bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Benefits and Challenges of In House Engineering for an Operating Company
Authors: Balfaqih Mohamed , Kataria Ashwani , Farah Ahmed
Published: November 2016

Objectives / Scope

This paper will discuss how the In House Engineering Department, named Technical Centre – Engineering TC (E) within an upstream Exploration and Production (E&P) Company have managed to fulfill the duties of a design consultant and contributed to the long term development of young engineers.

Since 2014, the TC (E) has successfully conducted screening studies, conceptual designs and Front End Engineering Design (FEED) projects of various magnitudes up to 150,000 man-hours.

Methods, Procedures, Process

In terms of schedule optimization the in house engineering department has tremendously helped company projects in meeting its mandate because the tendering cycle usually associated with any project is not applicable. Furthermore, the engineers part of the in house department are company employees who are well aware about the company's requirements, the condition of the assets and in the best condition to add value from any lessons learned related to past projects. In summary, there is no learning curve as part of the projects implementation.

Results, Observations, Conclusions

The cost associated from conducting the In House Engineering is much less than if it will be tendered to an outside consultancy company.

Besides the cost and time benefits, performing the Front End Loading (FEL) Projects by In House Engineering have resulted in stronger compliance to the company's technical requirements since TC (E) are the custodian of the Company's Engineering standards, better governance because the Value Assurance Reviews are done by the TC (E) technical authorities, and more flexibility to project changes since scope variations can be agreed internally between Company departments.

Being a department within an operating company, though, is having its own limitations of fixed organizational structure, inability to promptly acquire resources based on project load and being bound by established tendering and contracting policies has created its own set of challenges. Furthermore, there is some specialized studies part of the conducted projects that needed to be tendered outside due to unavailability of software or expertise.

Though there are challenges in managing engineering activities in an E&P Company, the benefits outweigh these challenges. In-House Engineering is adding value to the Company business needs and provides a fit for purpose and cost effective engineering solutions.

Novel/Additive Information

The novelty of having an In House Engineering department within an E&P Operating Company is adding a value in terms of better resource utilization, cost optimization and compliance to company standards.
Engineering Standard Project Packages
Authors: AL Katheeri Salem Omar , Samad Khalid Abdul
Published: November 2016

Objective:

Development of engineering standard project packages has major benefits in establishing a design baseline project model across assets engineering. This enable bench marking for continuous product improvement process.

This resulted in optimizing resources, achieving sustainable production rate and Key performance indicator due to minimize project life cycle.

Methods, Procedures, Process

The methodology is an engineering approach that creates product baseline for continuous engineering challenges to drive optimum engineering standard project packages.

Result and conclusions

The final conceived product is now currently utilized by all engineering asset. The most significant benefits gained and realized are as follows: Shorten project life cycle. Reduction of 10 - 12 months of tendering and award for Front End Engineering Design execution.Minimize design variances across Assets resulting in optimized design.Support higher management initiative Long term strategy project - Capital Efficiency.Ensure common best practices & engineering procedures are adhered to.Meet production injection targets (for delivering water injection and artificial lift technical packages) prior the declining of wells.

The final conceived product is engineering standard project packages that we have benchmarked with similar oilfield companies. As a result we have yielded skid mounted modular unit that have vast greater advantages than current design. We have achieve 30% reduction in final cost of product from standardizing engineering project packages

Novel

The novelty of the new standard engineering packages project is creating project baseline for future continuous improvement process cycle to achieve optimum comprehensive design.

Hence enhancing project design wll drive better product life cycle cost and ensures inherited values are continuously integrated and inbuilt in final product.
Detection of Failures and Interpretation of Causes During Drilling Operations
Authors: Skalle Pål , Aamodt Agnar , Swahn Isak
Published: November 2016

A majority of the remaining oil and gas reserves are located on continental shelves. Offshore drilling operations are expensive, and the numbers of wells are therefrore held low, and they tend to be long and complex. The number of process failures seen in recent years does not exhibit the intended declining tendency. A failure during drilling operations is defined as the state when non-productive time is occurring.

The motivation behind the work presented here is to advance a specific computerized method for helping the petroleum industry in reducing unwanted downtime. More up-time is needed. The ultimate goal of our research is to improve the drilling process quality and efficiency. This is achieved by first detecting process deviations (symptoms) during the drilling process, and produce explanations generated by a general knowledge model (ontology). The symptoms have been translated into formal concepts and related into cause-effect relationships with errors and failures.

