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Defining Technology for Exploration, Drilling and Production April 2010

www.worldoil.com
Gulf Publishing Company
OTC 2010 PREVIEW
DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
Steerable liner drilling
Multilaterals offshore Australia
FLOATING STRUCTURES AND MOORINGS
ARTIFICIAL LIFT ROUNDUP
TECHNOLOGY FROM EUROPE
World Oil APRIL 2010 3
World Oil contents
OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION
65 Floating structure and mooring advances target
ultra-deepwater fields
P. Kulkarni
New-generation offshore floaters are coming onstream to drill and produce oil and
gas under extreme environments.
OTC PREVIEW
71 Latest technologies, long-term energy strategies
distinguish OTC 2010
N. Benton
From climate change policy to the dynamics of salt tectonics, this
years show features a comprehensive array of all things offshore.
SUBSEA OPERATIONS
83 Successful drilling and completion at BC-10 using surface
BOP system
B. A. Tarr, T. Taklo, A. Hudson, L. Stockwell and J. Schroeder
The implementation of a seabed isolation device enabled a doubling
of the operating water depth capacity for operations offshore Brazil.
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
95 Whats new in artificial lift
J. F. Lea and H. W. Winkler
Part IIAdvances in subsea boosting, HT pumps and shale gas dewatering.
COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY
105 Single-trip multilateral junction technology reduces well costs
M. Glaser, T. Heng and O. Balstad
An innovative application of casing-exit technology saved two trips
and $2 million in Norways sgard Smrbukk Sr Field.
TECHNOLOGY FROM EUROPE
E-115 This special report features selected technology developments and
industry interviews representing several key European countries.
PRODUCED WATER REPORT
147 Fluid modeling helps improve skim tank performance
D. W. Phelps, R. I. Khan, J. M. Lee, P. Andrews and D. Marlowe
Using computational fluid dynamics simulations, a new internals design was
developed to allow the operator to double the process flowrate.
153 RMOTCTesting a multistage fluid treatment
C. Johnson, J. E. Sundine and M. Curtis
The treatment process investigated included electro-coagulation and advanced
mechanical separation, as well as a low-pressure, chemical affinity-based filter.
APRIL 2010, Vol. 231 No. 4
A Gulf Publishing Company Publication
COLUMNS
9 Editorial comment
Pramod Kulkarni, Editor
Please, God! Give us another boom
17 Whats new in exploration
Christopher Liner,
Contributing Editor
Passing the salt takes a
collaborative effort
19 Explorationdiscoveries
Nell L. Benton, Associate Editor
21 Drilling advances
Jim Redden, Contributing Editor
Big indeed can come in the
tiniest of packages
23 Whats new in production
David Cohen, Managing Editor
A land flowing with milk, honey
and natural gas
25 Oil and gas in the capitals
ystein Noreng,
Contributing Editor, North Sea
Natural gas for Europe: How much?
From where? At what price?
NEWS & RESOURCES
11 World of oil, Nell L. Benton
29 Industry at a glance
157 People in industry
159 Companies in the news
160 New products
164 Advertisers index
165 Advertising sales office
165 World Oil Marketplace
166 Meetings & events
ABOUT THE COVER
The Perdido develop-
ment began production
on March 31. The float-
ing spar, located 200 mi
south of Freeport, Texas,
in 7,800 ft of water, is the
worlds deepest offshore
drilling and production
platform to date. Photo
courtesy of Shell.
DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
33 Bed boundary mapping proves useful in a
heavy oil environment
P. Machado, R. Guzman, C. Rojas, A. Ache, N. K. Hazboun and K. Gonzalez
Deep azimuthal electromagnetic resistivity measurements were used to optimize
the trajectory of wells drilled with a rotary steerable system.
41 Steerable liner drilling
A. Torsvoll, J. Abdollahi, M. Eidem, T. Weltzin, A. Hjelle, S. A. Rasmussen,
S. Krueger, S. Schwartze, C. Freyer, T. Huynh and T. Sorheim
Under development since 2006, the first-of-its-kind drilling system was successfully
field tested in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
51 Multilateral wells reduce capex in subsea development
B. Lawrence, M. Zimmerman, A. Cuthbert and S. Fipke
An application of a multilateral junction system offshore Australias Northwest Shelf
replaces 18 single wells with nine multilateral wells, saving significant time and cost.
SPECIAL FOCUS
4 APRIL 2010 World Oil
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Publisher Ron Higgins
EDITORIAL
Editor Pramod Kulkarni
Managing Editor David Michael Cohen
Associate Editor Nell L. Benton
Technology Editor Diane Langley
Director of Data Katie Hammon
Offshore Rig Data Editor Justin Smith
Contributing News Editor Henry D. Terrell
Contributing Editor Leonard V. Parent
Contributing Editor Dr. Christopher Liner
Contributing Editor Jim Redden
Contributing Editor Jerry Greenberg
Contributing Editor, Washington Dr. Roger Bezdek
Contributing Editor, Middle East Dr. A. F. Alhajji
Contributing Editor, North Sea Dr. ystein Noreng
Contributing Editor, FSU Jacques Sapir
Contributing Editor, Latin America Dayse Abrantes
Contributing Editor, Asia-Pacific Jeffrey M. Moore
Contributing Editor, LNG Saeid Mokhatab
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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Senior Editorial Advisor
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Editorial Advisors
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Alexander G. Kemp, Schlumberger Professor, Petroleum Economics, University of Aberdeen
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Chairman, Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association
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ava
Editorial
Pramod.Kulkarni@worldoil.com PRAMOD KULKARNI, EDITOR
comment
World Oil APRIL 2010 9
I am honored to join World Oil maga-
zine, which has been defining technol-
ogy for the upstream oil and gas sector
since 1916. We have an energetic edito-
rial team in place and all of us are look-
ing forward to providing you with news
and insights about exploration, drilling,
completion and production activities
throughout the world.
The oil and gas industry is poised at
several critical junctures at this time. The
first turning point, hopefully, is the world
economy and, consequently, the energy
sector. While there are no certainties in
life other than death, taxes and the boom-
and-bust cycles for our industry, the reces-
sion appears to have bottomed out. IHS
economist Nariman Behravesh expects
demand to start rising and continue on
the upswing through 2011 and 2012. He
suggests that oil prices are somewhat high
at this time due to investor activity, but
he does not expect the prices to dip below
$65. OPEC President and Ecuadorian
Oil Minister Germnico Pinto also sug-
gests that acute and excessive price spec-
ulation is determining oil prices. OPEC
agreed in mid-March to keep production
quotas unchanged as the ministers meet-
ing in Vienna expressed contentment
with oil at about $80 a barrel.
As a 35-year industry veteran, I have
lived through four booms and three
busts. Once again, I can hear prayers
reaching out to the Almighty from the
oilfield executive boardrooms to the field
offices and rigsites, Please God, give
us another boom. We wont screw it up
this time. Actually, it is the oil and gas
industry that has provided the appropri-
ate response to the downturn and, on
the contrary, it is the banks, real-estate
speculators and investment bankers that
cannot be trusted to help maintain a
stable economy. Operators and service
companies have trimmed budgets, re-
duced rig count and cut payroll to retain
financial flexibility. However, these enti-
ties have not lost sight of the long-term
need for increasing supplies of both oil
and gas. Majors and independents have
continued their offshore and onshore
exploration and development programs
and discovered major oil and gas fields.
A case in point is the robust response to
the US Central Gulf of Mexico 213 lease
sale. As our article in this issue on float-
ing structures describes, a large number
of newbuild drillships, semisubmersibles
and FPSOs are heading toward new
E&P arenas such as the lower Tertiary
fields in the ultra-deep waters of the Gulf
of Mexico and the presalt fields offshore
Brazil. The industrys heavy investments
in such long-term projects will continue
without regard to the daily price fluc-
tuations. In North America, shale gas
operators are continuing to acquire new
acreage and sustain drilling operations,
and theres growing interest in pursuing
shale opportunities in other regions of
the world.
The second critical juncture for the
oil and gas industry is the mix of energy
supplies between oil, natural gas and re-
newable sources such as biofuels, solar
and wind. There is unanimous consen-
sus that oil will remain the dominant
fuel for decades to come. The Obama
administration has put its political
weight and the economic power of in-
centives behind the renewable sources.
US Energy Secretary Paul Chu be-
grudgingly said at CERA Week in early
March that natural gas could serve as a
clean transition fuel until the renewable
sources take over. Coining a new term,
hydrocarbon deniers, ConocoPhil-
lips CEO James Mulva contended that
natural gas is not just a transition fuel,
but the fuel of the futurewith shale gas
providing adequate supplies for the next
100 years. Statoil President Helge Lund
said he is mystified as to why natural gas
doesnt enter into discussions of alterna-
tive clean energy fuels in political circles
of Europe and the US. Saudi Aramco
President Khalid Al-Falih expressed opti-
mism about the long-term prospects for
alternative energy sources, but warned
of green bubbles, the collapse of which
will not only have a negative impact on
the broader economy, but will also dam-
age the long-term prospects for the suc-
cess of these energy sources.
The third critical juncture concerns
government intervention in the energy
business through either taxes or legisla-
tive restrictions. There is the looming
threat of either a cap or a tax on carbon
emissions, which can drastically affect
the US economy as well as every sector of
the energy industry. In its FY 2011 bud-
get, the US administration is proposing
to raise $40 billion from the oil and gas
industry over the next 10 years through
the repeal of a variety of tax incentives
that had been implemented to encour-
age domestic production. Shale opera-
tors must contend with a proposed new
Environmental Protection Agency study
on the effects of hydraulic fracturing and
legislative attempts in the US Congress
to demand that service companies release
proprietary information on the chemical
composition of their fracturing fluids.
There are, however, encouraging signs in
other parts of the world. The province of
Alberta, Canada, has decided to rescind
all or a portion of the 20% royalty in-
crease it had imposed in 2007. The UK
government is planning to offer incen-
tives to encourage exploration in remote
areas such as the Shetlands.
The fourth critical juncture concerns
the publishing industry. Just like oil, print
publications will remain a dominant
source of news and analysis for the fore-
seeable future, but there is also comple-
mentary growth of instantaneous sources
of information from the web and portable
devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry
and the recently introduced iPad. Were
now seeing increasing usage of webcasts,
podcasts and You Tube videos. World Oil
will continue to serve our readers through
our print magazine and books, but you
can also visit our website (www.worldoil.
com), view our profile on Facebook and
follow us on Twitter. Among the latest
innovations we have introduced on our
website is contextual search so you can
find the information you needfaster.
As we progress to a brave new world,
World Oil will introduce evolutionary im-
provements to meet the changing needs
of our readers. I look forward to hear-
ing from you. Besides phone and email,
I have Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Ive heard that the hip people have now
moved to new social media sites such as
Digg, ShoutWire and Wetpaint. I guess I
should stop writing and check out these
sites. An editor must follow his readers,
wherever they are. WO
Please, God! Give us another boom.
HALLIBURTON
2010 Halliburton. All rights reserved.
Solving challenges.
TM
In places where the odds
are against you, Halliburton
is there with you.
Nell L. Benton, Associate Editor
World Oil APRIL 2010 11
World of oil
Central GOM lease sale receives $949 million in high bids
The Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas lease sale 213, held on March 17 in
New Orleans, attracted $949,265,959 in high bids. The sale was conducted by the
Minerals Management Service (MMS) and had 77 companies submitting 642 bids
on 468 tracts comprising over 2.4 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama. The sum of all bids received totaled $1,300,075,693. A total of 151 tracts
in water depths less than 656 ft received bids. This represents 32% of all tracts receiv-
ing bids, an increase of 5% from last years Central Gulf lease sale. The highest bid
received on a tract was $52,560,000 submitted by Anadarko E&P Company LP and
Mariner Energy Inc., for Walker Ridge Block 793. Bidding alone and with partners,
Anadarko was successful on 48 of 53 total bids, representing expenditures of about
$128 million net to Anadarko. Other companies placing high bids include Maersk
Oil Gulf of Mexico Two LLC, Shell Offshore Inc., Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Hess Cor-
poration and BHP Billiton Petroleum Inc.. Each high bid on a tract will go through
an evaluation process within MMS to ensure the public receives fair market value
before a lease is awarded.
Consol acquires Dominions Appalachian E&P business
Consol Energy has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Appalachian
exploration and production business of Dominion Resources for $3.475 billion in
cash. As a result of the acquisition, on a pro-forma basis, Consol, a coal-focused
energy company, will become the largest producer of natural gas in the Appalachian
Basin. The acquisition will triple Consols development assets to approximately
750,000 acres with the addition of Dominions approximately 500,000 Marcellus
Shale acres in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. After completion of the transaction,
Consols total proven gas reserves will increase by more than 50% from 1.9 Tcf to
approximately 3 Tcf and its potential gas resource base will double to approximately
41 Tcf. Consol will acquire a total of 1.46 million oil and gas acres from Dominion
along with over 9,000 producing wells. Upon completion of the transaction, the
companys natural gas business is expected to account for as much as 35% of its
total revenue.
Shell, Nexen announce significant joint oil discovery
Royal Dutch Shell and Canadian energy giant Nexen announced they have made
a significant oil discovery in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling in
the Appomattox project is the third joint discovery between the two companies in
the area, following two others in the Mississippi Canyon also named for American
Civil War encounters, Vicksburg and Shiloh. The companies did not estimate the size
of the reserves except to call the discovery significant and to say well results have
exceeded our pre-drill expectations. The discovery is close to 5 mi deep, located in
7,217 ft of water and was drilled to 25,077-ft true vertical depth. The well encoun-
tered approximately 530-ft gross (425-ft net) true vertical thickness of oil pay. Shell
made an initial discovery in the deepwater eastern Gulf of Mexico in 2003 with the
Shiloh discovery. A second discovery followed in 2007 at Vicksburg, located about
6 mi east of Appomattox.
Fugro receives new seismic survey vessel
Fugro has formally taken delivery of a new-build seismic survey vessel, the M/V
Geo Caspian, which is on long-term charter from ship-owner Volstad Maritime
AS. The vessel was outfitted at Fosen Yards in Norway and is capable of towing
sixteen 26,250-ft-long seismic streamers, which are fully steerable using DigiFIN
technology. M/V Geo Caspian is the third C-class vessel in a series of four delivered
since 2007. The next C-class vessel, the M/V Geo Coral will be delivered to Fugro
in August 2010.
Cascade, Chinook Fields
to come online
Petrobras has announced that oil
production should commence at the
Cascade/Chinook development in
mid-2010. The company stated that
the Chinook FPSO unit should see
first oil in June 2010; however, pro-
duction could also come online in
July. Located in the greater Chinook
area of the US Gulf of Mexico, the
fields have a combined estimated
production capacity of 80,000 bopd.
Keppel partners to build,
operate new shipyard
Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited
has partnered with State Oil Company
of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and
Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC)
to develop and manage a new 52-ha
shipbuilding and ship repair facility in
Baku, Azerbaijan. The shipyard will
be developed over a period of two to
three years and will cost $386 million.
The new yard is designed to under-
take construction of a variety of ves-
sels ranging from offshore support
vessels to tankers, as well as perform
ship repair and conversions.
AlMansoori signs joint
venture with Key Energy
AlMansoori Petroleum Services
has signed a joint venture agreement
with American-based onshore ener-
gy production services company Key
Energy Services. The JV will bring
several new services to AlMansooris
capabilities in coil tubing, workover
rigs, pumping/cementing, fracturing
and acidizing.
Apache deploying Firefly
in Argentina
ION Geophysical Corp. announced
that its cableless land seismic acqui-
sition system, Firefly, will be used by
Apache Corp. to acquire data on two
separate projects in the Mendoza re-
gion of Argentina. The Apache proj-
ects in Mendoza will utilize conven-
tional geophones, marking the first
time Firefly has been deployed using
analog seismic sensors. About 5,500
Firefly stations will be used during this
project, which is expected to start in
May 2010 and finish by August 2010.
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Analysts predict deepwater spending will top $167B
Douglas-Westwood Research has produced an appraisal of anticipated worldwide
deepwater expenditures over the five years, to 2014, that concludes $167 billion will
be spentan increase of 37% over the preceding five years. Douglas-Westwoods
World Deepwater Market Report 2010-2014 reveals that sector activity will largely
remain within the golden triangle of Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, with
regional investment representing over three-quarters of the predicted global capital
expenditure. The majority of golden triangle investment, however, will take place
in Latin America, driven largely by the capital-intensive development plans laid out
by Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) over the next decade. The report also highlights that
Asian deepwater markets will continue to grow during the forecast period, receiving
around 10% of the total predicted global investment. The report reveals that opera-
tors have exerted substantial pressure on their supply chains during 2009, achieving
reductions of up to 15%. This confirms operator purchasing power has returned but
that renewed sector growth could encourage cost inflation in some equipment and
service markets.
Total, DONG partner to develop gas fields offshore UK
DONG Energy, along with its partner Total, has announced plans to develop the
Laggan and Tormore gas fields in the West of Shetland region in Great Britain. The
development of the offshore frontier region is subject to the United Kingdom Gov-
ernments Department of Energy and Climate Change approval. Yves-Louis Dar-
ricarrre, President Exploration & Production stated, Total has demonstrated its
capacity to successfully develop highly technological projects and continues to do so
with the Laggan and Tormore fields, located in one of the most complex environ-
ments of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. Bringing them to production will
require near $3.8 billion investment. In taking the decision to develop this complex
project, Total confirms its commitment in pursuing its investments in the North Sea
and its long term objective towards helping to secure energy supplies for the United
Kingdom. Total has also acquired the 10% interest in Laggan and Tormore previ-
ously held by Chevron North Sea Limited and the 20% interest previously held by
ENI UK Limited. This brings Totals interest in this project to 80% alongside partner
DONG E&P (UK) Ltd.
Statoil increases stake in ultra-deepwater St. Malo project
Statoil has increased its working interest in the Union-operated St. Malo devel-
opment to 21.5% by exercising its preferential rights on a proposed sale of Devons
share in the development. Union is a subsidiary of Chevron. St. Malo is scheduled
to be sanctioned later this year together with the Chevron-operated Jack develop-
ment. The combined Jack and St. Malo development is scheduled to come on-
stream in 2014. The Jack and St. Malo discoveries are both in the lower Tertiary
trend of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, commonly known as the Paleogene play.
Statoil has made two additional discoveries in the area and is the third largest lease-
holder in these ultra-deep waters. Statoil is also currently engaged in two deepwater
Gulf of Mexico drilling operations.
J. Ray McDermott wins first subsea project in Asia Pacific
McDermott International Inc. announced that a subsidiary of J. Ray McDer-
mott, S.A. has been awarded its first SURF (Subsea Infrastructure, Umbilicals,
Risers & Flowlines) project in the Asia Pacific by PetroVietnam Technical Services
Corporation on behalf of its customer, PetroVietnam Exploration & Production.
The scope of work includes the engineering, procurement, construction and in-
stallation of new production and export lines, umbilical and subsea cable. This
includes tie-in, testing and pre-commissioning of two 1.4-mi flexible flowlines,
replacement of two 1.5-mi export flowlines and umbilical, installation of a subsea
cable and 3 mi of insulated flexible flowlines. Initial engineering and procurement
work starts immediately with the offshore installation expected to commence in
the third quarter of 2011.
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World of oil
CNXs Marcellus well sets production record
CNX Gas Corp. announced production results from its latest horizontal well tar-
geting the Marcellus Shale, the GH2BCV well in central Greene County, PA. This
well produced for 16 days, at an average production rate of 4.9 MMcf per day. The
peak daily production rate was 5.7 MMcf, and the current daily production rate is
5.5 MMcf. The well was drilled with a horizontal lateral of 2,035 ft and was hydrauli-
cally fractured with a 7-stage frac. The previous highest producing well was the CNX
3 well, which came on line in October 2008. That well had cumulative production
of 1 Bcf through February 2010.
BP to pay Devon $7 billion for deepwater assets
In a broad-ranging deal, BP will pay Devon Energy $7.0 billion in cash for assets
in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the US deepwater Gulf of Mexico. These include interests
in ten exploration blocks in Brazil, including seven in the prolific Campos basin, a
major portfolio of deepwater exploration acreage and prospects in the US Gulf of
Mexico and an interest in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) develop-
ment in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan. BP will assume Devons leases of the Seadrill
West Sirius and Transocean Deepwater Discovery drilling rigs for the duration of the
contract terms. In addition, BP will sell a 50% stake in BPs Kirby oil sands interests
in Alberta, Canada, for $500 million to Devon Energy. The parties have agreed to
form a 50/50 joint venture, operated by Devon, to pursue the development of the
interest. Devon will commit to fund an additional $150 million of capital costs on
BPs behalf.
WesternGeco sets seismic record in Kuwait
WesternGeco reported that the UniQ integrated point-receiver land seismic sys-
tem has set a new industry record in Kuwait for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) in
acquiring data from 80,000 live digital point-receiver channels at a two-millisecond
sample interval. During sustained slip-sweep production in February, UniQ technol-
ogy acquired and real-time quality checked one terabyte of data per hourthe equiv-
alent of five days of production for a typical 3000-channel conventional crew. All
data was concurrently pre-conditioned using the Q-Xpress in-field integrated seismic
data acquisition and processing workflow for near real-time seismic data analysis.
CNOOC, Total to acquire equal stakes in Tullow
Chinas CNOOC Ltd. and French oil major Total SA are each expected to ac-
quire a third of Tullow Oil PLCs oil after a round of recent presentations to Ugan-
dan authorities. Tullow will begin the first phase of developing the hydrocarbons
discovered in Ugandas Lake Albert basin this year, with oil and gas production for
the local market due to begin in 2011. Natural gas from the Nzizi field will be piped
to a power plant to be constructed in Ugandas Hoima district and around 10,000
bopd from the Kasamene field will be trucked to local markets. Following recent
appraisal drilling, Tullow upgraded the mid-range reserves estimate at its Tweneboa
discovery offshore Ghana from 250 million boe to 400 million boe. The Jubilee
field remains on track to produce its first oil by the end of this year, estimated to be
around 120,000 bopd.
Gazprom drilling first prospecting well in Africa
The Gazprom Group has begun drilling their first prospecting well (Rhourde
Sayah-2) in Africa within the El Assel license area of Algerias Berkine basin. The
well drilling is provided for in the minimum scope of geological exploration ac-
tivities according to the terms and conditions of the tender won by Gazprom EP
International B.V. for exploration and drilling onshore El Assel area. In the mean-
while, Gazprom EP International is carrying out large-scale 3D seismic surveying
in other parts of the license area. According to preliminary estimates, drilling of
the first well is to be completed in June 2010 and another three wells are to be
drilled within two years.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 17
Offshore, the new giants are rum-
bling. We see a stream of news about
Angolas Kwanza Basin and Congo
Basin ultra-deepwater oil, Brazils gi-
ant Tupi Field, and deepwater Gulf of
Mexico headline discoveries like Tiber,
Thunder Horse and dozens more. Aside
from being offshore, you might wonder
what all these have in common. Two
things, really.
First is a relentless push into deeper
water, a natural expansion into less ex-
plored territory. Successful drilling in
10,000 ft of water has been reported,
and 5,000 ft is now almost routine. Like
a medical scan, seismic is used to iden-
tify features of interest and reduce vari-
ous kinds of exploration and production
risk. From a seismic point of view, deep
water presents no special problems. For
years, academic geophysicists have been
gathering and processing reflection data
in some of the deepest water on earth.
There are some peculiarities, like a
seafloor reflection time of 14 seconds in
the Marianas trench (11 km of water),
but no intrinsic difficulties.
The second common denominator
is salt: a massive headache, and an op-
portunity, for geophysicists. Salt is very
simple and benign stuff when first de-
posited. It forms in low-slope coastal ar-
eas with tidal influx of seawater rich in
minerals. Stranded waters evaporate to
leave thin salt layers; the tide comes and
goes, leading to more evaporation and
more salt. In favorable circumstances,
the salt can build up to great thickness
(5,000 ft in the Gulf of Mexico). But,
at this stage, it is just a vast slab of salt.
With geologic time, tectonic subsid-
ence and sedimentation, the salt is bur-
ied under an ever-thickening wedge of
sandstone, shale and limestone. As the
sediments become more deeply buried,
they lithify into rocks and, importantly,
become more dense. Salt density chang-
es little with burial, so at some point it
is less dense than the overlying rock and
it begins to move. Slowly, over tens of
millions of years, the buoyant salt grinds
upward, deforming, bending, fracturing
and faulting the overlying rock.
We see today a snapshot of this slow,
powerful process. Gone are the days
when we think of simple domes com-
posed of smooth, ghost-like blobs of
salt. We now understand that salt flows
to form a vast and bizarre bestiary of
shapes. But what is it that makes salt so
seismically difficult?
The problem comes not from den-
sity, but from the speed at which seis-
mic waves travel through salt. In the
Gulf of Mexico, for example, as we
pass down from the ocean surface, we
first have water, with a seismic velocity
of about 1,500 m/s, then sediments at
maybe 2,000 m/s, then a progression of
shale and sandstone with wave speeds of
2,5003,500 m/s (depending on rock
frame and pore fluid properties), and
finally salt at 5,000 m/s.
This sets up a difficult situation. It
is often useful to think about seismic
waves as a family of rays, like pencils of
laser light. When a ray travels through
the sediment and hits the salt, it bends
according to a simple rule called Snells
law. The law depends only on the ve-
locity contrast and the angle of the ray
relative to a line perpendicular to the salt
face. Importantly, the ray bends gently in
the pile of overlying sediment, but kinks
dramatically at the top salt interface and
again at the base, when the ray passes
back into sedimentary rocks. To make
things worse, it turns out that geologic
salt bodies are rarely smooth. They are
irregular, deformed interfaces kicking
the rays off in crazy directions. A ray and
its neighbor can end up miles apart after
whacking into salt.
We care about rays because they must
be accurately mapped for some kinds of
seismic imaging to work. One of the les-
sons of the last decade or so is this: The
salt is sometimes so complicated that no
one can figure out the rays. But rays are
a human invention, a useful and simpli-
fying approximation when the earth is
not too complicated. For extreme cases,
like imaging through 2 km of salt in a
soft-sediment basin, the ray analogy
breaks down or becomes enormously
complicated. Consequently, there has
been a subsalt push to move away from
ray-based imaging (termed Kirchhoff
migration) in favor of algorithms that
use waves directly (wave equation mi-
gration). Unlike rays, wave fields are
smooth, continuous and easy to com-
pute. The ultimate version of wave equa-
tion imaging is reverse time migration
(RTM). Although RTM has been theo-
retically understood since about 1982, it
is only recently that computer power has
enabled people to do 3D prestack RTM
on large surveys.
While we were building an under-
standing of salt tectonics and wave
equation migration (and the computer
science to make it work), there was a
growing sense that something was miss-
ing. As researchers went to ever greater
lengths to improve imaging algorithms,
the improvements were becoming pro-
gressively smaller. Rays, waves, better
physics, faster computersit all started
to look the same, like we were up against
some kind of fundamental limit to im-
age quality in complex subsalt areas.
As it turns out, the next level of imag-
ing came not from better algorithms or
computers, but from good old-fashioned
communication. Over the decades, two
groups had grown up in offshore explo-
ration, acquisition and imaging. One a
pragmatic field campaign of cables, air-
guns and high seas, the other cloistered
in research labs, deriving and program-
ing equations on supercomputers. You
can imagine how the company picnic
split up.
There have always been voices calling
out that a fundamental link exists be-
tween acquisition and imaging, and that
significant advances can only come by
tuning both. We know this new way of
seismic shooting as wide or full azimuth,
but it is hardly new in concept. Land 3D
shooting has been full azimuth for de-
cades. Now it is happening offshore.
It is the twin advance of wave equa-
tion imaging and wide-azimuth acquisi-
tion that has allowed us to peer better
into the deep, unlocking a subsalt trea-
sure trove around the world. WO
C. L. Liner, a professor at the University of
Houston, researches petroleum seismology
and CO
2
sequestration. He is the former Edi-
tor of Geophysics, author of the textbook Ele-
ments of 3D Seismology, and a member of
SEG, AAPG, AGU and the European Academy
of Sciences. Read his blog at http://seismos-
blog.blogspot.com.
Whats new in
cliner@uh.edu CHRISTOPHER LINER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
exploration
Passing the salt takes a collaborative effort
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World Oil APRIL 2010 19
Nell.Benton@worldoil.com NELL L. BENTON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Exploration
discoveries
Nell.Benton@worldoil.com NELL L. BENTON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Africa-Middle East. In waters 4,800-ft
deep offshore Mozambique, Anadarko
encountered an additional 76 net ft of
natural gas pay at about 17,000-ft TD
in the Windjammer discovery well. The
additional pay intersected in the deeper
objective brings the total net ft of natu-
ral gas pay in Windjammer to more
than 555 ft.
Oil Search penetrated a gas-bearing
section in its Al Meashar-1 exploration
well being drilled onshore Yemen in the
Al Meashar prospect on Block 7. High
levels of gas were encountered at a depth
of 11,725 ft. Oil Search plans to drill to
about 11,976-ft TD and then commence
a logging and testing program.
IPR Mediterranean Exploration, op-
erator of Block XXIV in Syria and part-
ner with ONGC Videsh Ltd., has made
three back-to-back oil and gas discover-
ies onshore Syria. First production from
the fields is expected during the second
quarter. IPR is the operator of Syrias
Block XXIV with 40% interest in part-
nership with OVL (60%).
Gulf Keystone announced that
Kalegran Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of
MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc and
the operator of the Akri Bijeel block in
Kurdistan, concluded a successful oil
test in the Bijeel-1 exploration well in
the Akri Bijeel block. The tested zone
flowed at rates of up to 3,200 bopd
with associated gas rates of 933,000
cfd. Oil gravity was 18 API and flow-
ing wellhead pressure was 420 psi on a
3
4 choke.
Americas. Shell announced a signifi-
cant new oil discovery in the eastern
area of the Gulf of Mexico. The dis-
covery is located at the Appomattox
prospect in 7,217 ft of water in Missis-
sippi Canyon blocks 391 and 392. The
discovery well was drilled to a depth of
25,077 ft and encountered 530 ft of
oil pay. Shell then drilled an appraisal
sidetrack to 25,950 ft and encountered
approximately 380 ft of oil pay. Shell
operates and holds an 80% working
interest in the prospect with partner
Nexen who holds the remaining 20%.
Mexicos state oil company Pemex
has made two major oil discoveries in
the Sound of Campeche, Gulf of Mexi-
co. Each of the two discoveries has pos-
sible reserves of 1 billion boe, with one
containing light crude and the other
extra-heavy crude.
Pacific Rubiales Energy has made a
new oil discovery with its Quifa-24X
exploratory well drilled on the Quifa
Block in the Llanos Basin, Colombia.
The well was drilled on Prospect Q
at the northeastern border of the Quifa
Block, and found the top of the Car-
bonera basal sands at 3,206-ft MD. The
petrophysical evaluation of the well in-
dicates a net pay zone of 22 ft with 32%
average porosity.
Ivanhoe Energy has received initial
results from its IP-15 exploration well in
the Amazon Basin Block 20 in the Pun-
garayacu field, Ecuador. Results indicate
a thick, clean, high-quality oil formation
in the main target Hollin heavy oil res-
ervoir. The IP-15 well reached 1,343-ft
TD and is located in the northwest cor-
ner of the field.
Petrobras discovered oil in the pre-
salt Block BM-S-9 in the Santos Basin
offshore Brazil with well BRSA-788-
SPS. The well, drilled in waters 6,950-
ft deep, is in the same quadrant as the
Carioca and Guara discoveries. Petro-
bras is the operator of BM-S-9 and the
discovery well with 45% interest in
partnership with BG (30%) and Rep-
sol-YPF (25%).
Blackhawk Resource has commenced
drilling the first of two back-to-back
wells on its Bodo property in the Pro-
vost area of Alberta, Canada. The BLR
Bodo-1 well is a 2,460-ft vertical well
targeting bypass oil pay in the Colony
Formation. Blackhawk has identified six
follow-up drill sites that are contingent
upon the successful completion of the
BLR Bodo-1 well.
Europe. Jupiter Energys J-50 well in
Block 31, Mangistau, Kazakhstan,
is currently drilling ahead at 8,970 ft,
above the primary objective Middle
Triassic reservoir, commencing at
9,580 ft. The block covers 50 sq mi
of the Magistau basin in southwestern
Kazakhstan and is on trend with three
existing producing oil fields that have
potential reserves in excess of 21-56
million bbl of oil. Jupiter Energy is the
sole operator of Kazakhstans Block 31
and the J-50 well.
Statoil has identified four projects,
located in the Norweigan sector of the
North Sea, to be given fast-track status.
Nine out of ten development candidates
are likely to be developed with one sea-
bed template and several wells. The four
projects, Katla, Vigdis Nordst, Gygrid
and Pan/Pandora, contain recoverable
reserves that have been estimated at more
than 140 million boe.
Royal Dutch Shell is planning to take
part in the exploration of the Yamal Pen-
insula Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas field in
Russia, which is licensed to Novatek.
The field is on the northeast coast of
the Yamal Peninsula, some 125 mi from
the Bovanenkovo Field, which is being
developed by Gazprom. According to
Russian classification (C1+C2), the field
holds gas reserves estimated at 44.36 Tcf,
with production projected to be as much
as 706.3-882.9 Bcf a year.
BG Norge made an oil discovery in
the Norwegian sector of the North Sea
about 16 mi northeast of the Snorre
field. The primary exploration target for
the well was to prove petroleum in Lower
Jurassic reservoir rocks in the Cook for-
mation and the secondary target was in
the Statfjord formation. Oil was proven
in the Cook formation, while the Statf-
jord formation was found dry. Operator
BG is in the process of completing the
drilling of the well, 34/5-1S.
Australia-New Zealand. Kea Petro-
leum is gearing up to commence drilling
its Wingrove-2 exploration well onshore
New Zealand in the Taranaki Basin in
Block PEP51153. Wingrove-2 will be a
deviated well, designed to test the updip
potential of the good oil shows seen in
the basal Mount Messenger Sands. Kea
is the operator of Blocks PEP51155 and
PEP51153 with 40% interest in part-
nership with Hardie Energy (30%) and
Rawson Taranaki (30%).
Exoma Energy has completed an ex-
tensive review of its five Galilee Basin
permits in central Queensland, Austra-
lia, which cover some 10,040 sq mi of
coal seam gas and shale gas acreage. Tests
have confirmed that these coal seam gas
areas alone could hold in excess of 20 Tcf
of gas resource. A further 10 drill sites
have been selected in Blocks ATP991,
ATP996, ATP999 and ATP1005. WO
Drilling
JIM REDDEN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR jimredden@sbcglobal.net
advances
World Oil APRIL 2010 21
jimredden@sbcglobal.net JIM REDDEN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
In what today seems like the Dark
Ages, I attended a conference on remote-
ly operated vehicles (ROVs) in San Diego
where I was handed a joystick and pro-
ceeded to send a Jules Vernesque gizmo
gliding around a swimming pool. Well,
not gliding, exactly; more like crashing
into its walls. The thing that struck me
then was how my son, who was a mae-
stro at Pac-Man and all those other new-
fangled video games that were all the rage
at the time, could carve out a nice future
for himself. But, alas, he threw it all away
and got himself a PhD in physics and a
cushy position at MIT.
That was my first hands-on experience
with just how dexterous the oil field has
been over the years in adopting elements
of other, often very dissimilar, enter-
prises. Like the joysticks used to launch
those then-revolutionary ROVs, a criti-
cal component of the latest class of deep-
water seismic technology, for instance,
also was borrowed from video games in
the form of the IBM PowerXCell 8i pro-
cessor, which was developed specifically
for next-generation gaming consoles.
We also avail ourselves of technologies
within disciplines that certainly cannot
be considered childs play, like medicine,
for example. In a quid pro quo of sorts,
cardiologists and oilfield scientists even
meet side-by-side in Houston for a col-
laborative effort they call Pumps and
Pipes. In one of the most recent confer-
ences, a Methodist DeBakey Heart Cen-
ter presentation on left ventricular assist
devices preceded an ExxonMobil lecture
on subsurface pumps.
Medical researchers also were among
the very first to pounce on the opportuni-
ties in nanotechnology, but it didnt take
long for their oilfield brethren to join the
party. While medical futurists envisioned
tiny robots coursing through the human
body like microscopic Lancelots, slaying
all sorts of infirmities, their oil industry
counterparts were a bit less quixotic, set-
tling for such innovations as advanced
reservoir characterization, longer, and
stronger deepwater umbilicals and new-
age drilling and completion fluids.
Quite simply, nanotechnology is the
study of the properties and chemistries of
matter at a very small scale. And, when we
say very small, we are understating it by
a few magnitudes of order. To put it into
perspective, one sheet of paper is about
100,000 nanometers (nm) thick, and a
single strand of human DNA is 2 nm
in diameter. A natural extension of mi-
croengineering nanotechnology, in a
nutshell, is aimed at delivering more for
lessmuch, much less.
The oil industry sees endless possi-
bilities. For instance, in 2006, Australias
University of Queensland unveiled the
first oilfield application of nanotechnol-
ogy in the form of nanosensors capable
of penetrating the tiniest of rock pores to
identify reserves left behind after prima-
ry recovery. Elsewhere, in 2005, H2Oil
Corp. and PetroChinas Huafu Oilfield
Chemical Co. built a joint venture man-
ufacturing plant in Tianjin, China, for a
liquid nanotechnology fuel additive. The
plant employs what H2Oil calls NanoG-
host technology to produce enough ad-
ditives to treat 25 billion gallons of fuel a
year. H2Oil President Richard Hicks said
that using nanotechnology will enable
China to produce some of the cleanest
and most energy-efficient gasoline and
diesel fuels in the world.
In 2007, the Bureau of Economic Ge-
ology (BEG) at the University of Texas
formed its Advanced Energy Consortium
(AEC), focused on the application of nan-
otechnology similar to that being investi-
gated in Australia. The AEC, which counts
among its membership Baker Hughes, BP,
ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Marathon,
Occidental, Schlumberger, Shell and To-
tal, said its goal is to develop subsurface
nanoscale sensors that can be injected into
wells. These sensors would migrate out of
the wellbores and into the pores of the
surrounding geological structure to col-
lect data about the physical characteristics
of hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Houston-based NanoRidge Materials
Inc. and co-participants Technip, Duco
and Rice completed a one-year study that
examined the use of nanotechnology to
design ultra-high-conductivity deepwater
umbilicals. NanoRidge believes the use of
emerging carbon nanotechnology could
enable power delivery to the seafloor
where light weight and extremely high
currents are required. The public-private
Research Partnership to Secure Energy
for America (RPSEA) provided partial
funding for the research project.
Basically, the investigation entailed
the development of an electrical con-
ductor suitable for use in subsea um-
bilicals with conductivity much greater
than copper and allowing for tieback
distances approaching 100 miles. Nano-
Ridge says that using carbon nanotubes
imbedded in a polymer conductor can
yield conductivities that are 100 times
that of copper alone.
NanoRidge Product Development
Engineer Lori Jacob said a prototype has
been developed and lab tested. She said
additional information will not be re-
leased until REPSA completes its review
of the final report.
M-I Swaco also sees enormous po-
tential for nanochemistry in drilling and
completion fluids. Late last year, it put
up $460,000 to fund a two-year joint
study with Rice University. Today, the
company is collaborating with both Rice
and the University of Texas on what Vice
President of Research and Engineering
Jim Bruton said is an examination of
different nanochemistries and their po-
tential applications in the oil field. For
now, the company is keeping its work
close to the vest, but Bruton said the
possibilities are intriguing.
Right now, we are in the pure re-
search stage, so we dont want to reveal
too much on what we are doing. But, we
feel nanotechnology indeed has applica-
tions in drilling and completion fluids as
well as material science, he said.
When I look at the mind-boggling
technologies under development today
and juxtapose those with the perennial
crew change weve been hearing about for
years, I can almost visualize a future where
some 12-year-old techno-whiz deftly
pushes buttons that enable him or her to
adjust weight-on-bit or fluid properties on
a rig thousands of miles away. Of course,
that will have to wait until he or she blows
up a cyborg with a cyber-missile. WO
Jim Redden, a Houston-based consultant and
a journalism graduate of Marshall University,
has more than 37 years experience as a writer,
editor and corporate communicator, primarily fo-
cused on the upstream oil and gas industry.
Big indeed can come in the tiniest of packages
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JAMES F. LEA, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR jamesflea@aol.com
Whats new in
World Oil APRIL 2010 23
David.Cohen@worldoil.com DAVID MICHAEL COHEN, MANAGING EDITOR
Let me tell you something that we Is-
raelis have against Moses. He took us
40 years through the desert in order to
bring us to the one spot in the Middle
East that has no oil!
Golda Meir, 1973
If Golda Meir were alive today, she
might owe Moses an apology. Israel still
has no oil reserves to speak of, but if the
giant Tamar offshore natural gas discov-
ery is any indication, then perhaps the
leader of the Exodus knew what he was
doing after all.
Discovered in November 2008 by
Noble Energy and Israeli Partners Is-
ramco Negev, Delek Drilling, Avner
Oil Exploration and Dor Gas
Exploration, the 6.3-Tcf find
in the eastern Mediterranean
is the biggest in the countrys
history, representing 40 years
of electrical supply at current
demand levels, or 1520 years
at projected growth. It is also
the second-largest gas find
worldwide since Jan. 1, 2008,
right after Petrobras giant
Jupiter subsalt discovery off
Brazil. Shortly after the Tamar
discovery, Noble found an ad-
ditional 0.5 Tcf at the nearby
Dalit prospect.
The implications of gas
production from these dis-
coveries for Israel are pro-
found, affecting energy secu-
rity, infrastructure and trade
relations. As Noble Chairman
and CEO Chuck Davidson was quoted
as saying in a November Oil and Gas
Investor article, Its not very often you
get to be part of an exploration venture
that has the potential to dramatically
change a countrys energy supply.
Development plan. The $2.5$3
billion development plan calls for sub-
sea production of Tamar gas and deliv-
ery via a high-pressure, dual 16-in. sub-
sea pipeline to an onshore distribution
terminal 90 km away near Dor, 20 km
south of Haifa. A subsea monoethylene
glycol (MEG) line will provide flow as-
surance for the gas being produced from
the field. Though Noble declined to
comment on whether Dalit production
would eventually be tied into the same
system, the smaller discovery does lie
close to the Tamar pipelines path, about
30 km from shore.
Davidson told reporters last month
that Noble expects first production of
750 MMcfd by 2012greater than
the countrys projected gas demand for
that year. Israeli officials have been less
optimistic, saying in February that they
dont expect gas deliveries from Tamar
until the following year.
The project is not without its tech-
nical challenges. Delivering gas from
far offshore is never easy, and generally
requires some form of expensive treat-
ment. According to a March 17 article
in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Noble
plans to deliver the gas at a very high
pressure of 400500 bars, much more
than the 80100 bars at which current
Israeli gas supplies are delivered.
High-pressure delivery reduces the
cost of production by offering more flex-
ibility in terms of swing production and
by eliminating the need to add subsea
compressors as the field depletes. How-
ever, experts in the Israeli infrastructure
ministry have recently raised safety con-
cerns about delivering the gas at such
high pressure.
Implications. Tamar gas could be
the answer to Israels prayers in many
respects. The country has been greatly
expanding its natural gas use, and its use
of gas for electrical generation jumped
from zero before 2003 to about 40% of
electrical supply today.
Israel only has two sources for this
natural gas: Mari-B Field in the Medi-
terranean and pipeline imports from
Egypt. Mari-B, which was also dis-
covered by Noble in 2000 with 1 Tcf
of initial reserves, will be depleted in
a few years. Egypt has supplied gas to
Egypt since 2005, but the sales have
faced protests and legal challenges
in that country, including a court-
imposed ban on gas sales to
Israel that was just recently
overturned by Egypts high
court. This supply insecurity
had Israel looking into poten-
tial Russian or LNG supplies,
but the Tamar and Dalit dis-
coveries have changed the
picture dramatically, offering
Israel the prospect of near
energy independence for the
first time.
There are big plans brewing
for all that gas. Israel is invest-
ing around $1 billion in its
gas distribution network, set
to cover 90% of the country
in 2013, to meet an expected
increase in annual demand to
350420 Bcf in 2016, from
about 140 Bcf now.
Long-term domestic gas
supply would also benefit Israels effort
to reduce its dependence on foreign oil
by electrifying its auto fleet. California-
based company Better Place is in the
process of rolling out its first electric
vehicle service network in Israel. The
first charging spot opened in 2008 at a
cinema car park in Pi-Glilot, and pub-
lic networks in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Kefar
Sava, Holon and Jerusalem are also be-
ing planned and installed.
In a land where even the common-
place takes on biblical proportions, its
easy to see an epic role for natural gas
exploration and production activities in
the years to come. WO
A land owing with milk, honey and natural gas
production
Fig. 1. The proposed development scheme for Tamar Field is
a subsea production system tied back to an onshore terminal
south of Haifa. Courtesy of Noble Energy.

