bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Discretization, Simulation, and the Value of Information
Authors: Eric Bickel J.. 
Published: June 2014

Summary
Most decision analyses include continuous uncertainties (e.g., oil in place, oil price, or porosity). Analysts are frequently concerned with how to best structure, compute, and communicate decision models under these circumstances. While decision trees are well suited for discrete random variables with a few possibilities, they become unmanageable for a large number of outcomes. To address this concern, analysts frequently use discrete approximations such as Swanson&#39;s Mean. Previous work has quantified how well differing discretization methods match the moments (e.g., the mean and variance) of the underlying continuous distribution. More specifically, previous work has not included the decision context in which the discretizations are used. In this paper, we begin to address this gap by comparing different discretizations within the context of an information-gathering decision problem. We find that the best discretization is highly dependent on the decision context, which is difficult to specify in advance. In addition, we contrast the use of discrete approximations to Monte Carlo simulation.
Implementing Healthy Lifestyle To Sustain Productivity In Addressing Increasing Business Challenges
Authors: Sukardjo Wahono H. , Wisprayogie Wisprayogie 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Imagine your happiness if your project can be completed timely or even faster at lower cost because your team productivity is kept at 100% or higher. This paper describes how Healthy Lifestyle behavior is consistently socialized and campaigned throughout organization to help maintaining employee’s productivity.
PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia, a Chevron oil exploration & production company in Sumatra, bring its thousands workers entering ‘a journey to a world class healthy lifestyle’ in late 2009. A series of health campaigns and health programs were conducted to bring employees and their families exercising healthy lifestyle behavior in their daily activities. It needs a paradigm shift from curative to preventive investment mode. Certainly, a cultural change and great support from all layers is becoming the key factor of the success of the program. All of those along with best practices and lessons learned will also be described in the paper.
Data statistics show that the patients visiting in-camp company hospital and clinics facilities are reducing from 185,000 visits in 2009 down to 172,000 visits in 2010. Assuming employee who visit clinic will spend his 1–1.5 hour of his productive time, then there is a significant opportunity of productive time can be saved if employees and their family members are stay healthy. As side financial benefit, this will help arresting the increase of company medical cost. Also, employee with healthy lifestyle behavior will harvest good health condition not only during employment but also after retire. In summary, healthy lifestyle will drive a healthy company, healthy retiree and happy family.
The Link Between Safety and Shift Handover
Authors: Brazier Andy , Sedgwick Martin 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Health, safety and environment have always been important to the industry but recent events have brought them to the fore. Accidents such as Buncefiled, Texas City and the Gulf of Mexico spill are examples of how poor shift handover and lack of communication of operational information in particular can be a contributing factor to major incidents.
This paper will focus on the importance of effectively communication key operational data, from the control room through to senior management. It will examine the methods currently in place today for collecting and sharing this data and introduce the concept of electronic shift logging. It will look at real examples from other industries, e.g. Power Generation, of how it can minimize the likelihood of error in the high risk activity of shift handover, through improved communication and information management which in turn impacts safety and accident prevention.
This paper will demonstrate with case study example how new technologies can achieve this by replacing the myriad of paper logs, spreadsheets and disparate databases with a single electronic system designed to integrate information from many different sources in one location. This information can be used across the business to improve safety, reliability, production and environmental performance.
As Infotechnics have an established and successful track record of delivering operational logbook software to customers worldwide from the chemical and power industries as well as oil & gas, they are well positioned to offer knowledge and experience in this paper that will illustrate how the upstream industry can learn from other sectors.
A Comparison of Polymer Flooding With In-Depth Profile Modification
Authors: Seright Randall , Zhang Guoyin , Akanni Olatokunbo , Wang Dongmei 
Published: June 2014

Summary
For stratified reservoirs with free crossflow and where fractures do not cause severe channeling, improved sweep is often needed after water breakthrough. For moderately viscous oils, polymer flooding is an option for this type of reservoir. However, in recent years, an in-depth profile-modification method has been commercialized in which a block is placed in the high-permeability zone(s). This sophisticated idea requires that (1) the blocking agent have a low viscosity (ideally a unit-mobility displacement) during placement, that (2) the rear of the blocking-agent bank in the high-permeability zone(s) outrun the front of the blocking-agent bank in adjacent less-permeable zones, and that (3) an effective block to flow form at the appropriate location in the high-permeability zone(s). Achieving these objectives is challenging but has been accomplished in at least one field test. This paper investigates when this in-depth profile-modification process is a superior choice over conventional polymer flooding.