Our experimental system is able to read data from a drilling process and apply the on-line detected and predefined static symptoms to capture a probalistic understanding of the downhole process. We will demonstrate the tool's ability during selected drilling processes to determine which failure type is the most threatening during problem situations and which errors are causing the failure. The failures revealed by the tool on basis of detected symptoms are compared with the reported failure in the field.
Mega-Extended-Reach Drilling to Deepwater Target: What is the Well's Maximum Allowable Measured Depth While Drilling?
Authors: Chen Xuyue , Gao Deli
Published: November 2016

Mega-extended-reach wells (MERWs) can be drilled from one platform to develop the remote surrounding satellite oil & gas reservoirs in deepwater. Though the platform is located in shallow water, some MERWs can be targeted the reservoirs in deepwater. In mega-extended-reach drilling (MERD) to deepwater target, some challenges that may be faced are the presence of low temperature, typically weak overburden sediments, unconsolidated formations and a small sedimentary coverage above the reservoir. This results in a narrow safe mud weight window (SMWW) and a limited well depth for MERD operation. In this work, considering the pressure balance of bottom hole including the thermal and seepage effects, a method for predicting the maximum allowable well depth (MAMD) of MERD to deepwater target is presented. Meanwhile the factors affecting the MAMD of MERD to deepwater target are also investigated. The study shows that seepage significantly affects the MAMD of MERD to deepwater target while the thermal's effect is not very obvious, seepage turns out to significantly decrease the MAMD whereas heating the formation is found to be helpful in extending the MAMD. It also shows that the predicted MAMD of MERD turns out to be obvious anisotropy, drilling in the direction of minimum horizontal in-situ stress in the formation is prone to attain a wider SMWW and a longer MAMD than other directions. Moreover, for a given target zone, the MERD with a horizontal bottom hole has a much longer MAMD than that of MERD with an inclined bottom hole, and the MAMD can also be effectively increased by reducing the annular pressure loss. This work provides a practical tool for enhancing the design of MERWs to develop the remote satellite oil & gas reservoirs in deepwater.
Coiled Tubing Telemetry System Improvements with Real-Time Tension, Compression, and Torque Data Monitoring
Authors: Blanco Diego , Rahimov Khalid , Livescu Silviu , Garner Louis , Vacik Lubos
Published: November 2016

Real-time depth, pressure, and temperature data monitoring is currently available for well interventions with coiled tubing (CT). A recently-developed extension for real-time forces (i.e., tension and compression) and torque data monitoring has been added to a robust CT telemetry (CTT) system, allowing further optimizations in operations such as milling, cleanouts, fishing, and extended-reach applications.

The real-time CTT system consists of a non-intrusive electrical conductor wire inside the carrying CT, surface hardware and software, and three versions of bottom hole assemblies (BHAs) in different sizes: 2 ⅛-, 2 ⅞-, and 3 ½-in. Each BHA incorporates a conductor release assembly, a casing collar locator (CCL), pressure, and temperature sensors, and a BHA release function. In addition, the tension, compression and torque (TCT) assembly has been developed for the 2 ⅞-in. BHA. Switching between applications is as simple as changing out the BHA, which reduces the need to rig-up and rig-down and leads to operational time and cost savings. The main advantage of this system is that it eliminates the downhole uncertainties such that the CT field crew can react to changing conditions, making decisions based on dynamic downhole events and eliminating missed or wasted runs.

Several CTT case studies have been recently presented (SPE-174850-MS and IPTC-18294-MS). The recently developed TCT assembly development and initial laboratory testing results have been also presented (SPE-179101-MS). In this paper the TCT assembly temperature calibration results and field testing are presented showing that combining the TCT data with depth, pressure, and temperature data in real-time increases the job efficiency and control.

The paper describes the TCT assembly and its temperature calibration and discusses the TCT data acquired during the first field trial. The CTT system performance and benefits confirmed during the field trial are presented. These findings outline the predictability of successful operations resulting from using the CTT system and the cost and time savings for operators.
High-Temperature Acidizing: Advantages of Inhibitor-Intensifier Synergy
Authors: Syafii Irfan , Pandya Nisha , Sabhapondit Anupom , Hajj Hicham El
Published: November 2016

High-temperature acidizing operations are challenging because of the highly corrosive nature of acids. Hydrochloric (HCl) acid has an especially high reaction rate, which increases the rate of tubular corrosion. In addition to the type and concentration of acids, factors such as temperature and metallurgy influence the rate of corrosion.