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World Oil APRIL 2010 25
Oil and gas in the
editorial@worldoil.com JEFF MOORE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ASIA-PACIFIC
capitals
The outlook for the European gas mar-
ket is changing quickly. The convention-
al demand outlook was that, because of
diminishing domestic output and rising
consumption, Europe would be forced
to increase imports and consequently
lose leverage with a limited number of
suppliers, with an upside price risk. With
more emphasis on energy conservation,
renewable energy and eventually nuclear
power, Europes gas import needs might
be much more moderate than, until re-
cently, anticipated. As for supplies, wor-
ries about scarcity dissipate as the avail-
ability of seaborne supplies is realized,
and especially as the potential for shale
gas dawns. Moreover, new pipeline sup-
plies seem to be available from the Cas-
pian region and even Central Asia. The
diversification enhances supply security
and strengthens the buyers bargaining
position, leading to a downside price risk
for producers.
The development of shale gas in the
US has triggered a chain of changes in
the global gas market. Only five years
ago, the consensus was that North
America was destined to become a ma-
jor LNG importer. Prospects for US
sales spurred investment in gas fields,
LNG export terminals and tankers. The
Shtokman project in the Russian Barents
Sea explicitly targeted the US market, as
did LNG projects in Angola, Qatar and
other countries. Consensus was also that
rising US imports would pull gas prices
up, so that, in the longer run, both LNG
and pipeline gas would be more costly.
Such prospects caused concerns in
Europe; the outlook was for both gas
import dependence and gas prices to rise
quickly. Repeated disruptions of Rus-
sian gas supplies through Ukraine were
a reminder of the precarious security of
supply for pipeline gas transiting third
countries. Sudden leaps in gas prices,
partly due to indexation to oil prices,
demonstrated the cost of depending on a
small number of external suppliers.
Against this backdrop, the European
Commission designed an ambitious pro-
gram called 20-20 by 2020meaning
a 20% reduction in the energy intensity
of the EU economy and a 20% share for
renewable energy. Policy instruments are
regulations and subsidies; for example,
utilities in Germany are compelled to
have a certain share of renewable energy
in their portfolio, and governments pay
for investment in wind and solar power.
As the economic context changes,
policies change. The most immediate
impact is that LNG projects once des-
tined for the US are seeking ports else-
where, essentially in Europe and China.
Next is the potential impact of pipelines
from new gas suppliers such as Libya and
Azerbaijan. Even if the Nabucco project
to bring Caspian gas to Europe is costly
and may initially be difficult to fill and
finance, there is supply potential beyond
Turkey. Relations with Iran might im-
prove, and Qatar has the worlds second-
largest proved gas reserves. Consequent-
ly, Europe is potentially facing a much
larger choice of gas suppliers.
Such prospects evidently enhance the
attractiveness of natural gas for Europes
energy investors and national energy
planners. Developing a European shale
gas industry would likely take at least a
decade, given the need for investment in
infrastructure and environmental prob-
lems. But there are resources there, and
such prospects also enhance the attrac-
tiveness of natural gas. Dependence on
fuel imports looks less threatening with a
plethora of suppliers.
The financial crisis, the European
recession and the high debt burden of
many governments undermine 20-20
by 2020. Stagnant economies, unem-
ployment and budget deficits reduce
governments appetite for costly energy
programs, and there is not much pri-
vate capital available for energy projects
that are only viable with handouts from
governments that need to cut budgets.
Against this backdrop, policies are likely
to converge on the most cost-effective
solutions, which probably will mean
considerable gas volumes for heating
and electricity.
The structure of the European gas
market is likely to change markedly.
Supplier diversification and competi-
tion provide strong arguments for open
access to infrastructure and clients, and
against import monopolies and politi-
cal control of gas trade. The historical
monopolies in European gas trade were
justified by the need to invest in infra-
structure and to bargain with a small
number of sellers. This is no longer the
case; infrastructure has been developed
and sellers are many.
Gas suppliers to Europe, whether by
LNG or by pipeline, may experience
volume growth in the market, but much
stronger competition is likely to keep
prices down for a long time. Spot trading
is likely to replace long-term take-or-pay
contracts, and indexation to oil prices
will be unsustainable. The Shtokman
project seems far off, and Nabucco seems
rather uncertain. Deferring major invest-
ment projects has little or no impact on
the immediate market balance, but com-
promises the long-term predictability of
the gas market, whose balance ultimately
depends on heavy capital investment
with long lead times. Thus, short-term
and medium-term consumer gains may
lead to a long-term predicament.
To sum up, changing circumstances
enhance the competitiveness of natural
gas in the European market, but the in-
cumbent suppliers need to rethink their
strategies. Norwegian gas exporters will
continue to benefit from geographical
proximity and a reputation of reliability,
but will have to comply with lower mar-
gins and a more volatile market. Russian
exporters will have to prove their reliabil-
ity. Russias major advantage is that it is a
huge market for European goods and ser-
vices, with potential for further growth.
In the immediate future, Russia may lose
from supplier diversification, but, in the
longer run, Russia may be a winner, in-
sofar as its gas resources are available for
incremental exports to Europe and have
not been committed to the Chinese mar-
ket. Against this backdrop, Europe has
an interest in maintaining a major share
for Russia in the gas market and not un-
critically diversifying away from Russian
gas imports. WO
ystein Noreng is a professor at the Nor-
wegian School of Management. He has also
served as an advisor and consultant to organiza-
tions such as the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank, governments and energy
companies. He has served on the supervisory
board of RWE Dea.
Natural gas for Europe: How much? From where? At what price?
Oil and gas in the
editorial@worldoil.com YSTEIN NORENG, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, NORTH SEA
capitals
World Oil APRIL 2010 29
Industry at a glance
1.0
2.5
4.0
5.5
7.0
8.5
10.0
11.5
13.0
12-month
Actual monthly
M F J D N O S A J J M A M F J D N O S A J J M A M
2009 2010 2008
Source: The Gas Price Report
MONTHLY U.S. GAS PRICES & TRENDS ($/Mcf)
2009 2010 2008
35
55
75
95
115
135
155
W. Texas Inter.
Brent Blend
Arabian Light
F J D N O S A J J M A M F J D N O S A J J M A M F
Source: DOE
SELECTED WORLD OIL PRICES ($/bbl)
WORKOVER RIG COUNT

Feb. Jan. Dec. Feb. % chng % chng
Region 2010 2010 2009 2009 mo ago yr ago
Texas Gulf Coast 137 134 123 157 2.2 -12.7
ArkLaTex 105 101 85 130 4.0 -19.2
Eastern USA 56 58 53 64 -3.4 -12.5
South Louisiana 39 40 38 48 -2.5 -18.8
Mid-Continent 325 341 323 365 -4.7 -11.0
West Texas / Permian 477 454 431 552 5.1 -13.6
Rocky Mountain 265 269 265 260 -1.5 1.9
West Coast / Alaska 322 309 307 371 0.7 -13.2
Total US 1,726 1,706 1,625 1,947 1.2 -11.4
Canada 539 514 478 623 4.9 -13.5
Source: Cameron
WORLD OIL & NGL PRODUCTION Million barrels per day
Feb. 2010 Jan. 2010 Avg. 2009 Avg. 2008
OPECCrude Oil
1

Saudi Arabia 7.9 7.94 7.92 8.90
Iran 3.74 3.7 3.74 3.90
Iraq 2.54 2.45 2.45 2.38
United Arab Emirates 2.28 2.29 2.59 2.27
Kuwait 2.03 2.03 2.31 2.01
Neutral Zone 0.52 0.52 0.54 0.57
Qatar 0.82 0.8 0.77 0.85
Angola 1.95 1.89 1.77 1.85
Nigeria 1.98 2 1.82 1.95
Libya 1.53 1.52 1.55 1.72
Algeria 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.36
Ecuador 0.47 0.46 0.47 0.50
Venezuela 2.23 2.22 2.16 2.35
NGLs & condensate 5.13 5.13 4.65 4.40
Total OPEC 34.37 34.20 33.99 35.01
OECD
2

US 8.18 8.07 8.07 7.52
Mexico 2.97 2.95 2.97 3.16
Canada 3.25 3.06 3.22 3.25
United Kingdom 1.44 1.4 4.52 4.75
Norway 2.32 2.26 1.47 1.56
Europe-others 0.66 0.64 0.66 0.72
Australia 0.55 0.56 0.55 0.55
Pacific-others 0.11 0.12 0.10 0.10
Total OECD 19.48 19.25 21.56 21.61
NonOECD
1

Former USSR 13.61 13.7 13.27 12.82
China 3.93 3.76 3.79 3.79
Malaysia 0.71 0.71 0.74 0.77
India 0.81 0.8 0.80 0.81
Indonesia 0.99 1 1.00 0.98
Asia-others 1.15 1.12 1.10 1.08
Europe 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.14
Brazil 2.63 2.62 2.49 2.37
Argentina 0.71 0.74 0.72 0.75
Colombia 0.75 0.72 0.67 0.59
Latin America-others 0.44 0.444 0.43 0.42
Oman 0.83 0.82 0.81 0.75
Syria 0.37 0.37 0.38 0.39
Yemen 0.28 0.27 0.30 0.30
Egypt 0.68 0.64 0.69 0.70
Gabon 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.21
Africa/Middle East-others 1.63 1.64 1.64 1.68
Total nonOECD 29.89 29.72 29.19 28.55
Processing gains
3
2.20 2.20 2.29 2.24
Total supply 85.94 85.37 87.03 87.41
Source: International Energy Agency Note: Totals and subtotals may not add, due to rounding.
1
Indonesian production has been reclassified within nonOECD and excluded from OPEC.
2
Comprises crude oil, condensates, NGLs and oil from unconventional sources.
3
Net of volumetric gains and losses in refining (excludes net gain/loss in China and nonOECD Europe) and marine
transportation losses.
U.S. OIL PRODUCTION
1
Thousand barrels per day
DAILY AVERAGE FOR MONTH
State or Feb. Feb. Jan.
District 2010* 2009** % diff. 2010*
Alabama 18.0 21.0 -14.3 18.0
Alaska 681.0 653.0 4.3 698.0
Arkansas 17.0 17.0 0.0 17.0
California 644.0 634.0 1.6 660.0
Colorado 68.0 65.0 4.6 65.0
Florida 2.0 2.0 0.0 2.0
Illinois 25.0 25.0 0.0 25.0
Kansas 105.0 108.0 -2.8 104.0
Kentucky 9.0 3.0 200.0 9.0
Louisiana 1,549.0 1,362.0 13.7 1,491.0
Michigan 16.0 17.0 -5.9 17.0
Mississippi 64.0 64.0 0.0 64.0
Montana 79.0 79.0 0.0 77.0
Nebraska 6.0 6.0 0.0 6.0
New Mexico 173.0 153.0 13.1 165.0
North Dakota 241.0 197.0 22.3 236.0
Ohio 16.0 16.0 0.0 17.0
Oklahoma 181.0 178.0 1.7 184.0
Texas 1,378.0 1,305.0 5.6 1,356.0
Utah 67.0 64.0 4.7 65.0
Wyoming 149.0 145.0 2.8 144.0
Others
2
25.0 26.0 -3.8 21.0
Total US 5,513.0 5,140.0 7.3 5,441.0
Lower 48 4,832.0 4,487.0 7.7 4,743.0
1
Includes lease condensate.
*APIs current estimate.
** DOEs revision as of 10 months from current issue date.
2
Includes Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Benchmark crude oil futures were down by $2/bbl
month-on-month in February, but rebounded by almost
$10/bbl from early-February lows. WTI and Brent Blend
were recently trading at $82/bbl and $80/bbl, respectively,
on a perceived heightening of geopolitical tensions affecting
some producing countries, but market sentiment was tem-
pered by ample physical oil supplies. OPEC crude produc-
tion hit a 14-month high of 29.2 mb/d in February, with
Iraq accounting for half of the 200 kb/d increase. US oil
production rose from 5,441 MMb/d to 5,513 MMb/d. Gas
prices dropped in March, with an average of $4.29, com-
pared to Februarys average of $5.22. The international rig
count rose by 8% to 1,692, while the number of US rotary
rigs rose by 6%. The workover rig count increased by 2% to
1,726. Both domestic and international geophysical activity
remained unchanged through March. WO
30 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Industry at a glance
Source: Cameron Sources: Baker Hughes & M-I Swaco
U.S. ROTARY
DRILLING RIGS
INTERNATIONAL ROTARY
DRILLING RIGS U.S. WORKOVER RIGS
1,500
1,700
1,900
2,100
2,300
2,500
2,700
D N O S A J J M A M F J
2010
2009
2009
2010
1,100
1,200
1,300
1,400
1,500
1,600
1,700
1,800
D N O S A J J M A M F J
800
1,050
1,300
1,550
1,800
2,050
2,300
D N O S A J J M A M F J
2010
2009
INTERNATIONAL ROTARY RIG COUNT
Monthly average
Feb. 2010 Jan. 2010 Feb. 2009
Region Land Offshore Land Offshore Land Offshore
CANADA 560 4 456 3 412 1
EUROPE 23 43 24 44 21 51
Germany 4 1 4 1 10 0
Italy 3 1 3 1 3 0
Netherlands 2 4 2 2 0 2
Norway 0 19 0 22 0 25
Poland 3 0 3 0 0 0
United Kingdom 1 14 1 14 0 20
Others 10 4 11 4 8 4
MIDDLE EAST
*
217 31 225 37 230 25
Abu Dhabi 8 4 8 3 7 3
Iran 56 14 56 14 59 10
Oman 44 0 45 0 53 0
Saudi Arabia 55 12 55 13 60 12
Syria 18 0 19 0 21 0
Turkey 7 0 7 0 5 0
Others 29 1 35 7 25 0
AFRICA 117 40 107 35 114 22
Algeria 22 0 18 0 23 0
Egypt 45 13 40 15 44 8
Libya 16 4 14 2 15 1
Nigeria 4 8 5 4 2 5
Sudan 21 0 21 0 28 0
Others 9 15 9 14 2 8
LATIN AMERICA 308 71 296 76 294 80
Argentina 65 0 58 0 63 1
Brazil 33 31 33 31 30 30
Colombia 33 0 34 0 29 0
Mexico 98 22 100 25 98 34
Venezuela 55 13 51 14 56 13
Others 24 5 20 6 18 2
FAR EAST 161 117 166 105 154 109
Australia 4 11 5 12 12 9
China, offshore 0 29 0 17 0 24
India 75 30 74 27 52 24
Indonesia 45 11 47 11 55 13
Malaysia 0 13 0 13 0 18
Myanmar 3 2 3 2 1 1
Pakistan 18 1 18 0 21 0
Thailand 3 9 3 9 3 9
Vietnam 0 8 0 10 0 7
Others 13 3 16 4 10 4
Total 1,386 306 1,274 300 1,225 288
*No data available for Iraq. Sources: Baker Hughes Inc. & M-I Swaco

U.S. GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Seismic crews working
Regions Mar. 2010 Feb. 2010 Mar. 2009 Regions Mar. 2010 Feb. 2010 Mar. 2009
Rocky Mountains 10 10 5 Gulf Coast 7 6 11
Mid-Continent 12 12 23 Offshore 13 13 10
Southwest 8 10 11 Others 12 13 10
Total 64 64 70
Source: IHS Energy
INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Seismic crews working
Regions Mar. 2010 Feb. 2010 Mar. 2009 Regions Mar. 2010 Feb. 2010 Mar. 2009
Africa 73 72 73 Far East* 70 70 72
Canada 16 16 12 Middle East 34 34 34
CIS 46 46 47 Latin America 35 35 36
Europe 32 32 35 United States 62 64 70
Total 368 369 379
Source: IHS Energy
*Includes China
ROTARY RIGS RUNNING IN U.S. Monthly average
% diff.
STATE Feb. Jan. Feb. Feb. 10
and AREA 2010 2010 2009 Feb. 09
Alabama - Total 4 3 2 ...
Land 4 3 1 300.0
Inland water 0 0 0 ...
Offshore 0 0 1 ...
Alaska - Total 10 7 9 11.1
Land 9 7 9 ...
Offshore 1 0 0 ...
Arkansas 42 38 50 16.0
California - Total 25 25 24 4.2
Land 24 24 23 4.3
Offshore 1 1 1 ...
Colorado 50 45 68 26.5
Florida 1 0 0 ...
Kansas 19 21 16 18.8
Kentucky 8 6 11 27.3
Louisiana - Total 205 194 157 30.6
North - Land 136 130 80 70.0
South - Inl. water 13 13 6 116.7
South - Land 18 13 22 18.2
Offshore 39 38 49 20.4
Michigan 0 0 0 ...
Mississippi 10 9 12 16.7
Montana 7 5 4 75.0
Nebraska 2 1 0 ...
Nevada 4 4 6 33.3
New Mexico 56 52 47 19.1
New York 2 3 3 33.3
North Dakota 80 71 63 27.0
Ohio 7 7 8 12.5
Oklahoma 114 104 130 12.3
Pennsylvania 67 67 24 179.2
South Dakota 0 0 0 ...
Tennessee 1 1 4 75.0
Texas - Total 549 521 574 4.4
Offshore 4 3 6 33.3
Inland water 0 0 0 ...
District 1 23 21 9 155.6
District 2 19 18 28 32.1
District 3 38 34 45 15.6
District 4 47 43 48 2.1
District 5 77 74 126 38.9
District 6 72 63 96 25.0
District 7B 9 10 15 40.0
District 7C 53 50 40 32.5
District 8 111 111 69 60.9
District 8A 20 20 19 5.3
District 9 33 33 27 22.2
District 10 45 41 48 6.3
Utah 24 23 24 ...
W. Virginia 25 25 26 3.8
Wyoming 38 37 52 26.9
Others 3 4 9 66.7
US offshore total 45 42 57 21.1
US grand total 1,353 1,273 1,323 2.3
Source: Baker Hughes Inc. Note: Totals and subtotals may not add, due to rounding.
INTERNATIONAL OFFSHORE RIGS