Using simulation and analytical studies, we examined oil-recovery efficiency for the two processes as a function of (1) permeability contrast, (2) relative zone thickness, (3) oil viscosity, (4) polymer-solution viscosity, (5) polymer- or blocking-agent-bank size, and (6) relative costs for polymer vs. blocking agent. The results reveal that in-depth profile modification is most appropriate for high permeability contrasts (e.g., 10:1), high thickness ratios (e.g., less-permeable zones being 10 times thicker than high-permeability zones), and relatively low oil viscosities. Because of the high cost of the blocking agent relative to conventional polymers, economics favors small blocking-agent-bank sizes (e.g., 5% of the pore volume in the high-permeability layer). Even though short-term economics may favor in-depth profile modification, ultimate recovery may be considerably less than from a traditional polymer flood.
Effect of Dynamic Loading on Wellbore Leakage for the Wabamun Area CO2-Sequestration Project
Authors: Nygaard Runar , Salehi Saeed , Weideman Benjamin , Lavoie Robert Guy 
Published: June 2014

Summary
The most viable options for permanent removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere include large-scale injection of CO2 from stationary sources, such as coal-fired power plants and heavy-oil production, into brine-filled formations. One of the main risks identified with storing CO2 in the subsurface is the potential for leakage through existing wells penetrating the caprock. The wellbore system has several components that can fail and create leakage pathways, including type and placement of wellbore casing and cements, completion method, abandonment, and wellbore expansion or contraction by changes in temperature and pressure. Of the 1,000 wells in the study area near Wabamun Lake, Alberta, 95 wells penetrated the immediate caprock above the proposed Nisku injection formation and were identified as potential leakage pathways. The leakage risk of these wells was evaluated on the basis of knowledge of the well design, current well status, and historical regulations in the area. Only four wells, for the subset of 27 wells studied, were identified as requiring workover, which was less of a problem than anticipated. To evaluate the risk of creating leakage pathways by thermal and pressure changes caused by CO2 injection, a 3D finite-element model was built by use of poroelastoplastic material models for cement and formation. Multistage simulations for casing/cement and cement/ formation interactions with temperature-enabled elements were conducted. A parametric study of cement properties was conducted to investigate cement design and its mechanical properties for injection wells. The simulation results indicated that thermal cooling might reduce near-wellbore stresses, which would increase the risk of integrity loss in casing/cement and cement/formation. The parametric study revealed that the risk of debonding and tensile failure would increase with increasing Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the cement under dynamic-loading conditions. In addition, low mechanical cement strength would increase the risk of shear failure in the cement.
Performance of Vertical Transient Two-Phase Flow Models Applied to Liquid Loading in Gas Wells
Authors: Waltrich Paulo J. , Falcone Gioia , Barbosa Jader R. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Liquid loading in gas wells is triggered when the produced gas loses the ability to lift the co-produced liquids up the tubing. These co-produced liquids accumulate at the bottom of the wellbore, causing a higher back-pressure on the formation which reduces production from the reservoir, and may ultimately kill the well. As this phenomenon is transient in nature, it requires transient modeling for proper characterization of its associated flow features and prediction of future well performance. However, there is a lack of dedicated models that can mimic the transient behavior which is typical of liquid loading.
This paper describes the modeling effort carried out to investigate the liquid loading sequence in a synthetic gas well using a commercial package for transient multiphase flow modeling and two research codes (one for steady-state flow, and one for transient flow). The results of the simulations for the pressure gradient were compared against experimental data. The experimental runs were performed using a facility which has a transparent vertical test section of 43 m in length, and 0.04859 m ID. Air and water were used as working fluids.
The results highlighted the capabilities and limitations of these simulators when evaluating liquid loading in gas wells. While good agreement was observed among all three codes for the modeled pressure drop, considerable divergence was noted in terms of the recognized flow regimes and the modeled liquid holdup. According to the literature and field observations, liquid loading is fundamentally related to the transitions between flow regimes and the associated transient flow mechanisms; thus, miscalculating them would inevitably lead to an erroneous prediction of well performance.
Based on the results from the simulations, the potential effect of mis-modeling liquid loading on flow assurance and production optimization are investigated, and the need for further developments in transient multiphase modeling is discussed.
Interpreting Pressure and Flow Rate Data from Permanent Downhole Gauges Using Data Mining Approaches
Authors: Liu Yang , Horne Roland N. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
The Permanent Downhole Gauge (PDG) is a promising tool for reservoir testing, but has yet to reach its full potential. Generally, conventional well testing methods are most able to utilize small sections of constant flow rate data. However, data mining, a newly developed technique in computer science, is a tool that can reveal the relationship among variables from large volumes of data. The application of data mining algorithms to synthetic and field data has been successful in extracting the reservoir model from variable flow rate and pressure transient data.