To meet increasing demand for deeper stimulation at high temperatures, emulsified acid is predominately used. It contains acid in the internal phase and oil in the external phase, forming an invert emulsion. The outer oil phase creates a barrier for acid, allowing its slow release for reaction with reservoir rock. Emulsified acid systems provide several advantages compared to plain acid. The oil barrier especially helps with preventing corrosion by significantly reducing the contact of acid with the metal tubular. High fluid viscosity helps reduce fluid loss, distributes the acid more uniformly in the formation, and reduces the rate of corrosion.

Selection of the proper corrosion inhibitor(s) is one of the most important criteria for high-temperature acidizing. The use of intensifier(s) with the inhibitor enhances the corrosion inhibition significantly. This makes it possible to use a higher concentration of HCl acid at temperatures as high as 350°F, thus enhancing the fluid efficiency. In this work, several corrosion inhibitors and intensifiers are studied at varied acid strengths and temperature conditions. To achieve good corrosion control, a synergy is required between corrosion inhibitors and corrosion inhibitor intensifiers. At the same time, they should not negatively impact the emulsion stability. A new emulsified acid system was developed using HCl acid strength up to 28%. High corrosion control imparted by inhibitor-intensifier synergy coupled with the slow reaction rate of emulsified acid makes this blend unsurpassed for use in extreme high-temperature conditions up to 350°F.

This emulsified acid system has the potential for use in the Khuff formation of Saudi Arabia with the addition of a H2S scavenger. Testing with a commercially available scavenger exhibited good compatibility with the blend.
Testing and Characterization of Shock and Vibration Loads to Enhance Drilling Tool Reliability and Efficiency
Authors: Heinisch Dennis , Oueslati Hatem , Popp Timothy M. , Meyer-Heye Bernhard , Schepelmann Cord , Reckmann Hanno
Published: November 2016

This paper presents an investigation of true downhole dynamic conditions through improved testing methods and a new measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tool. Shock loads may cause severe damage to bottomhole assembly (BHA) components. Consequently, characterizing the shock loads and analyzing their distribution within drilling tools produces information for the design process that can improve tool reliability and efficiency.

The difference between shock loads and traditional dynamics is rarely discussed within the drilling industry, so this paper first introduces a mathematical description of shocks. Experimental shock and vibration tests are used to investigate the shock and vibration loads experienced by full-scale downhole drilling tools. The test rigs for this effort enable testing of full-scale drilling tools as long as 10 m and a maximum weight of 2 tons. Testing of entire drilling tools, and the emulation of downhole conditions, enables realistic dynamic loading and an analysis of the interaction of tool internal components. These results are not possible when testing single components on a vibration table. During the tests, acceleration sensors positioned at several locations on the outside of the tool body measure the shock amplitude. Simulation models enable analysis of the load distribution within the tested tool. Depending on the simulation results, the reliability of all internal components can be ensured. If necessary, further design improvements are initiated.

The simulation models are validated and improved with data from experimental modal analyses of the test rigs and the tested tools. Identifying uncertain parameters for complex dynamics simulation models is a particularly challenging task. Results from the shock tests are compared to the simulation results for additional validation because shock loads, in contrast to typical vibrational loads, are transient. Shock and vibration tests also serve to evaluate the capabilities and limits of current MWD tools in terms of sampling rate and sensor range. A newly developed MWD tool for dynamics measurement was tested, evaluated, and optimized using this testing process.

The tests and simulations enable optimization of drilling tools for shock and vibration loads. In contrast with the limitations of historical measurements, enhanced dynamics-measurement capabilities with higher sampling rates and extended sensor ranges provide increased data quality and better characterization of downhole shock and vibration loads. This improved understanding of drilling dynamics loads leads to reliability enhancement and cost optimization by reducing shock and vibration-related tool failures.
Harmless Treatment Technology of Oily Cuttings
Authors: Li Guanghuan , Ma Hong , Long Tao , Huang Daquan , Tian Zengyan , Zhang Aishun , Wang Weizhong , Hou Shili , Gong Chunwu
Published: November 2016