US Gulf of Mexico Europe/Mediterranean Worldwide
Feb. 2010 Mobile Platform* Mobile Platform* Mobile Platform*
Total rigs in fleet 119 54 104 107 753 298
year ago 89 54 78 107 536 296
Contracted rigs, 73 24 90 104 582 239
year ago 60 32 78 104 457 252
Rig utilization, %, 61.2 44.4 87.0 97.2 77.3 80.2
year ago 68.1 59.3 99.0 97.2 85.2 85.1
Source: Offshore Data Services Weekly Mobile Offshore Rig Count
*Updated quarterly.
Industry at a glance
World Oil APRIL 2010 33
DRILLING
TECHNOLOGY
SPECIAL FOCUS:
Bed boundary mapping proves useful
in a heavy oil environment
Deep azimuthal electromagnetic resistivity measurements were used
to optimize the trajectory of wells drilled with a rotary steerable system.
Pedro Machado, Ruben Guzman, Carlos Rojas and Alberto Ache, PDVSA;
Nidal Khalil Hazboun and Karin Gonzalez, Schlumberger
Primary (cold) production of heavy oil from the Faja
Petrolfera del Orinoco (Orinoco oil belt) delivers very low
recovery factors. Steam-assisted thermal production methods
are increasingly being used in the region to enhance recovery.
To optimize the heating efficiency of steam injection and the
gravitational segregation of heavy oil, several of the steam-as-
sisted techniques used in the region require precise positioning
of horizontal wells close to the bottom of the reservoir sands.
These sands are usually unconsolidated and highly heteroge-
neous, with lateral variations at subseismic scales. Many of the
reservoirs are less than 20-ft thick.
Petrleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has ambitious tar-
gets for improving oil recovery factors in the region. The
company has been evaluating technologies to more accu-
rately position wells and improve overall operational effi-
ciency. PDVSA carried out a pilot project in a thin, uncon-
solidated package where a high drilling rate (up to 1,000 ft/
hr) was expected.
The project deployed a rotary steerable system (RSS)
combined with a deep azimuthal electromagnetic resistiv-
ity system. This enabled real-time bed boundary mapping,
providing engineers with fit-for-purpose information with
which to make geosteering decisions to optimally place wells
within the pay zone. The new information was subsequent-
ly used to update and increase the accuracy of the geological
model, benefitting future field development activity.
THE BARE HEAVY OIL FIELD
Bare Field is located in the Orinoco oil belt, one of the
worlds largest heavy oil accumulations, containing an estimat-
ed 1.3 trillion bbl of original oil in place, of which 300 bil-
lion bbl are considered recoverable. The belt extends for about
375 mi along the north side of the Orinoco River in the east
of Venezuela, and is divided into four blocks: Boyaca, Junin,
Ayacucho and Carabobo. Bare Field, with a surface area of
about 1,560 sq mi, is in the Ayacucho Block, Fig.1.
Oil in the Orinoco belt is mostly contained in fluvial, near-
shore marine and tidal sandstones of the Oficina Formation,
deltaic sequences deposited during the Miocene and Pliocene
epochs. Reservoirs range in depth from 500 to 4,600 ft, and
they contain oil with gravities ranging 46API. Viscosities
range from 2,000 to 8,000 cP.
Because of its high viscosity, primary (cold) production of
heavy oil from the Orinoco belt is typically expected to de-
liver recovery factors of just 3%. PDVSA has targets for much
higher recovery factors, mostly to be achieved through steam-
assisted thermal enhanced production methods.
The sandstones of the Oficina Formation exhibit consider-
able internal fluid-flow heterogeneity caused by juxtaposition
of different facies and by shale barriers that reduce recovery
efficiency. Between 30% and 40% of the oil in place in the
deltaic sequence is in sand bodies less than 20-ft thick, repre-
senting an additional challenge to cost-effective exploitation.
The main reservoir of Bare Field is in the lower part of the
Oficina Formation, and is composed of shale, siltstone, mud-
stone, coalbeds and sand bodies, interpreted as a product of a
tide-dominated coastal plain setting. The main oil-bearing in-
tervals are sands deposited as fluvial systems of braided plains,
channels and channel-fill bars.
SIMULATION OF WELL PLACEMENT
A numerical simulation model using representative prop-
erties from Bare Field was developed to verify whether well
location within the pay zone has a significant effect when ap-
plying the horizontal alternating steam drive (HASD) thermal
recovery process.
The HASD process uses a set of parallel single horizontal
wells acting alternatively as oil producers and steam injec-
tors. The recovery mechanism is a combination of horizontal
steamflooding between wells and cyclic steam stimulation
of each of the wells in the pattern. Steam is continuously
injected through one set of wells while a second set of wells
is producing.
After a pre-defined period, which can last from days to
months, the wells roles are switched, with the injectors be-
Fig. 1. Location of Bare Field, Orinoco oil belt, Venezuela.
34 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
coming producers and vice versa. The role-switching contin-
ues cyclically over the economic life of the production system.
The process is designed to spread heat throughout the reser-
voir, decreasing oil viscosity and thus improving oil drainage.
The model simulated a five-well HASD pattern. Five dif-
ferent scenarios were considered, locating the five wells from
near the bottom to near the top of the formation. Figure 2
shows the simulated temperature profile in the reservoir af-
ter 10 years of steam injection with wells near the bottom of
the formation. The area colored in yellow represents the high-
est temperatures. The red line in Fig. 3 shows cumulative oil
production plotted against distance from the bottom of the
reservoir. This indicates that maximum production is achieved
when wells are placed near the bottom of the reservoir.
Creating steam represents a significant operational cost,
so cumulative steam oil ratio (CSOR) is an important pa-
rameter when evaluating the economics of a heavy oil proj-
ect. The blue line in Fig. 3 shows that CSOR is lowest
meaning that the least steam will be required for a particular
volume of oil productionwhen wells are placed near the
bottom of the reservoir.
OPTIMUM WELL PLACEMENT
PDVSA initiated a project to investigate whether new well
placement technology could improve drilling and production
efficiency in its unconsolidated heavy oil reservoirs in the Ori-
noco belt. Two candidate wells (Fig. 4) were identified in the
central area of the Bare field in the TL sand, a 30-ft reservoir
unit at 2,700 ft depth in the lower part of the Oficina Forma-
tion. Available log data indicated strong lateral variation in
both sand thickness and petrophysical properties.
The project required the drilling of 3,000-ft horizontal sec-
tions for the two wells about 7 ft above the base of the reser-
voir. A key objective was that the wells should avoid sand exit,
despite the expected subseismic geological variations, thereby
avoiding the need for sidetracks.
In addition, it was decided that actual sand thickness
should be measured along the trajectory. A point-the-bit
powered RSS was selected to meet these objectives. The drill-
bit featured frontal jets to reduce washing out of the uncon-
solidated sand formation.
PROACTIVE GEOSTEERING
Many horizontal wells have been drilled in the Orinoco
belt, usually using conventional well placement technologies
such as log correlations, modeling and real-time image inter-
pretations. The reactive nature of this conventional technol-
ogy does not meet the requirements of advanced geosteering
systems. A more proactive approach was required, based on
real-time logging-while-drilling (LWD) measurements and
software that would enable in-time drilling decisions.
The bottomhole assembly included a deep azimuthal elec-
tromagnetic resistivity LWD systemSchlumbergers propri-
etary PeriScope bed boundary mapperdeployed above the
RSS to measure the distance to geologic boundaries in real
time, allowing proactive geosteering through the reservoir. The
tool was oriented azimuthally by the use of a magnetometer,
and also provided annular pressure and azimuthal gamma ray
(GR) measurements. The RSS provided a continuous inclina-
tion measurement about 14 ft behind the bit.
PRE-JOB MODELING
A multidisciplinary team was formedcomprised of a
geologist, geophysicist, drilling and reservoir engineers, sys-
tem engineers and well placement engineersto plan the job
details, which included specifying downhole tools, software,
people and data transmission systems.
The team performed a feasibility study to quantify
whether the sensitivity of the deep resistivity tool was com-
5 19 20 40 55
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Fig. 3. Cumulative oil production (red) and steam-oil ratio
(blue) plotted against distance from the bottom of the
reservoir.
Fig. 4. Trajectories of the two candidate wells. The contoured
horizon is a reector below the TL sand.
Fig. 2. Modeled temperature prole of a ve-well HASD
pattern after 10 years of steam injection.
A major operator in the North Sea faced a feld with complex collision concerns in an
extremely harsh environment. TESCO provided its rotary steerable CASING DRILLING
directional (CDD) well solution to realize several benefts, including reduced lost
circulation, excellent hole conditions, on bottom rate of penetration equal to
conventional drilling, and enhanced well control.
Add in the equipment maintenance time savings
and the elimination of certain classes of expendables such as drillpipe, and there is a
measureable, positive efect on OPEX due to TESCOs CASING DRILLING technology. In
addition, our depth of resources accelerates feld development, since the combination of
using CDD with our other technologies demonstrates opportunities for drilling multiple
wells from a single platform. For more in-depth
information, visit www.tescocorp.com.
TESCO is changing the way people defne Total Depth.
CASINGDRILLINGaccomodates
a wide variety of build rates
and casing sizes.
Casing Size
(inches)
Casing Weight
(lb/ft)
Casing Grade Maximum Build
Rate (degree/100 ft)
5 1/2 17 P110 13
7 23 L80 8
7 5/8 29.7 L80 7
9 5/8 36 J55 4 1/2
10 3/4 45.5 J55 4
13 3/8 54.5 J55 3
Total Depth is more than
just a number.
B E T T E R W A Y S T O T H E B O T T O M
Top Drives Sales & Rental / Tubular Services Proprietary & Conventional / CASING DRILLING / Completions / Accessories
Tesco Corporation / November 2009
` Total Depth 12,088 ft, North Sea
36 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
patible with the expected petrophysical properties of the res-
ervoir. A 2D section along the proposed well trajectory was
generated based on resistivity measurements from a nearby
well and properties of the TL sand extracted from the 3D
structural model, Fig. 5a.
Synthetic logs were also generated (Fig. 5b): GR, con-
ventional resistivities and deep azimuthal electromagnetic
resistivity raw data, which was used to predict distances to
bed boundaries.
The deep azimuthal electromagnetic resistivity data is plot-
ted on a symmetric scale. The tool is sensitive to nearby resis-
tivity contrasts. When the readings are close to zero, the tool
is away from any boundaries (areas marked 2 in Fig. 5b). If
a more conductive bed is located above the trajectory, curves
will deflect up proportionally to the resistivity contrast and
distance (1). Conversely, if the more conductive bed is be-
low, the curves will deflect downward (3). The modeling
exercise indicated that the tool was able to accurately predict
the base of the TL sand within a detection range of 7 ft, which
met the requirements of the project.
LWD FIELD SOFTWARE
During the drilling operations, LWD data was transmitted
in real time to the surface, where specialized software tools
were utilized to present information that would enable proac-
tive decisions to optimize the well positioning in the produc-
tive zone. A three-layer model inversion algorithm was used to
obtain distance to bed boundaries, horizontal and vertical re-
sistivity of the reservoir, and resistivities of the beds above and
below the measurement points in the TL sand. The software
provided bed boundary information through both azimuthal
curves and inversion results.
Another software platform provided 3D interactive dis-
plays of the gamma ray images along the well trajectory and
interpretations of formation dips. A seismic-to-simulation
software application was also provided, allowing collaborative
workflows and integration of operations between geophysi-
cists, geologists and reservoir engineers.
RESULTS
The two wells, each with 3,000-ft horizontal displace-
ment, were optimally positioned on the first attempt, so no
sidetracks were required. The RSS, under the directional
drillers command, responded to all geosteering require-
ments, delivering an in-gauge section with less tortuosity
and smaller dogleg severities (below 5/100 ft) compared
with downhole motors.
Good geosteering operational performance, data signal
level and sampling frequency were achieved at the same
time as high rates of penetration (ROP), averaging more
than 500 ft/hr and reaching up to 1,000 ft/hr. Net pay aver-
aged 90%.
Figure 6 shows a representation of an interpreted structural
model based on the distance to boundaries detected by the
deep azimuthal electromagnetic resistivity tool in one of the
wells. The boundaries on the 2D section are referenced to
the executed well trajectory (red line) and color coded where
darker colors represent lower resistivities.
Supporting this interpretation are the extracted relative
dips, represented by blue lines on the curtain section (verti-
cal section along the trajectory) extracted from the GR image
interpretation on the top track. A shale section, accounting
for about 10% of the total drilled interval, is indicated by the
darker GR images on the top track coinciding with the region
where the trajectory exits the sand interpretation.
The wells were drilled through sand bodies previously in-
terpreted as being approximately horizontal along the well
trajectory. After drilling 3,000 ft of horizontal section, varia-
tion in true vertical depth (TVD) was found to be about 20
ft, representing an average relative dip angle of less than 0.5.
However, dips relative to the well trajectory displayed larger
(2) variations locally, providing a tortuous geometry that is
only feasible to navigate using real-time bed boundary map-
ping technology.
GEOLOGICAL MODEL UPDATE
Information provided by the bed boundary mapper was
used to update the geological model. Figure 7 shows the well
trajectory (red) with a background picture of the inversion
canvas. Superimposed are yellow and green sticks depicting the
distances to boundaries and their inclinations. The distance
to the boundaries results from the inversion of the readings.
Every distance to boundary is associated with an orthogonal
bed inclination for every trajectory point where the inversion
is performed. This information is displayed as an angle toward
one side of the well trajectory.
The new information enabled the creation of updated sur-
faces that better represented the reservoir boundaries. The new
Fig. 5. a) The proposed well trajectory and b) synthetic logs:
GR (bottom), conventional resistivities (middle) and deep
azimuthal electromagnetic resistivity raw data (top).
Fig. 6. Structural interpretation based on distance to
boundaries detected by the LWD resistivity tool. The red line is
the well trajectory.
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38 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
model can be used to better forecast initial oil production,
plan new wells in the area and study the application of en-
hanced oil recovery projects.
The surface seismic data was processed using impedance
cubes that enhanced the identification of sedimentary patterns
and reservoir conditions. Figure 8 presents a section along one
of the wells in which the seismic attributes have been corre-
lated with high-dip events extracted from the new LWD data.
Although the seismic is not a geosteering tool, the seismic in-
formation can help on a larger scale to anticipate tendencies
ahead of the drilling point in real time.
CONCLUSIONS
The RSS achieved high ROPs and delivered an in-gauge
section with less tortuosity and smaller dogleg severities com-
pared with downhole motors, and responded to all requested
changes in well trajectory regardless of formation characteris-
tics. The deep azimuthal electromagnetic resistivity tool pro-
vided real-time measurements to map formation boundaries.
The supporting software was able to acquire and invert the
data in real time and present fit-for-purpose information that
allowed engineers to make appropriate decisions to construct
a horizontal trajectory compatible with the project objectives
on the first attempt. The new information was used to update
and improve the accuracy of the geological model, providing a
better understanding of the reservoir.
To achieve optimum cumulative production and steam-oil
ratio, steam-assisted thermal enhanced recovery projects in the
Orinoco belt require accurate positioning of horizontal wells
close to the bottom of sand layers, which are often thin. The
experience acquired during this job will be a reference for drill-
ing future shallow horizontal wells at high ROPs, especially in
heavy oil environments.
Real-time bed boundary mapping can improve overall field
development costs by building wells in the optimum location
at the first attempt, eliminating the need for appraisal wells
and sidetracks. WO
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Information in this article is based on SPE/IADC 125764 presented at the
SPE/IADC Middle East Drilling Technology Conference & Exhibition held in
Manama, Bahrain, Oct. 2628, 2009 and paper 2009-118 presented at the World
Heavy Oil Congress held in Puerto de la Cruz, Venezuela, Nov. 35, 2009.
THE AUTHORS
Pedro Machado received a geology degree in 2002 from the Univer-
sidad de Oriente VenezuelaBolvar and joined PDVSA as a Reservoir
Geologist. He received an MSc degree in hydrocarbon exploration and
production at the Instituto Superior de la Energa, after which he became
a Reservoir Development Supervisor for PDVSAs Extra Heavy Oil De-
partment in San Tom district. In 2008, Mr. Machado was promoted to
Reservoir Development Superintendent for the companys West Area
Extra Heavy Oil Department in Mcura district. He is currently the Plan-
ning and Reserves Superintendent for Cabrutica district.
Ruben Guzman is a Geologist who has worked for PDVSA since gradu-
ating from the Universidad de Oriente Venezuela. Between 2000 and
2007, he worked as a Reservoir Development Supervisor for the com-
panys Extra Heavy Oil Department. From 2007 to 2009, he was Super-
intendent of Extra Heavy Oil Reservoirs in San Tom district, and since
2009 he has been working as Superintendent of Heavy Oil Reservoirs in
San Tom district. Mr. Guzman has participated in the planning and navi-
gation of more than 90 horizontal wells, as well as coordinating thermal
enhanced oil recovery projects in the Orinoco belt.
Carlos Rojas received an engineering geologist degree in 1997 from the
Universidad de Oriente VenezuelaBolvar and joined PDVSA as Reser-
voir Geologist. He received a specialization in petrophysics in PDVSAs
Center for International Education and Development (CIED) and an MSc
degree in integrated reservoir management from the Central University
of Venezuela. In 2007, Mr. Rojas became Reservoir Manager for Morichal
district. In 2008, he was transferred to Mcura district as a Reservoir
Manager. He is currently Reservoir Manager for San Tom district.
Alberto Ache is a Geologist for PDVSA in San Tom, Venezuela. A grad-
uate of the Universidad de Oriente Venezuela, he began working in 2008
with the Unit for the Development of Extra Heavy Oil Fields, focusing
on Arekuna, Bare and Karia Fields. He carried out the rst characteriza-
tion of conned and semi-conned aquifers in Mesa and Las Piedras in
the Guanipa plateau. He Is currently working in Melones and Dobokubi
Fields in the Orinoco belt.
Nidal Khalil Hazboun is the Schlumberger Logging-While-Drilling Do-
main Champion for Venezuela and for Trinidad and Tobago. He works
in petrophysics interpretation and well placement using directional drill-
ing technology. Mr. Hazboun earned an electrical engineering degree
from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil and has
worked for Schlumberger since 1984 in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Libya
and Venezuela.
Karin Gonzalez is a Reservoir Engineer at the Schlumberger Faja Re-
gional Technology Center in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. She began
working for Schlumberger in 2008 after obtaining a BS degree in petro-
leum engineering from the University of Zulia in Venezuela. Ms. Gonza-
les specializes in simulation studies of enhanced oil recovery methods,
especially thermal and compositional processes for application in heavy
oil reservoirs.
Fig. 7. Well trajectory (red) with updated surfaces based on
the LWD resistivity measurements. Yellow and green sticks
indicate measured distances and inclinations of the TL sand
boundaries.
Fig. 8. A section along one of the well trajectories indicating a
correlation between surface seismic attributes and high-angle
dips; the well trajectory is extracted from the LWD data.
I T S T I M E S L I K E T H E S E Y O U N E E D P E O P L E L I K E U S .
I T S A TOUGH BUSI NESS. LOOK TO API .
C E R T I F I C A T I O N
|
S T A N D A R D S
|
T R A I N I N G
|
E V E N T S
Sal es +1 713- 964- 2662 | Ser v i ce +1 202- 962- 4791 | sal es@api . or g | www. api . or g

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World Oil APRIL 2010 41


DRILLING
TECHNOLOGY
SPECIAL FOCUS:
Historically, operators and service
companies focused on drilling perfor-
mance optimization and reducing the
time to get from spud to total depth.
Parameters such as rate of penetration,
reduction of non-drilling time and mini-
mization of the overall trip time were tar-
geted for improvementand certainly
continue to be today.
Over time, operators growing need
to enter mature and depleted reservoirs
and areas with high pressure variations
brought more complex operational risks,
such as narrow drilling margins, hole in-
stability and collapse, and lost circulation.
New approaches were needed to deal with
these challenges safely and economically.
Starting in 2006, Baker Hughes and
Statoil closely collaborated to develop
a steerable drilling liner (SDL) system
capable of operation in mature and de-
pleted reservoirs. Two SDL system sizes
have been developed, a 7-in. system for
8-in. hole sections and a 9-in. sys-
tem for 12-in. hole sections. In April
2009, after extensive testing of both sys-
tems, the 9-in. system was successfully
implemented in a field pilot at Brage
Field. The 7-in. system was successfully
field tested in January 2010 on the Stat-
fjord B platform.
BACKGROUND
Since the early 1990s, several operators
have used casing or liner drilling systems
to overcome formation and wellbore sta-
bility problems, but with limited func-
tionality. Because the market for these
systems was then considered a niche
market, development of more versatile
systems languished. Improvements in
other drilling and formation evaluation
techniques and liner hanger technologies
paved the way for the steerable drilling
liner system.
Casing while drilling (CWD) and lin-
er while drilling (LWD) are established
techniques with proven potential to re-
duce operational time and to mitigate op-
erational risks when drilling in hazardous
formations. Many of the operated fields
on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
(NCS) have such hazards. For instance,
some high-temperature, high-pressure
fields with an initially high reservoir
pressure are rapidly depleted in the early
production phase. In other fields, forma-
tions with varying pore pressures present
challenges. The uncertainty of pressures
and narrow drilling margins often make
well planning and execution a challenge
to achieve with proper safety margins.
LWD has been recognized as a very
promising technology to overcome the
challenges when drilling in such environ-
ments. Several design concepts have been
reviewed based on field requirements. In
some applications, existing CWD tech-
niques might be the solution of choice.
However, the majority of reservoir sec-
tions are completed with a liner instead
of a casing. One reason is that CWD does
not fit the requirements for drilling subsea
wells from a floating rig. Also, CWD may
also not apply in deepwater wells because
of limited rig load capacity to handle the
potentially heavy casing string.
Baker Hughes and Statoil closely col-
laborated in the development of the SDL
system. The system uses standard drill
pipe as the inner string to handle drilling
torque and tripping of the drilling BHA
and incorporates a conventional rotary
steerable system with full steering and
logging capabilities.
SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS
The SDL system consists of a retriev-
able and changeable inner string with a
pilot BHA and an outer liner string. In-
ner and outer strings are connected via a
running tool that is located at the top of
the liner. The liner rotates slowly (1040
rpm at surface) while the reamer bit and
pilot BHA/bit rotate with an additional
100135 rpm provided by a modified
positive-displacement motor.
As shown in Fig. 1, the running (set-
ting) tool provides the mechanical con-
nection between the drill pipe and the
liner. It transmits the torque required to
rotate the liner and the axial force that is
needed for the liner to RIH or POOH.
The running tool is based on convention-
al equipment with some modifications
for this application. It has a ball-activated
hydraulic release mechanism, which is
isolated during drilling to prevent prema-
ture release as a result of drilling pressure
spikes. It is also possible to release the tool
by applying left-hand torque to the tool
from surface. The tool can be re-latched
downhole after being serviced at surface.
For length compensation between
the inner and outer string, a thruster is
placed on top of the drilling BHA. The
thruster has an increased stroke com-
pared with standard thrusters to enable
re-drilling of the pilot hole if needed.
The created thrust force pushes the land-
ing splines (integral parts of the motor)
into a profile inside the liner shoe to de-
fine the axial position of the pilot BHA
relative to the liner. While drilling, the
thrust force is adjusted so that it is higher
than the weight on bit (WOB) transmit-
ted to the pilot and reamer bit to avoid
axial movement of the pilot BHA. A po-
sition sensor enables monitoring of this
condition in real time and adjustment
of the drilling parameters as required.
Part of the failsafe strategy, however, is to
avoid axial locking of the inner BHA.
The landing splines are integral parts
of the drilling motor, which was modified
to provide increased torque capability.
The increased torque is necessary because
the motor drives both the reamer bit and
the pilot BHA, including the bit.
To transmit weight and torque to the
reamer bit, the reamer drive sub carries
extendable pad elements that provide a
reliable connection between the reamer
bit and the inner string and can transfer a
Steerable liner drilling
Under development since 2006, the rst-of-its-kind drilling system
was successfully eld tested in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
Arne Torsvoll, Jafar Abdollahi, Morten Eidem, Tore Weltzin, Arne Hjelle and S. A. Rasmussen, Statoil;
Sven Krueger, Sascha Schwartze, Carsten Freyer, Trung Huynh and Tore Sorheim, Baker Hughes
42 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
multiple of the required WOB and torque
on bit (TOB). The drilling forces on the
reamer bit and the drilling dynamics of the
pilot BHA are taken by the inner string
and not by the liner shoe. The reamer bit
and the liner shoe are decoupled while
drilling. This allows for a simplified liner
shoe design, requiring no advanced bear-
ing assembly to support the reamer bit.
The pad elements of the reamer drive
sub are hydraulically actuated and can be
switched on and off via downlink from
the surface. For failsafe operation, the tool
deactivates automatically after a preset
time if no circulation is present. The tool
status and additional information such as
the activation pressure are sent to surface.
A unique feature of the system is the
possibility to change the pilot BHA while
the liner remains on bottom. This can
be performed by deactivating the reamer
drive sub and releasing the liner running
tool. Subsequently the inner string can be
POOH while the liner remains on bot-
tom. For reconnection downhole, the in-
ner string is simply RIH until the landing
splines detect the target position and the
liner running tool re-latches. If required,
the pilot hole can be worked free by mov-
ing the inner string up and down.
The pilot BHA can be configured
according to the needs of a particular
drilling application. For the first field de-
ployments, a standard AutoTrak X-treme
configuration was used, comprising a
steering unit; directional, gamma and re-
sistivity measurements; the bidirectional
communication and power module
(BCPM) for power and communication;
and a modular motor to drive the pilot
and reamer bit. In addition, a sensor sub
was placed into the BHA directly below
the reamer bit to monitor downhole vi-
brations and WOB/TOB distribution.
In selecting the pilot bit, the focus
was on steerability, durability and hy-
draulics. To address the steerability needs
of 3/100 ft, the bit was designed with
proven depth-of-cut control technology
to provide both steerability and buildup
rate capability. The depth-of-cut control
features incorporated into the bit were de-
signed specifically for the rate of penetra-
tion range planned to be drilled. In addi-
tion to providing steerability, this feature
also controls pilot bit aggressiveness.
In drilling with reamers and pilot bits,
it is very important that the pilot bits are
not more aggressive than the reamer bits.
By controlling the bit aggressiveness,
the balance between weight on reamer
(WOR) and WOB can be maintained.
An overly aggressive pilot bit will trans-
late into excessive WOR and cause pilot
string instability. The pilot bit was de-
signed with five blades, and the hydrau-
lics were optimized for balling applica-
Standard setting tool
Thruster
Liner
Smart battery sub
Bidirectional communication
and power module
Modular motor with
landing sub
Reamer drive sub with
integral stabilizer
Pilot directional drilling
bottomhole assembly
Fig. 1. SDL components.
44 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
tions. The nozzles sizes were chosen to
achieve the desired hydraulic horsepower
per square inch for the application.
The reamer bit was designed with five
blades, similar to the pilot bit. The blades
were designed to be thin to provide suf-
ficient junk slot area to evacuate the cut-
tings generated by both the pilot bit and
reamer bit. The reamer bit does not have
any nozzles to clean cuttings away, but
instead is cleaned using the fluid flow-
ing up the annulus. Reamer balling was
a concern due to the low velocity of the
annular flow. Placement of the stabilizer
below the reamer was optimized using
computational fluid dynamics to ensure
optimal fluid flow to the reamer. The cut-
ting structure was designed for durability
in the targeted formations, but also with
more aggressiveness than the pilot bit.
The hydraulically releasable liner
running tool was modified to make the
release mechanism pressure-neutral dur-
ing drilling. With a conventional setup,
the pressure loss over drilling BHA
components would cause unintentional
release of the liner running tool during
drilling. This was solved by including a
pressure isolation sleeve on the inside
of the liner running tool to prevent
hydraulic pressure from entering the
release mechanism. Once the running
tool is meant to release, a ball is dropped
from surface and lands in the isolation
sleeve. The sleeve is then shifted to allow
for hydraulic pressure to release the liner
running tool as normal.
OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE
Figure 2 shows the SDL system make-
up, drill and release procedures. When
reaching total depth or in the event of a
downhole BHA or inner string failure,
the reamer drive sub is deactivated by
downlink mud pulse telemetry, and a ball
is dropped to hydraulically release the
liner running tool from the liner. Once at
surface, the running tool is reconfigured
or replaced; if the POOH is caused by
a failed BHA component, the BHA or
component can be changed out.
Well control when applying the SDL
system is similar to that used when
running a liner combined with sand
screens, since the screens are activated
by using an inner string. The systems
established well control procedures are
based on this procedure:
Running open-ended liner. Well
control equipment is the same as when
running a conventional liner. Since there
is no float in the liner shoe, closing the
annular BOP around the liner is insuffi-
cient. A conventional swedge premade to
a kelly cock is made available throughout
the process.
Running BHA and inner string into
liner. A high-performance liner quick-
connect (QC) tool was developed as a
well control feature for handling a po-
tential live well during the installation
of the inner string; the lower half of the
QC is placed in rotary, a false rotary table
is mounted over the QC, and the inner
string is run into the liner.
A dedicated QC kick stand is readi-
ly available at the drill floor during in-
stallation of the inner string. The con-
nection of the QC kick stand to the
inner string and liner string is done
without the need for a casing tong.
The inner string is made up to the
kick stand, and the QC ensures proper
connection to the
liner. With the
kick stand in place,
well control can be
regained per nor-
mal practices.
The QC kick
stand includes a
flow path between
the inner string and
the inner-string/
liner annulus. This
allows for circula-
tion and bleed-off
possibility from the
volumes both inside
and outside the in-
ner string.
The QC makes
the planned con-
nection of the drill
pipe inner string to
the liner easy. With
the inner string-
Fig. 2. Makeup, drill and release
procedures.
Parameters Conv. drilling SDL
(recorded at 3,873 m MD) (recorded at 3,997 m MD)
Mechanical
Speed, rpm 130180 2030
Torque, 1,000 ft-lb 2428 3037
WOB, tons 814 515
ROP, m/hr 12 (avg.) 5.7 (ave.), 12 (max.)
Hydraulic
Mud (OBM) density, sg 1.42 1.42
Flowrate, bbl/min. 25 14
Pump pressure, psi 3,350 3,190
Equivalent circulating
density, sg 1.4481.453 1.535
Formation integrity test, sg 1.6 1.6
TABLE 1. Recorded data for conventional drilling
and SDL at Brage Field
Well path
3,8734,052 m MD SDL
TD 5,172 m MD
1338-in.
958-in.
7-in.
E
a
s
t, m
2
,7
5
0 1
,0
0
0
7
5
0
5
0
0
2
5
0
0
2
5
0
N
o
rth
, m
2
,5
0
0
2
,2
5
0
2
,0
0
0
1
,7
5
0
1
,5
0
0
1
,2
5
0
1
,0
0
0
7
5
0
5
0
0
2
5
0
0
T
V
D
,

m
2
,5
0
0 2
,2
5
0
2
,0
0
0
1
,7
5
0 1
,5
0
0
1
,2
5
0
1
,0
0
0
7
5
0
5
0
0
2
5
0
0
2
5
0
Fig. 3. Brage pilot well trajectory. The LDS system was used in
the purple part of the curve.
46 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
made up to the liner top assembly, con-
nection to the upper liner joint can be
done without having to rotate the po-
tentially long and heavy inner string to
get a proper connection.
Drilling. Conventional well control pro-
cedures apply, as there will only be drill
pipe through the BOP.
PREPARATION FOR
FIELD TRIALS
The 9-in. and 7-in. SDL systems
were tested at the Baker Hughes Ex-
perimental Test Area (BETA) in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, in August 2008 and April
2009, respectively, using a medium-sized
conventional land rig with full drilling
capacity. The tests verified handling and
running procedures; system functionality
and integrity; and drilling performance
and steering capability.
Following these tests, the 9-in. sys-
tem was implemented in the 12-in.
section of Brage Well 31/4-A-13 in July
and August 2009. A multidisciplinary
piloting task group was established to
ensure that all aspects of drilling with
the system were thoroughly addressed
and that lessons learned during the proj-
ect development and test phases were
included in the planning and execution
phase. Drilling logistics and preparation
when applying unconventional drilling
methods are normally time-consuming,
so efforts were made to minimize logis-
tics and handling time.
Because the operation includes run-
ning an open-ended liner through the
BOP (no float in the liner shoe) and hav-
ing both liner and drill pipe through the
BOP simultaneously when making up
the system, special well control proce-
dures apply. Fit-for-purpose procedures
and equipment were developed.
The liner was fully centralized by hav-
ing one centralizer per liner joint. To
minimize rig time and handling, all cen-
tralizers were mounted onshore.
BRAGE FIELD TRIAL
Because the planned operation was
unprecedented and as the well trajectory
was planned as a 1,170-m horizontal
section, risk-reduction measures were
applied, such as drilling the first 990 m
of the 12-in. section conventionally
and the remaining 180 m of the section
with the SDL system, Fig. 3.
After drilling with a conventional 12-
in. BHA to 3,873 m, the drilling assembly
was pulled out of the hole and replaced
with the 9-in. SDL system, including
the 1,228-m, fully centralized liner.
The system had to be reamed down
the last 220 m to 3,873 m due to a tight
hole. Once at TD, drilling began care-
fully until full drilling parameters were
established. Table 1 shows the com-
parison between the average recorded
drilling parameters for the conventional
drilling (just before total depth of con-
ventional 12-in. drilling) and for the
SDL system immediately after drilling
new formation with the reamer bit.
While drilling, the running tool un-
intentionally parted, leaving the inner
string and the liner downhole. Two sep-
arate fishing trips were executed before
the inner string and BHA were re-run
and reconnected to liner, which, at this
stage, had been left stationary downhole
for almost five days. It took some effort
to free the liner, but after liner rotation
and mud circulation were reestablished,
the well was successfully drilled to TD
of the 12-in. section at 4,053.5 m.
After the well was circulated clean, the
reamer drive sub was deactivated, and the
ball was dropped to release the running
tool from the liner to POOH the inner
string. Running tool release was unsuc-
cessful, however, and several attempts
were executed without success until the
backup mechanical release was achieved.
The running tool design was later modi-
fied to prevent these issues from occur-
ring in future applications.
Apart from the issues noted above,
the system proved to be very stable, as
very low shock, vibration and stick-slip
levels were recorded. Directional control
was excellent and equal to conventional
rotary steerable drilling.
Liner cementing. After reaching TD,
the liner was left in the well and the in-
ner string was pulled. With the current
system, there is no backflow (float) valve
in the shoe and there is no packer in the
liner top. First, a cement retainer was
run and the cement job was executed,
then the liner top packer was run and
activated in a separate trip. The cement
operation was particularly important in
this well, and to minimize introduction
of new operations, the cementing opera-
tion was performed with conventional
tools and procedures.
However, the SDL procedure in-
cludes a time-optimized cement opera-
tion where installation of the cement re-
tainer, the cement job and setting of the
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48 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
liner top packer are done in the same
run. This was successfully performed on
the Statfjord test.
Observed torque and drag. The mea-
sured torque and drag matched the sim-
ulated values very well on all field tests.
For example, the simulated torque of the
9-in. SDL on Brage was 36,000 ft-lb.
The average measured value at surface was
34,000 ft-lb.
Torque and drag of an SDL applica-
tion with the added weight of the liner is
higher than that of an application with
a conventional drillstring. In the Brage
case, the torque of the standard rotary
steering BHA was 7,000 ft-lb lower than
for the SDL BHA.
Hydraulic profile and hole cleaning.
The hydraulic profile of the annulus can
be separated into two main parts and
two sub-distributions. The two main
hydraulic profiles are: 1) the annulus be-
tween the open hole/casing and the liner
and 2) the annulus between the drill
pipe and the previous casing (from the
liner running tool to surface). The annu-
lus between the liner and the open hole
requires less flowrate to clean the bore-
hole (minimum cutting lifting capacity),
while the section above the liner running
tool requires higher flowrate due to its
larger cross-section.
Vibrations. All SDL operations, for
the tests and both the Brage and Statf-
jord (discussed below) field trials, were
started in pre-drilled ratholes12
in. for the 9-in. system and 8 in.
for the 7-in. system. When beginning
to drill the pilot hole (6-in. and/or 8-
in.), whirl can be expected due to the
fact that the pilot BHA is not stabilized
within the bigger rathole. As soon as the
first stabilizer is in the new formation,
the pilot BHA will be stabilized and the
whirl will be minimized.
In the Brage case, the BHA had to
be reamed to bottom. The 6-in. pi-
lot BHA was not stabilized during the
reaming operations in the 12-in.
open hole. These circumstances led to
moderate lateral vibrations. Reducing
the flowrate to reduce the bit speed
helped slightly, but it did not help to
run the tools out of specifications. Dur-
ing reaming operations, when the pilot
BHA is out of the pilot hole, lateral vi-
brations can be expected.
Directional survey quality. Analy-
sis of the raw MWD data compared to
the post-section gyro logging of the well
showed a good match. Having the liner
this close to the MWD tool will have a
dramatic effect on the magnetic interfer-
ence; therefore, all surveys were corrected
for magnetic interference in real time.
Rate of penetration. The observed
ROP was in the same range as for con-
ventional drilling. All the onshore test
wells were drilled in the tophole section,
and the average ROP of the last onshore
test was 11 m/hr. The average ROP was
around 6 m/hr at the Brage well; how-
ever, the ROP was controlled to mitigate
the operational risk.
The pilot was technically successful;
however, the overall operational time
was longer than desired. The 9-in.
liner was drilled to total depth and
cemented in place, and the issues en-
countered while drilling make the final
results even more impressive as several
of the SDL systems key functionalities
were successfully performedsuch as
the procedure for pulling and rerun-
ning the inner string, reconnecting it
downhole and continue drillingas a
result of the failures experienced while
drilling. The cause for the running tool
failure was analyzed, leading to a rede-
sign for future applications.
STATFJORD FIELD TRIAL
The 7-in. SDL was successfully test-
ed at Statfjord Field in January 2010.
The section was drilled from 3,000 m
MD to 3,181 m MD. The start depth
for the SDL was at 3,005 m MD; the
first 5 m of the section were drilled
with a drillout assembly to drill the
float equipment, the casing shoe and a
5-m rathole. The full 176 m of the sec-
tion were drilled with the 7-in. SDL.
In the first run, the standard SDL
configuration was used to drill the pi-
lot BHA to TD. An SDL stand-alone
service with the BCPM as a master was
successfully tested in the second run.
This system setup is a non-steerable
BHA option with a very short stick-out
of 1.5 m. In the second run, the liner
shoe was drilled down into the reser-
voir. The liner was successfully set to the
designated liner depth and cemented. A
new 4-in. rotary steerable system with
near-bit gamma was used for the run
and performed very well in conjunction
with the SDL system. The near-bit gam-
ma was needed for geo-stopping. All test
objectives were achieved. WO
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Consistent
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World Oil APRIL 2010 51
DRILLING
TECHNOLOGY
SPECIAL FOCUS:
Multilateral technology uses fewer production well slots
to effectively drain a reservoir, saving time, money and im-
proving NPV. One of the benefits of multilateral (MLT) well
architecture is the reduced cost of the subsea infrastructure.
Additional cost benefits include reduced top-hole drilling
costs, reduced project execution time, accelerated produc-
tion, fewer rig moves and a smaller environmental footprint.
To take advantage of the benefits, the appropriate multilateral
technology must be selected to avoid introducing additional
risk and non-productive time (NPT) to the project.
Over the past 10 years, TAML level 5 MLT technology
has been used extensively in the North Sea. It had, however,
never been used in the southern hemisphere. Because the
TAML level 5 system had a proven track record in subsea
installations and was able to provide hydraulic and mechani-
cal isolation of connected wellbores, it was decided that the
technology would be inaugurated in the Van Gogh field in
the Northwest Shelf of Australia.
CHALLENGES OF THE VAN GOGH FIELD
The Van Gogh Field is located about 750 mi northwest
of Perth, Australia on the Northwest Shelf of Western Aus-
tralia, Fig. 1. The water depth on location is about 1,300 ft,
and the reservoir formation, the Barrow Group Sandstone, is
unconsolidated and friable in nature. The formation is nor-
mally pressured, with high porosities and permeabilities. The
oil is heavy and fluid properties have slightly corrosive at-
tributes; consequently, all flow-wet areas must be completed
with chrome metalurgy components. The oil column is rela-
tively thin and varies in vertical thickness. To obtain adequate
drainage, many horizontal oil production legs are required
throughout the field, ranging in length from approximately
0.8 to 1.4 mi to maximize exposure.
Due to its remote and environmentally sensitive loca-
tion, the Van Gogh field was developed with special con-
sideration of logistics, efficiency and environmental effect.
The plan was to develop the field almost entirely with mul-
tilateral wells in order to achieve a lower capital expendi-
ture, a shorter project execution time and maximized res-
ervoir coverage.
MULTILATERAL WELL DESIGN
Apache Energy Ltd. contracted two semi-submersible rigs
to drill the Van Gogh subsea development simultaneously
from two separate drill centers. The Stena Clyde worked from
drill center A, and the Ocean Epoch was positioned about 1
mi away at drill center B, Fig. 2. The use of multilateral wells
enabled the entire Van Gogh Field to be developed from these
two drill centers. Nine dual laterals, one single lateral, two
water injectors and one gas injector were drilled from the two
subsea surface locations, which maximized the reservoir con-
tact with minimal effect on the seabed.
Multilateral wells reduce capex
in subsea development
An application of a multilateral junction system offshore Australias Northwest Shelf
replaces 18 single wells with nine multilateral wells, saving signicant time and cost.
Brett Lawrence, Apache Energy Ltd.; Mike Zimmerman, Andy Cuthbert and Steven Fipke, Halliburton
Varanus Island
Airlie Island
Stag
Legendre
Karratha
Dampler
Onslow
Van Gogh
Exmouth
Compressor
station 1
NSW
Victoria
Queensland
SA
WA
NT
Legend
Apache operated permit
Apache involved permit
Oil eld
Gas eld
Oil pipeline
Gas pipeline
0 20 40 60 80 100km
Fig. 1. Relative location of Northwest Shelf of Western
Australia.
DCA
-2,250
-2,250 -1,500 -750 0
West(-) East(+) (750 min.)
S
o
u
t
h
(
-
)

N
o
r
t
h
(
+
)

