bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Relationship of Telluric Currents to the Corrosion of Warm Arctic Pipelines
Authors: Sackinger W. M. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
Warm pipelines may be elevated above ice-rich permafrost, but buried in unfrozen ground or in ice-containing permafrost which is regarded as mechanically thaw-stable. In northern regions, the concentration of ionospheric electrical currents causes not only aurora borealis but also a time-variable magnetic field at the earth's surface, and the induction of electrical currents in the soil and in pipelines. A model is presented for electrical current flow in a typical warm pipeline segment, including both buried and elevated sections, soil resistances, corrosion protection sacrificial anodes, and regions of damaged pipeline coatings. The circuit is analyzed, and specific conditions under which corrosion currents may leave the pipeline at locations of coating damage, thus causing corrosion, are identified. The flow of telluric currents both into and out of the sacrificial anodes which may be connected to the pipeline is described, and the conditions for this are discussed. Certain conditions are described under which sacrificial anodes may become disconnected from the pipeline. Possible methods for alleviating corrosion related to telluric currents are presented, including the choice of grounding locations, insulating flanges, and adaptive impressed-current sources.
Offshore Development in Iceberg-Infested Waters With the Use of a Concrete Protective Barrier
Authors: Broughton P. , Davies R. L. , Berthin J. C. , Martin J. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
This paper describes novel methods for the development of offshore oil fields within iceberg infested waters, at locations with water depths of up to 200 metres. The scheme involves the construction of a Protective Barrier which completely surrounds and protects the oil production platform. The production platform facilities, which are located inside the Protective Barrier, may either be supported off a fixed steel structure, or alternatively off a jack-up platform, or alternatively off a specially developed floating production unit. The quite separate Protective Barrier is constructed in a cellular arrangement from reinforced or pre-stressed concrete, and has sufficient mass through its own weight, together with the weight of solid ballast, placed within the cells, to resist external forces due to either icebergs or wave action. The feasibility of the scheme is demonstrated for a typical oil field development in 80 metres of water. The paper provides the overall sizes and quantities of materials used in the construction of the Protective Barrier and of the structure required to support the production facilities, together with a description of the methods of installation of the production platform within the Protective Barrier.
In this development scheme, a major point has been to reduce the overall quantities during construction and hence the anticipated overall development costs, together with a reduction in the overall schedule, as against more conventional methods of offshore field development in these areas. It is considered that the development scheme, as described in the paper, will allow the economic development of offshore oil and gas fields in iceberg infested waters, which hitherto have remained undeveloped for economic reasons.
Thermosiphon-Based Designs and Applications for Foundations Built on Permafrost
Authors: Zarling J. P. , Haynes F. D. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
Thermosyphons have been used across Alaska and northern Canada as a means of stabilizing foundations built on permafrost. This paper describes a number of different applications including details of the installations. A brief discussion of the design methodology is also presented.
Optimizing Fracture Stimulations in the McArthur River Field, Hemlock Reservoir, Utilizing Historical Results and Improved Technology
Authors: Schoffmann A. B. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
This paper describes a study undertaken to determine the feasibility of hydraulic fracture stimulations in the McArthur River Field, Hemlock formation, Cook Inlet, Alaska. The study reviews the results of Hemlock treatments pumped prior to 1989, the factors influencing the success or failure of the treatments, and steps that could be taken to optimize future treatments. Through 1988, 18 fracture treatments had been attempted to improve productivity from the Hemlock reservoir, a sequence of unconsolidated to poorly consolidated sandstones and conglomerates up to 500 feet thick. The study considered the sensitivity of job success to reservoir properties, the mechanical condition of the well, and fracture stimulation design. To aid in this evaluation, a three-dimensional1 hydraulic fracture simulator (GOHFER) was utilized to match selected previous treatments. In addition, a lab testing program to investigate fracture conductivity under reservoir conditions was undertaken.
The study demonstrated that the majority of previous Hemlock fracture stimulation treatments have been successful when judged by generic economic criteria. A number of critical job design and candidate selection criteria appear to significantly enhance the prospects for a successful hydraulic fracture stimulation. These criteria are discussed in the following. Finally, the results of a successful producing well treatment using information gained from this work are presented.
Environmental Activity Management and Control Exercised by Pipelaying Association
Authors: Shishov V. N. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
This report deals with the problems covering the environmental control under conditions of broad-scale and intensive laying of various pipelines (including high-capacity ones, dia. 1420 mm, P = 5 MPa) in various natural and climatic conditions ranging from Far North to the southern regions (the Caspian Sea).