Oily cuttings are hazardous wastes containing oil, hydrocarbons and heavy metals, which generate a significant risk to human and enviroment without appropriate treatment. The common treatment, including heating, burning, microbiological degradation and so on, are not fast and effective enough to solve the pollution problem caused by oily cuttings. This article provides a method with higher efficiency and lower cost. An intelligent cleaning agent, synthesized for cleaning oily cuttings, is easy to dissolve in water and makes oil and water easily emulsify during cleaning process, so as to achieve the purpose of removing oil. By adjusting the pH, the emulsion will be automatically demulsified after statis, and then the oil and water are separated from each other, which simplify the progress of treatment. Ultrasonic technology is assisted to clean the oily cuttings, which effectively reduces the amount of cleaning agent and increases the treating efficiency of the cleaning agent. In this paper, the effects of the cleaning agent dosage, heating temperature and ultrasonic time on the deoiling ratio are analyzed. The oil recovery rate is above 90% with the dosage of 7.5g/L oil cleaning agent under the 55 °C and 10 minutes. The recovered oil has good quality and meets the demand for preparation of oil-based drilling fluid. The residual wastewater, including the cleaning agent, can be reused as cleaning liquid by adjusting the pH to neutral and adding fresh cleaning agent. This technique improves the treating efficiency of oily cutting and greatly lower the cost, which would have a high value to popularize.
New Ideas and Approach to Engineering in Brown Fields- A Case Study on Instrumentation in Offshore Projects
Authors: Vasudevan M. , Shabaka Ashraf , El-Sawah Mohamed , Moro Sudhakar A. , AL-Obeidli Ibrahim
Published: November 2016

A trend already emerging is that companies are putting greater emphasis on ‘doing the right project' which means more focus on quality decision making, feasibility studies and pre-FEED activities. In the current challenging economic environment, Maximizing production from existing assets is becoming the utmost priority and hence brownfield modification projects are being vigorously being pursued worldwide. Remote locations and/or challenging environmental conditions mean that any modification to an existing facility requires meticulous investigation and planning. There is no substitute for early and focussed engineering work to drive towards an optimal cost and schedule.

This paper provides insight into the how ADMA's planning in Automation in Brownfield projects has ensured productivity and cost effectiveness in recent project delivery.

Brownfield production expansion projects differ greatly from Greenfield work. Greenfield topsides facilities can be engineered to be discrete, self-contained modules, capable of being lifted in place onshore and transported as part of an integral floating structure or floated offshore to be lifted into their final position.
Interpreting Total Organic Carbon TOC in Source Rock Oil Plays
Authors: Steiner Stefan , Ahsan Syed Asif , Raina Ishan , Dasgupta Suvodip , Lis Grzegorz P.
Published: November 2016

Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is a critical parameter to determine reservoir quality of any source rock play. Carbon is present in all organic components of a rock, namely, kerogen, bitumen and hydrocarbons. However, properties like maturation of the organic matter and hydrocarbon type influence TOC measured on both core or determined from logs. TOC in a gas-bearing source rock play mostly denotes carbon associated with kerogen as carbon density of gas is generally too low to be detectable. In an oil bearing source rock play, TOC is a mix of kerogen, bitumen and liquid hydrocarbon.

In this paper, we investigate TOC as a combination of 1) Kerogen Hosted Carbon, and 2) Extractable Organic Matter (EOM). The value of using individual organic matter components in petrophysical modeling and its impact on results is presented using examples from an oil window source rock play in the Middle East. A critical examination is carried out of the different log-based TOC methods and their sensitivities to different organic carbon constituents. With a focus on oil window plays, recommendations are provided on core-log calibration.

Simple qualitative methods utilizing rock pyrolysis results and log-based TOC estimation methods to evaluate reservoir quality are presented. Such an analysis is particularly useful to source rock plays in the oil window.

Rock-Eval pyrolysis is commonly used to estimate maturity in unconventional plays. However, for plays in the oil window, maturity estimation can be hampered due to Tmax suppression in the presence of bitumen (e.g., Snowdon 1995; Souza et al. 2014). Results of a source rock oil play from the Middle East are presented along with recommendations on removing the effects of Tmax suppression to achieve a representative maturity assessment.
Increased Oil Recovery by Application of Plasma Pulse Treatment
Authors: Pashchenko A. F. , Ageev N. P.
Published: November 2016

Advanced technology of increased hydrocarbons recovery – Plasma Pulse Treatment (PPT) is presented. The explanation of physical impact on the reservoir is given. Examples of laboratory studies and field-testing observed.

The physical bases of the PPT are periodic pulses of equal strength, spaced with equal time intervals by discharge current passing through a metal conductor. Shock wave, formed by the explosion of conductor, is propagating radially with supersonic speed, gets out through the perforation holes and provides an elastic compressive and tensile impact on the media. Low frequency waves, propagating deep into reservoir, contribute to the development and formation of new cracks, as well as the transformation of sub-capillary pores into capillary, causing the liquid moves from stagnant zones and channels to the zone of active drainage.

The paper presents the description of the physics of a process as well as some calculations and estimates of observed technical parameters. Some estimates and calculations, given in the paper, are based on the principles of nonlinear physics and fluid dynamics.

Laboratory studies confirmed substantial changes after PPT application both in oil samples (resulting in viscosity reduction) and core samples (increase of permeability).

