size of the microseismic "cloud." SRV is now ubiquitous when discussing well performance and stimulation effectiveness in unconventional reservoirs. However, SRV and similar techniques provide little insight into two critical parameters: hydraulic fracture area and conductivity. Each of these can vary significantly based on geologic conditions and fracture treatment design. Hydraulic fracture area and fracture conductivity, combined with reservoir permeability, stress regime, and rock properties, control well performance, not SRV.

The concept of SRV has spawned numerous reservoir engineering models to approximate the production mechanisms associated with complex hydraulic fractures and to facilitate production modeling and well performance evaluations (e.g., rate transient analysis). However, these reservoir engineering models are often divorced from the fracture mechanics that created the fracture network, a significant limitation when evaluating completion effectiveness. Additionally, the interpretation of the microseismic data and the calculation of SRV are poorly linked to the actual hydraulic fracture geometry and distribution of fracture conductivity.

This paper presents detailed numerical reservoir simulations coupled with hydraulic fracture modeling that illustrates the limitations and potential misapplications of the SRV concept. This work shows that simplifying assumptions in many SRV-based rate transient models may lead to estimates of hydraulic fracture length and reservoir permeability that are not well suited for completion optimization. Two case histories are presented that illustrate the limitations of SRV-based well performance evaluations. The paper concludes that using microseismic images to estimate a SRV may not be sufficient for completion evaluation and optimization. However, the simple calculation of microseismic volume (MV) can provide significant insights to guide fracture and reservoir modeling endeavors.
Acid Fracture Treatment Design with Three-Dimensional Simulation
Authors: Oeth C. V. , Hill A. D. , Zhu D.
Published: June 2014

Acid fracture stimulation generates higher well production but requires engineering design for treatment optimization. To quantify the cost and benefit of a particular acid fracture treatment an engineer must predict the resulting fracture's conductivity distribution. Current practice is to estimate conductivity distribution utilizing two-dimensional models. Unfortunately, these models can misrepresent the amount of acid etching upon which the conductivity estimation is based.

A new modeling tool has been developed to estimate fracture conductivity and is used to evaluate different acid fracture treatment designs. The tool uses three-dimensional flow simulation to resolve acid transport in a fracture. This approach includes resolution of the three-dimensional fluid velocity throughout the fracture, fluid pressure, the acid concentration profile, and the acid-etched width. By using a fine grid in the direction of transport to the fracture surfaces, convective and diffusive transport of acid to the fracture surfaces are modeled. The acid-etched width distribution and other formation information are used to calculate the resulting conductivity distributions for different treatment designs.

The output acid-etched width and conductivity distributions for different acid fluid systems, fracture geometries, geologies, and completion designs are calculated. The industry lacks a reliable tool for acid fracture treatment design. The modeling tool presented in this paper attempts to address this problem with rigorous simulation of acid transport and etching in a fracture. The parametric study illustrates the benefits and drawbacks to this approach.
Improvements in Downhole Chemical Delivery: Development of Multifunctional Proppants
Authors: Duenckel Robert J. , Leasure Joshua G. , Palisch Terry
Published: June 2014

Ceramic proppants can provide the highest fracture conductivity under most conditions relative to natural frac sand and resin coated sands. However, regardless of proppant type or the state of fracture conductivity at the of the hydraulic fracturing treatment, the fracture conductivity and well performance can be impaired and jeopardized by production related events including inorganic scaling (i.e. barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, etc.) or hydrocarbon depositions ( i.e. paraffin, asphaltenes). Current solutions to these post-hydraulic fracture related production problems include liquid inhibitor additions to the frac fluid, solid inhibitor additives to the proppant slurry, post frac chemical squeezes, downhole chemical injection and periodic clean-outs, among others.

An improved chemical delivery method has been introduced which utilizes porous ceramic proppants to function both as a proppant and chemical delivery system. Standard ceramic proppants are manufactured to eliminate internal pellet porosity to the greatest degree possible as the presence of porosity can reduce pellet strength and thus negatively impact conductivity – the primary purpose for choosing a ceramic proppant in the first place. Previous uses of porous ceramic proppants for chemical delivery have in many cases sacrificed conductivity. However by tailoring the type of substrate and degree of porosity present in the proppant grain, an addition of porous proppant to standard proppant can be achieved that does not negatively impact conductivity. This porous component of the proppant pack can then be infused with a chemical – such as a scale inhibitor – to provide a multi-function proppant that provides both designed conductivity and efficient chemical delivery.

This paper will describe how pellet porosity and substrate type can be tailored to avoid negatively impacting conductivity along with the benefits of using a chemically infused ceramic proppant as a vehicle for downhole chemical delivery relative to other established chemical treatment methods. Types of chemicals that may be considered for use in this fashion include scale, paraffin and asphaltene inhibitors as well as others. The chemically infused proppants are designed to facilitate a slow release of the desired chemical in order to provide long term effective application. This type of delivery system has distinct advantages over other approaches to chemical treatment.