The application is conducted in two steps. As a first step, the pressure and flow rate data from the PDG are used to train a nonparametric data mining algorithm. The reservoir model is obtained implicitly in the form of polynomials in a highdimensional Hilbert space when the algorithm converges after being trained to the data. In the second step, a constant flow rate input is fed into the data mining algorithm. The data mining algorithm will make a pressure prediction subject to the input flow rate. As the data mining algorithm has already obtained the reservoir model, the pressure prediction is expected to be the reservoir response given the constant flow rate. Therefore, the proposed constant flow rate and the predicted pressure are the reservoir model underlying the variable PDG data.
Noisy synthetic data and the real field data were used to test this approach. The method was able to recover the reservoir model successfully. Even at the extreme cases when the flow rate data are very noisy and changing frequently, and in the absence of any shut-ins, the method was still able to extract the reservoir models.
A Systematic Study of Oil Recovery Mechanisms from a Fractured and Vuggy Carbonate Reservoir
Authors: Farhadinia M. A. , Chen P. , Delshad M. , Mohanty K. K. , Rodriguez F. G. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Oil recovery from mixed-wet fractured reservoirs are highly challenging due to complicated mechanisms involved in interactions between triple porosity fractures, vugs, and matrix rocks and reservoir fluids. An extensive laboratory program was undertaken to find suitable chemicals that reduce interfacial tension and change wettability in mixed wet carbonate rocks to enhance the rate of imbibition. The reservoir cores were used to test the effectiveness of the developed chemicals in static imbibition cells and coreflood experiments. Using an in-house simulator, we modeled the oil recovery processes and inferred the prevailing mechanisms and essential parameters that contribute to oil recovery. The simulator uses relative permeability and capillary pressure functions that depend on saturation, wettability, and trapping number. A stochastic permeability distribution was needed to match the coreflood results in the vuggy and heterogeneous core. Wettability alteration can contribute up to 10% additional oil recovery based on the sensitivity simulations of the coreflood. Wettability alteration from preferentially oil-wet condition to more water-wet condition is the most prevailing mechanism of oil recovery from disconnected vugs.
Business Risk Analysis Using Monte Carlo Simulation on Macro & Micro Economic Trends (A Case of Fabrication Yard) Economic Trends
Authors: Srivastava Pramendra 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
It has been a challenge for the Operations Managers to analyze the impact of tangible and intangible risks and raise alarms on running projects and/or adjudicate a clear Go or No Go decisions on various investment proposals. This paper presents an innovative probabilistic valuation technique using MS Excel Risksim tools for simulations, wherein, stochastic processof Markov Chain integrated with Monte Carlo Simulations is used in developing Cash flow statements. Simulations running 1000+ cases using randomly changing independent and linked dependant variables were created to discuss the Business Risks and Sensitivities of various Macro and Micro economic factors and their subsequent impact on IRR(s), and Share prices. This study is applicable for currently operating businesses, Greenfield investment decision and M&A candidate valuations.
The case of fabrication yards for construction of offshore structures and platforms is used for illustration, with focus on the financial risks of business operations. Like any other business, Fabrication yard business is also subject to market dynamics and uncertainties, namely, Steel prices, oil prices, coal prices, Market size, Market share, skilled and unskilled labor productivity, Tariffs and taxes, Lending rates, Forex rates, competition, Political risks and of course un-godly events, like tsunamis and Economic Crisis. Most of these factors can be assigned a probabilistic range of variations, while few others may be dependant on them, and indirectly affecting other measurable risk factors, such as Market Size itself. This paper, at the end, estimates P50, P75 and P90 probabilistic values of IRR_asset, IRR_equity and Share_Prices for each scenario, followed by analysis. The result is astounding not only in terms knowing what the real risk is, but also how much?
A New SAGD Well Pair Placement; a Field Case Review
Authors: Jorshari Kamran R. , O’Hara Brendan 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), a tertiary recovery method, has been consistently improved by experimenting with various solutions in both oil-sands and heavyoil fields in Canada. The SAGD process consists of two stacked horizontal wells and is proven technology in heavy-oil fields. Employing the same concept of gravity drainage, SAGD well placement convention has been revisited and challenged many times. Known to the industry, the X-SAGD and JAGD processes are two examples of fit-for-purpose well design and recovery schemes that require unique drilling practices. The Celtic pool, located in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan in Canada is an active Husky Energy Inc. thermal field that includes 21 SAGD well pairs. In this heavy-oil pool, one of the SAGD well pairs (I3/I4) experienced production downtime shortly after coming into service. Following numerous unsuccessful service jobs, several re-entry options were suggested to recover remaining reserves. These included sidetracking the I3 well, re-drilling a new well from the same pad location, or commencing a new well from a different surface location. These cases were ranked and in 2010, based on a drilling risk assessment, the new horizontal producer well (I3A) was drilled close to the existing well pair. The I3A well was placed counter-currently below the exisiting injector well (I4) and successfully set parallel to the abandoned Well I3. Steam conditioning was completed in the first quarter of 2011, and the new SAGD well pair (I3A/I4) has been successfully put on production.