Microseismic studies, carried out on the field, registered the propagation of waves, created by PPT, on a distance of over 1.3 kilometers away from a treated well.

Number of well studies both production and injection ones is presented, showing the long lasting effect of treatment. The overall analysis of over 300 treated wells is given, proving the high efficiency of Plasma pulse technology. Technology, presented and described in the paper, allows increasing the productivity of hydrocarbons wells and involving the reserves of residual and unrecoverable oil into production.
Minimizing Cost of the Learning Curve for NOCs in Unconventional Delineation and Development
Authors: Walser Doug , Ranjan Priyesh
Published: November 2016

During the previous 14 years, North American unconventional reserve delineation activities have resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in capital spending. Development of the accompanying defined reserves has generally been a recent occurrence; in most established plays, the typical wellbore has been associated with field development rather than delineation.

Approximately 102,000 horizontal wells have been drilled and completed in North America since 1990, at an industry cost of approximately USD 750 billion. However, there is a clear trend toward continuous improvement in both process and production response. Much of the learning curve has been based on trial-and-error (T&E) activities, rather than the deliberate acceptance and integration of upfront measurements with the application of physical realities and rigorous peer-reviewed algorithms, concepts, and practices.

During the early history of hydrocarbon extraction, operators experimented with various vertical well drilling and completion (D&C) processes to maximize production and optimize net present value (NPV). Given the steep learning curve that the North American industry has experienced and the significant D&C capital cost of a single unconventional well, it is no longer prudent for national oil companies (NOCs) outside North America to repeat the pattern of historical experimentation to achieve equivalent (or better) efficiencies and results.

This paper offers a number of suggestions and concepts that can be applied to dramatically shorten the learning curve and minimize capital expenditures associated with efficient extraction of ultralow-permeability hydrocarbon reserves. North American parameters that have clearly impacted performance (parallel lateral spacing, fracture spacing along a lateral, total exposed conductive fracture surface area, decreasing proppant diameter, lateral length, etc.) are examined. The quantitative value of applying rigorous reservoir modeling, intensive study of historical practices, and upfront measurements, such as far-field fracture mapping, near-wellbore (NWB) production flow-splitting, and long-term diagnostic shut-in testing, is then estimated by examining the cost of error in delineating and developing a given acreage position.
Multistage Horizontal Hydraulic Fracture Optimization Through an Integrated Design and Workflow in Apollonia Tight Chalk, Egypt from the Laboratory to the Field
Authors: Salah Mohamed , Orr Doug , Meguid Ahmed Abdel , Crane Brady , Squires Scott
Published: November 2016

The key challenge in unconventional gas plays covering vast geographical areas is locating the regions in the reservoir with the highest combination of reservoir and completions quality. This allows operators to evaluate not only the richness of their resource but also the ability of the reservoir to produce hydrocarbons in commercial quantities.

This paper discusses hydraulic fracturing designs targeting tight gas in horizontal wells drilled in the Apollonia tight chalk formation in the Abu-Gharadig basin, Western Desert, Egypt through the integration of laboratory, geological, petrophysical, geomechanical, fracture simulation, and diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT) analysis.

Laboratory testing, which included scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), was conducted to determine mineralogy and potential damage mechanisms. Fracturing fluid chemistry was tested and optimized using core plugs from representative reservoir rock (fracture conductivity, fracturing fluid compatibility, surfactant type, fracture regain permeability, and scale tendency).

Geomechanical rock properties derived from advanced petrophysical analysis of newly acquired high-definition triple-combo full-wave sonic logs and core samples were combined with geological parameters and potential treating schedules to develop sophisticated fracture simulation models. These models were then refined with in-situ reservoir data obtained from DFIT analyses to derive the final fracturing treatment design.

The stimulation model was built using a three-dimensional (3D) geological model with multidisciplinary inputs, including formation properties, in-situ stresses, natural fractures, and completion parameters (i.e., well orientation, stage and perforation cluster spacing, fluid volume, viscosity, and proppant volume, size, and ramping schedule).

The integration of all available data resulted in an optimized fracture design that helped reduce both cost and formation damage, thus improving flowback, long-term productivity, and profitability from this tight formation.
Preventing Catastrophic Failure by Timely RCA Intervention & Fault Restoration.
Authors: Rashad Hatem
Published: November 2016

This RCA case study has been initiated before the Gas Turbo generator failure took place by timely intervention when the Gas Turbine incident alarm triggered.