(
7
5
0

m
i
n
.
)
750 1,500 2,250
-1,875
-1,500
-1,125
-750
-375
0
375
750
1,125
1,500
1,875
2,250
Project: Van Gogh
Site: DCA/DCB
DCB
Fig. 2. Van Gogh well paths and relative locations of drill
centers A and B.
52 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
The wells were constructed with 30-in. surface casing,
a 13 -in. intermediate casing string and 9 -in. casing in
the build section. The horizontal sections were completed
with 5-in. premium sand screens with swellable intelli-
gent packers and helical inflow control devices (ICDs) to
optimize the pressure drawdown. Finally, the wells were
completed with 5 -in. production tubing to the subsea
wellhead. The surface casing and intermediate sections were
drilled and completed in batch operations before entering
the reservoir to improve efficiency and to reduce the time
and costs involved with changing mud systems for the reser-
voir sections of each well.
The 12 -in. hole sections were drilled using rotary steer-
able systems, building from 0 to 90 while maintaining a
build rate of approximately 3/10 ft. The 12 -in. section was
completed with a 9 -in. casing string with an MLT pre-milled
aluminum-wrapped window joint, which was oriented before
the final landing; the casing was turned so that the pre-milled
casing window was oriented to the high side of the wellbore.
To facilitate this, a smooth wellbore with minimal localized
dogleg severity was required.
After batch drilling all 12 -in. sections, the horizontal
8 -in. sections were also batch drilled and completed in the
reservoir. It was necessary when drilling to maintain tight
<1 m true vertical depth (TVD) control not only for opti-
mum placement within the reservoir, but also to ensure drag
effects were mimimized during deployment of the comple-
tion equipment (Fig. 3). Horizontal sections of between
800 and 1,450 ft in length were drilled with a MD:TVD
ratio often exceeding 3:1. As with the build sections, rotary
steerable drilling systems were used in the horizontal section
to maintain tight drilling control and maximize the rate of
penetration (ROP). Advanced measurement-while-drilling/
logging-while-drilling (MWD/LWD) tools and telemetry
systems were used to monitor the position of the well and to
record geophysical data.
1
The 8 -in. lateral sections were completed using pre-
mium sand-screens on 5-in. base pipe and slide-on annu-
lar swellable packers to compartmentalize the reservoir sec-
tion. To prevent damage to the filter cake in the reservoir, the
screens were run in water-based drilling fluid. Before setting
the sand screen completions in place, the reservoir annulus
was exchanged to the completion fluid, using an inner string
that sealed above a float in the shoe of the completion. This
was the first time that an inner string was run inside of the
MLT junction with the vendors TAML level 5 solution.
The upper completion consisted of the subsea tubing hang-
er, 5-in. tubing and a retrievable production packer. The
upper completion did not connect to the lower completion,
which eliminated the time and risk of human error involved
with spacing out tubing to stab into the lower completion
while simultaneously landing the tubing hanger in the subsea
wellhead. Figure 4 shows an early concept schematic of a stan-
dard dual-lateral Van Gogh completion.
Multilateral junction requirements. The multilateral
junction was to be located within the reservoir itself, which
mandated a sealed junction to provide hydraulic integrity and
prevent sand inflow through the junction.
2
The Level 5 MLT installation requires 9
5
8-in. mainbore cas-
ing with 8-in. drill-out, pre-milled casing window (alumi-
num external sleeve) and a sealed junction rated greater than
1,000 psi burst and collapse. The junction is located within
the reservoir at high angle (typically horizontal) and the lat-
eral completion can be installed in one trip. Premium screens
run with internal wash string for cleanup circulation while the
system has a compressive strength rating capable of running
screen sections up to 1,450-ft long. Additionally, the installa-
tion is well-suited for harsh subsea con-
ditions and involves minimal installation
steps. The use of off-the-shelf technology
leads to minimized lead times.
At the beginning of the project, the
FlexRite system had been used for 84
subsea multilateral junction installations
in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea
with a NPT/OT rate of less than 1% (the
NPT figures were based on a rolling aver-
age for 2007 and 2008, Fig. 5). This level
5 system met the Van Gogh requirements
with very little customization and was
available on short lead time to meet the
projects schedule.
The selected system has a 5-trip instal-
lation process and is capable of handling
thousands of feet of screen lengths and
pushing the lateral completion into the
horizontal section. This is possible be-
cause of a unique geometrical design on
the flexible legs of the junction hanger,
which consists of tubes formed in the
Fig. 4. Early conceptual Van Gogh dual-lateral completion schematic.
0
.
0
0
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54 APRIL 2010 World Oil
shape of a D. This shape gives the junction high axial and
torsion strength for compressive loading and also optimizes
the flow area through the junction.
By definition, a TAML level 5 junction is mechanically
and hydraulically sealed by the completion; this requires the
installation of completion components that have a smaller ID
than that of the wellbore casing. It is important that the seal-
ing mechanism does not create a restriction to impede fluid
flow at the anticipated production rates.
3

The selected multilateral system is designed with several
fail-safe features. For example, the mainbore casing/liner can
be run and cemented with an inner string to enable safe ori-
entation and cementing past the pre-milled window. MWD
can be used on all orientation operations for a fail-safe re-
dundancy and confirmation. The whipstock is run on a shear
bolt that indicates a successful shear by means of a pressure
reduction, and there are multiple options for whipstock re-
trieval. The safety shear joint enables a safe disconnect of the
junction if the lateral completion becomes stuck above land-
ing depth. Also, the flapper-type fluid-loss devices prevent
mud losses after drilling each lateral and prevent cross-flow
between laterals. In order to enable circulation while being
run, lateral screens can be run with an inner string. Swivel
enables torque-free rotation to orientate the junction. The
system also incorporates a shear sleeve, which indicates that
the flexible junction has reached landing depth.
Timeline and execution. The Van Gogh project required
an aggressive deployment schedule that challenged the equip-
ment supply chain during one of the busiest business cycles
in the history of the petroleum industry.
57.2
8.96
57.88 45.73 30.76 33.65 30.46 40.98 39.72 56.96
12 months
rolling
2008 2003 2002 2001 2004 2005 2006 2007
5.52
1.91
1.46
0.73
0.2
25.51
19.25
11.39
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Period
D
a
y
s
Downtime
Direct
From
9/08
Fig. 5. Downtime vs. operational time for North Sea
multilateral operations (level 5 junctions 20012009).
Average
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
VGA
5
VGA
3
VGB
10
VGA
2
Well name
D
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s
Total other downtime
Downtime direct MLT
Associated
Direct time
VGA
7
VGA
6
VGB
9
VGB
8
Theo
3
Fig. 6. Van Gogh multilateral installation times by well.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 57
There were 57 hours of direct NPT associated with the
multilateral installations out of a total installation time of
more than 1,000 hours (5.7%), which are described in the
following sections.
After the multilateral system was selected, the service pro-
vider had to supply all equipment for nine multilateral in-
stallations, much of which was required in advance to meet
the demands of the batch drilling program. The tender for
the multilateral equipment was accepted in December 2006
and drilling was scheduled to begin in January 2008. This
schedule provided only 13 months to manufacture and de-
liver more than 160 major downhole multilateral assemblies
to Perth, Australia.
The multilateral equipment was al-
most exclusively manufactured in Ed-
monton, Canada, which presented a lo-
gistical challenge because sea shipments
averaged a two-month door-to-door
delivery timeline. Remarkably, only 30%
of equipment required air freight to meet
the tight delivery schedule. Upon arrival
in Perth, the components were assembled,
pressure tested and finalized before mobi-
lization by truck to the port.
The manufacture of a multilateral
junction required specialized machining
and forming processes. A major driver
for Apache was using off-the-shelf tech-
nology; the equipment that Apache or-
dered had similar specifications to com-
monly used components for the Troll
Field offshore Norway, so many of the
components were already available.
The use of the two semi-submers-
ible drilling rigs streamlined the con-
struction of the multilateral wells and
provided several cost-saving benefits
as a result of the volume of activity
present. Figure 6 shows a breakdown
of installation times for each sequen-
tial well. Batch drilling created add-
ed importance on performance and
equipment reliability because little to
no time was available to change pro-
cedures or to manufacture or alter
equipment. It was imperative that the
equipment and process worked cor-
rectly the first time and throughout
the entire development.
As shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, over
the development of the field, time spent
during all stages of the 8 -in. section
generally decreased for each well. This
decrease was the result of a constant
focus on streamlining operations and
continually applying lessons learned
throughout the development.
Theo-3H exploration well. A de-
cision was made very early in the Van
Gogh development to use the Theo-
3H exploration well as a production
well. To conduct the production tests
early enough to allow for sufficient reservoir analysis, Theo-
3H was drilled in June 2007; nearly a full year before the
remainder of the development. To meet a six-month de-
livery time, Theo 3H was developed as the worlds first
9 -in. ReFlexRite system installation.
The 12 -in. section of Theo-3H was drilled into the
reservoir and, as part of the 9 -in. casing string, two latch
profiles were installed at potential multilateral junction loca-
tions. After cementing the casing conventionally, a combina-
tion cleanup and latch verification trip was performed to de-
termine the orientation of the latch couplings. This operation
was twofold. First, it enabled use of the system to analyze op-
erating procedures and gather lessons learned well in advance
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
58 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
of the true development. Second, it enabled the multilateral
team to align the orientation of the milling and completion
equipment in the workshop before sending it to the offshore
rig. Theo-3H was sidetracked and completed as a multilateral
in SeptemberOctober 2008, 15 months after the installation
of the 9 -in. casing in the reservoir.
LESSONS LEARNED
Although the multilateral junction selected was a proven sys-
tem with established run history and specifications, certain cus-
tomizations were necessary with the Van Gogh development.
958-in. casing installation. On all previous FlexRite sub-
sea system installations, the aluminum-wrapped casing win-
dow was run as part of a 10 -by-9 -in. liner string run in
a 13 -in. open hole. This assembly used 5-in.-OD drillpipe
inner string, which enabled a MWD directional tool to be
oriented to the window assembly, providing real-time feed-
back of the window orientation during landing operations.
This is crucial to ensure that the window exit is placed at the
correct orientation for milling the window and landing the
junction in later steps. As the upper completions installed in
the North Sea developments sealed into the 9 -by-7-in. liner
hanger above the flexible junction, there was no need for a
production casing tieback to the wellhead.
In contrast, the Van Gogh completion method required
the 9 -in. casing to be sealed in the subsea wellhead; tiebacks
were not an option because of Australian offshore well control
policies. As a result, the windows were run as part of a 9 -in.
casing string. The standard subsea casing hanger running tool
was not designed to apply the necessary torque to the cas-
ing string to orientate the pre-milled casing window before
cementing, therefore a unique mechanism was required to be
able to turn the casing string.
Working closely with the liner hanger vendor, Apache
developed an inner profile sub to be run at the top of the
9 -in. casing string. The wellhead landing profiles for all
wells were then ordered to fit 10 -in. production casing,
rather than the standard 9 -in. casing. The inner profile sub
worked as a crossover, enabling a short pup of 10 -in. casing
to be run immediately above the profile sub, and the 9 -in.
casing to be run below. The casing (and inner string) were
then run on a standard 9 -in. liner running tool. Significant
pre-project planning was involved to help ensure the suc-
cess of this operation. Several independent torque and drag
models were conducted to help ensure that the 9 -in. casing
would be successfully run into the wellbore and that it would
be possible to orientate the window through a 90 build sec-
tion. In reality, the installation and orientation proved to be
extremely simple.
The batch operations sequence required that the main
components of the inner string were racked back in the der-
rick to save additional time. On the third well, the 12 -in.
section was drilled through a trouble zone that resulted in
the 9 -in. casing becoming stuck while installing the 5-in.
drillpipe inner string. The casing was successfully retrieved
and all multilateral components were recovered for future op-
erations. To further eliminate risk, the operation procedures
were updated to include the use of a three-way handling sub
to stroke the 9 -in. casing routinely during the inner string
installation on all remaining wells. No further problems were
encountered with this operation.
Although this process required additional engineering and
pre-project planning, it preserved the benefits of a pre-milled
window eliminating the need for steel milling and the associ-
ated debris management.
Well cementing and mainbore cleanup operations.
Standard level 5 multilateral installations use an inner string
to provide a transmission path for the MWD orientation
data and to eliminate the potential for cement to set in the
window latch profiles. A special casing wiper dart had to be
designed to wipe the various profiles and IDs of the casing
because the cementing would be performed during the cas-
ing seal running trip, and the cement would pass through the
window latch profiles. On the first two wells, concern about
the integrity of the window seals caused the cement plugs not
to be landed with sufficient force to seal in the casing float
subs. Testing proved that all window assemblies were built
to withstand a sufficiently high pressure to ensure the plugs
would land and seal. In the first two wells, storm packers were
temporarily installed as a safety measure, but no other wells
required this additional step.
Since the wells were cemented conventionally, a wellbore
clean-out trip was required before running the whipstock
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Well name
Learn curve, well name
Well phase ordered by phase date
Total time per phase, 8-in. rig Stena Clyde
Fig. 7. Time per phase: Van Gogh A wells8
1
/2-in. section.
131 hr
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120.5 hr
159 hr
117.75 hr
Well phase ordered by phase date
Total time per phase, 8-in. rig Epoch
Well phase start
Learn curve, well phase start
82.5 hr
140.75 hr
157 hr
296.5 hr
47.25 hr
Fig. 8. Time per phase: Van Gogh B wells8
1
/2-in. section.
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60 APRIL 2010 World Oil
DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
on a bolted mill assembly. Although this process generally
added 12 to 14 hours of rig time to each well, eliminating
the risk of not being unable to install the whipstock because
of debris or of prematurely shearing the running bolt (and
the subsequent fishing operations) made this an acceptable
time allocation.
Lateral drilling. Point-the-bit rotary steerable systems
(RSS) were used for all 12-in. and 8-in. sections drilled
on the Van Gogh project. In addition, most 8-in. sections
were logged using triple combination LWD tools, including
gamma, resistivity and nuclear density.
For previous wells, the recommended procedure was to
drill sufficient rathole in the formation outside the casing
window exit to accommodate the full length of the RSS and
MWD/LWD bottomhole assembly (BHA). Rotary steerable
assemblies could be more than 100-ft long, but a calculated
risk was taken to run them through the casing window with
only a short 10-to 16-ft rathole to save trips and time. The
Van Gogh wells were planned to be drilled in one bit run at
a high ROP, as an additional trip to create a pilot hole would
have been cost prohibitive.
Specific drilling parameters were developed, based on di-
rectional drilling experience in other operations, to determine
the best window orientation and drilling assembly exit meth-
od to help ensure that the window exit did not contribute
to premature failure of the drilling and logging tools. The
result was a smooth and successful drill-out with no steering
problems, no uncontrolled doglegs adjacent to the window
aperture and no damage to the drilling tools. This result is
largely credited to the elongated, controlled geometry of the
pre-milled casing windows that were used. Despite being run
through the multilateral junction, there was no notable dif-
ference in reliability was found between the 8-in. drilling
BHAs used in the two lateral legs.
Clean-out operations. It was determined early in the
project that a dedicated clean-out trip would be conduct-
ed after retrieving the whipstock and before installing the
completion deflector. A wellbore filtering tool was run as
part of the clean-up BHA. This component enabled circula-
tion from below to pass through spring-loaded valves on the
bottom of the assembly, and when pulled out of the well,
allowed fluid to pass through a very tight screen assembly,
capturing debris.
In two cases, Van Gogh 3 and Theo 3H, the speed at
which the tool was pulled out of the hole reduced the hy-
drostatic pressure on the open hole formation, resulting in
formation collapse. This formation collapse was not realized
until attempts were made to land the screens in the lateral.
As a result, the liner hanger, junction and screens had to be
retrieved and laid down, the completion deflector retrieved,
and a whipstock re-installed. Only then could the lateral be
re-drilled to ensure that the screens could be installed. In
both cases, this process added nearly seven days of additional
operations to recover.
Three steps were taken to eliminate this risk. Firstly, the
clean-up run was only performed if the retrieval of the whip-
stock required excessive force. Secondly, if a clean-up run was
required, the specific filtering tool was run near the top of the
9 -in. section to eliminate the swabbing effect. Thirdly, the
tripping speeds were regulated and fluid volumes were closely
monitored for surge and swab effects.
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2010 Cummins Inc., Box 3005, Columbus, IN 47202-3005 U.S.A.
62 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SPECIAL FOCUS DRILLING TECHNOLOGY
Junction installation. One of the most important new in-
novations tailored for the Van Gogh installations was the incor-
poration of an inner wash string within the lateral screen sec-
tion, which was run with the multilateral junction. A string of
2 -in.-flush-joint tubing was run inside the 5 -in. base pipe
of the lateral leg of the flexible junction hanger to allow circula-
tion with returns if problems were encountered while running
the lateral completion in the hole. The technique also facili-
tated the swapping of the water-based drilling mud for comple-
tion fluid after the screens were in place, reducing damage to
the reservoir. This required considerable coordination between
the liner-hanger vendor, casing-running vendor, completion
engineers and the multilateral team to ensure that the space-
out was accurate and the operations progressed smoothly.
At no point during the installations were any problems en-
countered with this step. All junctions were landed success-
fully and the lateral wellbores were circulated to completion
fluid before setting the lateral liner hanger.
RESULTS
Offshore subsea wells in remote, isolated and environmen-
tally-sensitive areas do not seem to be the most obvious can-
didates for new technology. The depth of experience of the
multilateral service provider was critical to providing sound
recommendations and operational planning to optimize the
multilateral operations. Experienced project support was pro-
vided in Perth from the outset of the Van Gogh campaign
combined with operational support provided largely from the
multilateral group in Norway. As a result of 108 successful
installations of the selected level 5 multilateral system in the
North Sea, the vendor and operator multilateral team was
supported to make informed decisions about the installation
procedures.
Equally important to the pre-planning process was the ca-
pability of the operations team to take decisive action and
rapidly change operating parameters, as necessary. The tight
timeline involved with this project did not allow for extended
studies or analysis. All decisions were made quickly and safely
and, as a result of the efficient communication, operations
were changed to help ensure that all lessons learned and up-
dated methods were implemented at the next opportunity.
For the managers of the Van Gogh asset, knowledge, expe-
rience and communication were the key drivers that enabled
them to make the dramatic step forward and exploit the en-
tire reservoir asset with multilateral production wells. Nine
multilateral wells replaced 18 single wells, amounting to a
significant saving in capex of about 24% for an additional
97% more reservoir exposure, requiring only 41% additional
rig time. As a corollary, only 29% of the total project time was
spent on creating and completing the upper lateral. WO
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper was prepared from SPE/IADC 128314 presented at the 2010 SPE/
IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Feb-
ruary 24, 2010. The authors of this paper would like to thank all those involved
with the successful Van Gogh project. Special consideration goes to Apache Aus-
tralia for their invaluable collaborative input, as well as to the Halliburton teams
in Australia and Norway for their contributions and support.
LITERATURE CITED
1
Lawrence, L., Redmond, B., Russel, R., McNeil, D., Reeves, M. and M. Hernandez, Intelligent wired
drill pipe provides significant improvements in drilling performance on offshore australia development,
OTC 20067 presented at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, USA, May 47, 2009.
2
Demong, K., Mason, S. and H. Al-Yami, A rational approach to multilateral project planning, SPE 77528
presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference, San Antonio, Texas, USA, Sept. 29Oct. 2, 2002.
3
Cuthbert, A., Hegreberg, J.M. and E. Skoglund, Stacked multilateral system for the Troll Olje field
Development and case history, SPE/IADC 79866 presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Feb. 1921, 2003.
4
Lowson, B., Advanced window milling technology for multi-lateral applications, Presented at the 6th
One-Day Conference on Horizontal Well Technology Organized by the Canadian Section SPE and the
Petroleum Society of CIM, HWSIG, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Nov. 12, 1997.
THE AUTHORS
Brett Lawrence is a Reservoir Engineer with
Apache Energy Ltd. working on the Julimar /
Wheatstone LNG Development. He joined Apache
in 2005 as a Drilling Engineer based in Perth,
Western Australia. Lawrence took on the role of
Lead Drilling Engineer for the Van Gogh Develop-
ment at its inception in 2006. He graduated from
Curtin University of Technology in Western Aus-
tralia with a Masters in Petroleum Engineering,
a BEng Mining Engineering Degree and a BCom
Finance Degree.
Michael Zimmerman is the Eurasia Pacic regional manager for Mul-
tilateral Technology for Sperry Drilling, based in Perth, Australia. He
holds a BSc degree in mechanical engineering from the University
of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He has seven years of experience
prior to Sperry Drilling working in multilateral drilling and completions,
working on projects in South America, the North Sea, Kazakhstan, Ja-
pan and the Middle East.
Andy Cuthbert graduated from the University of London in 1982 and
is now in his 26th year in the oil industry. After leaving Schlumberger
as a Directional Driller in 1994, he joined Sperry Drilling and became
involved with multilateral technology in 1996 in the UK sector of the
North Sea.
Steven R. Fipke is the Global Operations Leader of Multilateral Tech-
nology (MLT) for Halliburton in Houston, TX. He holds a BSc degree in
petroleum engineering from the University of Alberta in Canada. He has
10 years of experience working in multilateral drilling and completions.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 65
OFFSHORE
CONSTRUCTION
Follow the money is a good rule
to understand complicated financial ac-
tivities. In the oil and gas industry, you
can gauge trends by following the new-
builds. Since 2009, many newbuilds in
floating structuresdrillships, Spars
and FPSOshave headed to either the
ultra-deepwater Lower Tertiary plays in
the Gulf of Mexico or deepwater fields
in Brazil. As the focus in these areas is
on the long-term results, ultra-deepwater
operators and their drilling contractors
and EPC partners did not slow down to
catch their breath during the oil price dip
and have been introducing newbuilds at
a rapid pace. The design criteria for the
floating structures are to provide stability
in 10,000 ft of water, and for modular
offshore drilling units (MODUs) to be
able to drill to 40,000 ft, typically with
sixth-generation drilling units. Mooring
advances are keeping pace with lighter
polyester ropes and more efficient de-
ployment methods.
DRILLSHIPS
Since 2009, the major drilling con-
tractors have been vying with each other
in launching newbuilds capable of ultra-
deepwater operations. Many of these fea-
ture Class III dynamic positioning (DP)
capabilities for maintaining drilling posi-
tion under rough sea states and sixth-gen-
eration drilling technology. Sixth-gener-
ation technology facilitates multi-tasking
drilling, testing and workover operations
with less rigsite staff.
In March, Transoceans newbuild Dis-
coverer Inspiration began deepwater drill-
ing operations under contract to Chev-
ron, Fig. 1. This follows the contractors
two drillship deployments in 2009 in
the Gulf of Mexico: Discoverer Americas,
under contract to Statoil, and Discov-
erer Clear Leader, working for Chevron.
Transoceans Enterprise-class, double-
hulled drillships feature patented dual-
activity drilling technology, which allows
for parallel drilling operations. The ves-
sels are capable of drilling to 40,000-ft
total depth in 10,000-ft water depth
with an enhanced 1,250-ton top drive
system and a high-pressure mud system.
The 835-foot-long ships can accommo-
date 200 personnel and can move be-
tween locations at up to about 12 knots
using their own power and six thrusters.
Transoceans Discoverer Deep Seas set the
world water-depth record of 10,011 ft
while working for Chevron in the US
Gulf of Mexico. Transocean has three ad-
ditional newbuild ultra-deepwater float-
ers expected to commence operations in
2010 and 2011. Two of these vessels, the
Discoverer India and the Discoverer Lu-
anda, are also Enterprise-class drillships.
The other unit is the drillship Deepwater
Champion, which will commence drill-
ing for ExxonMobil in the Black Sea.
In late February, Pride International
announced the dedication of the first
of its four new deepwater drillships un-
der construction by Samsung in South
Korea, the Deep Ocean Ascension. The
vessel will commence operations in the
third quarter of the year under a five-year
contract with BP. The next drillship to
be delivered for Pride is the Deep Ocean
Clarion, with an expected August 2010
completion date, followed by the Deep
Ocean Mendocino in the first quarter of
2011, and the Deep Ocean Molokai in
the fourth quarter of 2011.
Floating structure and mooring
advances target ultra-deepwater elds
New-generation offshore oaters are coming on stream to drill and produce oil and
gas under extreme environments, including the Lower Tertiary plays in the Gulf of
Mexico and the presalt nds in deepwater Brazil.
Pramod Kulkarni, Editor
Fig. 1. Transoceans Discoverer Inspiration is the latest drillship to commence ultra-
deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
66 APRIL 2010 World Oil
OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION
Pacific Drilling, a new contender in
the ultra-deepwater market, has its first
drillship, Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2,
drilling offshore India for Reliance In-
dustries. The companys second new-
build, Pacific Santa Ana, is currently
under construction in South Korea.
Equipped with dual-gradient drilling
technology, the Pacific Santa Ana will
operate in deepwater Gulf of Mexico
for Chevron. Pacific has four other ultra
deepwater vessels under construction for
launch during 201011.
SEMISUBMERSIBLES
In March 2010, Diamond Offshore
launched two submersible newbuilds:
Ocean Valor and Ocean Courage. Both are
sixth-generation DP rigs capable of drill-
ing in 10,000-ft water depth to a forma-
tion depth of 40,000 ft. The vessels were
purchased in late 2009 out of the bank-
ruptcy of Petromena ASA of Norway.
Both vessels will be under contract to
Petrobras for drilling offshore Brazil. In
December 2009, Transoceans semisub-
mersible rig Development Driller III (Fig.
2) commenced operations in the Gulf
of Mexico for BP. The rig has a motion-
compensated winch capable of deploying
subsea assemblies to the seabed, a high-
pressure mud-pump system, and variable
deck load of 7,000 metric tons (mt).
SPARS
The multipurpose floating structure
currently in vogue for ultra-deep water is
the spar. With its cylindrical hull and deep
draft design, the spar is stable and can re-
main afloat even with damage to multiple
tanks. The spar does not derive its stabil-
ity through mooring. Instead, stability is
achieved by separating the structures cen-
ter of gravity and the center of buoyancy.
The center of gravity is lowered by install-
ing heavy ballast at the platform keel.
The first modern spar was the Nep-
tune platform installed in 1996. Since
then, the classic spar concept has evolved
with the introduction of the truss spar
and the cell spar. A truss spar is capable
of operating in more severe environments
due to exchange of the mid-section of the
classic spar for a truss section with plates
designed to reduce heave motion. Since
the Neptune, deepwater operators in the
Gulf of Mexico have built more than a
dozen spar floaters. The latest of these
floaters is the Shell Perdido truss spar
(Fig. 3), located at a record 7,800 ft in
ultra-deep water. Supporting drilling and
production for Great White, Tobago and
Silvertip Fields, the regional host facility
became operational in late March. In the
international arena, Kikeh Field offshore
Malaysia is being produced using both a
spar floating structure and an FPSO.
At the Perdido spar, several subsea
wells are within the offset circle of the
platform. Vertical import risers will be
used to commingle production from
these wells. Direct vertical access (DVA)
for drilling or workover operations will
be achieved by winching the platform to
line up the rig with the subsea well. It is
also possible to perform offset drilling by
winching the spar a sufficient distance to
allow a MODU access to the well.
Fig. 2. Transoceans semisubmersible
Development Driller III is drilling for BP
in the Gulf of Mexico.
Fig. 3. The Shell Perdido spar is located at a record 7,800 ft in ultra-deep water of the
Gulf of Mexico. Courtesy of Shell.
Fig. 4. FloaTECs concept for an Arctic
spar.
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68 APRIL 2010 World Oil
OFFSHORE CONSTRUCTION
Both Technip and FloaTEC have
developed conceptual designs for spars
adapted for other offshore regions of
the world, including the Arctic Barents
Sea and East Canada. The Arctic Spar
design has a disconnectable two-piece
hull. In case of an approaching ice floe
or extreme storm, the upper hull can be
towed away to safety, Fig. 4. The keel
buoy can remain connected to the risers
and submerged on location.
FPSO
FPSOs are fast becoming the pri-
mary mode for offshore production,
storage and offloading throughout the
world because of the relatively lower up-
front capital cost and ease of relocation
as compared to fixed platforms. In fact,
Petrobras President Jos Sergio Gabrielli
de Azevedo has projected that the opera-
tor will require eight FPSOs to reach the
target of producing 1.8 million bopd
from presalt fields by 2020 and as many
as 30 FPSOs by 2030.
In March 2009, Modecs FPSO Ci-
dade de Niteroi MV18 produced first oil
from the Jabuti reservoir in the Campos
Basins Marlin East Field, Fig. 5. The
FPSO is spread-moored at 1,400-m water
depth. The vessel is capable of processing
100,000 bopd with a gas compression
capacity of 124 MMcfd and oil storage
capacity of 1.6 million barrels. This is
Modecs fourth FPSO working offshore
Brazil. The company is building two ad-
ditional FPSOs for Petrobras and its part-
ners: Cidade de Santos MV20, which will
be deployed in Urugua Field and will also
gather production from Tambau Field,
and the Cidade de Angra dos Reis MV22,
which is the pilot FPSO for the presalt
Tupi Field in the Santos Basin.
Petrobras will introduce the first
FPSO to the Gulf of Mexico in mid-
2010 when it will start producing from
its Lower Tertiary Chinook and Cascade
Fields. An FPSO production scheme was
necessary because the fields are 160 miles
from shore and away from existing ex-
port pipeline networks. The FPSO BW
Pioneer (Fig. 6) is capable of processing
80,000 bopd and 16 Bcfd of gas and can
store nearly 500,000 bbl of oil. The ves-