The new well pair was positioned in the opposite direction of a conventional SAGD well pair placement. This paper presents the original I3/I4 pair performance, the challenges, result of re-drilling Well I3A, reservoir simulation study and recent field production of the I3A/I4 SAGD well pair.
Microbial-Enhanced Treatment of Oil Sludge From Oil-Production Plants Using Rhodococcus ruber Z25
Authors: Zheng Chenggang , Yu Li , Huang Lixin 
Published: June 2014

Summary
Oil sludge is one of the most commonly encountered pollutants in oil-production companies and causes serious problems for the environment. In the present study, a novel microbial-enhanced oil-sludge treatment technology is discussed. The technology was able to achieve self-cycle operation by producing the biosurfactant by Rhodococcus ruber Z25 during the biodegradation process of the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and employing it for recovery of the oil sludge. The initial TPH and moisture content were 507 g/kg and 12%, respectively. After the crude/biosurfactant-suspension (CBS) treatment, only 31 g/kg of residual TPH remained in the oil sludge and the oil-recovery efficiency achieved 93.88%. The residual TPH was degraded further by cultivation of Rhodococcus ruber Z25, and a total of 1.27 g/L of biosurfactant was produced. The treated oil sludge contained 1.4 g/kg of residual TPH, and the system in the present study produced no additional pollutant to the environment.
Transient Pressure Analysis of a Horizontal Well With Multiple Inclined Hydraulic Fractures Using Type-Curve Matching
Authors: Al Rbeawi S. , Tiab D. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Horizontal wells with multiple hydraulic fractures have become a common occurrence in the oil and gas industry, especially in tight formations. Published models assume the hydraulic fractures are vertical and symmetric. However, recent studies have shown that fractures are asymmetric and inclined with respect to the vertical direction and the axis of the wellbore.
This paper introduces a new technique for interpreting the pressure behavior of a horizontal well with multiple hydraulic fractures. The hydraulic fractures in this model could be longitudinal or transverse, vertical or inclined, symmetrical or asymmetrical. The fractures are propagated in isotropic or anisotropic formations and are considered as having different dimensions and different spacing. This technique, based on pressure and pressure derivative concepts, can be used to calculate various reservoir parameters, including directional permeability, fracture length, skin factors, and angle of inclination. The study has shown that early radial flow might develop when the spacing between fractures is significantly long.
This paper also suggests new applications for the well test analysis in the hydraulically fractured reservoirs. These applications are focusing on: 1) Evaluating the performance of the fractures, 2) Determining whether one or more hydraulic fractures do not perform properly as designed (closed) and 3) Locating the malfunctioning fractures.
A type curve matching technique has been applied using the plots of the pressure and pressure derivative curves. A set of type curves, which will be included in the paper, have been generated for the inclined transverse and longitudinal hydraulic fractures associated to the horizontal wells with different inclination angles from the vertical direction. A step-by-step procedure for analyzing pressure tests using these type curves is also included in the paper for several numerical examples.
Using Business Planning Best Practices for Career Management and Better Career Decision Making
Authors: Craig DeAnn , Caligari Ruben , Judah Janeen , Hasheem Hosnia , Karim Rashida 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
A career can easily span forty to fifty years. Over that time span an engineer in the petroleum industry will earn several million dollars in income. According to the 2010 SPE Salary Survey, the mean salary for all respondents with 19 years experience was $139,194 with over a 5% salary increase from the prior year. Almost a third of respondents had a car allowance. On the front page of USA Today, May 24, 2011, the headline read "Petroleum engineering majors can grease skids." Further in the article, the projected salary for a petroleum engineering major over a 40-year career was $4.8 million! Associated with the revenue, there will be living expenses and capital investments for items such as house and these will also amount to several million dollars. Each of you will have to make decisions that will impact both revenue and expenses. Each of you is equivalent to a small business! How come more engineers don't make use of established business planning best practices to manage careers?
There are several things every engineer must remember. It is your career and, therefore, your responsibility to manage it. Each of you has the skill set learned through your university education or your industry experience to manage your career. This is a global, interconnected industry and your reputation will follow you from location-to-location and company-to-company. Finally, when you look back on your career, are you going to be happy with how you managed it?
This paper will provide an example of using business planning practices, including decision analysis, to manage a career. There are other ways to manage your career, including just letting it take its own course. Each person needs to determine what approach works best for her.