Root cause analysis (RCA) process was introduced in ADGAS back in 2004, the process was designed to ensure the elimination of defects and incidents with an integrity exposure or causing production losses from repeating by identifying the root cause and putting in place robust actions to ensure incidents don't reoccur. The RCA process enabled ADGAS to put in place a practical methodology for the initiation and execution of an investigation to resolve an incident that could cause a significant loss in production, Loss of functions and / or process contamination, an integrity risk or a repetitive problem that had to be eliminated. The RCA findings would have to undergo a review before the findings and actions are approved and issued.

LG6 Gas Turbine is generating 1/3 of Das Island electrical power and very critical for ADMA / ADGAS production sustainability. In May2011 LG6 encountered a severe failure of its Gear Box, entire mechanical package misalignment, load coupling compression, severe foundation tilting and load gear box tilting. The inspection findings revealed a high risk of coupling destruction and production losses. Risk assessment highlighted that if the coupling damage while machine running, it could cause a flying objects to surrounding by 30.5 meters away and 4 meter width.

This RCA case study has been initiated before the LG6 power generation Gas Turbine failure took place by timely intervention when the Gas Turbine incident alarm triggered. Risk has been assessed and decision made to shut down the machine immediately for site investigation and remedial actions. RCA team members faced a big challenge to get the machine back in service safely and efficiently as soon as possible to save the plant production and avoid bad reputation of partial electrical power off- black out. This also saved a company a rental fees of pack up power generation unit (estimated 24 MM US$ for two years) and assure providing of the required power to keep the operation of LNG, OAG trains and commission of IGD projects on time with no power shortage.

This project resulted in significant potential enhancements for all of the ADGAS Turbo machinery units through the innovative application of a proven root cause analysis and remedial actions to identify the truly underlying "root causes" of incidents and developing sustainable repairs. Using a fault tree analysis process this project successfully identified 85 critical possible causes for the rare Frame 5 Gas turbine fault, eliminate by verification one by one pinpointed the cause of failure and developed a repair actions that prevent failure reoccur.
Design Optimization Challenges During Detailed Engineering: EPC Contractors' Perspective
Authors: Haider Abbas , Singh Bhupinder , Singh Harendra , Kamal Faris Ragheb , Takieddine Oussama
Published: November 2016

The successful completion of Detailed Engineering is influenced by the timely acceptance of design changes proposed by Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) Contractors during design development. EPC Contractors develop the Front End Engineering & Design (FEED) design based on detailed engineering data. A key challenge faced during Detailed Engineering is that Companies tend to be unfavorable towards the design optimization proposals by EPC Contractors. This paper attempts to discuss some of the challenges based on examples from projects executed in the recent past.

During Detailed Engineering, multiple design reviews are held by the EPC Contractor, together with the Company. During these reviews, all design changes, i.e. additions and deletions from the FEED design, are discussed. While the approach that Companies have towards design additions is encouraging, the same cannot be said towards design optimization proposals that EPC Contractors attempt to bring out. More often than not, Companies insist that EPC Contractors follow the FEED design, even though the proposed optimizations offer improved design.

EPC Contractors develop the design, based on detailed design data, including data from vendors and results from specialized engineering studies etc., which are not available at the FEED stage. Therefore, EPC Contractors are better equipped to analyze the design optimization opportunities. Even though EPC Contractors are responsible for the detailed design and performance guarantees of the project facilities, they are often forced to forego their optimized designs, and use the designs developed at the FEED stage. This raises the fundamental question of defining the basic objective behind "Design Development", i.e. whether EPC Contractors should explore design optimization opportunities, or simply follow the design as received from the FEED stage.

NPCC, as a large EPC contracting Company, is involved in many onshore / offshore oil and gas projects, and has experienced a variety of design development challenges during Detailed Engineering. The paper highlights the design optimization challenges faced during the execution of recent projects and consequences thereof. The paper also proposes measures to effectively handle design development issues, which will provide benefit to all stakeholders.
Deepest Section Drilled Successfully to TD Using an Advanced Air/Foam System in Highly Fractured Formations of Cretaceous Age in Sulaiman Fold Belt, Pakistan – A Case History
Authors: Ashraf Qasim , Khalid Ali , Nusair Mohd. Khair , Luqman Khurram , Hussain M. , Channa Munsif H.
Published: November 2016

This paper reviews the case history of the deepest section drilled using a specially designed air/foam system in the highly fractured carbonates of "Fort Munro & "Parh" in Kup well-1 located in the Sulaiman Fold belt of Pakistan. These carbonates presented numerous drilling challenges in the well. While drilling with a conventional mud system, total incurable losses were encountered. The client attempted to cure losses by conventional means of LCM pills and cement plugs but total losses were continually encountered after drilling just a few meters with conventional drilling fluid. To address the tedious problem of lost circulation, a design of an advanced air/foam system was considered to be used for further drilling.