The laying of high-capacity and extended pipelines entails sizable ecological damage to lithosphere and surface waters.
The environmental management includes elimination of constructional damage caused to the route of pipelines, perfection of equipment and techniques of construction with regard to ecological criteria, reduction of environmental impact in the areas of own facilities (motor depots, industrial bases, etc.), environmental control, monitoring and training of the personnel.
Environmental Safety of Construction of Gas and Oil Facilities in Arctic Regions
Authors: Mazur I. I. , Mazur E. V. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
This report deals with the estimate and provision of environmental safety in the course of construction of oil and gas facilities: ground facilities (compressor and pump stations and the like) and extended underground pipelines. The analysis of accumulation of constructional technogenesis accompanying these two major types of construction of oil and gas facilities made it possible to elaborate the analytical models of accumulation of constructional technogenesis - ecological damage and mechanism of occurrence of ecological failure of the formed natural and technical (oil and gas) geosystem. The concept of the complex engineer-and-ecological support of construction of oil and gas facilities is based on the theory of environmental safety. The report presents its components, major objectives and the results obtained.
Programming Considerations of a Production Data-Acquisition System
Authors: Greenhill K. L. , Dennison J. A. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
A PC based computer system has been designed and implemented in which field personnel acquire oil and gas production data using handheld terminals. This data is uploaded to PC's for field management; it is then transferred to PC's at the area office for production reporting. From the area office data is uploaded to a mainframe computer for accounting purposes. The flexibility of this comprehensive data collection system put a large burden on the programming staff to implement both the handheld software and the PC database system. Memory constraints on both platforms were partly met through the sophisticated implementation of program overlays. The configurational nature of the software posed a challenge in testing the myriad of data flow paths. Although much time and effort was spent testing the software during development, many errors were only found when it was installed in the field. Aside from the size of the programs, a major difference between this field data collection application and other similar applications is that the same PC database system runs both at the field and the area level. Daily changes to the field databases are uploaded via modem to the area database. If changes are made to the area databases, these are downloaded to the appropriate field during the daily call. Verifying that all changes are passed up and down without destroying the integrity of the databases has been a significant task. With the challenges of these design considerations resolved, the system as implemented reduces multiple data entries and the time required to generate reports for the eight fields and four area offices where it is currently implemented.
Scooter a Real Time Expert System for Process Control: Application to Gas Dehydration on Offshore Platforms
Authors: Cordier B. , Gokana D. , Huynh C. T. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
This paper presents research conducted by Elf Aquitaine within the framework of the PLATINE project (ref. 1) into the development of an advanced remote control system.
PLATINE (an acronym derived from the French PLATeforme INhabitéE or unmanned platform) is a full size unmanned offshore hydrocarbon production platform, designed to operate with yearly maintenance and planned inspection visits (along with a number of random one-day visits).
SCOOTER is an advanced remote control system developed for the project
This paper describes the main functions the system is expected to fulfil, the technical choices made, the methodology used and the results obtained for the control and supervision of a gas dehydration unit to be installed on the unmanned platform.
Reevaluation of Hydrocarbon Reserves in Old Fields Through Cased-Hole Interpretation: A New Approach
Authors: Cosentino L. , Spotti G. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The widely recognized importance of the re-evaluation of existing hydrocarbon fields has focused the attention of oil companies on the problem of cased hole logging interpretation.
Cased hole logs actually provide a lot of information. However, their response, particularly for the Density log, is heavily affected by the presence of casing and cement. For this reason, cased hole recordings are mainly utilized from a qualitative or semi-quantitative point of view by applying empirical corrections to the measured values.
A new algorithm for the automatic correction of all the environmental effects has been developed for the Density log. It is based on the evaluation of the relative contribution of casing and cement to the bulk density measurement. Thence, also corrosion can be taken into account. Casing collars and other disturbances are corrected through a multiple linear regression technique. Neutron, Sonic and Gamma Ray logs undergo a calibration procedure and their reliability is accurately verified.
A case study relevant to an old Italian gas field is presented.
A Geostatistical Interpolation Method From Only Two or Three Wells
Authors: Yang An-Ping 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
It is generally thought that data from at least 20 or 30 wells are needed to generate the statistics for inter-well interpolation. We show in this paper that it is possible to use as few as two wells to generate a cross-section, and to use as few as three wells to generate a three-dimensional reservoir description. Geostatistics describes a reservoir with two models: a distribution model that deals with data values, and a spatial correlation model (the variogram) that deals with variation from location to location. Examples are considered for the Kern River Field in California to show how the method can be applied. Three major areas of application for geostatistical interpolation include computer visualization of the reservoir, Monte Carlo simulation for sensitivity study, and reservoir heterogeneity characterization for other reservoir models.