sel will be moored in 8,200 ft, deepest
to date for an FPSO. In the first phase
of the project, production from two
wells in Cascade Field and one well in
Chinook Field will be connected to the
vessel. In the second phase, seven more
wells from Chinook Field and another
seven wells from Cascade Field will be
added. Designed to handle the harsh op-
erating conditions in the ultra-deep Gulf
of Mexico, the BW Pioneer is equipped
with an internal disconnectable sub-
merged turret production mooring sys-
tem and outfitted with safety features
to withstand environmental loads from
currents, waves, and wind. When a hur-
ricane approaches, the disconnectable
turret will allow the FPSO to disengage
from site and move on its own propul-
sion to an evacuation site.
Aker Floating Production has intro-
duced a Smart FPSO concept that
stresses rapid deployment within 1822
months to accelerate the production of
first oil. Aker has purchased three Suez-
max oil tankers for this purpose. The com-
pany delivered its first concept FPSO to
Reliance Industries. Named Dhirubhai I,
the vessel is stationed at MA-D6 Field on
the east coast of India, Fig. 7. The FPSO
has a processing capacity of 9 MMcfd and
60,000 bopd with total storage capacity
of 1.3 million bbl of oil. As the FPSO is
operating in an area of frequent typhoons,
it has a disconnectable turret for tempo-
rary production shut-in and evacuation of
the vessel to safer waters.
CYLINDRICAL HULLS
Sevan Marine has developed a unique
floating structure with a cylindrical hull.
It is a geostationary, double-bottom,
double-sided hull with low motion char-
acteristics and stability reserves. The
floater can be installed using convention-
al spread mooring with quick hookup
to a pre-laid mooring system. In deep-
water areas, it can be operated with steel
catenary risers. The first unit, the Sevan
Piranema, has been operating for Petro-
bras offshore Brazil since 2007. The Se-
van Hummingbird and Sevan Voyageur are
working in the North Sea. The latest hull,
the Sevan Driller, will begin drilling for
Petrobras in the presalt area, Fig. 8. The
vessel is capable of drilling of wells up to
40,000 ft in water depths of up to 12,500
ft, with an internal storage capacity of up
to 150,000 bbl of oil.
SSP Offshore has also designed circu-
lar floaters, SSP and SSP Plus, that elimi-
nate the need for an expensive turret and
require less steel for storage capacity than
a conventional FPSO. Both units were
model tested at LabOceano in Brazil to
confirm the large natural periods, low
pitch and roll, and motion characteristics
similar to a spar.
FLNG
FEED programs for two floating
LNG liquefaction (FLNGs) are un-
Fig. 5. Modecs FPSO Cidade de Niteroi
MV 18 is operating in the Campos
Basin.
Fig. 6. The Petrobras BW Pioneer leaves
Singapore for the Chinook/Cascade
Fields in the Gulf of Mexico.
Fig. 7. Aker Floating Productions FPSO
Dhirubhai I is operating on the east
coast of India for Reliance Industries.
Fig. 8. The Sevan Driller arrived in Brazil
waters late March to begin drilling in
the presalt area.
derway. Shell has signed contracts with
Technip and Samsung for the Prelude
floating liquefied natural gas (LNG)
project off the coast of Western Austra-
lia. Additionally, Technip, in association
with JGC and Modec, has been awarded
by Petrobras the FEED contract of a pro-
posed FLNG for the presalt reservoirs of
the Santos Basin.
MOORING SYSTEM ADVANCES
In designing passive mooring systems
for ultra-deepwater floaters, the challenge
for operators and engineering contractors
is to develop a cost-efficient system with
relatively easy service requirements. The
design is developed through the involve-
ment of a metocean specialist to meet
100-year weather patterns, ocean current
variations and swell conditions. Software
numerical modeling is followed by wind
tunnel and wave basin tests, if sufficient-
ly large facilities are available. In Nor-
way, Marinteks Ocean Basin Laboratory,
with a 10-m deep tank, facilitates total
environmental simulation of all types of
fixed and floating structures.
Polyester rope. Because of its light
weight and high strength, polyester rope
is being used increasingly in deepwater
applications beyond 4,000 ft. For ex-
ample, for the FPU Thunderhawk, SBM
Atlantia, which designed the platform,
selected polyester to achieve FPU mo-
tions that are more compliant and riser
friendly. The Thunderhawk is anchored
with a polyester rope-chain spread moor-
ing system connected to 12 driven piles.
For ultra-deep water (10,000 ft and
beyond), InterMoor is working with
rope vendors to develop blended/mixed
mooring systems made up from multiple
types of rope sections (e.g., polyester/
Kevlar and polyester/aramid).
Mooring line test bed. InterMoor and
Halo have installed a test bed in Port
Fourchon, Louisiana, capable of testing
mooring lines up to 220-ft long with an
11-ft stroke that can apply a 3,000-kip
pulling force, Fig. 9.
Compact suction anchors. Among
the innovations in mooring anchor
technology is the compact suction em-
bedded plate anchor (SEPLA). Patented
by InterMoor, the SEPLA anchor com-
bines the advantages of the suction pile
embedment at one-half to one-third the
cost. InterMoor has installed the anchors
offshore Angola for Chevrons Tombua
Landana tender-assisted drilling unit.
The anchors are permanently installed
for multiple reconnect operations dur-
ing the life of the field.
ULTRA-DEEP AND BEYOND
Step by incremental step, floating
structure and mooring advances have
taken the oil and gas industry to yet an-
other frontier: ultra-deep water. It will
take a decade or more for the ultra-deep
water to become a mature arena. Un-
doubtedly, the newbuilds of the future
will make us scratch our heads to come
up with a superlative beyond ultra. WO
Fig. 9. The InterMoor/Halo test bed in Port Fourchon, La.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 71
OTC PREVIEW
Latest technologies,
long-term energy strategies
distinguish OTC 2010
From climate change policy to the dynamics of salt tectonics, this
years show features a comprehensive array of all things offshore.
Nell L. Benton, Associate Editor
OTC 2010 continues the tradition
of hosting the worlds leading event ad-
vancing knowledge and technology re-
sources. As in previous years, the confer-
ence will be held in May at the Reliant
Park complex in Houston, Texas, from
May 3 to May 6.
More than 67,721 people from over
120 different countries visited OTC
2009an impressive level of attendance
considering the global economic reces-
sion and initial concerns about swine
flu. The 2009 exhibition was the second
largest in OTCs 40-year history: over
2,500 exhibiting companies from more
than 38 countries filled the exhibition
areas 557,000 square feet.
Awards luncheon. Hubert L. (Hugh)
Elkins, who served as director of business
development for National Oilwell Varco
before his retirement, and previously
served more than 20 years in executive
engineering posts at Hydril, will receive
the 2010 OTC Distinguished Achieve-
ment Award for Individuals during the
awards luncheon Tuesday, May 4. Also at
the luncheon, Anadarko Petroleum and
Enterprise Field Services will receive the
Distinguished Achievement Award for
Companies, Organizations and Institu-
tions. The keynote address will be deliv-
ered by Charles D. (Chuck) Davidson,
chairman and chief executive officer of
Noble Energy.
Elkins will be given the award for his
contributions throughout his more than
53 years in the offshore oil industry. His
development of the industry standard of
6-ft-radius technology for subsea well-
head guide bases and blowout preven-
ter stack guide frames, which permitted
interchangeability of subsea equipment,
revolutionized the industry and paved
the way for a new generation of possi-
bilities in subsea drilling.
Anadarko Petroleum and Enterprise
Field Services will be given the award for
their record-setting Independence Hub
development and their innovative collab-
oration in creating a coordinated infra-
structure solution that provided access to
ultra-deepwater reserves that previously
were economically unfeasible. As a result
of this collaboration, natural gas from the
project represents a 10% increase in the
supply from the Gulf of Mexico.
SAFE awards. The US Minerals Man-
agement Service (MMS) will present the
national SAFE awards at the OTC lun-
cheon on Thursday, May 6. This will be
the second SAFE awards ceremony held
during OTC. These prestigious awards
have been presented annually since 1983,
making it the longest continuous federal
awards program of its kind.
The SAFE awards recognize out-
standing safety and pollution preven-
tion performance by the offshore oil
and gas industry in four categories:
drilling contractor, production contrac-
tor, high-activity operator and moder-
ate-activity operator. The selections are
based solely on objective performance
Chip Gill, IAGC president and ethics
breakfast speaker.
Charles D. (Chuck) Davidson,
awards luncheon keynote speaker.
Hubert L. (Hugh) Elkins, recipient of the
Distinguished Achievement Award.
72 APRIL 2010 World Oil
OTC PREVIEW
criteriainspection and incident data
normalized for exposure levelsand
specific input from MMS district and
regional offices.
At the OTC luncheon, MMS will
also present its Corporate Leadership
Awards to outstanding individuals who
have raised the bar for safety achieve-
ment, improved environmental protec-
tion, enhanced resource recovery and
conservation, or inspired innovation and
outstanding performance by others.
Topical luncheons. The topical lun-
cheons given this year will cover a wide
range of categories, giving attendees the
opportunity to hear leading experts and
engage in discussion on issues currently
facing the industry. Topics include deep-
water developments, ocean renewable
energy, carbon sequestration programs,
hurricanes and the application of geosci-
ences to humanitarian needs. It is rec-
ommended that participants buy tickets
in advance for the topical luncheons, as
space is limited.
The four luncheons on Monday, May
3, are Geoscientists without borders:
Bringing geoscience and engineering
technology from the energy industry to
humanitarian needs, Thunder Horse
and Atlantis deepwater frontier develop-
ments in the Gulf of Mexico, Energy
myths and realities and Saudi Aramco
upstream challenges and plans.
There will be five luncheons on
Wednesday, May 5: The silver lining
of a recession: Managing through the
tough times to a bright future, Future
of oil reserves, Opportunities and
challenges for deep water, Are humans
at fault for more and stronger offshore
hurricanes? and Step ahead in the car-
bon sequestration program.
The three topical luncheons for Thurs-
day, May 6, will be Caspian Sea energy
developments, Conventional offshore
oil and gas enters its twilight years: Are
there still new frontiers to tackle? and
US climate change policy: Facing up to
costs and sacrifices.
Industry breakfasts and morning re-
ports. Industry breakfasts, organized by
OTC and the US Department of Com-
merce, offer expert views on doing busi-
ness in emerging areas of interest for the
oil and gas industry. This years breakfast
series focuses on Colombia, Egypt and
offshore Australia-New Zealand. Because
seating is limited, conference attendees
are encouraged to purchase tickets in ad-
vance. On Tuesday, May 4, the breakfast
will focus on oil and gas regulations, and
opportunities for trade and investment
in Colombia.
Monday, 9:30 a.m.noon
Panel: Changing the game bit by bit
Advances in exible riser technology
Thunder Horse and Atlantis I: Lessons learned from frontier
developments
Drilling technology
Subsea risk and reliability
LNG and LPG operations offshore
Marine geohazards and GIS applications
Advances in offshore materials technology
Monday, 24:30 p.m.
General session: Jobs and the economy: How the oil and gas industry is
creating jobs, leading the economy and impacting consumers
Advances in deepwater riser technology
Thunder Horse and Atlantis II: More lessons learned
Innovative drilling technology
LNG 2010
Foundations and anchors
Montas JIP
Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.noon
Panel: IOC perspective of the upstream business in Brazil
AKPO project
Invited organization session: Association of International Petroleum
Negotiators (AIPN)
ATP Mirage project
Metocean I: Hurricanes, cyclones and tropical stormsrecent hindcasts
and updated forecasts
Advances in seaoor imaging applications of multibeam backscatter
Ocean thermal energy conversion
HP/HT well challenges
Tuesday, 24:30 p.m.
General session: What is the right global energy mix? Desired transition
pathways to an affordable and secure energy future
Well completion technology
FPSO technology: New horizons for oating production supports
Azurite Field development
Metocean II: Metocean modeling, measurements and maxima
Marine geoscience and geohazards
Salt structural styles informing deepwater exploration
Ocean mining: Past, present and future
The best of the rest
Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.noon
Panel: Burst! What is it?
Impact of subsea processing power distribution
Perdido development: Worlds rst ultra-deepwater drilling
and production facility
Flow assurance: New frontiers and subsea processing
Ocean wave and thermal energy generation and transportation
Gas hydrates I: Discovery of rich gas hydrate accumulations in sand
reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico
Atlantic Canada
Wednesday, 24:30 p.m.
General session: Addressing social and environmental performance
risks in international development projects: From soft awareness
to hard management
Updated API recommended practices: A new suite of standards
BC-10 project
Flow assurance: Design and operation
Creating value through geoscience
Gas hydrates II: Resource evaluation and production estimates
Offshore wind energy
Thursday, 9:30 a.m.noon
Panel: Caspian Sea energy developments
Deepwater technology
Sand control completions
Offshore pipeline projects and repairs
Fiber moorings: Recent experiences and research
Gas Hydrates III: Sampling, well design and geomechanical analysis
Topsides technology
Thursday, 24:30 p.m.
General session: Surface BOP technology: State of the art
and future opportunities in deep water
Subsea well intervention
High pressure subsea gas/liquid separation
Offshore pipelines soil/structure interaction
Mooring system integrity
Gas Hydrates IV: Laboratory, simulation and fundamental studies
Innovative improved oil recovery technology
TABLE 1. OTC 2010 technical sessions
part of Aker
Innovative drilling
equipment
Aker Solutions is the preferred one-stop
shop contractor for delivery of innovative,
complete drilling equipment solutions and
lifecycle services.
OTC 2010 - visit Aker Solutions at booth 3917
2010 Aker Solutions
All rights reserved
www.akersolutions.com/drillingequipment
Providing drilling and topside expertise through
following key elements;
Drilling equipment packages
Drawworks and mud pumps
Drilling fuid management
Drilling riser systems
World Oil APRIL 2010 75
On Wednesday, May 5, the breakfast
will feature top-level industry executives
who will focus on Egypts oil and gas in-
dustry. The discussion will center around
the countrys policies and regulations and
current oil and gas activities, as well as the
industrys outlook for the coming years.
The last industry breakfast, held on
Thursday, May 6, will provide a forum
for experts to discuss offshore oil and gas
policies, as well as investment and trade
opportunities in the oil and gas sectors of
New Zealand and Western Australia.
The ethics breakfast will be held on
Monday, May 3, from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
The program, presented by Chip Gill,
president of the International Associa-
tion of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC)
and Amos Holt, president of the ASME,
is titled Business ethics, personal honor
and professional conduct in internation-
al offshore operations.
General sessions. This year, OTC will
feature a general session each afternoon of
the conference from 2:30 to 4 p.m. The
first session takes place Monday, May 3,
and focuses on Jobs and the economy:
How the oil and gas industry is creating
jobs, leading the economy and impacting
consumers. This session brings together
consumers, businesses, energy provid-
ers and governmental officials to discuss
the complex relationship between energy
and economic sustainability. The panel,
led by David Holt of Consumer Energy
and Sandeep Khurana of Devon Energy
Corp., will discuss the importance of
energy production in boosting state and
national economies and stimulating jobs
while protecting the environment.
The second session, What is the
right global energy mix? Desired transi-
tion pathways to an affordable and secure
energy future, will take place Tuesday,
May 4. The panel, chaired by Ahmed
Hashmi of BP and Gamal Hassan of
Baker Hughes, will address the topic of
the desirable energy mix and transition
pathways to provide the world with af-
fordable, secure and increasingly lower-
carbon energy. In addition, the panelists
will discuss how the recent global finan-
cial crisis has brought about a significant
deterioration in near-term energy de-
mand and a consequential reduction in
supply, which has possible longer-term
implications. Climate change consider-
ations and greater regulation of the en-
ergy mix are also on the agenda.
The third session takes place Wednes-
day, May 5, and focuses on Addressing
social and environmental performance
risks in international development proj-
ects: From soft awareness to hard man-
agement. The panel, chaired by Chris
Ross of Charles River Associates Interna-
tional and comprised of a social perfor-
mance management expert, two major
oil company representatives, an Inter-
national Finance Corp. representative
and an industry technology expert, will
address how social performance man-
agement is evolving from recognition of
soft issues (such as working conditions
and local culture) to proactive manage-
ment of these issues using hard metrics
(i.e., how to monetize the management
of these issues.)
The last session, Surface BOP
(SBOP) technology: State of the art and
future opportunities in deep water, will
take place Thursday, May 6. The ses-
sion highlights the increased pressure
to lower deepwater well costs and the
emerging technology trends that could
revolutionize the industry. This panel of
SBOP technology experts offers a range
of perspectives from operators, drilling
contractors, consultants and regulators
and is chaired by Greg Carter of Nautilus
Offshore Co. and Neil Patrick Kavanagh
of Woodside Energy Ltd.
Next Wave program. This event, de-
signed for upstream professionals under
age 35, or those interested in meeting
them, will take place on Wednesday,
May 5, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The 2010
program will focus on how the industrys
ups and downs affect long-term career
goals. The afternoon breakout sessions
give attendees the chance to discuss
topics such as career paths, geopolitical
challenges and the big crew change.
A reception will be held following the
program, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Reliant
Stadium East Club.
Technical program. Throughout the
conference, more than 300 papers will be
presented during the technical sessions.
A sample of the topics includes:
LNG and LPG operations offshore
Marine geohazards and GIS appli-
cations
Forecasting hurricanes, cyclones
and tropical storms
Advances in seafloor imaging ap-
plications of multibeam backscatter
New horizons for FPSOs
Salt structural styles informing
deepwater exploration
The Perdido ultra-deepwater drill-
ing and production facility
The major technical session topics
are listed in Table 1. For a more detailed
listing of individual papers in the tech-
nical program, please check the listings
at http://www.otcnet.org/2010/pages/
schedule/technical.html.
SPOTLIGHT ON NEW
TECHNOLOGY
Now in its seventh year, this program
will recognize 13 technologies represent-
ing 12 companies: Aker Solutions; Brede-
ro Shaw; Expro; FMC Technologies;
Halliburton Sperry Drilling; MacDermid
Offshore Solutions; Rapp Marine; Reel-
well, Schlumberger; TSGroup; Wanner
Engineering and WFS Technologies.
Winners are selected on five criteria.
First, the technology must be newi.e.,
less than two years old, dating from the
first time it was introduced to the mar-
ketplace or was announced or advertised
in a conference, press release or trade
journal. Second, the technology must be
innovative, original, groundbreaking and
capable of revolutionizing the offshore
E&P industry. For example, an improve-
ment in efficiency of an existing motor
would not be considered unless it had
the potential to change the way in which
the motor would be used in the industry.
Third, the item must have been proven
through either full-scale application or
successful prototype testing. Fourth, the
technology must have broad interest and
appeal for the industry. Lastly, the tech-
nology must make a significant impact,
providing sizeable benefits beyond exist-
ing technologies.
First-of-its-kind liquid-
cooled electric motor
Rapp Marine received an award for
its Rapp Hydema liquid-cooled electric
motor. The technology is an electric
motor specifically mounted on a Rapp-
Rapp Marines liquid-cooled electric
motor.
OTC PREVIEW
76 APRIL 2010 World Oil
OTC PREVIEW
Multiphase meters employ
tornographic technology
FMC Technologies received an award
for its multiphase meters, which employ
tornographic technology to significantly
improve measurement accuracy and
range for topside and subsea applications.
The self-calibrating feature implemented
in the meter is a step change from con-
ventional multiphase meters. This new
feature is achieved through implement-
ing salinity measurement functionality
in combination with the in situ fluid
property verification. The meter works
equally well for multiphase and wet gas
applications with gas-void fractions and
watercut ranging from 0 to 100%.
The 3D broadband technology is
employed to accurately and very rapidly
determine how the liquid and gas is dis-
tributed throughout the pipe, while at the
same time determining precise flowrates
of oil, gas and water. For slugging flow re-
gimes, the meter will automatically switch
up to five times per second between the
FMC Technologies multiphase meters.
manufactured gearbox working with a
variable-frequency converter to be used
for deepwater powering applications.
The motor is cooled by a water jacket
set in a housing that circulates the water
through the rotating components of the
motor. The motor is designed to work
only in a tandem mode with a minimum
of two units mounted on the gearbox.
Internal heat is removed by means of a
special heat exchanger installed internally.
The motor produces several times more
power and is more space-efficient than
comparable air-cooled units.
multiphase and wet gas modes, bridging
a gap in the coverage of previous multi-
phase meters. The meter has been quali-
fied through the stringent Det Norske
Veritas RP-203 qualification process to a
15,000-psi working pressure and a 480F
working temperature. The meter has also
been designed for waters 11,500-ft deep.
Telemetry system
enables two-way data
communication to
downhole tools
Reelwell received an award for its te-
lemetry system. This new type of real-
time drill pipe telemetry system enables
two-way high-speed data communica-
tion to downhole MWD/LWD tools.
In addition, it offers the ability to trans-
fer large amounts of electrical power to
downhole tools.
The system was originally developed
in combination with the Reelwell Drill-
ing Method (RDM) by using the dualdrill
pipes as electrical conductors; however,
the system is equally beneficial to conven-
tional drilling. The system is based on du-
al-concentric drill strings and comprises a
stab-in connector design that is mounted
in the drill pipe toolboxes and an advanced
transceiver technology that sends and re-
ceives sensor data. The connector system
provides three important functions: elec-
trical insulation, high-pressure seal and
low-impedance electrical contact. The
transceivers utilize digital signal processing
technologies to optimize signal transmis-
sion. The data to be sent is made redun-
dant by duplication and interleaving, both
in time and frequency, making the system
more immune to noise sources. The high-
data bandwidth of the system allows any
combination of downhole sensors to be
monitored continuously, while the power
supply capability exceeds the requirements
of signal transmission for all existing sen-
sor or directional drilling tools.
Reelwells real-time drill pipe telemetry
system.
Flotation unit allows
repetition of uid
separation in one vessel
TSGroup received an award for its
high-performance, TST (CFU) com-
pact flotation unit. The CFU is a verti-
cal pressure vessel designed to deal with
the mixture of oil, gas and water from all
stages in the treatment process to ensure
low oil-in-water content before produced
water is either discharged or re-injected.
The technology is based on flotation
principles whereby the special internals
create small gas bubbles that become
connected to small oil droplets and raise
them to the surface, contributing to the
separation process. The flotation process
is maintained by the evolution of dis-
solved gas and/or additional gas injected
into the water feed. Oil droplets and gas
bubbles are mixed together and due to the
low density of this mixture, the oil and gas
separate easily from water in the vessel.
The special design of the vessel internals
TSGroups compact otation unit.
allows this process to be repeated within
several stages in one vessel, with the num-
ber of stages depending on the application
in which the technology is used.
78 APRIL 2010 World Oil
OTC PREVIEW
tem. These drivers include high con-
centrations of dissolved CO
2
or H
2
S,
condensation trapped within the annu-
lus, increased flowrates due to a harsh
operating temperature or degradation
of the pressure sheath, and ingress of
seawater through the outer sheath. The
subC-racs system provides comprehen-
sive and continuous monitoring and
quickly identifies emerging trends in
the riser annulus system before fatigue
damage can occur.
the International Electrotechnical Com-
missions (IEC) 61508 SIL 2 reliability
specifications for safety-related systems.
The design also enables compliance with
ISO 13628 standards by providing elec-
tronic redundancy and pressure readout
for each subsea function.
Additionally, SenTURIAN is the first
landing string system to employ inter-
changeable mandrels and pressure-bal-
anced accumulators, allowing both sub-
sea control and accumulator modules to
be combined in a single assembly.
Schlumberger also received an award
for its subC-racs riser annulus condition
surveillance system, which is an auto-
mated system for the integrity moni-
toring assessment of flexible risers and
vented emissions. The main functions
of the system are to measure free (dry)
volume of the annulus, and gas and wa-
ter vapor flowrates. The system provides
continuous surveillance of the vent flow
and is readily installed in-line with top-
sides vent systems.
Trends in the measured free volume,
flow rates and compositions provide
vital data for integrity assessment of
various failure drivers of the riser sys-
Schlumberger receives
two Spotlight awards for
subsea innovations
Schlumberger received an award for
its SenTURIAN subsea landing string
electrohydraulic operating system, which
is designed to operate from dynamical-
ly-positioned vessels in subsea applica-
tions such as deep water, high pressure
and high temperature. Technological
advances have resulted in a shorter and
more flexible modular system that al-
lows safe, reliable and efficient comple-
tion installation, as well as well cleanup
and well testing from vessels operating
in water depths to 15,000 ft. The system
is the first and only in-riser system de-
signed and certified in accordance with
New wireless safety
valve system
Expro received an award for its Flow-
CAT wireless safety valve system. Devel-
oped with the support of Petrowell Ltd.,
FlowCAT is a new wireless-controlled
safety valve system that can be retro-
fitted into a well using conventional
slickline intervention equipment and
procedures. Being controllable from
the surface and of a fail-safe closed de-
sign, the system offers both functional
and safety advantages over existing sub-
surface-controlled safety valves (SSCSV)
solutions. The valve system also offers a
retrofittable solution where no hydraulic
control line is installed. Where a capil-
lary string may need to be installed for
foam injection purposes, it provides an
opportunity to free up the hydraulic
control line.
Expros wireless safety valve system.
Schlumbergers subsea landing string
operating system.
LWD technology enables
enhanced reservoir uid
sample recovery
Halliburton Sperry Drilling services
received an award for its new InSite
GeoTap IDS sensor. The new tool en-
ables reservoir fluid samples to be re-
covered with LWD technology. It also
delivers timely downhole capture, sur-
face recovery and identification of mul-
tiple samples of formation fluids with
minimal contamination.
Halliburtons LWD technology for
recovering uid samples.
Schlumbergers annulus condition
surveillance system.
Global Energy and
Mediterranean
Opportunities
ASSOMINERARIA
Established by
www.omc.it
Conference Organiser Exhibition Organiser
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80 APRIL 2010 World Oil
OTC PREVIEW
tation. The challenge was to develop
micro balloon-free systems with im-
proved thermal properties, suitable for
subsea deployment using all lay meth-
ods. This program included compatible
field joint systems and is now at the
point of completion.
New subsea high-
temperature uid
MacDermid Offshore Solutions re-
ceived an award for its subsea hydrau-
lic control fluid, Oceanic XT900. The
fluid is capable of reaching a downhole
temperature of 430F. Production con-
trol fluids deliver power to operate
downhole safety valves, allowing the
flow of oil and gas from hydrocarbon
reservoirs. The fluid has been tested for
six months at 430F and has been quali-
fied in accordance with the industry
standard for subsea control fluids, ISO
13628-6 Annex C. Oceanic XT900 is
biodegradable and enables the sustain-
able development of ultra-high-tem-
perature wells and reservoirs previously
inaccessible to equipment manufactur-
ers and operators. Drilling campaigns
may seek even deeper wells both on and
offshore due to this technology, and the
fluid has the ability to unlock potential
value for secure, reliable energy in deep
ultra-high temperature wells.
Styrenic formulations for
subsea thermal insulation
Bredero Shaw received an award for
its subsea thermal insulation, Thermo-
tite Ultra.
Styrenic thermoplastics have been
used as insulation material for many
years due to their intrinsically low ther-
mal conductivity. Advanced blending
technology provides materials with a
high level of foamability, good ductil-
ity, high-impact tolerance and unique
thermal properties. A program to de-
velop offshore pipe insulation systems
based on styrenic alloys was started in
2007, considering thermal and me-
chanical performance along with global
availability and scope for system adap-
Bredero Shaws subsea thermal
insulation.
New triplex pump
eliminates problems of
packed plunger systems
Wanner Engineering received an award
for its Hydra-Cell T80 series sealless tri-
plex diaphragm pumps, which are de-
signed to replace packed plunger pumps
and their associated problems. The T80
series pumps provide zero leakage, can
run dry without damage, will operate
with a closed or blocked suction line and
can effectively pump abrasive fluids. The
T8045, the first in this series of pumps,
has a flowrate of 1,500 bpd at a pressure
of 3,000 psi. Soon to be released are the
T80100 (3,200 bpd at 1,440 psi) and the
T8030 (1,000 bpd at 4,500 psi).
This technology eliminates packing
and plunger wear, leakage, external lu-
brication and emissions of traditional
plunger pumps, while offering lower costs
of ownership and maintenance, and lon-
ger life than their packed counterparts.
The pumps employ asynchronous, hy-
draulically-balanced diaphragms with a
patented valving system, which allows the
diaphragms to be hydraulically coupled to
the displacing plungers with no mechani-
cal coupling required.
Wanner Engineerings sealless triplex
diaphragm pumps.
First top drive to meet
sixth-generation drilling
requirements
Aker Solutions received an award for
its MH MDDM 1000 top drive. This
drive is the first true Modular Derrick
Drilling Machine (MDDM) that meets
sixth-generation drilling requirements.
The top drive is designed to meet the
very stringent specifications of 99.9%
up-time per annum. Its modular concept
allows easy access to replace individual
modules, reducing the critical path of
the operation and the time to repair from
days to hours and from hours to minutes.
When parts of modules break down, that
specific module can be replaced without
interrupting other top drive components.
The downtime of overhauls and annual
load path inspections is reduced, which
can usually only be conducted offline or
during a rig move. WO
Aker Solutions top drive.
MacDermids subsea hydraulic control
uid.
The tool can acquire multiple fluid
samples within hours, rather than days
of drilling the formation, eliminating the
flat time associated with wireline sam-
pling. In high-cost environments, such
as deepwater exploration wells, there is
significant value in eliminating trips for
wireline sampling tools. Also, when sam-
ples are taken while drilling, there is less
formation contamination from drilling
fluids, so extended pump-out times for
clean samples are greatly reduced com-
pared to wireline. Valuable data is more
rapidly recovered, improving decision-
making while drilling the reservoir and
enabling more timely solutions.
At Balance EmPower Systems give you the automated
pressure control you need to reduce the mud weight and
ECD and improve drilling efciency. This control is delivered
with proven reliability, unmatched performance, and industry
leading experience in automated MPD.
The EmPower System is At Balances next generation of
automated MPD technology. It delivers faster response to
minimize connection time and more accurate control to
minimize risk in the smallest of margins. And, its efcient
modular footprint simplies installation on small rigs and
cuts rig-up time in half on all rigs.
With its automated control capabilities, our EmPower
Systems can help you condently drill troublesome pressure
margins more efciently with less risk and lower ECD.
Learn how our reliable automated control technology can
help you manage pressure in your wells. Contact At Balance.
Automated MPD Technology EmPower