The paper starts off by discussing the challenges associated with drilling such a deep section with an air/foam system, and how an advanced and more sustainable foam system was designed. Numerous challenges were associated with designing a foam system for the subject well. First; the depth of the section was till 2300 m which would require a foam system to be able to bear its own hydrostatic head, second was the higher than normal formation temperature of 225 deg F which would drastically harm foam quality, and the third & last was that the designed foam system would be able to clean the hole properly at higher drilling rates compared to conventional drilling. The paper will then also present the methodology for job execution and finish off with the delivered results and conclusions.

To summarize, an advanced air/foam system was designed to mitigate total loss of circulation encountered in these carbonates of cretaceous age in Sulaiman Fold Belt of Pakistan. The advanced air/foam system allowed the operator to drill that part of the well to desired depth and successfully cased the troublesome formations. Besides curing the total losses in the subject formations, the operator was able to achieve an ROP which was five times the ROP compared to conventional drilling in the same formations. This paper will highlight the design process used to devise an advanced air/foam system that enabled to drill these carbonates of "Fort Munro" and "Parh" formations in the well. The paper will be targeted towards presenting the design objectives, the onsite execution, and the lessons learned in developing an advanced air/foam system for the well. This will aide in the efficient designing of operations for upcoming wells with similar problems even anywhere else.
NPCC Experience in Fire & Gas Detectors Selection and Layout for Oil & Gas Facilities
Authors: Ali Mariam Abdalla , Jha Ajay Nandan , Singh Harendra , Kamal Faris Ragheb , Takieddine Oussama
Published: November 2016

A reliable fire and gas detection system is vital for early detection of potential hazards and prevents escalation to catastrophic consequences by alerting the operator to take appropriate timely actions and initiating relevant automatic actions; it is more emphasized for relatively congested offshore facilities having limited means of safe personnel evacuation from toxic exposure/explosion hazards. To achieve a reliable fire and gas detection, it is essential to have a robust fire and gas detection system and strategic detectors placement.

There are industry standard guidelines which propose suitable types of fire and gas detectors and provide advice for selection and placement. In addition, fire and gas mapping tools are becoming popular means to justify the correct location of fire and gas detectors. Rapid evolution to fire and gas detection technology has further contributed to the design challenges impacting detector quantity and its associated downstream system design. Ambiguities in Codes & Standards and the approach adopted during various stages of the project often cause over design and burden to Company.

NPCC has experienced variety of challenges and lessons learned in fire and gas detectors selection and layout during EPC stage executed in the recent past. In one project, open path gas detectors suggested at FEED stage were changed to point type gas detectors during the EPC due to multiple cases of line of sight obstruction in the offshore platforms which resulted in a 4 fold increase to gas detector quantity. In another project, fusible plugs were considered during the FEED stage, to detect fire on unmanned well pads. However during EPC, fire and gas mapping study suggested using UV/IR type flame detectors as the fusible plugs cannot be considered for area coverage in the mapping study. This resulted in an additional 116 flame detectors besides the fusible plug type fire detectors. Finally, in another case, fire and gas mapping study during FEED stage suggested using HC detectors to monitor H2S leak at stoichiometric concentration. However, during EPC, it was recommended to use separate HC and H2S gas detectors resulting in doubling of the number of gas detectors.

In conclusion, careful use of available technology and finalization of F&G detection philosophy at early stage of project is the first step for cost-effective solutions. Secondly, close coordination with the Consultant performing the mapping study to avoid unnecessary detectors is required. This paper attempts to outline the challenges and ‘Lessons Learnt’ by EPC Contractor for fire and gas detectors selection and placement. Finally, the paper proposes a way forward for effectively handling the same.
Design a Multiport Completion with Inflow Control Devices: Hydraulic Modeling to Meet Financial Function Optimization in a High Water Cut and CO2 Environment
Authors: Kais R. , Bustamante N. Gomez , Elarabi A. F.
Published: November 2016

The Midale field, located in Saskatchewan, Canada, is one of the largest water-alternate-gas (WAG) injection operations in the world for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Wells are normally completed across the three main oil horizons of the Marly formation (M1, M2, and M3), with production from all three zones being commingled. Horizontal producers and injectors are openhole wells, whereas vertical wells are usually casedhole. After years of operation, the WAG injected fluids started to communicate from injectors toward producers, resulting in high water and CO2 cuts and making oil production optimization and recovery more challenging. A new completion was envisioned to improve the oil producers’ rates and overall EOR performance. A casedhole vertical well was selected for upgrading into a new adaptable multiport completion, designed to give independent control of each zone. This new completion was designed considering the challenges of the produced fluids, as well as the interaction between each port, the nozzle size of each inflow control devices (ICD), and the financial impact of producing higher rates under the current (2015–2016) market, which is challenged by low oil prices.

