Active Field Development Without Harm to Saudi Arabia
Authors: Arukhe James , Al Ghamdi Saleh , Hanbzazah Shadi , Ahmari Abdulrahman 
Published: May 2016

Reliably and responsibly meeting global energy demands is often a challenge involving a delicate balance between environmental stewardship and operational excellence. One such challenge involves the protection of the delicate Arabian Gulf coast ecosystem while developing an enormous hydrocarbon reservoir that lies underneath.

The scope of the paper is to reflect on the lessons resulting from the design and execution of safe rigless activities leading to a prolific field development. The field's development is a crucial element in the company's energy supply strategy with a significant increment to the anticipated production levels. The approach adopted involves the optimum use of limited drill site space for surface well testing equipment layout. The testing methodology involved smokeless deliverability tests with reduced environmental impact. The design considerations include averting uncontrolled hydrocarbon release to the environment through processing and treating for H2S and water on dedicated process tanks. The design included significant improvements in air flow systems and enhancement of crude characteristics for smokeless flare enhancement. Field data of critical variables was continuously evaluated in after action reviews for applicable technology solutions. Specifically, the results include the successful execution of a rigless campaign involving over 60 producers.

Although oil well deliverability testing of conventional producers seems commonplace in the oil field, managing ecological, operational constraints, close well spacing, heat radiation, pollution, and a potential release of H2S to the environment from sour crude requires a painstaking commitment to ensure sound engineering and environmental practices.

Background

The field is the fifth largest oil field but the world's largest offshore hydrocarbon production increment built in a single phase. It is located on the East Coast of the Arabian Gulf peninsula near Kuwait. The 27 man-made islands out of the Arabian Gulf and 41 km of causeway built to convert more than 70% of the field into an onshore field make the field development one of the largest engineering projects in the world. The causeway alone, comprising 14 bridges, 20 km of laterals, and 21 km main causeway was built in conjunction with local and international contractors. Each of 25 islands has about 10 wells for the production of Arabian Heavy crude while two islands are for peripheral water injection to serve as support for oil production. Three docking areas and facilities for supply vessels are part of the offshore facilities. Figure 1 is a section of the causeway. The onshore construction consists of transportation pipelines for the crude, water injection facilities, water supply system, and a central gas and oil processing facility.

Environmental, technical, and business considerations were drivers in the chosen causeway concept for the field. The ecological importance of the field has been reviewed quite extensively (Al-Sulami, Al-Hassan, Daili, Mohammed, Fita, Ibrahim and Hassan, 2002). The field's shallow waters imposed technical limitations on the use of common offshore drilling platforms. The construction of 27 drilling islands would eliminate the need for offshore drilling rigs on the shallow water location. Nevertheless, prior to the placement the islands, the ecological importance of the field in terms of productivity and habitat for fish, shrimps, coral reefs, and endangered species (such as turtles) in sensitive areas, warranted an environmental study involving several marine scientists and divers to ensure optimum water circulation for sea grass and the coral reefs. Therefore, several monitoring programs, including environmental assessments were conducted to assess the impact of the causeway on marine environment prior to the construction location for the islands.