Copyright 2010 AtBalance Trademark of AtBalance


www.atbalance.com
At Balance. A better way to drill

.
The EmPower system delivers automated control
to avoid losses and improve drilling efciency.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 83
SUBSEA OPERATIONS
Surface blowout prevention (SBOP)
technology extends the use of smaller,
cheaper second- and third-generation
rigs into water depths that cannot be
achieved conventionally. Following suc-
cessful drilling campaigns in Asia, Shell
extended its SBOP technology to the
more demanding conditions offshore
Brazil with the implementation of a sea-
bed isolation device (SID).
This article describes the first six
months, starting in March 2008, of
Shells operations with its SBOP sys-
tem in the first phase of its Parque das
Conchas project. The project encom-
passes several reservoirs in up to 6,500
ft of water located in Block BC-10 of
the Campos Basin, approximately 75 mi
southeast of Vitria, Brazil. Each phase
of the downhole completion (produc-
tion hole drillout, wellbore mechanical
cleanup, displacement to brine, sand
control placement and upper comple-
tion installation) has now been com-
pleted on the first batch of production
wells using the SBOP system, enhanced
to permit the deployment and testing of
the tubing hanger and its running tool.
Three production wells were completed
as horizontal, gravel-packed, subsea oil
production wells; this was the first time
an SBOP system was deployed from a
floating drilling vessel for development
drilling and completion.
The seabed isolation device provides
the means to isolate the well at the seabed
in case the riser system has to be discon-
nected because of loss of vessel position
(due to mooring line failure) or excessive
rig motion. In mild metocean conditions,
many wells have been drilled from moored
rigs without using an SID. However, the
SID becomes an essential component of
the surface BOP system when deployed
from dynamically positioned rigs or when
deployed from moored rigs in more se-
vere metocean conditions. The 13-in.,
two-ram SID device used at Parque das
Conchas was equipped with a boosted
shearing blind ram (for the well isolation
function) and a 7-in. pipe ram (to as-
sist with tubing hanger pressure testing).
The SID was controlled from surface via
a through-water broadband acoustic link
or a control line umbilical strapped to the
riser; this provided the required control
system redundancy. Accumulators on the
SID provided sufficient fluid to operate
the full SID well isolation and riser dis-
connect sequence without re-supply from
the surface. However, a fluid supply line
in the umbilical was used to maintain the
SID accumulators in their fully charged
condition. Similarly, SID electrical power
was supplied from surface via the umbili-
cal to maintain the SID batteries in their
fully charged condition.
By utilizing the SBOP system and a
pre-laid mooring system, the operating
water depth capacity of the moored rig
used at Parque das Conchas, Transoceans
Arctic I semisubmersible, was increased
from a previous nominal 3,100 ft to over
6,200 ft for development drilling and
completion operations.
FIELD LAYOUT
Shell operates the BC-10 license
block with joint venture partners Petro-
bras and Indias Oil and Natural Gas
Corp. (ONGC). A total of 13 explora-
tion and appraisal wells had already been
drilled in the block with five separate,
normally-pressured hydrocarbon accu-
mulations found at relatively shallow
depths, Table 1.
Block BC-10 has the following gen-
eral characteristics:
Remote deepwater setting with
shallow reservoirs
A number of hydrocarbon accumu-
lations dispersed over a large aerial extent
throughout the block, necessitating a
cluster development
Moderate to poor crude properties
(low API, high viscosity).
The BC-10 joint venture partners
agreed to proceed with a staged develop-
ment of four of the five discovered reser-
voirs, Fig. 1. Phase 1 of the development
will consist of a centrally located FPSO
connected via subsea manifolds, flowlines
and risers to 10 wellssix producers and
a gas disposal well in Ostra (C) Field, two
wells in Argonauta (B West) Field, and
a single producer in Abalone (A West)
Field. Phased development of the Argo-
nauta (O North) Field will follow, with
water injection and production wells. All
wells will be equipped with sand control.
Phase 2 will have nominally six producers
and six water injectors, with further de-
velopment later. The seabed layout facili-
tates the use of a moored rig and permits
batch drilling and completion as well as
temporary suspension of wells.
OPERATIONAL PLANS
Batching within each drillsite to max-
imize learning and minimize time spent
preparing the rig for the next phase of
operation was built into the drilling and
completion sequence for Phase 1. To re-
duce the time required to move from well
to well, the conductors were pre-installed
using a subsea hammer at each drill cen-
ter. A spacer spool the same height as the
Successful drilling and completion
at BC-10 using surface BOP system
The implementation of a seabed isolation device enabled a doubling of the
operating water depth capacity for operations offshore Brazil.
Brian A. Tarr, Tor Taklo, Andrew Hudson and Lisa Stockwell, Shell; and Jim Schroeder, Transocean
Reservoir Water depth, ft
Argonauta (B-West) 5,427
Abalone (A-West) 6,312
Argonauta (O-South) 5,233
Argonauta (O-North) 5,404
Ostra (C) 6,181
TABLE 1. Five accumulations
found at relatively
shallow depths
84 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SUBSEA OPERATIONS
planned tubing head spool was added to
the SBOP system. This eliminated the
time and risks associated with adjusting
the length of the SBOP riser system. Dur-
ing drilling operations on the Ostra wells,
the spacer spool was latched onto the
wellhead. During Ostra well completion
operations, the tubing hanger spool was
installed and occupied the place of the
spacer spool. Both the spacer spool and
the tubing hanger spool were designed to
be installed using a heave-compensated
landing system and to be latched and un-
latched using an ROV. This setup allowed
the flexibility of using a properly equipped
vessel instead of relying entirely on the rig
to perform the operations.
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
The SBOP system interfaces with the
rig by means of a compact ball joint at-
tached to the diverter on top of a low-
pressure, triple-barrel telescopic joint. The
joint connects to the top of the 13-in.
surface BOP stack with a 16-in. nominal
ID overshot packer that fits over a corre-
sponding mandrel on the surface BOP.
The 13-in. surface BOP stack is
equipped with a 5-m annular BOP, a
10-m single-boosted shearing blind ram
Fig. 1. Parque das Conchas Field layout, Block BC-10.
4-in. tubing
PDPG
Packer
Fluid loss valve
Sand control
958-in. casing
1338-in. casing
36-in. conductor
Tubing hanger
THS
Upper completion
Tubing hanger
TRSSV insert nipple
TRSSSV
PDPG
Packer
Tailpipe assembly including
swell element and WEG
Lower completion
Gravel pack packer
Upper extension
GP closing sleeve
Middle extension
Lower extension
Fluid loss device
Blank section
Sand control screens
Shoe/oat valve
TRSSV
PDPG = Permanent downhole production gauge
WEG = Wireline entry guide
TRSSV = Tubing-retrievable subsurface safety valve
Fig. 2. Parque das Conchas typical well casing and production
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86 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SUBSEA OPERATIONS
and a 10-m double ram fitted with a
56-in. flex ram at the top and 47-
in. variable bore receptacle at the bottom.
A 13-in., 10-m hydraulic connector
connects the surface BOP to the riser.
The riser upper transition joint in-
cludes a tension ring insert that inter-
faces with the rigs riser tension ring.
Equipped with connectors, the 16-in.-
OD riser (-in. wall, API grade X-80)
includes bare 50-ft joints, a full range of
pup joints (for accurate space-out with-
in 1 ft), joints with 24-in.-OD strakes
and joints with 32-in.-OD buoyancy
modules. The lower transition joint
provides the connection to the top
of the SID. The SID control umbili-
cal and a 1-in. test/flush line are both
strapped to the riser as it is run. The
umbilical provides communications
and power (electrical and hydraulic) for
the SID-mounted control system, and
the test/flush line provides means to
pressure test the tubing hanger during
completion operations.
The 13-in., 10-m SID includes
(from top to bottom) an inverted connec-
tor fitted with a re-entry funnel, a boost-
ed shearing blind ram, a spacer spool, a
7-in. pipe ram fitted with dual failsafe
valves, a double-studded adapter and an
18-in. wellhead connector.
For drilling operations, a spacer spool
with an ROV-operated wellhead connec-
tor is run below the SID. The SID is dis-
connected from the spacer spool when
ready to start completion operations,
following installation of a slim-bore tub-
ing head spool using a heave-compen-
sated wire system. A slim-bore 18-in.
x 13-in. wellhead system (with 9-in.
casing hanger profile), compatible with
Installation steps Planned Comments/lessons learned/
time, hr ofine opportunities
Make up (MU) and stump test SID and BOP 0.0 Ofine, spacer spool on SID
Prep riser-running equipment 2.5
Skid SID, MU LSJ and test LSJ/SID connection 5.0
Nipple up SID, controls, beacons 5.0
Rig up to run riser with SID umbilical and hose 2.5
lines strapped to riser
Run SID through splash zone 7.0 Includes function testing SID
Run riser and space out (2.5 joints/hr) 52.0 Expect to achieve up to 4 jnts/hr
MU USJ and land USJ on tensioner rig 2.5 Tension ring insert attached to
rigs tension ring
Skid SBOP and attach choke and kill (C/K) lines 1.5
Latch SBOP and attach C/K hoses 1.5
MU telescoping joint and diverter insert 5.0
MU SBOP handling/test tool and test C/K lines 2.5
and SBOP/USJ connection
Land SID on wellhead, latch, overpull and 2.5 Includes removing and standing
pressure test casing and riser system back SBOP handling/test tool
Tension riser system for planned mud weight 1.0
Rig down riser/BOP running equipment 1.0 SBOP bit retrievable wear
bushing run after running BHA
Total 91.5
TABLE 2. SBOP riser system running time breakdown
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the 13-in. nominal bore of the SBOP
system, was used for all the development
wells drilled with the SBOP system.
Site-specific mooring system. The
Arctic I station-keeping hardware includes
four double wildcats with eight anchor
chains of 5,100-ft x 3-in. K4-grade cable
and eight drag embedment anchors. The
rig also needed a pre-installed mooring
system, a concept Shell developed and
implemented in the 1990s. For each of
Parque das Conchas five drill centers, the
pre-installed mooring lines were preset in
the field before the rig was moved to the
site. Once towed to the drill center, the
rig was connected to the preset mooring
lines. In both cases to date, the rig started
normal operations within one day of ar-
rival. The pre-installed mooring system
had no difficulty maintaining the rig
within 12% of water depth in normal
operating sea states, with no mooring line
breaks as of October 2008.
SBOP stack handling. The new
hoisting system installed to move the
SBOP to and from well center through
the tensioner wires worked as planned.
The fire-resistant SBOP hydraulic hoses
were split into two bundles between the
operating unit and the SBOP, and were
of sufficient length to remain connected
while moving the SBOP to the operating
position on the top of the riser upper stress
joint (USJ). The 13-in. hydraulic con-
nector at the bottom of the SBOP worked
as a means to connect the SBOP to the
M-70 mandrel on the top of the USJ.
Only the installation of the choke and kill
line gooseneck stabs required man-riding
intervention to lock them in place.
SID umbilical and hose reel place-
ment. Two SID-related reels were per-
manently mounted, one above the other,
on the aft deck starboard adjacent to the
moonpool with good line-of-sight access
to well center. A common operating sta-
Condition Operation Conditions Actions
Green Normal
operations
a) Heave < 1.4 m
b) Rig offset < 1.5% WD
c) Remaining tubing joint (TJ)
stroke to closed > 1.5 m
d) Intact mooring
a) Monitor weather forecast
b) Calculate time to secure well
c) Conrm equipment and supplies
onboard to secure well
Yellow
(1-year
storm)
Suspend well
operations and
secure well
a) Heave = 1.4 m or
b) Rig offset = 1.52.0% WD or
c) Remaining TJ stroke to
closed = 1.5 m or
d) Riser tensioner failure
a) Position drillstring above SID or
space out for SID shear
b) Prepare for riser displacement
c) Mobilize supply vessel for back
load/uids
d) Rectify/assess impact of failed
component
Orange Prepare to
disconnect
a) Heave > 1.4 m or
b) Rig offset = 2.02.5% WD or
c) Remaining TJ stroke to
closed < 1.5 m
a) Close SID shear ram to secure
well/shear pipe across SID shear
b) Displace riser to seawater
c) Reduce riser tension to
disconnect
d) Recover drillstring
e) Install surface BOP lifting tool
Orange Prepare to
disconnect
a) Mooring line failure or
b) Loss of station
a) Winch rig back over well by
slacking mooring lines as required
b) Prepare for planned disconnect as
detailed above
c) Disconnect to re-establish mooring
pattern and to avoid large rig offset
in the event a second line fails
Red Disconnect
planned
a) Heave > 2.0 m or
b) Rig offset > 2.5% WD or
c) Remaining tubing joint
stroke to closed < 1.0 m or
d) Waves in contact with
SDL ring
a) Disconnect riser at top of SID as
per procedure for planned
disconnect
b) Position rig to safe zone
EDS Disconnect
emergency
Any event where a planned
disconnect is not possible
a) Evacuate the rig oor
b) If possible: Close all tensioner
system air pressure valves, bleed
tensioners to 50 kips overpull
each, push emergency disconnect
sequence (EDS) button
TABLE 3. Arctic I-specic SBOP operating procedure
for Brazil Block BC-10.
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90 APRIL 2010 World Oil
SUBSEA OPERATIONS
tion located at the aft starboard corner
of the moonpool provided good visibility
for both activities at moonpool well cen-
ter and the two stacked reels. Movable
sheaves provided support for the umbili-
cal and hose as they traveled to well cen-
ter for running operations.
Installation and workover control
systems (IWOCS). The IWOCS reel
was lifted to its long-term location on
the elevated platform on the port side of
the aft deck in a single lift. The hydraulic
power unit (HPU) was lifted into its lo-
cation next to the crane base. The HPU
for the IWOCS reel was placed on the
deck below the reel to facilitate commu-
nication between the HPU operator and
reel operator during operations. Both
the IWOCS and HPU were installed off
critical path and tested prior to the start
of completion operations.
Slim-bore wellhead system. Since
the slim-bore system for landing the pro-
duction casing hanger used a standard
18-in. wellhead H-4 connector, land-
ing the high-pressure and low-pressure
wellhead housings was a standard open-
water operation.
High-pressure riser system. The 50-
ft, 16-in.-OD riser joints were equipped
with a newly qualified 14-in.-ID con-
nection. Each box and pin was fitted
with closed-end protectors.
RUNNING/PULLING
PERFORMANCE
Several hands-on training sessions
were conducted with different rig floor
crews. However, since the planned set of
16-in. running tools was not available
in time, the training was conducted on
smaller tools of a different design. Thus,
the tools were unfamiliar to the crew,
which led to a slow first run of the riser
that averaged 2 joints/hr. The detailed
time breakdown data recorded during
the first riser run was used to identify
best times for each step and how these
best times were achieved. On the second
riser run, a slight improvement to an av-
erage of 2.5 joints/hr was achieved. Table
2 provides a simple expected time break-
down for running the SBOP system.
The riser wear management process
proved effective. This process included:
Setting maximum riser angles,
measured at the SBOP and two joints of
riser above the lower stress joint (LSJ) for
drilling operations
Use of casing-friendly hard band-
ing on all drill pipe tool joints
No pumping through BHAs that
included mud motors when the bit was
above the wellhead
Use of multicycle-type circulating
subs above BHAs to permit displace-
ment of the riser; and installing a bit-
retrievable 11-in.-ID wear bushing at
the top of the SBOP.
The 1-in. pressure test hose line was
run when the riser was deployed at the
Ostra drill center. The test hose line was
strapped to the riser; its purpose was to
permit pressure testing after installation
of the upper completions.
The lower shear ram in the SID was
replaced with a fixed 7-in. pipe ram to
seal on the slick joint. During the up-
per completion phase of the three Ostra
wells, the 7-in. pipe ram performed as
expected during pressure testing.
Power and hydraulic lines were add-
ed in the SID umbilical to reduce needed
ROV support. There were no problems
handling or strapping the heavier SID
umbilical used.
The vertical tree system was an evolu-
tion of a proven Shell deepwater system.
The new system included a concentric
tubing hanger and smaller-diameter hy-
draulic tubing hanger running tool. The
Fig. 3. Slim-bore tubing hanger.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 91
tubing-head spools and the trees were
successfully installed and tested with
a heave-compensated landing system
(HCLS) using a service vessel equipped
with a stern lifting/deployment frame
and an ROV.
Using the spacer spool of the same
height as the tubing-head spool (run
below the SID) proved effective in
eliminating any well-to-well adjust-
ment of the riser system spaceout. The
only operational issue that had to be re-
solved was that the ROV stab configu-
ration for the spacer spool was different
from that of the SID. The difference
was not noted until the equipment was
on the rig.
DRILLING PERFORMANCE
A reduced-casing scheme design was
used. The basic slim-bore well casing
scheme (Fig. 2) consists of a 36-in. con-
ductor, 13-in. surface casing and 9-in.
production casing, with an 11-in. liner
as a contingency. This allowed setting of
the 9-in. production casing into the
reservoir, and drilling and under-reaming
of the 9-in. open hole below the 9-in.
casing for gravel packing in the horizon-
tal reservoir section.
In the Ostra wells drilled, the 9-in.
casing strings were run with a retract-
able shoe joint designed to eliminate the
12-in. rat hole below the casing. The
retractable shoe joints were a success.
RISER DISCONNECT/
RECONNECT
A planned riser disconnect was per-
formed during drilling operations on the
first Ostra well. The disconnect proce-
dure in place at Parque das Conchas is
summarized in Table 3.
Riser disconnect. The disconnect se-
quence went smoothly with the excep-
tion of the 1-in. test line hot stab tether
parting, which led to damage of the hose
connection and the ROV stab. The liftoff
was smooth and controlled. The planned
riser disconnect sequence was subse-
quently revised to include using an ROV
to disconnect and secure all three ROV
stabs before the actual disconnect: the
1-in. test line stab, the umbilical electri-
cal stab and the umbilical hydraulic line
stab. The disconnect could then be acti-
vated via the SID acoustic control path.
A heave prediction tool was developed to
improve onsite rig heave forecasting.
Riser reconnect. The first riser recon-
nect attempt led to damage to the con-
nector gasket. The riser tended to bow out
with only small setdown weight because
the riser itself did not have a large clump
weight on the bottom to pull it straight
and prevent bowing and/or buckling.
The second attempt to connect with
minimal to neutral weight was very dif-
ficult due to heave, but a reconnect was
finally achieved.
COMPLETION PERFORMANCE
Completion operations started in Au-
gust 2008 with the cleanout and gravel
pack of the first Ostra well. All three upper
completions were successfully installed.
Lower completion. As this was the
first campaign to complete wells through
an SBOP-deployed slim-bore riser in
ultra-deepwater operations, the cleanout
tools were specifically designed to pass
through a restricted SBOP and allow ef-
fective mechanical and hydraulic clean-
ing action of the casing, riser and SID/
SBOP. Wellbore cleanout operations
were designed to reduce tripping times
with the use of a slim-bore boot basket
above the brush/jetting tool that could
be spaced out inside the 9-in. produc-
tion casing while maintaining the ability
to drift a dummy screen cleanout assem-
bly through more than 3,000 ft of near-
horizontal open hole for drill-in fluid
displacement. This aspect saved at least
eight hours of tripping time.
The lower completion hardware was
deployed through the SBOP riser system.
Screens were run into the open hole, and
the section was gravel packed using 16/30
mesh-size sand. The mechanical fluid-
loss device, a bi-directional ball valve, was
closed by a shifter on the wash pipe, thus
providing the primary well control barri-
er for moving off the well when batching.
A temporary bridge plug was set in the
9-in. casing as the secondary barrier.
The rig then moved to batch the remain-
ing wells by drilling the open hole and
installing the sand control equipment.
Upper completion. To permit smooth
passage of the tubing hanger through
the change in diameter from the 17-
in. bore of the telescoping joint into the
13-in. bore of the SBOP, an insert
sleeve was installed to provide a tempo-
rary 13-in. bore inside the top section
of the telescoping joint.
The upper completion comprised 4-
in., 12.6-lb/ft 13%-chrome L-80 tubing
with the following accessories:
Swell packer interface in the gravel
pack
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World Oil APRIL 2010 93
Hydrostatically set production
packer
Dual downhole pressure and tem-
perature gauge
Heavy sprung rod piston safety
valve
Slim-bore tubing hanger of 5-in.
through-bore.
The upper completion was deployed
using a hydraulic tubing hanger-running
assembly (THRA) run on 5-in. HT-55
drill pipe. The THRA has a ported slick
joint above the hydraulic portion of the
tool, which is located across the lower ram
cavity of the SID when the tubing hang-
er is landed in the tubing hanger spool.
The slick joint consists of a 7-in.-OD
mandrel with a 5-in. minimum ID. The
tubing hanger is of a concentric design
and incorporates the hanger lock-down
mechanism, Fig. 3.
The IWOCS umbilical was clamped
to the drill pipe and provided control of
tubing hanger and running tool func-
tions while running in hole. The IWOCS
umbilical (which has a 2.8-in. OD) is a
13-function hydraulic bundle with two
electrical feed-throughs. This was re-
quired to accommodate the minimum
tubing hanger functions and interfaces to
all the downhole lines. The IWOCS um-
bilical termination assembly and landing
string umbilical clamps have a maximum
running OD of 13.4 in. to fit within the
13-in. nominal minimum pass-through
diameter of the SBOP system.
During a weather-related planned
disconnect of the riser from the SID,
the 1-in. test line ROV stab was dam-
aged. The steel cable designed to pull
the ROV stab parted, thereby subject-
ing the hose itself to the forces required
to pull the ROV stab. The riser offset at
the time the hose became taut caused
the ROV stab to become side loaded
when it was pulled out, further damag-
ing the stab. Repairing this connection
was not practical, so the completion
team was asked to revise the operational
steps to set the packer and test the an-
nulus without the use of the 1-in. line.
The 1-in. test line was added to the
SBOP system to address completion op-
erations, specifically for rig floor moni-
toring of annulus pressures while setting
the production packer and testing the
tubing hanger from below. With loss of
this line, ability was lost to monitor an-
nulus pressures and chart them at sur-
face during packer setting operations;
apply pressure below the tubing hanger;
equalize across the annulus access valve
prior to ROV functioning to the open
position; and activate the secondary
release of the THRA from the tubing
hanger via the 1-in. line.
CONCLUSIONS
The SBOP system safely increased
the water depth capability of the Arctic I
rig from 3,100 ft to more than 6,200 ft.
The well design and drilling/completion
functional requirements at Parque das
Conchas were found to be well suited to
the Arctic I-specific SBOP system.
A planned riser disconnect and recon-
nect were performed successfully. How-
ever, failure of the wire tether attached to
the 1-in. hose line stab led to damage to
the integrity of the 1-in. hose line during
the riser disconnect. The first three hori-
zontal gravel packs were executed success-
fully despite narrow operating parameters
inherent in the shallow Ostra reservoir.
The first three upper completions were
installed successfully despite the unavail-
ability of the 1-in. test line. WO
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article was prepared in part from SPE/IADC
119606 presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Confer-
ence held in Amsterdam, March 1719, 2009. The au-
thors would like to thank the BC-10 co-venturers Petro-
bras and ONGC for permission to publish this article.
SUCCESS THROUGH INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS.
RWE Dea is a top-performing company for the exploration and production of natural gas
and crude oil, operating on an international scale. Exploration expertise, state-of-the-art
drilling and production technologies and a diverse range of professional experience and
know-how acquired in 111 years of corporate history make RWE Dea a powerful company
engaged in numerous operations at home and abroad. Safeguarding energy supplies,
environmental protection and responsible decommissioning are key objectives. RWE Dea
is part of the RWE Group - one of Europes biggest energy corporations.
In an effort to expand its international upstream position, RWE Dea is concentrating
on dened core regions. The companys upstream activities currently focus on Algeria,
Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Libya, Mauretania, Morocco, Norway, Poland,
Turkmenistan and the United Kingdom. In light over ever-higher global demand, RWE Dea
follows a distinctive growth strategy and is investigating further business opportunities.
RWE Dea AG berseering 40 22297 Hamburg Germany
T +49(0)40 - 63 75 - 0 E info@rwedea.com I www.rwedea.com
RWE Dea
THE AUTHORS
Brian Tarr is a Senior Staff
Well Engineer in Shells
Houston-based Well Tech-
nology group. His area of
expertise is surface BOP
technology. He has a mas-
ters degree in petroleum
engineering from Heriot-
Watt University in Edin-
burgh, Scotland.
Tor Taklo is a Well Engineering Superinten-
dent for Shell International E&Ps Deepwater
Well Delivery division. He holds an MS degree
in petroleum engineering from the University
of Stavanger in Norway.
Andrew Hudson, a Senior Staff Production
Engineer and Senior Subsea Well Engineer,
has worked in Deepwater Projects for Shell
since 1983. He attended the University of
Wales, where he studied mechanical engi-
neering.
Lisa Stockwell is a Subsea Completion En-
gineer based in Shells Rio de Janeiro ofce.
She graduated from Tulane University in New
Orleans with a BS degree in mechanical en-
gineering.
Jim Schroeder is Operations ManagerPer-
formance for Transocean, working in Macae,
Brazil. He holds a BS degree in mining engi-
neering from the University of Wisconsin-
Platteville.
Wood Group ESP
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It puts you rmly in control of your production assets with improved
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World Oil APRIL 2010 95
PRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY
Whats new in articial lift
Part II Advances in subsea boosting, HT pumps and shale gas dewatering.
James F. Lea, PL Tech LLC; and Herald W. Winkler, Texas Tech University
PRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY
In Part I published in the March 2010
issue, we covered recent developments in
gas well dewatering, coiled tubing convey-
ance, hydraulic pumps and surface units.
Part II presents advances in ESPs, PCPs,
beam or rod pump systems and gaslift
technology. First mentioned among these
developments is the first installation of a
subsea horizontal ESP boosting system
that will take place by mid-2010 to sup-
port production in ultra-deep waters of
the Gulf of Mexico. At the other end
of the North American continent, new
high-temperature PCP and ESP systems
have been developed for Canadas oil
sands SAGD and CSS applications.
Advances in artificial lift monitor-
ing include a web-accessible system that
adds expert analysis to beam system sta-
tus data. A new multiphase flowmeter is
available that uses variable-speed drive
and downhole sensor data and performs
neural network computing to infer a
real-time flowrate.
New gas lift offerings include a high-
pressure gas lift valve and a system to add
gas lift to the perforations of a gas well for
dewatering. We also present a new plung-
er lift dewatering technique being used in
high-pressure Haynesville shale wells.
Beam or rod pump system develop-
ments include a new rod pump, that
provides deeper, heavier pumping with a
dynamometer to monitor and change the
production rate; a motor control panel
that has an integrated rod pump control-
ler, and a brush sand seal for bottom hold-
down rod pumps. A green beam system
compressor is available to minimize noise
and greenhouse gas emissions.
SUBSEA ESP HORIZONTAL
BOOSTING
Later this year, Baker Hughes Centri-
lift XP ESP systems will be installed in
the first subsea horizontal ESP booster
system in the ultra-deep waters of Gulf of
Mexico, Fig. 1. Two ESPs will be used to
maximize the needed pressure within the
minimum length and weight footprint.
The horizontal boosting system is a
modular, self-contained ESP cartridge,
consisting of a horizontal, open-framed
structure to contain the two ESP systems,
production tubing, electrical penetrator
connections and fluid connections to tie
into the subsea flowlines. Subsea power
to the ESP system will be wet-mated
using a remote-operated vehicle. The
production tubing linking the two ESP
systems is looped back and forth within
the cartridge framework. The pumps are
hydraulically in series, but not mechani-
cally connected to each other. Rather
than lying end-to-end, the ESPs are con-
nected by hairpin turns in the produc-
tion tubing. The side-by-side pump lay-
out reduced pump cartridge length from
200 ft to about 90 ft.
The ESP systems include 17-stage
mixed flow pumps for flowrates up to
20,000 bpd. The motor on the first
ESP system in series will be monitored
by a Baker Hughes Sureflo Harvest sen-
sor pod. The pod will gather pump data
such as intake pressure, intake tempera-
ture, motor winding temperature and vi-
bration. The second ESP system in series
will be identical to the first system with
the exception that the second system
will have two sensors, one at the bottom
of the motor and one at the pump dis-
charge. The bottom sensor acquires the
same data set as the sensor pod in the first
ESP, while the second sensor measures
discharge pressure and temperature.
HIGH-TEMPERATURE
DOWNHOLE PUMPS
R&M Energy and Baker Hughes have
both introduced downhole pumps with
high-temperature ratings for oil sands
SAGD and CSS applications.
Moyno HTD-series PCP pumps.
R&M Energy Systems has launched a new
line of downhole pumps for high-temper-
ature well conditions that had previously
prevented operators from using downhole
progressing cavity pumps (PCPs), Fig. 2.
The Moyno HTD350 pump employs an
elastomeric stator that is mechanically se-
cured to the stator tube for greater temper-
ature and chemical resistance. A patented
design secures the elastomer without using
any bonding agent, eliminating the risk of
adhesive failure when operating in high-
temperature well conditions. The pumps
are capable of steam injection applications
without having to remove the stator from
the well. Three different models are avail-
able for 4,000-ft, 5,400-ft and 6,000-ft lift
at 100 rpm. The HTD660 pump features
proprietary metal-to-metal rotor/stator
technology that eliminates the elastomeric
Fig. 1. Baker Hughes has introduced the
rst subsea horizontal booster system
for ultra-deep waters.
Fig. 2. The Moyno PCP has high-
temperature rating for SAGD and CSS
applications.
96 APRIL 2010 World Oil
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
stator altogether, allowing the
PCP to handle downhole tem-
peratures to 660F. As a result,
the pump can handle hot oil
encountered during SAGD and
CSS thermal recovery methods.
The pump is capable of 2,200-
ft lift at 100 rpm to produce up
to 1,300 bfd.
Centrilift XP ESP. Baker
Hughes will begin SAGD field
trials later this quarter of the
first Centrilift XP ESP designed
to operate up to 482F. Cur-
rently, most SAGD operators
maintain bottomhole tempera-
tures of less than 392F due to
ESP equipment limitations. To
upgrade an ESP system from
high to extreme temperature
ranges, Baker Hughes minimized elasto-
mers, maximized the bearing temperature
range, increased motor oil thermal and
mechanical growth allowances and en-
hanced the systems electrical integrity.
For every 50F increase in the oper-
ating temperature, the insulation life is
halved. Therefore, the electrical insu-
lation rating had to be increased. This
ESP system was tested successfully in a
hot loop capable of handling fluid tem-
peratures up to 572F in a horizontal
orientation to mimic horizontal SAGD
production wells.
WEB-BASED STATUS AND
ANALYSIS
Web-based remote access to wells has
filled the need for operators to
receive the basic status of their
wells. Weatherfords Lift Advi-
sor service has augmented this
status information with artificial
lift analysis to help the operator
staff become more proactive.
The service supplies operators
with hourly web-based well
status, detailed weekly and
monthly reports and evalua-
tion from an experienced ana-
lyst with recommendations for
well operation improvements,
Fig. 3. The service includes
controller tuning, which is per-
formed when first deployed.
The wells are remotely tuned
so that optimal rod pump set-
tings are achieved for pump-off
set points, inferred production,
base runtime and idle time.
Reports include current well status re-
ports that display current alarms, along
with yesterday and todays runtimes,
number of cycles and inferred produc-
tion results. This information is updated
every hour and can be accessed via the
Internet. Each morning, the well snap-
shot report gives a quick snapshot of
Fig. 3. Weatherfords web-based Lift Advisor service adds
expert analysis to articial lift well status data.
Moyno

HTD300 (300F)
Proprietary elastomer ideal for oils, aromatics and water environments
High resistance to gas permeation
Moyno

HTD350 (350F)
Mechanically secured stator elastomer
Compatible with steam injection
Patented design does not use bonding agent between
elastomer and stator tube
Moyno

HTD660 (660F)
Metal-to-metal rotor/stator technology no elastomer utilized
Ideal for SAGD and CSS applications
Low levels of vibration comparable to conventional pumps
www.rmenergy.com
When Fluids Heat Up, Turn to R&M Energy Systems for
High Temperature Down-Hole Pump Solutions
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U.S.A. (888) 355-5508
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98 APRIL 2010 World Oil
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
how the well is per-
forming. This report
includes surface and
downhole dynamom-
eter cards, current
rod pump controller
(RPC) set points, cy-
cle times and the last
seven days of runtime
compared to nor-
mal operation. The
Monthly Report con-
tains the runtime, the
number of cycles and
inferred production
for each individual
day of the previous
month. This allows
trending, manipulat-
ing and archiving of
the monthly data. For
rod pumping, this
includes downhole
cards, current surface and downhole
components, current operating param-
eters and an economic analysis of energy
usage. As another option, a well analyst
can be assigned to specific wells.
GAS LIFT VALVE
WITH SAFETY SEAL
Schlumberger has improved the safe-
ty performance of its XLift high-pressure
gaslift system with the development of a
family of valves qualified to serve as a
safe pressure barrier, Fig. 4. The valves
have passed Statoils Requirements to
Well Completions Equipment tests.
With a choice of four different appli-
cation-specific valves, the XLift system
delivers high-volume injected gas to
lift oil while providing a safer pressure
barrier between the cased-hole annulus
and production tubing. The system also
employs a reverse flow check valve that
reduces the risk of hydrocarbon migra-
tion to the wellbore annulus and works
in harmony with the production packer
and the subsurface safety valve to form a
primary well control barrier. The XLift
system can also maintain a safety seal
during well shut-in periods. The sys-
tems flow check has a working pressure
of 10,000 psi and a 350F temperature
rating. The gas lift system can be de-
ployed in a side pocket mandrel during
the initial completion stages of a well or
by slickline.
MULTIPHASE FLOWMETER
Despite the advantages real-time flow
measurements can bring to a field pro-
duced via ESP systems, multiphase flow-
meters are rare. The available flowmeters
are expensive, often more than $100,000,
so operators typically rotate a multiphase
flowmeter among a group of wells or an
entire field, which limits effective data
collection. Some turbine flowmeters can
have up to 0.1% precision, but these
flowmeters do not work well with a mix
of liquid and free gas.
Baker Hughes has introduced an af-
fordable Centrilift Neuraflow multiphase
flowmeter, which uses downhole sensing
technology and neural network capabili-
ties to compute a real-time flow rate. The
device takes input from a variable-speed
drive and downhole/surface sensors, in-
cluding pump intake pressure, pump
discharge pressure, tubing pressure, and
drive frequency, to infer a flow rate based
on known reservoir and fluid properties.
Fig. 4. The
Schlumberger gaslift
valve is capable of
acting as a safety
barrier.
;\g\e[XY`c`kpXjgifd`j\[%
nnn%;fne_fc\%fi^&q\if]X`c
>ff[^i`g%EfZi`dg%Efjc`g%
ln wellbore operaLions LhaL
uLilize complex compleLion
equipmenL, damaqed cables can mean Lhe loss ol
valuable Lime, money and daLa. Downhole ProducLs'
CRlPPY cable proLecLors eliminaLe compressioninduced
damaqes LhaL LradiLional clampinq assemblies can cause
when securinq sensiLive downhole cables and conLrol
lines. Lquipped wiLh overLhecouplinq proLecLion
and desiqned Lo wiLhsLand exLreme loads, CRlPPY's
besLinclass consLrucLion has been proven Lo consisLenLly
deliver reliable perlormance in and ouL ol Lhe wellbore.
Downhole Products
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World Oil APRIL 2010 101
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
The multiphase flowmeter has demon-
strated accuracies better than 90% when
properly calibrated.
GAS WELL DEWATERING
ADVANCES
Dewatering technologies are avail-
able, one to dewater gas wells with long
perforated intervals at low bottomhole
pressure and news of the use of exist-
ing equipment in a new environment to
handle high-pressure gas common to the
Haynesville shale wells.
Dewatering long perforated inter-
vals. Altec has developed a Gas Opti-
mization (Go) system to reduce fluid
buildup in wells with long perforated in-
tervals, low bottomhole pressure, or low
production capability. The system utiliz-
es the energy of the well to remove fluid
buildup in a manner that is free from
surface control, Fig. 5. Carrier subs with
internally loaded pressure regulation are
regularly spaced below the production
packer, along the tail pipe portion of the
production tubing string and along the
perforated intervals of the well.
During production, both formation
gas and liquid will eventually build be-
low the packer, in the annulus between
the tail pipe and the production casing.
As this trapped gas and liquid accumu-
lates, the gas will rise above the liquid,
slowly building pressure before pushing
its way down toward the pressure regula-
tor contained inside the carrier sub. The
carrier sub allows direct communication
between the trapped gas pressure and
the internal pressure regulator. As the
gas passes into the pressure regulator,
the regulator will then direct the gas into
the production tubing string, causing
the production fluids inside the tubing
to lighten, the tubing pressure at depth
to decrease, and thereby easing gas flow
in the well. This will, in turn, initiate
the process of removing liquid buildup
beneath the packer and across the perfo-
rated zones of a well. Depending upon
the length of the perforated zones, ad-
ditional subs can be spaced out along
the tubing string allowing deeper points
of gas injection and, consequently, more
fluid buildup below the packer to be
produced out of the wellbore. The deep-
er points of gas injection will also create
lower flowing bottom-hole pressures
from the reservoir, thereby maximizing
the drawdown in the well and subse-
quent production rates. As a result, the
well may be able to productively flow on
its own for a longer period of time with-
out intervention. To date, the system
has been run in more than 40 gas wells
throughout the United States.
Plunger lift to dewater shale wells.
As production declines and liquid load-
ing begins, Haynesville shale operators
are considering artificial lift to dewater
their wells. Most Haynesville wells in
north Louisiana are being produced into
high line pressure, usually in excess of
100 psi. With such high line pressure,
plunger lift is not typically thought of as
being the preferred method of artificial
lift, but early results have been promis-
ing. Another positive has been that fluid
production has been more in the normal
range for typical plunger lift operations,
which are usually less than 20 bpd.
With most wells in the Haynesville re-
quiring a packer set at about 10,500 ft (for
wells with a TVD at
about 11,000 ft and
MD about 15,000
ft) due to the cor-
rosive environment,
most tubing is be-
ing landed in the
vertical section, thus
making the plunger
operation much like
a conventional well.
The main issue with
the tubing being
landed in the verti-
cal section is keeping
liquid from falling
out of the end of the
tubing if the well is
shut in and making
its way back into the
horizontal section.
Gas lift system for
unloading
Trapped formation gas
Production tubing
Production casing
Production packer
Tailpipe
EOT
Formation ow
into wellbore
Fluid level
Regulator
Fig. 5. The Altec Go system reduces uid buildup in long
perforated intervals.
25
102 APRIL 2010 World Oil
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
The best results have been achieved by us-
ing plungers that require little or no shut-
in time, thus maintaining near-flowing
conditions. Typical production increases
range from 10% to 20% with initial rates
before install of 1-1.5 MMcfd, Fig. 6.
As production continues to decline and
shut-in times are required to successfully
operate plunger lift, the use of a standing
valve could be required.
HEAVY DUTY ROD PUMP
Microlift has added models for deeper,
heavier rod pumping to a peak polished
rod load of 40,000 lb per 192-in. stroke,
and a gas pressure-powered model that
needs no electricity, Fig. 7. Features in-
clude push button control of plunger
space-out position. The pumping units
gauge well loads at startup and self-ad-
just continuously to changes in well fluid
level. The units are fully automated and
easy to operate from the control panel in
the field or remotely from a web brows-
er. A built-in dynamometer is available
to monitor and change production rate.
The electronic device automatically cal-
culates inferred production based on the
pump data. The rod pump applies en-
ergy efficient self-balancing technology
to harvest down-stroke energy, using as
little as one-half the electricity, propane,
or natural gas of typical beam pumping
units. An extra-quiet model option is
available for urban settings.
GREEN BEAM GAS
COMPRESSOR
The Beam Gas Compressor (BGC)
from Permian Production Equipment
Inc. in Midland, Texas, is designed to re-
place a gas engine screw compressor that
may be handicapped by high noise and
greenhouse gas emissions, Fig. 8. A recent
example is a screw compressor that was
operating near a noise sensitive trout
fishing farm. The well had to be taken
out of production during the trout fishing
season with a loss of over 8 bpd of oil pro-
duction along with the associated gas.
The BGC is used on rod pumping gas
wells to increase gas production and sales
by drawing the produced gas up the cas-
ing and into the flowline, which relieves
gas locking from the downhole pump.
The BGC can be installed on oil wells to
relieve restricting backpressure caused by
production facilities and sales line pres-
sure. The BGC is powered by the walk-
ing beam movement that pumps the well.
The system draws produced gas from
the casing through check valves and dis-
charges it into the flowline downstream
from the pumping tee. The gas rejoins
Time
500
1,000
Plunger installed
1,100
1,200
1,300
1,400
P
r
o
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