The engineering analyses used a steady-state hydraulic well model and a compositional fluid model to consider the impact of the CO2 operating in near critical conditions. Production well tests and laboratory analysis were used to tune the hydraulic well model and the fluid model, respectively. The optimization workflow used the ICD nozzle sizes as decision variables for each port of the new completion, and the financial function, which used reference prices for oil and handling costs for gas and water as coefficients, was maximized by a numerical mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) solver for each case of study. The ICD nozzle sizes were selected for each port of the new completion, based on the hydraulic performance of a series of possible production scenarios, the optimization of the financial function, and the available settings of the ports.

This paper presents the results of an integration of production test separator data, production logging test (PLT) surveys, fluid pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) data, equation of state (EOS) fluid models, hydraulic models, and optimization solvers. These data and models enabled engineers to analyze several possible ICD designs to maximize financial gain.
Reservoir Characterization while Drilling; A Real Time Geosteering Answer to Maximize Well Values. A Case Study, Offshore Abu Dhabi.
Authors: Serry A. M. , Herz U. , Tagarieva L.
Published: November 2016

The objective of this case study is to show the value of the NMR real-time log data, acquired while drilling, for reservoir characterization as a lithology independent porosity logging solution and most important for permeability computation.

The applied methods are being discussed with much focus on the added value of the transverse relaxation time T2 spectrum analysis in a highly heterogeneous, upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir, to characterize the pore size distribution while geosteering the wellbore to track the better quality pore systems and generate a real-time permeability profile, supporting the later advanced completion run for the first time, in this offshore field.

The current field development plans are based on drilling multi-lateral horizontal and highly deviated wellbores along the layers of Reservoir-D to enhance the injection and production efficiency. Running radioactive-based porosity logging tools with such complicated well trajectories poses a high operational risks and collide with environmental regulations, this paper presents a case where nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as a source-less porosity logging device, run with the conventional resistivity-gamma ray logging while drilling combination achieved effective real-time formation evaluation and supported efficient well placement to maximize the reservoir contact.

The NMR formation evaluation supported the design of the following Inflow Control Device (ICD) well completion operation for water injection, in a timely effective process, later validated with production logging data. The application is focused on maximizing the value of the real-time LWD (NMR) data for the time-critical (ICD) design and deployment in the highly deviated/ horizontal drains drilled, offshore Abu Dhabi.
Minimize Shaking Maximize Process Safety
Authors: Locharla Haribabu , Narayanan Sathyanath , Awadhi Ibrahim Al
Published: November 2016

Integrity of piping systems is critical for the safe and reliable Plant operations. Shaking or Vibration of piping systems pose potential threats to plant safety and integrity. In GASCO plants, vibrations were observed in some systems such as piping carrying two-phase flow, high pressure lines, piping associated with compressors / pumps, etc. Minimizing the pipe shaking to maximize the process safety through a systematic approach will result in economical, efficient, safe and time bound advantages.

This paper presents GASCO's approach in resolving piping vibrations and mitigating the risks to plant operations.

Studies were carried out to investigate the root cause and recommend required remedial measures. Walkthrough along the piping system was carried out to identify locations of high vibrations and to detect any mechanical abnormalities as first step. Process conditions were also verified for any upsets. This was followed by measurement of vibration parameters such as amplitudes, frequencies and accelerations. The data collected was analyzed and level of vibrations were classified as critical and non-critical based on recommended limits as per relevant industry standards.

For the critical systems, detailed process studies / piping stress analysis were carried out by simulating actual piping vibration taking various excitation sources and as-built conditions into consideration. Theoretical results were compared with field data and were found to be consistent. In order to limit the vibrations within permissible values, necessary measures were recommended.

Based on recommended modifications, revised piping stress analysis was carried out to ensure vibrations are within design limits. Implementation packages were prepared to execute the suggested remedial measures. Post-implementation vibration measurements were taken and observed to be comparable to design values and within permissible limits, thereby ensuring plant safety and integrity.

Less attention paid to piping vibration during initial design phase, probably due to lack of clear and precise codes and standards, was found to be the main reason for piping vibrations. GASCO recognized the need for documenting the above best practices to address piping vibrations. The Guidelines are developed to identify/classify the severity of vibrations and the way forward to tackle the piping vibration issues which can be used by site personnel.