High Recovery in a Volatile Oil Reservoir: Case History
Authors: Siti B. , Vignati L. , Usikalu A. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
A recent study carried out on sane levels of Mbede Field in Nigeria, containing volatile oil and in the presence of primary gas caps, showed quite satisfactory recovery factors. More than 50% of the O.O.I.P has already been recovered from two out of the four hydrocarton bearing levels, while in the remaining two the present recovery factor ranges between 35 and 45%.
These excellent values must be ascribed to the good characteristics of the rock and the oil and to the remarkable "gravity segregation" that is one of the primary drainage mechanisms.
Some forecast cases have been analyzed. They show that the final recovery factor ranges between 52 and 71%. The lowest recovery factors are encountered in the levels where the aquifer is present as a further drainage mechanism.
Analysis of Hangingstone Multiwell Cyclic Steam Pilot: Three Years’ Performance History
Authors: Sarioglu G. , Khallad A. I. , Brown M. W. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to review the status of a 13 well pilot program to utilize cyclic steam stimulation as a commercially applicable process for the Athabasca Oil Sands deposits in Alberta, Canada.
In the Athabasca deposit, bitumen bearing sands are contained in the lower Cretaceous McMurray formation, which is a clastic sequence deposited in a predominantly fluvial environment. The reservoir consists of a series of stacked channel sands. These sand bodies can be divided into distinct units based on stratigraphy and ichnology. These channel sands vary both laterally and vertically and correlation of individual sands is quite difficult. The bitumen is very viscous 1,000,000 cp (1000 Pa.s) at original reservoir temperature with an API gravity of 8. The effective permeability of the reservoir at original conditions is very low because of high bitumen viscosity and low connate water mobility. Therefore, to inject steam at commercial rates, artificial fractures are induced.
Prior to the 13 well Pilot, Three Single Well Tests (SWT) were conducted in the nearby area, between 1985 and 1990. During this period operating problems related to completion, sand handling, fluid production have been overcome and considerable progress was made towards optimizing operating strategies such as fracture configuration and cycle steam slug sizes using the field data and a thermal simulator.
In view of the encouraging performance of the single well tests and simulation results construction of a thirteen well pilot started in 1989.
To date, 9 wells have completed 2 cycles and one well in the center of the pilot 3 cycles of cyclic steam operation.
The results of these ten injector/producer wells will be summarized together with five observation wells and alternate strategies to improve the performance will be discussed.
Seismic Monitoring of a Steamflood at South Casper Creek Oil Field, Wyoming
Authors: Johnston P. F. , Wachi N. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Repeat 3-D and cross-well seismic surveys are used to monitor a steamflood thermal EOR pilot project at South Casper Creek Oil Field, Wyoming, USA. Seismic travel-time changes are observed after 7 and 12 months of steam injection, and can be used to infer intra-well details of the steamflood process.
Numerical Modelling of Cyclically Steamed and Fractured Oil-Sand Reservoirs
Authors: Chan M. Y. S. , Sarioglu G. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Current conventional thermal reservoir simulators are poorly equipped to account for fracturing phenomena such as those encountered in cyclically steamed oilsand reservoirs in Alberta, Canada. This paper describes a procedure by which the fracture characteristics can be, at least partially, incorporated into such simulation studies. By using a fracture model, the fracture characteristics are "translated" into pressure, temperature and saturation distributions which the thermal reservoir simulator can utilize in subsequent studies. The logic and procedure described is easily extendable to include other unconventional information which are otherwise often ignored in numerical modelling studies. The procedure was successfully tested on a number of cyclic steam simulated wells in the McMurray formation of the Athabasca oilsand deposit in Alberta, Canada. The results from four such applications are given as examples in this paper.
Use of External Geological and Engineering Information for Well Test Design and Interpretation
Authors: Du Kui-Fu , Stewart G. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
In interpretation of well tests especially model selection and verification, two parallel and equally important sources of diagnosis are widely used by reservoir engineers. They are pressure transient testing itself and the knowledge of the relevant geological and other engineering information on the well/reservoir being tested. The former is based on significant shapes displayed on the test signal, which may correspond to features (behaviour, structures etc) of the tested reservoir. The latter is to predict the reservoir dynamic behaviour on the basis of all the available external geological and engineering data. They are complementary to each other. The interpretation cannot be done correctly using only one of them.