r
a
t
e
,

b
p
d
1,500
1,600
1,700
1,800
1,900
Fig. 6. Plunger lift is a viable option to dewater Haynesville
shale gas wells.
Fig. 7. The Microlift heavy-duty rod pumping unit includes a
dynamometer to monitor and adjust the production rate.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 103
the tubing production and flows to the
separator and/or on to the gas sales line.
The size of the BGC is determined by
the current relationships of the pumping
units mechanics, production of the well
and downstream effects of the sales line.
The BGC creates no noise on its own
above the pump jack noise. With a BGC
there are no emissions and, therefore, no
increase will be needed in the footprint
of the well. In many cases, if a conven-
tional means of compression is being
used, the size of the footprint can actu-
ally decrease by switching to the BGC.
INTEGRATED MOTOR
CONTROL PANEL
Lufkin Automation has introduced
a new motor control panel for beam-
pumped artificial lift systems, Fig. 9. The
standard model is pre-wired for any rod
pump controller to ease connections. An
optional model has the Lufkin rod pump
controller integrated into the unit. The
Lufkin rod pump controller uses pat-
ented algorithms to calculate a downhole
card on every stroke of the beam pump-
ing unit. Operators can save on installa-
tion costs of two products by installing
the new motor control panel with the
integrated rod pump controller.
In addition to installation and main-
tenance savings, the motor control pan-
els feature several safety mechanisms.
Both models are touch safe, with all wire
connections are covered, lockout/tagout
ready to control the power supply while
maintaining the unit and features easy-
to-read safety warnings.
BRUSH SAND SEAL
Harbison-Fischer offers a new brush
sand seal that reduces the potential haz-
ard of sticking a bottom hold-down
pump in the tubing due to accumulated
particulates above the bottom hold-
down, Fig. 10. For pressure balance, the
lower bushing is vented. WO
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the featured companies for
providing the information for this article. The authors
are not responsible for claims made by the manufac-
turers and vendors about their products capabilities.
THE AUTHORS
James F. Lea teaches
courses in articial lift and
production for Petroskills.
He holds BS and MS de-
grees in mechanical engi-
neering from the Univer-
sity of Arkansas and a PhD
from Southern Methodist
University. He worked for
Sun Oil as a research en-
gineer from 1970 to 1975,
taught at the University of Arkansas from 1975
to 1978, was team leader of production opti-
mization and articial lift at Amoco EPTG from
1979 to 1999 and was chairman of Texas Tech
Universitys petroleum engineering department
from 1999 to 2006.
Herald W. Winkler is for-
mer chairman and now a
professor emeritus and re-
search associate in Texas
Tech Universitys petroleum
engineering department in
Lubbock, Texas. He works
as a consultant in articial
lift, specializing in gas lift.
Fig. 8. The beam gas compressor can
increase oil or gas production with no
additional noise or gas emissions.
Fig. 10. The Harbison-Fischer brush
sand seal prevents particulates
from affecting bottom hold-down
performance.
Fig. 9. The Lufkin motor control panel
can be integrated with a rod pump
controller.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 105
COMPLETION
TECHNOLOGY
The sgard subsea development incorporates three separate
fields 120 miles offshore at 984-ft water depth in the Norwe-
gian Sea: Smrbukk, Smrbukk Sr and Midgard, Fig. 1. The
prospect development is at an advanced stage with limited
availability of subsea template slots for new well development.
On Smrbukk Sr Field, there are four templates: three for pro-
duction and one for injection. The injection template had only
one available slot. Since Statoil planned to inject gas into two
formations, it was necessary to drill a multilateral well using the
single slot. This well would require a Technology Advancement
for Multilaterals (TAML) Level 4 multilateral (ML) junction
system to prevent sand incursion, which was a problem with
both formations, and it would also have to be capable of being
switched to production after 10 years of gas injection.
The project presented complex challenges in a daunting en-
vironment. The weather can switch from benign calm to full
gale within an hour, and sea conditions can be harsh. The well
would be drilled from a semisubmersible rig, and the multi-
lateral system would have to minimize risk in heaving seas, be
simple to install, and require as few pipe trips as possible.
There were additional complications: 13% Cr-S-110 cas-
ing used for the well would be difficult to mill, and the rock
at the casing exit would be hard, impermeable sandstone with
possible quartz stringers. The casing exit itself had to be long
enough so that a rotary steerable drilling system could navi-
gate through the window to drill the lateral. Finally, the static
downhole temperature could reach 284F.
On the positive side, since injection was to be controlled by
a new downhole instrumentation and control system that was
undergoing qualification testing, it would not be necessary to
maintain full workover access to the main bore after comple-
tion of the multilateral. Instead, a hollow whipstock could be
left in place and perforated.
The Weatherford/Statoil team decided to take a new ap-
proach based on the hollow-whipstock technology used for
more than 10 years in the North Sea. The new approach would
combine the setting of the whipstock and all milling and rathole
operations into a single run, saving two pipe trips and about $2
million in rig costs. Perforating the hollow whipstock through
the liner using wireline would save an additional trip, and the
resulting perforations would allow fluid access to and from both
the main bore and the new lateral. Stage cementing would iso-
late permeable formations and create a TAML Level 4 junction;
liners would include sand screens and swell packers.
The well was successfully completed, and gas injection had
an immediate positive effect on adjacent producing wells from
both formations. It is unusual to use a multilateral well for gas
injection, but this project demonstrated that the single-trip
method could be applied to any multilateral well requiring a
Level 4 junction.
SINGLE-TRIP TAML
LEVEL 4 SYSTEM
The single-trip TAML Level 4 system represents an ex-
tension of two existing technologies: hollow whipstocks and
single-trip casing exits.
Hollow whipstock. Developed in the 1990s, the hollow
whipstock provides a simpler way to construct a TAML Level
4 junction while avoiding the time and risk of installing addi-
tional junction equipment. The technology used overlapping
casing strings plus cement for maximum strength, stability,
and to prevent sand intrusion.
1
Single-trip multilateral junction
technology reduces well costs
An innovative application of casing-exit technology saved two trips
and $2 million in Norways sgard Smrbukk Sr Field.
Mark Glaser and Tage Heng, Weatherford International Ltd.; and Olle Balstad, Statoil ASA
Fig. 1. The sgard development is located in the extremely
harsh region of the Norwegian Sea.
106 APRIL 2010 World Oil
COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY
Hollow whipstocks do not require any special liner or comple-
tion equipment and are compatible with reservoir sand con-
trol and completion systems, including intelligent well control
devices. The disadvantage is that the technology prohibits fu-
ture re-entry to the main bore below the junction; however, a
2003 review of existing multilateral subsea wells reveals that
such re-entry is normally very expensive and often unsatisfac-
tory, making it a low priority.
2
The useful feature of the hollow whipstock is that it con-
tains pressure during the milling and lateral drilling stages,
and then enables perforating with a zero-phase gun. It is pos-
sible to shoot low-debris charges in a single line through the
liner and faceplate of the hollow concave without penetrating
the backside of the whipstock.
Using the hollow whipstock for both milling and pro-
duction phases reduces overall risk by eliminating difficult
whipstock fishing operations, but mills must be able to pass
over the hollow face of the whipstock without damaging or
compromising the integrity of the perforation zone. Special
whipstock features were developed to achieve this, including a
bronze lug at the nose of the whipstock and rails alongside the
concave portion. In addition, retrieval features were added in
case orientation failed and the tool had to be retrieved before
milling began, Fig. 2. The original hollow whipstock required
three runs for the running tool, the starter mill and the multi-
lateral window mill.
Single-trip casing exit system. The first single-trip cas-
ing exit systems were introduced in the early to mid-1990s; it
took years of effort to develop a reliable, single-trip casing exit
system that incorporated more than one mill. Much of that
work went into designing a lead mill with a smooth, smaller-
diameter pilot nose with full-gage aggressive cutting blades be-
hind it. The pilot rode on the whipstocks sacrificial lug and di-
rected the starter mill into the casing wall. New designs for the
bottomhole assembly (BHA) included one or two additional
mills, depending on the concave angle. These mills helped steer
the lead mill to ensure that the exit was milled to gage, Fig. 3.
To simplify running single-trip whipstocks, a new setting
mechanism for hydraulic anchors was designed. The new
design generates hydraulic pressure by flowing drilling fluid
through a changeable nozzle restriction inside the lead mill.
As a result, increasing the flow creates a greater pressure drop.
The high pressure from the upstream side of the restriction
flows through a copper line outside the mill to the packer-
setting valve below, Figs. 4 and 5.
The system design allowed sufficient drilling fluid flow to
operate the MWD without setting the packer. A computer
program was used to determine the optimum flowrates. Af-
ter orientation was set, the flowrate was increased to set the
packer and anchor. This system became an industry standard
for making casing exits that allowed stiff rotary-steerable sys-
tems (RSS) to be run through the window. The only difficulty
was that this system was designed for situations where the
main bore of the well would be abandoned. For Statoil in the
Norwegian Sea, the technology would have to be modified to
provide fluid access to both the lateral and the main bore.
Merging technologies. This project provided the oppor-
tunity to merge single-trip casing exits and hollow whipstock
technology into a single process that would incorporate the
best features of both and save substantial rig time.
3,4
Several
enhancements were incorporated into the system design. First,
the rails of the whipstock (the projecting portions on each side
of the concave) were extended and strengthened to provide ad-
ditional support for the pilot nose of the lead mill to protect
the integrity of the hollow portion of the concave. Second, the
9-in. packer was redesigned to allow hydraulic setting as de-
scribed above and was further refined to allow the set packer
to withstand 5,000 psi from above and below the packer at
302 F. Third, the two retrieval features of the single-trip system
were left in placea retrieving slot in the side, and a die collar
on topin case the tool had to be retrieved before milling.
RUNNING PROCEDURE
The Weatherford-Statoil team ran the new system using
the following basic procedure, Fig. 6:
Fig. 2. Hollow whipstock with a 9-ft-long perforation zone.
Fig. 3. Milling portion of the single-trip system combines
three mills with a shear-bolt mechanism that attaches it to the
whipstock.
Fig. 4. The whipstock packer is set using the pressure
differential created by a restrictive nozzle within the nose of
the milling assembly.
The thick, heterogenic Khuff carbonate formation is difficult to stimulate uniformly.
An operator in Qatar used the MaxCO
3
Acid* system to achieve superior diversion
and uniform stimulation of zones.
During the initial campaign, 11 treatments were performed in the North field.
The MaxCO
3
Acid system significantly improved the efficiency of the operation.
Treatment volumes were reduced by up to 50%, and rig time and operational time
were reduced by 30%.
The MaxCO
3
Acid system incorporates dissolvable fiber and nondamaging acid. It
stimulates the carbonate formation, then uses an interlocking fiber network to block
and divert fluid. The fibers dissolve completely with time, allowing poststimulated
production contribution from diverted areas.
www.slb.com/CarboSTIM
Global Expertise | Innovative Technology | Measurable Impact
*
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Better diversion
108 APRIL 2010 World Oil
COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY
1. Run the whipstock/packer assembly, orient, set at the
required depth, and shear the milling assembly free.
2. Mill the casing exit and rathole, reaming and cleaning
it to ensure trouble-free entry of the subsequent drilling as-
sembly.
3. Run the drilling assembly and drill the lateral, logging
the positions of the radioactive tags in the whipstock for future
reference.
4. Run, set and cement the liner (liner hanger shown at
top), perforate the liner and/or perform sand control opera-
tions.
5. Run in zero-phase perforating guns to perforate the
whipstock. In this case, the team ran the gun on wireline to
save time, using the radioactive tags on the whipstock to posi-
tion and orient the gun.
6. Complete the lateral and start commingled or separate
production.
Before start of the running procedure, a gauge run is rec-
ommended with a stiff assembly to thoroughly scrape and
clean the casing at the point where the whipstock will be set.
While some operators may wish to omit this step, it prevents a
host of potential problems.
PRE-JOB CONCERNS
While the approach used was straightforward, there were
a number of pre-job concerns. First was the issue of milling
the super 13%-Cr, 110-ksi) casing. The team reviewed previ-
ous milling reports of jobs that had used the same mills for
superduplex P-110 with 25% chrome in heavy-wall Q-125
casing to determine the optimum milling parameters for this
job. The second concern was that the exit would be in a very
competent, dirty and hard sandstone formation. Following
a discussion with product line management and R&D engi-
neers, the team decided to have available a diamond mill that
had previously achieved very good results as a backup mill in a
hard sandstone formation.
Perforating the super 13 Cr casing presented another po-
tential for trouble. Nominal perforation hole size in an 80-kip
yield material is 0.33 in. Given the 125-kip yield material,
the team anticipated a reduced hole size of 0.32 in. and a cor-
responding flow area reduction from 2.8 sq in. to 2.7 sq. in.
Because of reduced hole size, the team decided to make two
perforation runs to ensure sufficient total flow area (TFA)
through the hollow concave of the whipstock even if some of
the shots missed the perforation area. To deal with high tem-
perature in the well, the team decided to use a high-temper-
ature HMX charge in the perforation guns. This charge can
perform after 200 hr at 295F. Accommodating the substantial
heave of the rig required a higher value shear attachment that
could withstand the stress and still shear when expected. Fi-
nally, the team prepared a detailed procedure to communicate
all stages of the completion process, including risk analysis,
contingencies, comprehensive pre-testing of assemblies, and
every step of the job to provide clear QHSE guidelines and
achieve a seamless operation.
MAIN BORE DRILLING AND COMPLETION
Drilling and completion of the main bore proceeded with-
out incident as follows:
1. The 20-in. casing was set at 2,608 ft and cemented to
surface.
2. The 13-in. casing was set at 6,936-ft MD and partially
cemented with the top of the cement at 5,623 ft.
3. 10-in. x 9-in. tapered casing string was set at 13,454-
ft MD with a total vertical depth (TVD) of 12,648 ft, and
cemented in place with the top of the cement being logged at
7,523-ft MD.
4. The 8-in. diameter main bore was then drilled hori-
zontally into the lower formation to a TD of 20,538 ft.
Fig. 5. The control line and shear bolt are used to separate the
whipstock from the lead mill after the packer is set.
Fig. 6. Main steps in creating the TAML Level 4 connection.
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110 APRIL 2010 World Oil
COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY
After cleaning the main bore thoroughly to TD and run-
ning the requisite logs, the team completed it using a 5-in.
sand screen. Because the screen was so long, and because of the
critical need to place the top liner hanger at the correct depth,
the sand screen was run in two sections.
Run 1: Setting the sand screen lower section. The lower
screen section was run to TD. It consisted of a 2,418-ft assem-
bly that incorporated a bullnose assembly; 5-in.-OD sand-
screen sections; 7.9-in.-OD, 5-in.-ID, 20-lb/ft swell packers
at suitable intervals; an upper polished bore receptacle (PBR)
for the second section; and a hydraulic release running tool.
The assembly was run on 5-in. drill pipe. Once this assem-
bly reached TD, it was released by circulating a 1-in. ball to
bottom and pressuring up to shear-release the running tool.
Run 2: Setting the sand screen second section. The bal-
ance of the main bore screen liner, which was run in next, con-
sisted of a 6.1-in.-OD bullnose with a 2-in. hole; 5-in.-OD
sand-screen sections; the same type of swell packers at suitable in-
tervals; an openhole packer; a hydraulic cementing sliding sleeve
(HCSS); a crossover to 7-in., 29-lb/ft tubing; 7-in. tubing; 7-in.
liner hanger and packer; and a liner running tool. This assembly
was also run on 5-in. drill pipe. Once this second string tagged
the PBR of the lower sand-screen section, the liner hanger was
set using the same type of ball-dropping mechanism.
Run 3. Setting the openhole packer and cementing. The
new workstring consisted of a shifting tool assembly for set-
ting the openhole packer; a washing tool with HCSS shifting
tool; a no-go assembly; 3-in. wash pipe; 3-in. drill pipe;
and packer-setting assembly, all run on 5-in. drill pipe. The
workstring was run in, landed on the no-go, and then pulled
up slowly to snap through the HCSS and openhole packer pro-
files. A 4-ton overpull indicated that the packer had been set
and the HCSS closed. The string was then run back to open
the HCSS and position the wash tool for the stage cement.
The stage cement job isolated the permeable formations
between the reservoir and the 9-in. casing shoe. Then the
team released the drill pipe dart, circulated it to bottom, and
landed it with good surface indication. The string was picked
up slowly to close the HCSS, and pressure was applied to ver-
ify that the HCSS was closed. Then the string was pulled up
to clear the packer setting assembly above the PBR to facilitate
circulating out the excess cement. After cleanout, the work-
string was lowered again to locate the packer-setting dog sub
on the top of the liner PBR. A set-down weight of 30 t set the
packer, and good surface shear was observed.
Run 4. Cleaning and logging the hole. The 7-in. and
5-in. liners and screens, just set all the way to bottom, were
cleaned out. The 9-in. casing was then scraped, particularly
in the area where the single-trip hollow whipstock would be
set.
5
These operations were absolutely essential because there
would be no future access to the main bore after the lateral
was completed, and any debris in the main bore could affect
the setting of the whipstock packer. The team also ran an ul-
trasonic imager-tool log to assess any wear in the 9-in. cas-
ing where the single-trip hollow whipstock would be set. This
completed work on the main bore, Fig. 7.
DRILLING THE UPPER LATERAL
Even though the new approach to a TAML Level 4 junc-
tion eliminated two runs, it still required several runs to com-
plete the job.
Run 5. Milling the casing exit. The mill assembly was at-
tached to the hollow whipstock using a shear bolt of greater
than normal strength to compensate for the rig heaving. The
whipstock assembly was then run in the well on 5-in. drill
pipe at a controlled rate to minimize stress on the bolt. The
whipstock was oriented and the flowrate increased to set the
whipstock packer/anchor so that the top of the whipstock
would be at 13,607-ft MD and 64 inclination. The whip-
stock was positioned adjacent to the formation, which was
hard, impermeable sandstone with quartz stringers. The team
had selected this formation to provide a consolidated forma-
tion for milling the window and rathole.
The workstring was slacked off to confirm the setting of
the packer/anchor, and then picked up to shear the attach-
ment bolt. The casing pressure was tested to 1,500 psi to verify
the integrity of the packer. After completing this successful
8-in. mill path
worst case
338-in. zero phase
perforation gun
157 and 164
Hollow whipstock
Hollow whipstock
18 left of high side
Perforation
trajectory
Cement
7-in. liner
Perforation pocket
Fig. 8. The hollow whipstock was perforated in two passes.
Fig. 9. Completed TAML Level 4 junction.
Fig. 7. Main bore completion.
112 APRIL 2010 World Oil
COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY
test, milling of the window was started using minimal weight
to avoid digging into the hollow whipstock. Milling of the
9-in. casing-exit window and rathole, each 6 m in length,
through the 53.5-lb/ft super 13% Cr casing was completed in
a total of 5 hr. This step was completed by sliding and pull-
ing the mill assembly through the window to ream and polish
it. The lack of drag indicated that the window was clean and
would provide access for the stiff RSS assembly.
Run 6. Drilling the lateral. In this run, an RSS, consisting
of a drilling motor, bent housing, and PDC bit was lowered
into the hole and through the window to drill the lateral to
13,586 ft. It took several runs using PDC bits to reach the TD
goal of 15,889 ft in the upper formation. Upon reaching TD,
pressure points and hole conditions were checked in the slid-
ing mode to ensure that the lateral was clean and up to gage.
Run 7. Running liner and sand screen, and setting pack-
ers. The team made up the liner assembly for the lateral and
ran it to setting depth at a slow rate (1.5 min. per stand), tak-
ing weights up and down, and breaking circulation every 3,219
ft. The string was made up of a bull nose assembly; openhole
packer; 5-in. sand screen; 7.9-in. OD swell packers at inter-
vals; another openhole packer; an HCSS cementing sleeve; 7-in.
tubing for the upper liner; liner hanger and packer with PBR;
and a liner hanger setting tool, all run on 5-in. drill pipe.
The liner assembly was run to planned depth, placing the
liner hanger and PBR inside the 9-in. casing at 13,179 ft.
Then circulation was re-established and the liner hanger was
set by dropping a 1-in. ball, circulating to bottom and pres-
suring up. After pressure was bled off, weight of 30 t was set
down to verify that the hanger was set, and pressure was re-
applied to shear out the ball seat and enable the setting tool
to be released. A separate run was made to set both openhole
packers prior to cementing.
Run 8. Stage cementing. A workstring was made up to
open the HCSS, stage-cement the upper liner to isolate the
permeable formations above the formation, close the HCSS,
clean out excess cement from the 7-in. liner and 9-in. cas-
ing, and set the liner-hanger packer. The workstring consisted
of a shifting tool for the openhole packer; a wash tool with
shifting tool for the HCSS; no-go assembly; 3-in. wash pipe
and drill pipe; and liner-hanger packer-setting assembly. The
workstring was run on 5-in. drill pipe until the packer set-
ting assembly settled in the PBR and landed on the no-go.
The workstring was then pulled up slowly to snap the shifting
tool through the HCSS and openhole packer profiles and to
ensure that the upper openhole packer was set. The cement
stand was installed at surface.
After slacking off to the no-go, a stage cement job was per-
formed using the wash tool through the HCSS, thereby iso-
lating permeable formations and the whipstock. A dart was
then pumped down to its seat, and additional pressure applied
to shear it out to re-establish circulation. Then the string was
picked up to close the HCSS, and re-establish circulation to
clean out the excess cement in the liner and 9-in. casing.
Finally, the liner-hanger packer was set by applying set-down
weight on the liner top PBR. To isolate the lateral during per-
foration and also to facilitate flow through the main bore after
perforation was complete, a short 5-in. liner was landed and
set inside the laterals 7-in. liner.
Perforating the hollow whipstock. After the upper lateral
was completed, the team flowed the lateral to clean up the
lower formation. Then a plug was set in the 5-in. inner liner to
isolate the lower portion of the lateral during perforation op-
erations. The hollow whipstock was perforated in two separate
runs, one to 13,125-ft MD and the other to 13,333-ft MD.
The 3-in. orienting guns were used at two shots per foot
with 0 phasing located at 157 and 164 from the high side,
Fig. 8. Radioactive tags in the hollow whipstock were used for
depth control and orientation.
After perforation, the main bore was successfully unloaded
and cleaned; however, attempts to retrieve the plug from the
5-in. liner in the lateral were unsuccessful. The only way to
gain access to the upper formation was to perforate the 5-in.
liner above the plug using limited-entry shots. This operation
was successful, and the well was handed over to operations.
Figure 9 shows the schematic for the completed junction.
CONCLUSIONS
The first run of this single-trip hollow whipstock system pro-
ceeded without incident. The simplicity of the approach reduced
risk for Statoil, and the elimination of two runs saved about $2
million in rig time. The ability to create a TAML Level 4 junc-
tion so easily was a major advantage in addition to increasing the
stability of the junction and preventing future sand damage.
The well was placed on gas injection at a combined rate
of 190 MMcfd with positive response from the producing
wells in the same formations. An estimated 30% of the in-
jected gas is going through the perforated hollow whipstock
into the lower formation with the remainder flowing to the
upper formation. Because this project proceeded so quickly,
the downhole control system was not qualified in time to be
installed, and the well was completed without it. Because the
well was an injection well, it had to be cleaned up using the
rig facilities, and platform production facilities could not be
used. The ability of the hollow-whipstock approach to iso-
late the two zones for separate unloading and cleanup was an
important advantage. The successful installation of this sys-
tem in a subsea injection well demonstrates that this technol-
ogy can be used for many different applications. The caveat
is that it requires precise and highly detailed planning of all
downhole operations. WO
LITERATURE CITED
1
Westgard, D., Multilateral TAML Levels Reviewed, Slightly Modified, JPT, September, 2002.
2
Redlinger, T. et al., Multilateral Technology Coupled with an Intelligent Completion System Provides
Increased Recovery in a Mature Field at BP Wytch Farm, UK, SPE/IADC 79887 presented at the 2003
SPE/IADC Drilling Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 19-21 February, 2003.
3
Glaser, M. et al., Evolution of Single-Trip TAML Level 4 Multilateral Junction Technology to Reduce
Well Costs, presented at the 2009 IADC World Drilling Conference 17-18, June 2009, Dublin, Ire-
land.
4
Balstad, O. et al, New Single-Trip, TAML Level 4, Multilateral Junction Technology Reduces Well Costs
in Norwegian Sea Subsea Well - A Case History, SPE 123935, presented at the 2009 SPE Europe Oil &
Gas Conference & Exhibition, Aberdeen, UK, 811 September 2009.
5
Horne, K. et al., The Evolution of a TAML L-4 Multilateral System to Meet the Challenges of a BP
Deepwater Subsea Well, presented at the 2007 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, 20-22 February, 2007.
THE AUTHORS
Olle Barstad is the Principal Engineer for well technology operations
at Statoil ASA.Mr. Barstad graduated from the Norwegian Institute of
Science in 1998 and holds a MS degree in Petroleum Engineering. He
started his career as a roughneck for Odjell Drilling in the North Sea, and
joined Statoil ASA in 2003, planning completions and interventions for
the sgard license and working both onshore and offshore.
Mark Glaser is the Engineering Manager for re-entry systems for
Weatherford International Ltd. He has 34 years of experience working
with multilateral, drilling, shing, milling, completion and cementation
products. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA
from the University of Houston.
Tage Heng is Sales and Operation Engineer for Weatherford Internation-
als Fishing and Re-entry group in Stavanger, Norway. He joined Weath-
erford in 2000 after 10 years of industry experience.
What is the value
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2010 Offshore Technology Conference
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Technology from
Europe
E-116 APRIL 2010 World Oil
E-118 UK: Oil leader says tax and regulatory certainty needed
to raise production
Interview, Malcolm Webb, Chief Executive for Oil & Gas UK
E-121 Norway: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate says new fields
off Norway are smaller, but mean more activity
Interview, Bente Nyland, Director General, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate
E-125 Hungary: MOL sees success outside Hungary, faces declining
domestic production
Interview, Zoltn ldott, Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production,
Magyar Olaj-es Gazipari (MOL)
E-129 Denmark: Maersk O&G to expand in US Gulf while increasing
European production
Interview, Morten Kelstrup, Vice President and Head of Strategy and Economics,
Maersk Oil & Gas
E-132 Netherlands: Casing inspection tool monitors corrosion without
interrupting production
P. Crouzen and D. Bax, Shell Global Solutions; T. Rea and I. Taylor, Shell UK E&P
E-137 Scotland: Developing green corrosion inhibitors for the North Sea
G. Nelson and A. Mac Donald, Clariant Oil Services
E-139 Norway: Securing personnel electronically on the
Statfjord platforms
S. Thorsen, Statoil; and D. Woodbridge, S3 ID
E-140 Norway: New class for well
intervention units
P. W. Richardsen, Det Norsk
Veritas Maritime
E-141 Scotland: Ball-activated
valve saves operator time and
money during hole cleaning
I. Whyte and B. Coll, M-I Swaco
E-143 Scotland: Command-
activated sandface valve enables improved high-angle wellbore cleanup
M. Adam and D. Coul, Omega Completion Technology
ABOUT THE COVER: Expros AX-S subsea well intervention system will be eld tested
in a Norwegian fjord in July before its rst operational use on a North Sea well. Photo
courtesy of Expro.
CONTENTS
E-140
Technology from
Europe
E-118 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
UK oil rep: Tax and regulatory
certainty needed to raise production
Oil & Gas UK is the leading repre-
sentative body for the UK offshore oil
and gas industry. The non-profit organi-
zation was established in April 2007 but
has a pedigree stretching back over 30
years. The groups aim is to strengthen
the long-term health of the UK offshore
oil and gas industry by working closely
with companies across the sector, gov-
ernments and all other stakeholders to
address the issues that affect the industry.
Malcolm Webb, the organizations chief
executive, addresses several issues includ-
ing declining UK oil and gas production,
encouraging the industry to increase UK
Continental Shelf production, and at-
tracting investment to the UKCS.
WO: How do you see the UKs oil and
natural gas production trending the
next several years?
Malcolm Webb: In 2009, our industry
produced on average 2.48 million bbl of
oil and gas per day, 6% less than in 2008.
The production decline rate is likely to
remain at 6% in 2010, reflecting the
slowdown in capital investment since
2006; indeed, it will continue to acceler-
ate if investment is not sustained.
If investment can be sustained above
5 billion [$7.5 billion] per year, the
UKCS could still be delivering 1.5 mil-
lion bbl of oil and gas per day in 2020,
enough to satisfy half of total UK de-
mand. This is of strategic importance
to the economy, as the government
forecasts that the UK will still rely on
oil and gas for 70% of its energy needs
at that time.
WO: Independent producers appear to
be more optimistic about the industry
than integrated majors, not only in the
UK but in other major regions as well.
Do you see this outlook continuing,
and will this result in independents
significantly displacing majors in UK
investment and E&P activity?
Webb: As recently illustrated by one
major in particular, large oil and gas pro-
ducers do not intend to leave the UKCS
anytime soon; they have made significant
investments over the last four decades in
infrastructure and fields and will con-
tinue to contribute a large proportion of
total capital injected. Having said that,
the range of companies operating on the
UKCS, including those smaller ones that
can grasp opportunities no longer attrac-
tive to majors, are important if we are to
maximize recovery. Therefore, while the
government has taken some steps to im-
prove the attractiveness of UK oil and gas
projects, it is crucial that more is done to
bring in international investors.
WO: What are some of the important
projects that are being developed in
the UK?
Webb: Of the 25 billion bbl of oil and
gas estimated to remain on the UKCS,
the proven, probable and possible re-
serves reported to us in our members
plans have increased and now stand at
11.1 billion bbl. Additions are in all ar-
eas of the UKCS but with the greatest
increase in areas west of Shetland and in
the central North Sea.
However, the concern is that the
proven volume of these reserves, or in
other words, those that have already se-
cured investment, fell in 2009 to 5.25
billion bbl from 6.1 billion in 2008. It is
the probable and possible element of the
reserves, which can only be secured by
new investment, that have increased by
2.3 billion boe to 5.9 billion boe.
WO: What should the UK govern-
ment do to help encourage increased
production from the shelf?
Webb: Over the last year, the govern-
ment has taken several steps to help ad-
dress the difficulties faced in attracting
investment. The introduction of the
new field allowance in the 2009 bud-
get and its subsequent extensions in the
Pre-Budget Report and at the begin-
ning of 2010 were a welcome acknowl-
edgment that a marginal reduction in
tax rate can create a win-win outcome,
driving up investment and production
and increasing overall tax returns to
the Exchequer, although the precise ef-
fect of these measures will take time to
work through the system. For example,
the remote, expensive Laggan-Tormore
gas field to the west of Shetlands will
have become more viable to develop
with the new field allowance but, at
this time, has yet to receive develop-
ment approval.
Securing all the opportunities on of-
fer, which is so crucial to the UKs se-
curity of energy supply, will demand
further action from both industry and
government on two key fronts. First, an
effective cost reduction program looking
at lightening the burden of development
and operating costs, production taxes
and UK and EU regulatory compliance
must be implemented.
Second, the question of availability
of tax relief on decommissioning costs
must be addressed. A heavy investor such
as our industry requires, above all else,
certainty in fiscal and regulatory rules if
it is to have the confidence to inject bil-
lions of pounds into the UK economy
each year. There is increasing uncertainty
regarding government assurances that
the tax relief on decommissioning costs
associated with the petroleum revenue
tax will be available when called upon.
It is this uncertainty that damages inves-
tor confidence and ultimately reduces
Malcolm Webb
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-119
investment and oil and gas recovery, so
action must be taken to provide certainty
on the rules without delay.
On both these fronts, Oil & Gas
UK is keen to continue its work with
the government to find the best path to
maximizing recovery of the UKs oil and
gas reserves.
WO: How is Oil & Gas UK attracting
investment to the shelf?
Webb: Oil & Gas UK speaks for compa-
nies that are both the principal employ-
ers and investors in our sector, putting
forward the case for regulatory and legis-
lative change which can improve the UK
business environment. We have extensive
contacts across all levels of government
in Westminster, Holyrood [Scotland]
and the EU and engage with govern-
ment agencies, all the industrys main
trade associations, trade unions, NGOs
as well as with the public through the
media, in all its forms. Acting through
all these channels has helped Oil & Gas
UK make significant progress in improv-
ing the chances of maximizing recovery
of the nations oil and gas, with the aim
of improving security of energy supply
and the economic contribution made by
the sector to the UK economy.
WO: Do you see any signs of recovery
in the industry?
Webb: In 2009, the effect of the global
recession was manifested in our own in-
dustry by plunging oil and gas prices and
made worse by the turmoil in the finance
markets. Undoubtedly, the whole indus-
tryexploration and production com-
panies, their contractors and the wider
supply chainwas affected by this, but
as the year went on, the oil price began
to recover and financial markets calmed
down, helping to offer a more positive
outlook. This is reflected in the Q4 2009
Oil & Gas UK Index, which provides a
quarterly measure of market confidence.
Our latest survey of companies plans
underlines the significant challenges we
face to secure current production and yet
also offers a tantalizing glimpse of the
future opportunity. As I said before, the
total reserves on companies plans have
increased, but it is concerning that more
of these fall into the probable and pos-
sible category, rather than proven.
On a positive note, we project that
investment could rise above 5 billion
[$7.5 billion] in 2010 as activity picks
up, but if all the opportunities identi-
fied by companies are to be developed, a
staggering 60 billion [$90 billion] capi-
tal injection will be required over future
decades, 25 billion [$37.5 billion] of
that in the next five years. This invest-
ment will only bring onstream 11 billion
bbl; there will still be 14 billion bbl left
which require sustained exploration and
appraisal activity to replenish produc-
tion. Unfortunately, this is not consistent
with the 40% fall in exploration drilling
activity seen in 2009.
This industry will rely ever more on
the capabilities of its supply chain if it is
to deliver the full potential of the UKCS.
Industry needs to work collaboratively
both across the sector and with govern-
ment at national, regional and local lev-
els to develop new technologies, improve
working practices and efficiencies and
drive down costs. This will help to en-
hance the UK supply chains comparative
advantage in the global marketplace and
ensure that the industrys critical suppli-
ers retain a presence here.
Get it right, and the UK will still be a
significant oil and gas province in 2020,
matched by a thriving supply chain with
a global reach. Get it wrong, and the
UKs oil and gas production will dimin-
ish rapidly by 2020, with a significant
loss of high-tech jobs, declining tax reve-
nues, and increasing energy imports with
attendant serious risks to the security of
energy supply.
The ingredients are in place for a
successful outcome, the challenge is to
ensure that an appropriate investment
climate is developed and sustained to
support this outcome. WO
Malcolm Webb is the Chief Executive of Oil &
Gas UK. A graduate of Liverpool University and
a lawyer by profession, he has extensive se-
nior management experience in the upstream
and downstream oil industry, gained in the UK
and abroad. Mr. Webb began his oil industry
career with Burmah Oil in 1974, and went
on to work in a series of senior roles for the
British National Oil Corporation, Charterhouse
Petroleum Plc and PetroFina SA. Prior to join-
ing Oil & Gas UK (then called the UK Offshore
Operators Association) in 2004, he spent three
years as Director General of the UK Petroleum
Industry Association, representing the UK oil
rening and marketing sector. Since joining Oil
& Gas UK, he has led the organization through
two major change programs to enable it to
become the leading trade association for the
UK offshore oil and gas industry. Mr. Webb is
a member of PILOT, the government/industry
forum that aims to secure the long-term future
of the UK upstream industry, and sits on the
Scottish Energy Advisory Board. He is also a
director of OPITOThe Oil & Gas Academy and
chairman of Common Data Access Limited,
the UK industry body that facilitates access to
UK geo-technical data.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 E-121
Technology from Europe
Agency says new elds off Norway
are smaller, but mean more activity
Norwegian oil production is declining
while natural gas production is increas-
ing. While 2009 saw a record number of
exploration wells spudded and complet-
ed, that figure is expected to be lower this
year, according to Bente Nyland, director
general of the Norwegian Petroleum Di-
rectorate (NPD). The directorate handles
oil and gas resource management and
administration as well as issues related to
the countrys CO
2
tax. Nyland discusses
how operators are being encouraged to
increase the ultimate recovery rate of pro-
ducing wells offshore Norway and the
status of several major projects scheduled
to come online in the next few years.
World Oil: How do you see produc-
tion on the Norwegian Continental
Shelf trending in the next few years?
Bente Nyland: Oil production is declin-
ing, gas production is increasingthe
overall picture is that petroleum produc-
tion will remain more or less at todays
level for the next decade.
During 20102014, oil production is
expected to fall compared with the pre-
ceding five-year period, i.e. an estimated
total production of 3.1 billion bbl of
oil, 1 billion bbl less than in the previ-
ous five-year period. Also, 99% of the oil
production during the period is expected
to come from fields in operation or from
fields which have been approved for de-
velopment. This includes measures to
improve recovery from the same fields.
WO: Please discuss the status of some
major projects slated to come online
on the Norwegian shelf.
Nyland: The new field developments to
come are smaller than the large ones we
had before, but they provide considerable
activity. This also applies to re-develop-
ment of fields in production. Investments
in the next few years will also be at a high
levelthe same as in 2009but will
have a different impact on the various
sectors in the contractor industry.
In 2010, as many as seven new de-
velopment plans may be submitted for
approval.
In 2009, the authorities approved
PDO [plans for development and op-
eration] of the Eni-operated Goliat oil
field, the first to be developed in the
Barents Sea. The licensees plan to start
production in 2013, and a floating fa-
cility will process, store and load the oil
on the field. The intention is for Go-
liat to be partially supplied with power
from land.
Also in 2009, authorities approved
the PDO of the the Oselvar oil and
gas field in the North Sea. Dong E&P
Norge AS is the operator. The field will
be developed with a seabed installation
with three production wells, and the oil
and gas will be sent via pipeline to the
Ula platform for processing. Production
is scheduled to start in November 2011.
A PDO also was approved for in-
stallation of a third rich gas pipeline
from Troll A to the processing facility
at Kollsnes, and for gas injection from
Troll B. These two projects will con-
tribute to extend the lifespan of the
Troll Field.
A PDO for the Gudrun Field was
delivered in February this year. Recover-
able oil and gas reserves are estimated at
70 billion bbl and 6.6 billion standard
cubic meters, respectively. The estimate
for total investments is about NOK 21
billion. The licensees plan to develop
the field with an independent platform,
with oil and gas export via Sleipner and
on to Krst. Gudrun has good environ-
mental solutions, including separation
of CO
2
from the gas and re-injection
into the Utsira Formation at Sleipner.
WO: What technological sound bar-
riers still need to be broken in order
to maximize the productive potential
of the deepwater NCS resources?
Nyland: In the short term, it is impor-
tant that more production wells are
drilled cheaper and more efficiently to
increase recovery. Maintenance of wells,
both production and injection wells, is
important. In the long term, increased
injection of gas must be implemented,
including CO
2
and more advanced
chemical injection. The NPD is con-
cerned with implementing pilot projects
across the various licenses in order to test
new injection methods.
WO: How is the NPD encouraging
operators to increase the ultimate re-
covery rate of producing wells offshore
Norway?
Nyland: The Norwegian tax system en-
tails that the companies and the state
share both the risk and the profits. This
encourages the companies to increase re-
covery beyond the stipulated plans when
PDOs are approved. In addition, the
NPD follows up the licenses to ensure
that good recovery strategies are adopt-
ed. If we are not satisfied, we bring this
up with the companies. Also, the compa-
nies must commit to the greatest possible
value creation from the fields in connec-
tion with the license awards.
WO: According to the NPD, 2009 saw
a record number of 65 exploration
wells spudded, 72 exploration wells
completed and 21 new discoveries
made in the North Sea and seven in the
Norwegian Sea. Do you anticipate this
level to continue during 2010?
Nyland: Even though the figure is ex-
pected to be somewhat lower in 2010
Bente Nyland
See us at OTC Stand N. 4755 Reliant Center
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-123
between 40 and 50the exploration
level will still be high. The APA [Awards
in Predefined Areas] scheme has contrib-
uted to the high level of exploration ac-
tivity. There are still commitment wells
to be drilled, both in the APA areas and
in other areas opened on the shelf. The
NPD assumes that the exploration activ-
ity will remain at a high level as long as
the oil prices are as high as they are now.
WO: How do the European Unions
greenhouse gas trading scheme and
Norways CO
2
tax affect E&P opera-
tions in Norway? If higher operational
costs are involved, what are they on a
per-barrel or per-Mcf basis?
Nyland: As early as in 1991, Norway
introduced a CO
2
tax on production of
oil and gas. This tax is somewhat higher
than the quota price. Thus, the EUs gas
trading scheme does not affect E&P op-
erations in Norway. The current price is
about 40 per ton of CO
2
.
WO: What are some of the ways the
NPD is helping or encouraging opera-
tors to reduce greenhouse emissions?
Nyland: The NPD has participated in
the governments work on Climate Cure
2020. The introduction of the CO
2
tax
in 1991 led companies to focus more on
energy-efficient operations. Many CO
2