Previous work on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to this domain only attempted to automate the former diagnostic; nothing has been done on the latter case - an expertise widely used in practice and not yet codified. In addition to further development of the previous work, one of objective of this study is to fill this existing gap. The paper also addresses verification - an equally important task but receiving little attention, whereby the results of interpretation are checked with all the known external data, as well as the well test data, to check for inconsistencies.
As a result, a framework of a knowledge based system (KBS) for well test design and interpretation was proposed and prototyped. It incorporates both pressure transient test data and external geological and engineering data to provide a systematic approach to designing and interpreting the well tests.
The work presented in the paper provides some guidelines in development of new generation well test interpretation software, which will have to interpret the well tests from an systematic point of view and in which the model selection and verification will be essential parts of the whole process.
Design and Performance of a Three-Phase Subsea Metering System
Authors: Dowty E. L. , Hatton G. J. , Durrett M. G. , Dean T. L. , Jiskoot R. J. J. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
The development of a three phase metering system for installation on seabed templates at or near subsea wellheads is described. The Subsea Metering System (SMS) design measurement accuracies are +/− 5%. Its design pressure is 3640 psi. The design provides passive, self-regulation of the SMS over its operating range of 3000 to 18000 blpd at volumetric gas fractions of 10 to 90% and watercuts from 0 to 90%. The SMS considerably reduces capital costs of subsea field developments as it eliminates the need for (1) a separate test line from the subsea wellhead template to the platform and (2) test separator equipment on the platform.
Bulk gas and liquid separation is achieved via a unique separator concept which enables the volumetric rate of each to be measured. Commercially available vortex meters may be used to determine the bulk gas flow rate while a proprietary constriction meter is used to determine the bulk liquid rate. The watercut is measured by a Texaco Microwave Watercut Monitor1. The watercut monitor is capable of accurately determining the water fraction of oil and water emulsions and/or mixtures from 0 to 100% regardless of which fraction is continuous. A nuclear densitometer enables the amount of gas entrained in the bulk liquid stream to be determined so appropriate corrections can be made to the gas, oil and water rates.
The performance of the SMS as determined from topside tests on Texaco's Tartan Alpha Platform in the North Sea is presented in comparison with standard test separator equipment. The schedule for completing the topside tests and fitting the SMS to the Highlander Template is reviewed.
An Overview of Horizontal Well Targets Recently Drilled in Europe
Authors: Tehrani A. D. H. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Most of the major horizontal well targets recently drilled in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom are reviewed in this paper. Targets such as reservoirs containing viscous oil underlain by large aquifer, thin oil columns with large gas cap, unconsolidated sands, tight chalk reservoirs, dune sands with unknown extent and distributions, fractured reservoirs, reservoirs containing sour gases and a karstic fractured vugular reservoir are described. The reservoir features as well as some well completion data, productivities and costs are given for most. Some new data, yet unpublished, has been included for many of the examples cited. The paper demonstrates that the drilling of high angle and horizontal wells has become almost a routine operation in Europe. As the result many targets of a vast range of problems are being aimed at and successfully exploited which would otherwise not be economical to attempt with conventional wells. The petroleum reservoir engineers are therefore considering the drilling of this type of wells more seriously and in a wider scale than ever before, in their reservoir development studies.
Field Development by Hydraulic Fracturing: A High-Technology Success Story
Authors: Davies D. R. , Roodhart L. P. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT
The theoretical understanding and technology of hydraulic fracturing has shown tremendous progress over the last ten years. This is illustrated by the significant commitment of oil and service company research funds over this period to develop the required capabilities. Fields which were previously uneconomic are now being profitably developed, employing modern hydraulic fracturing technology. The development of this technology required input from disciplines as diverse as rock mechanics, equipment engineering and production chemistry. Shell's participation in this high technology story is illustrated by their research developments over the last ten years and the ways in which technological hurdles to applying the developments in the field have been successfully overcome.
We show how the treatment size and aggressiveness has increased over the years so as to raise well productivity. The development of unique research equipment and its impact on material selection and treatment design is described.
The understanding of the rock mechanical aspects of the fracturing process has been completely revised which, after field calibration, allows much more productive fractures to be placed. The application of this technology is illustrated by the development history of a 24-well offshore field. The high individual well production rates led to new problems with proppant back-production. The solution required a good understanding cf the process, which was achieved via a fully integrated interdisciplinary project.