reduction measures were implemented
as a consequence of the tax. Reduced
flaring and upgrading of turbines are ex-
amples of measures that have had a ma-
jor beneficial effect.
In addition to this, in 1996 the Nor-
wegian Storting [national legislature] de-
cided that all new developments on the
Norwegian shelf must evaluate electrifi-
cation as a means to run the fields.
WO: Please describe the Climate Cure
2020 program, its impetus/motiva-
tions and current status?
Nyland: Climate Cure 2020 has studied
measures for the Norwegian petroleum
industry which in total could reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 5.5 million
tons of CO
2
equivalent. The measures in
the petroleum industry cost in the range
of NOK400 to NOK4,000 per ton of
reduced CO
2
.
There is significant uncertainty re-
garding both the cost estimates and tech-
nological development.
Estimates indicate that a reduction of
up to 3 million tons of CO
2
could be ac-
complished by 2020 through energy effi-
ciency, electrification and carbon capture
and storage.
WO: Would you discuss some of the
new technologies that could result in
reduced CCS costs?
Nyland: Current concepts for carbon
capture from flue gas are demanding in
terms of space and weight. Both are core
problems when it comes to carbon cap-
ture offshore. Carbon capture plants off-
shore require quick implementation due
to falling production. New methods and
technologiesfor instance, use of mem-
branesthat scale down the plant size
and weight could change the cost picture.
This is just one of the topics being worked
on by the Norwegian research institute
Sintef as part of their BIGCCS project.
WO: What is Norways philosophy
when advising other governments con-
cerning foreign petroleum investment
and taxation policy?
Nyland: The Norwegian government
has established the Oil for Development
Initiative to assist developing countries,
upon their request, in managing petro-
leum resources in a way that generates
economic growth, promotes the welfare
of the population in general and is en-
vironmentally sustainable. An impor-
tant part of this work is to assist in the
establishment of a legal and contractual
framework that secures that the host
state gets a fair share of the resource
rent, reflecting the petroleum potential
and economic conditions prevailing in
the country. Extensive capacity building
to enable the host states to negotiate rea-
sonable fiscal terms and to protect long-
term resource management issues is also
a focal point in the cooperation. WO
Bente Nyland is a trained geologist with a de-
gree from the University of Oslo. She began her
career as an Exploration Geologist for Statoil,
where she worked for ve years. She began
working for the Norwegian Petroleum Director-
ate as a Senior Geologist in 1984, and took her
rst management position in 1989. She became
a member of the organizations senior manage-
ment team in 2000 and was appointed Direc-
tor General of the NPD in December 2007. Ms.
Nyland has held a number of board positions,
including as a Director of the Norwegian Geo-
technical Institute, the Institute for Energy Tech-
nology and the University Fund at the University
of Stavanger. She is also a member of the pro-
gram committee for Offshore Northern Seas.
GustoMSC
DriIIing units for deepwater operations
www.GustoMSC.com / www.sbmoffshore.com
GustoMSC is a member of the SBM Offshore Group
PRD12,000 Qdrill GSF C.R. Luigs (P10,000) Pride Africa (G10,000)
Gold Star (DSS38) Maersk Developer (DSS21) OCEAN850
Technology from Europe
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-125
Technology from Europe
MOL sees success outside Hungary,
faces declining domestic production
Magyar Olaj-es Gazipari (MOL) is a
leading international, integrated oil and
gas company headquartered in Budapest,
Hungary, with operations in Europe, the
Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and
the CIS member states. Zoltn ldott,
MOLs Executive Vice President of Ex-
ploration and Production, discusses the
companys efforts and successes in the
various regions in which it is active as well
as the challenges it faces with declining
domestic production.
World Oil: What are some of the com-
panys major domestic (Hungarian) ex-
ploration and development programs
scheduled this year and beyond?
Zoltn ldott: This year and in forth-
coming years, MOLs scheduled Central
and Eastern European exploration and
development programs are focusing on
mitigating the decline of our producing
fields in the region. This will be carried
out by production intensification projects
in several mature fields while also putting
our recent discoveries into production in
the following years, and drilling and/or
testing of eight to 12 exploration wells an-
nually to increase the reserves base while
acquiring 3D seismic in order to improve
our chance for successful drilling.
WO: Are Hungarys small oil and gas
reserves a matter of geology, or are the
resources there but awaiting technol-
ogy breakthroughs to make them tech-
nically or economically recoverable?
ldott: Hungary has a complex geologi-
cal setting and hydrocarbon system. In
the past 80 years, most of the countrys
territory has been explored. The largest
oil and gas fields, with a recoverable re-
serve base above 100 million boe, have
been discovered between the 50s and
80s and are already in the mature pro-
duction phase with necessary intensifica-
tion methodologies used to increase re-
covery, while the remaining conventional
prospects have lower resource potential.
However, with the most up-to-date,
state-of-the-art technologies, these
smaller prospects are economically re-
coverable, resulting in significant value
generation. By targeting these smaller
prospects in our Hungarian exploration
activities in 2005, we achieved high suc-
cess rates in these smaller prospects with
nearly a 70% average well success ratio.
In addition, Hungary has significant
unconventional hydrocarbon potential,
with a sizeable resource base compared
to conventional fields in five different
basins. In certain basins, we have already
launched pilot projects to test this poten-
tial, based on which economic production
can be achieved in the coming decade.
WO: What technical challenges must
be overcome to increase Hungarys do-
mestic oil and gas production?
ldott: Due to the mature producing
fields in our portfolio and complex geo-
logical environments in the Pannonian
Basin, in recent years our biggest challenge
was to extend the existing experiences in
investigation and implementation of en-
hanced or improved hydrocarbon recov-
ery methods in more complex geological
systems and deeper target reservoirs by
applying a more integrated evaluation of
seismic and porosity modeling. In addi-
tion, we integrated modeling of surface
and subsurface systems, while also apply-
ing more detailed reservoir characteriza-
tion to define more precise well paths.
In 2007, MOL prepared a detailed
screening of EOR and EGR [enhanced
oil and gas recovery] opportunities in
Hungary, based on which recovery im-
provement project implementations are
being initiated in certain projects, while
continuous complex reservoir manage-
ment also supports putting our unde-
veloped reserve base into production in
order to increase profitability.
WO: How does government policy af-
fect E&P operations in Hungary?
ldott: Hungary has a predictable regu-
latory environment, which applies to
the mining activities as well. The min-
ing legislation is fully compliant with the
EU rules. In recent years regulation in
relation to geothermal activities has been
passed as well, which is sufficient to give
legal certainty for capital investments in
that area as well.
WO: How do you see Hungarys oil
and gas production trending in the
next few years?
ldott: Most of MOLs Hungarian oil and
gas fields are in the mature phase, with a
normal production decline being recog-
nized as a result of natural depletion in
accordance with the latest forecast. Crude
oil and gas production from our proved
reserve base is expected to decrease by
two-thirds from the current level by 2020.
However, we put significant efforts to mit-
igate this decline by increased exploration
and accelerated field development activi-
ties and/or by launching new improved
and enhanced recovery applications.
WO: MOL is conducting E&P pro-
grams in Russia, Kazakhstan and
Pakistan. Would you speak to the
E&P efforts?
ldott: In Russia, MOL is present in two
regions, Volga-Ural and West Siberia, with
operatorship in three projectsBaitugan,
Surgut-7 and Matjushkinskythrough
100%-owned operating subsidiaries.
Zoltn ldott
E-126 APRIL 2009 World Oil
Technology from Europe
MOL is a member of a joint venture
company operated by Russneft, which
owns the ZMB production license.
In the ZMB [Zapadno-Malobalyk]
Field, in which MOL acquired 50%
share in 2002, MOL has 13,000-bpd
production. In recent years, we gained
valuable technical knowledge from this
project, which we utilize in all of our
Russian E&P activities.
Since the acquisition of Baitugan
Field in 2006, located in Volga-Urals, as
a result of an intensive redevelopment
program with 52 wells drilled by MOL
to date, production has been increased
from 1,800 bpd to 4,400 bpd. By con-
tinuing the active redevelopment pro-
gram, we plan to increase production to
over 10,000 bpd.
In the Matjushkinsky Block located
in West Siberia, as a result of our success-
ful exploration activities with two dis-
coveries made in 2008, production was
increased almost threefold to 3,000 bpd
since the acquisition was made in 2007.
We had similar exploration success
in the Surgut-7 exploration block, with
two successful exploration wells drilled
by MOL to date, both finding oil from
Jurassic reservoirs.
In Pakistan, MOL had its 10th year
of successful activities in 2009, with 14
wells drilled to date, out of which 10 were
successful. We had four independent dis-
coveriesManzalai, Makori, Mamikhel
and Maramzai Fieldsin the Tal Block,
with a new central processing facility be-
ing inaugurated on Nov. 11 on Manzalai
Field, providing 6% of total gas supplies
of Pakistan. Further investments are
planned in our three other blocks, Mar-
gala, Margala North and Karak, provid-
ing further growth potential in Pakistan.
In the Kazakhstani Fedorovskoye
Block, which is located west of the giant
Karachaganak Field, MOL is the operat-
ing shareholder with 27.5% participat-
ing interest. After a discovery made by
MOL in 2008, the early appraisal activi-
ties were successful in 2009, proving the
presence of significant amounts of natu-
ral gas and condensate. Trial production
is planned in the near future to test the
potential of the field.
WO: What E&P opportunities is MOL
pursuing in other regions?
ldott: MOL seeks exploration, field
development and production opportu-
nities in the Central and Eastern Eu-
ropean region, in the Middle East, in
Central Asia and in the northern and
western part of Africa. Today, MOL
Group benefits from significant pro-
duction in Hungary, Croatia, Russia,
Syria, Egypt and Pakistan, while pursu-
ing exploration activities in 15 coun-
tries. MOL is continuously analyzing
opportunities within its core regions.
We enter certain projects on a case-by-
case basis, where we see potential for
significant value creation either by uti-
lizing our knowledge gained in the past
75 years in exploration and production
activities or by applying creative financ-
ing or structuring alternatives.
We had one of the top 10 discoveries
worldwide in 2009, according to Wood-
Mackenzie, in the Kurdistan region of
Iraq, in the Shaikan Block, where heavy
oil, light oil, condensate and gas was
encountered from four reservoir zones
at 7,000 bpd of oil, 21 MMcfd of gas
and 6,000 bpd of condensate production
level. In addition, we started drilling the
Bijell-1 exploration well in our Akri-Bi-
jeel Block in December 2009.
In May 2009, MOL acquired a 10%
stake in Pearl Petroleum Limited, which
Land & Off-Shore
Production, Processing,
Transmission:
Through Conduit Slab
Gate Valves.
Through Conduit Double
Expanding Gate Valves.
Side Entry Ball Valves.
Fully Welded Ball Valves.
Top Entry Ball Valves.
Swing Check Valves.
Axial Flow Nozzle Check
Valves.
Axial Flow Control Valves.
Dual Plate Wafer Check
Valves.
Rising Stem Ball Valves.
Power, Refining &
Petrochemical Products:
Gate, Globe & Check Valves,
Large Bore >2,
Forged Design.
Parallel Slide Gate Valves.
World Oil APRIL 2009 E-127
is the sole license holder of two giant
gas/condensate fields, Khor Mor and
Chemchemal.
In addition, MOL Group is also pres-
ent in Syria, Egypt, Angola, Namibia,
Cameroon, Oman, India, Yemen and
Iran through several production and ex-
ploration projects.
WO: What are the technical challenges
to MOLs E&P and development proj-
ects in Hungary and elsewhere?
ldott: In domestic operations, due to
the special geological setting of the Pan-
nonian Basin, MOL faces challenges
caused by a high-pressure, high-tem-
perature environment in deeper zones,
which require an integrated and multi-
disciplinary approach to planning and
application of proper drilling, logging,
mud logging and mud technologies. The
key to success is to have close coopera-
tion between MOL and service compa-
nies and use the latest technologies.
Another challenge is CO
2
gas injec-
tion in deep gas/condensate reservoirs, re-
sulting in the potential for CCS projects.
By implementation of extensive labora-
tory and integrated modeling activities,
feasibility of additional EOR and EGR
methods were proved in certain cases.
In international operations, MOL fac-
es different geological settings in almost
each country in which we operate. In
Pakistan, we face poor quality of seismic
logs due to complex geology and rough
terrain, which can be overcome by de-
signing better surveyswider azimuth,
higher foldand applying new process-
ing techniques such as multi-focusing.
In Russia, we face challenges relat-
ed to the specific weather and terrain
conditions such as extremely cold win-
ters with frost and thick snow cover,
summer swamps and muddy soil in
the spring and fall seasons, requir-
ing unique technologies, methods and
proper timing. In addition, we face
challenges in relation to hard-to-recov-
er reserves, where we apply horizontal
drilling, stimulation such as hydraulic
fracturing, or water injection in order
to increase recovery.
In Kazakhstan, due to the high hydro-
gen sulfide content of the gas, we are work-
ing on developing the economically most
reasonable and technically most adequate
solution for handling the waste sulfur un-
til the start of the production phase.
WO: Why has MOL been so much
more aggressive than oil companies of
other former Eastern Block countries
when it comes to seeking reserves out-
side of their borders?
ldott: There is only a little room to in-
crease the reserve base within our domi-
cile. MOL as a public company is aiming
to provide the highest possible returns to
shareholders through organic and/or inor-
ganic value creation. To benefit from high
value generation throughout the oil and
gas value chain, we seek projects to replace
reserves and maintain and even increase
our production where possible at an appro-
priate risk level in our focus regions. WO
Zoltn ldott is MOLs Exploration and Produc-
tion Executive Vice President. In 1990 and 1991,
he was an associate at Creditum Financial Con-
sulting Ltd. Between 1992 and 1995, he held
various positions at Eurocorp Financial Consulting
Ltd. He was Manager of MOLs Privatization De-
partment from 1995 to 1997, and Director of Cap-
ital Markets from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, he was
Director of Strategy and Business Development.
Starting November 2000 he was Chief Strategy
Ofcer and, starting June 2001, as Group Chief
Strategy Ofcer. At the beginning of 2010 he
was nominated as President of the Management
Board of INA d.d, MOLs Croatian subsidiary.
Sub-Sea Production &
Transmission Products:
Through Conduit Slab Gate
Valves.
Through Conduit Double
Expanding Gate Valves.
Side Entry Ball Valves.
Top Entry Ball Valves.
HIPPS Valves.
Swing Check Valves.
Small Bore Rotary Gate Valves.
Hydraulic Actuators & ROV
Operated Mechanical Gears.
Speciality Items:
Pig Diverters.
Rotary Selection Valves.
ATV SpA
Via Ombriano 2 - Area industriale
23823 Colico (Lecco) Italy
Switchboard +39 0341932111
Fax +39 0341 930785
info
@
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World Oil APRIL 2010 E-129
Technology from Europe
Maersk O&G to expand in US Gulf
while increasing European production
Maersk Oil has production in Den-
mark, Qatar, Great Britain, Algeria
and Kazakhstan. The company also
conducts exploration activities in these
countries as well as in other areas such
as Angola, Brazil, Norway, Oman and
the Gulf of Mexico.
The company recently purchased De-
von Energys 25% interest in the Jack
prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, and it
holds interests in additional Gulf acre-
age. Morten Kelstrup, Vice President
and Head of Strategy and Economics
for Maersk Oil & Gas, discusses the
companys E&P strategy in the Gulf and
elsewhere. He also discusses various tech-
nical solutions to increase production in
the companys European projects, in-
cluding long-reach horizontal wells and
CO
2
injection to both increase produc-
tion and reduce CO
2
emissions.
World Oil: Will Maersk continue to
seek purchase opportunities similar to
the acquisition of Devon Energys in-
terests in the Jack development project
in the US Gulf of Mexico?
Morten Kelstrup: The Gulf of Mexico
is a focus area for Maersk Oil. With the
acquisition of Devons interest in the Jack
development project and our interest in
the Buckskin discovery, we have some
exciting activities going on which fit well
into our deepwater strategy. We are still
looking for new opportunities in the area,
both as an operator and a non-operator.
In addition to the newly acquired
interest in the Jack development project
and the appraisal activities in the Buck-
skin discovery in the Central Gulf of
Mexico, we also have interests in a num-
ber of exploration leases in the Central
and Western Gulf of Mexico. We con-
sider the US Gulf an important growth
area for us, so we are looking to do more
business here.
We are currently looking at the op-
portunities in the Gulf of Mexico, and,
if the right opportunities arise, we will
most certainly pursue them. We are part
of the AP Moller-Maersk Group, and we
have a strong financial base to make new
long-term investments.
WO: What are the challenges you
might encounter exploring and pro-
ducing in the deepwater US Gulf?
Kelstrup: Many of the challenges are,
of course, similar to other areas of E&P
evolving around a proper understand-
ing of the reservoirs. Costs are always
a concernamplified by the relatively
long time from initial discovery to first
production. But with our integrated
technical solutions and project manage-
ment skills, we believe that we can man-
age this and add value as a deepwater
partner and operator and, thereby, also
prevail in the rather fierce competition
in the Gulf.
In this aspect, we also expect to draw
on our experience as a deepwater opera-
tor in Angola, where we are busy apprais-
ing our Chissonga discovery from 2009.
WO: What are some of the important
E&P projects ongoing or scheduled
for the North Sea during the next few
years?
Kelstrup: Maersk Oil is active in Den-
mark, the UK as well as in Norway. In
the UK, we have made several significant
discoveries, such as Culzean, Golden Ea-
gle, Pink, Hobby and Flyndre. We plan
to commence the drilling of two apprais-
al wells at Culzean during 2010. Further,
we are working to establish a combined
field development plan for Golden Eagle,
Hobby and Pink to be ready by the end
of 2010, and we expect a development
plan for Flyndre in a year. So we are quite
busy here.
In Denmark, the main challenge is
to reduce the natural production decline
from this mature region. Through our
technical and operational capabilities
we have managed to raise the recovery
rate to more than 30% in some of these
tight chalk fields. And we intend to try
to push this even further. We are consis-
tently looking at new innovative solu-
tions that can improve our recovery rate.
We expect to produce oil here for many
years to come.
In Norway, we acquired a 70% share
in license PL431, including the T-Rex
discovery. Our aim here is to add produc-
tion activities to the current exploration
activities. In total, we have interests in
some 10 Norwegian exploration licenses.
We clearly see Norway as a growth area
for us supported, among others, by the
skills we bring from enhancing recovery
from the Danish chalk.
In general, we see plenty of opportu-
nities in the North Seaboth organic
and non-organic.
WO: Is Maersk experiencing a decline
in its North Sea oil and gas production
rates, and what is being done to miti-
gate that problem?
Kelstrup: Some of our fields in Den-
mark have been producing for more
than 30 years now, and we are now
experiencing a natural decline in pro-
duction rates from this mature area.
But we are working hard to reduce the
decline and prolong the economic life
of these fieldsfor example, through
advanced stimulation and completion
techniques as well as investigating the
potential for enhancing oil recovery
through CO
2
injection.
We have, for instance, signed an
agreement with Finnish utilities For-
tum and Teollisuuden Voima [TVO] to
Morten Kelstrup
FOC CISCATO SPA Via Pasin n.1, 36010 Velo dAstico (VICENZA) - Italy Tel. + 39 0445 739 111- fax + 39 0445 739 222 www.foc.it - info@foc.it
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World Oil APRIL 2010 E-131
initiate a pre-study to provide CO
2
for
testing of CO
2
injection in the DUC
[Danish Underground Consortium]
fields. We are still in the early stages, and
many political and financial pieces have
to fall into place before carbon capture
and sequestration and CO
2
injection in
large scale can be a reality. We believe,
however, that the technology has the po-
tential to prolong the life of the mature
fields as well as be a solution to reduce
CO
2
emissions.
WO: The main part of Maersk Oils
operated production in the North Sea
and in Qatar is from low-permeability,
high-porosity chalk and limestone res-
ervoirs. Application of advanced seis-
mic processing techniques, ultra-long
horizontal drilling (up to 12 km) and
Maersk Oils completion and stimula-
tion technology applied to those hori-
zontal wells have been the key to the
technical success in developing these
chalk fields.
Would these technologies be appli-
cable in the US Gulf and other regions
where Maersk is active?

Kelstrup: Our experiences and capabili-
ties gained in the North Sea originally
qualified us for doing business in Qatar.
Over the years, we have further devel-
oped our advanced seismic processing
techniques, ultra-long horizontal drill-
ing, and completion and stimulation
technology of the horizontal wells, sig-
nificantly improving our recovery rate
of hydrocarbons. Moving ahead, we are
also focusing on deepwater activities, for
example, in Angola and the US Gulf of
Mexico, where our gained expertise will
be essential in combination with the
specific deepwater competencies which
we currently are building up. WO
Morten Kelstrup is Vice President and Head
of Strategy and Economics for Maersk Oil &
Gas. Prior to being promoted to his present
position in 2007, he was Director and Head
of the Commercial Department from 2001 to
2007. Mr. Kelstrup joined Maersk in 1998 as
a Sales Manager in the Commercial Depart-
ment. Prior to joining Maersk Oil & Gas, he
was a Business Development Manager for
Texaco Gas and Power in London and Hous-
ton from 1997 to 1998. Mr. Kelstrup was em-
ployed by Danish Oil and Natural Gas (DONG)
in Denmark from 1992 to 1997. He earned a
bachelors degree and a masters degree in
economics and business administration in
1990 and in 1992, respectively, from Aarhus
Business School in Denmark. He received an
MBA degree from the University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business in 2008.
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E-132 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
Casing inspection tool monitors corrosion
without interrupting production
Paul Crouzen and Diederick Bax, Shell Global Solutions;
Trevor Rea and Ian Taylor, Shell UK E&P
The North Sea is a mature basin with
a well-established infrastructure where
significant investment is necessary to
maximize the economic recovery of oil
and gas. A crucial part of this investment
is to extend the lives of the offshore as-
sets and onshore plants, in many cases
to ensure they can operate safely and ef-
fectively for longer than originally envis-
aged in the 1970s.
Among the extensive assets and facili-
ties that must be maintained for safety,
protection of the environment and con-
tinuing production are the hundreds of
wells across the North Sea. Like any oth-
er structure or equipment that is exposed
to a harsh environment, they gradually
deteriorate; for example, the wellhead
support casings can corrode, which, in
a worst-case scenario, can lead to struc-
tural failure. In this context, Shell Global
Solutions has worked closely with Shell
UKs upstream business over the last few
years on an inspection campaign to as-
sess the integrity of most of its wells.
THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
In-situ well casing inspection was a
major technical challenge, as corrosion
in offshore wells occurs predominantly
at sea level between two concentric,
vertical tubular conduits: the surface
casing and the outer conductor. These
are vital well components: The conduc-
tor protects the riser against the lateral
forces caused by marine currents and
waves, and the surface casing supports
the load of the wellhead, the subsea tree
and the inner casing strings. The space
between the surface casing and the
conductor is called the D annulus and
is usually filled with brine or seawater.
In this annular space, the interface be-
tween the water and the air is the area
most prone to corrosion. Severe cor-
rosion may weaken the surface casing,
so that it can no longer carry its design
load and collapses. The additional load
transfer to the conductor may cause it
to subside, since it is not designed to
take this weight. Moreover, the wells
flowlines may rupture, resulting in a gas
release when the wellhead subsides.
Access to this region for inspection
is extremely difficult, especially using
probes, while active production opera-
tions are ongoing. Until the early 2000s,
there was no system to evaluate corrosion
and wall thickness reductions in narrow
well annuli. Shell UK E&P considered
several methods of inspection: ultrasonic,
radiographic, electromagnetic volumet-
ric and pulsed eddy current (PEC). PEC
inspection technology was the method
chosen, as all the others had limitations
for well applications.
D-PEC TECHNOLOGY
It was clear that the work scope for
casing inspection required a tool that
could do the job with minimal disrup-
tion to production and platform opera-
tions, and at a reasonable cost, given the
number of wells to be surveyed.
PEC technology is an established op-
tion for corrosion detection on exposed
pipelines and other structures. It uses a
pulsed magnetic field to induce eddy cur-
rents in the steel being examined. PEC
technology determines the wall thickness
of the pipe by sensing the decay of the
eddy currents, Fig. 1. Inspection engi-
neers can apply the technique even when
pipes are covered with dirt, scale, depos-
its or corrosion product.
Working with Shell Global Solutions,
Shell UK E&P developed the D-PEC
well inspection method, which is based
on PEC technology and enables opera-
tors to assess the D annulus for corrosion
without interrupting production. Adapt-
ing PEC technology for well inspection
involved miniaturizing the tool probes,
developing a technique to control the
position of the tool and determining
how to control the tool during blind de-
ployment in a fluid-filled annulus.
Conventional methods of well cor-
rosion inspection encounter problems
when the steel surface is rough because of
corrosion products and/or salt scale de-
posits. This is not the case for PEC tech-
nology, which can measure wall thick-
ness through deposits without contact
between the sensor and the steel surface.
PEC technology uses a strong electrical
current to induce a signal in the steel
from up to 50 mm away. The decay time
of this signal is used to determine the
thickness of the remaining steel.
The PEC tool designed for deploy-
ment in the D annulus more than meets
the requirements for the casing inspec-
tion. A two-man crew performs a PEC
survey using a portable unit, and the
conductor annulus is relatively easily
accessed, Fig. 2. Surveys can be done
within six hours, and the results can be
0
0 0 10 20 30 40 50 5 15 25 35 45 5 10 15
Distance from top of conductor, m a) b)
a) b)
Distance from top of conductor, m
W
a
l
l

l
o
s
s
20 25 30 35
2
4
6
W
a
l
l

t
h
i
c
k
n
e
s
s
,

m
m
8
10
12
14
Well with no wall loss Well with severe wall loss
0
2
4
6
W
a
l
l

t
h
i
c
k
n
e
s
s
,

m
m
8
10
12
14
HAT LAT HAT LAT
Fig. 1. Examples of PEC data (a) from a surface casing with no wall loss and (b) from a
severely corroded surface casing, plotted as a function of distance from the top of the
conductor. The highest and lowest astronomical tides (HAT and LAT) are indicated by
dashed lines.
E-134 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
screened for validity on site. Repeat sur-
veys can be performed if there is any un-
certainty about the results, but so far this
has been unnecessary, as the data quality
has always been high. The well remains
in production at all times.
PEC technology provides accurate
information on reduced wall thickness,
even when the equipment is not per-
fectly aligned with the side of the well.
As with any non-destructive method, it
was important to validate the PEC in-
spection results. In some fields, surface
casings were retrieved to surface dur-
ing abandonment to enable wall thick-
ness measurements using ultrasound for
comparison with the PEC results. The
PEC measurements recorded offshore
matched these post-mortem ultra-
sound measurements to within 10%
for the surface casings and 15% for the
conductors (two standard deviations).
RESULTS
The inspection campaign identified
clearly where remedial action was neces-
sary and where it was not. The wall losses
detected on corroded surface casings were
generally concentrated near the fluid in-
terfaces within the D annulus. In most
cases, this corresponded to the region be-
tween the highest and lowest astronomi-
cal tide. The corrosion was evident over
a band 0.6-to 3-m deep and was mostly
uniform around the circumference.
The survey indicated that it was im-
possible to predict which wells were at
risk from corrosion and which were not.
Corrosion did not seem to correlate di-
rectly with the age of the well, or with
other factors such as operating tempera-
ture or communication with seawater.
MITIGATION MEASURES
There are various ways to manage the
threat of oxygen corrosion to surface cas-
ing, such as by inhibiting the effects of
the brine in the D annulus or increasing
Fig. 2. Inspection of the D annulus using the specialized PEC tool.
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World Oil APRIL 2010 E-135
the level of grouting in the D annulus
from just below the mudline to the top
of the conductor.
Topping up the D annulus with a
biocide-inhibited rapeseed oil is another
countermeasure. The rapeseed oil floats
on the seawater and coats the external
surface of the surface casing and the in-
ternal surface of the conductor to limit
or prevent further corrosion.
In addition, controls have been put
in place to monitor the variation in the
wellhead height and to ensure that a pos-
itive pressure is maintained in all the well
annuli, so as to have an early warning of
any potential structural failure.
C ANNULUS ALTERNATIVE
In addition to the casing and the con-
ductor, the internal guides or centralizers
within the D annulus are also subject to
corrosion. On occasion, these can become
severely corroded to the extent of being
broken as a result of varying lateral loads.
The broken components can pile on top
of each other to block the D annulus.
The inspection team found that, in
some cases, the D annulus was not easily
accessible. This lack of D annulus access
prompted the team to develop a modified
PEC inspection system that could access
the C annulus as an alternative and still
be capable of accessing the surface casing.
In this case, a probe is inserted, via a lu-
bricator, through the opened C-annulus
valve and, thereby, into the generally nar-
rower C annulus. To complicate matters,
this C-annulus inspection equipment
not only needed to gravity-feed past ob-
structions but also to work safely in the
hydrocarbon-containing environment
within the C annulus.
The original PEC sensor was there-
fore drastically miniaturized to make it
orientation sensitive and intrinsically
safe. Furthermore, a method was devised
to deal with obstructions and position
the sensor on the steel surface. To this
end, an umbrella-like construction was
designed. In the closed state, the sensor
is lowered into the C-annular space and
past any obstruction down to the desired
elevation. It is then opened out at the de-
sired position. Measurements are taken,
and the sensor is subsequently hauled up
to other positions of interest.
The ultra-slim device comprises a
500-mm-long chain connected to a
50-m-long umbilical, which is inserted
as a unit into the well via a lubricator sys-
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Fig. 3. PEC inspection via the C annulus.
E-136 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
tem. The chain contains two miniature
PEC probes and a mechanical position-
ing system (pushers and whiskers).
The chain design enables the PEC probe
links to follow the 90 turn into the C
annulus. The positioning system open-
ing mechanism is triggered by a minia-
ture chemical timer.
The C-PEC probe offers a good al-
ternative to the D-annulus probe when
the D annulus is blocked or when a field
operator does not want to drill lateral
access holes in the wall of a conductor
whose top is in contact with the well-
head. The C-annulus probe also pro-
vides bonus information on the integrity
of the intermediate casing as a result of
using parallel positioning probes.
The C-annulus PEC method uses
two probes (in parallel) and can therefore
simultaneously inspect the surface cas-
ing and the intermediate casing. Using
this probe is a more complex operation
because of the need to enter a pressur-
ized annulus. Although, in practice, the
C annulus is bled to zero pressure when
carrying out the inspection, there is still
a requirement to have full pressure con-
trol equipment to maintain the pressure
envelope. Lubricator crews are required
to connect a specially designed (bespoke,
manually handled) lubricator to the C-
annulus side-arm valve, Fig. 3.
The C-annulus PEC probe made it
possible to inspect wells that could oth-
erwise not be inspected through the D
annulus. Shell E&P UK completed a suc-
cessful D-annulus inspection campaign
on more than 340 wells in the northern
North Sea in February 2008. The C-an-
nulus probe tool was developed further
during 2008, and additional C-annulus
PEC measurements were taken in 2009.
CONCLUSIONS
The ability for production field op-
erators to proactively and easily check
for casing corrosion without interrupt-
ing production offers significant com-
mercial benefits. Advanced knowledge of
well integrity enables better planning of
production deferment and more accurate
production forecasting.
Benefits may include saved produc-
tion and avoidance of unnecessary, cost-
ly remediation on non-corroded wells.
Regular health checks of the corrosion
status of wells will also help operators
to plan more targeted and cost-effective
workover programs and to focus on
those wells that require urgent attention
and remedial action. Besides the sub-
stantial potential cost savings, there is
considerable reduction of health, safety
and environmental risks. WO
THE ART OF
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Valbart Srl
Via delle Industrie, 9/5
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Phone: +39.039.624111
Fax: +39.039.6241178
sales@valbart.com
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TRUNNION
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THE AUTHORS
Paul Crouzen has a PhD degree in nuclear
physics from the University of Groningen in the
Netherlands. For the last 10 years, Dr. Crouzen
has been the Team Leader for developing PEC
technology for up- and downstream inspection
applications. He joined Shell in 1987 at its re-
search center in Amsterdam.
Diederick Bax has a masters degree in pe-
troleum engineering from Delft University of
Technology and an MBA from the International
Institute for Management Development in Lau-
sanne, Switzerland. He leads the Shell Global
Solutions business development team for non-
Shell upstream customers.
Trevor Rea has a BSc degree in civil engineer-
ing from the University of Aberdeen and an
MEng degree in petroleum engineering from
Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK. Mr.
Rea has worked at Shell UK E&P since 2001.
Ian Taylor earned a masters degree in chemi-
cal engineering from the University of Cam-
bridge, and joined Shell UK E&P in 1986. For
the last two years, he has been the Shell well
integrity Team Leader for Europe and the Tech-
nical Authority for well integrity in the UK.
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-137
Technology from Europe
Developing green corrosion
inhibitors for the North Sea
Graham Nelson and Andrew MacDonald, Clariant Oil Services
Use of chemical inhibitors is an effec-
tive method of corrosion control in the
oil and gas industry. As well as corrosion
inhibitor performance, a number of ad-
ditional parameters such as emulsion
tendency, foaming tendency and envi-
ronmental profile are important.
Meeting and exceeding evolving and
ever-more-stringent environmental reg-
ulations continues to be a challenge for
chemical service companies. Historically,
there has often been a reduction in per-
formance when the corrosion inhibitor
bases have been greened by the intro-
duction of more biodegradable compo-
nents. The challenge has been to develop
products that provide high biodegrad-
ability and low toxicity but also provide
corrosion inhibition performance com-
parable to traditional inhibitors.
All countries providing operating li-
censes in the North Sea (the UK, Nor-
way, Denmark and the Netherlands)
have regulatory bodies that demand en-
vironmental testing and registration of
all production chemicals used offshore,
including corrosion inhibitors. A num-
ber of tests must be performed on the
inhibitor raw materials to evaluate bio-
degradability, toxicity and bioaccumu-
lation. However, the regulatory bodies
have different interpretations of the test
results and, therefore, different ranking
tools. Development of new products
must take into consideration legislative
controls from all the countries to ensure
that products have wide application op-
portunities. In addition to governmental
regulations, operators may have their
own requirements for products.
Another major area of focus with all
new and existing chemicals is the Eu-
ropean Commissions REACH (regis-
tration, evaluation, authorization and
restriction of chemicals) regulation. The
main aims of the regulation are protec-
tion of human health and of the environ-
ment from the risks that can be posed by
chemicals, promotion of alternative test
methods, free circulation of substances
on the internal market, and enhancing
competitiveness and innovation.
The regulation makes industries re-
sponsible for assessing and managing the
risks posed by chemicals and for provid-
ing appropriate safety information to their
users. The regulation affects all substances
introduced to the EU market as such or
in preparation. Non-EU companies are
also affected when exporting substances
or preparations to the EU or when buy-
ing chemicals from distributors sourcing
in the EU. Clariant supports the targets
and implementation of the regulation.
This article describes the development
of new, environmentally-friendly corro-
sion inhibitors formulated with a novel
amino acid corrosion inhibitor base.
These new products have been exten-
sively evaluated and have demonstrated
comparable performance to a previous-
generation environmentally acceptable
product and to an established product
successfully used for more than 17 years
in the North Sea.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Four chemicals were evaluated in the
study. Two products (A and B) are classed
as Gold with no substitution warning and
as Yellow under UK/Dutch and Norwe-
gian/Danish regulations, respectively,
based on the countries current regula-
tions. A third product tested for com-
parison (C) is classed Red under Norwe-
gian/Danish regulations and Gold with
substitution warning under UK/Dutch
regulations. This product represents a
previous generation of green corrosion
inhibitors that only recently received a
substitution warning due to changes in
the UK regulations. The fourth product
tested (D) is a traditional corrosion in-
hibitor formulation that has been in use
in the North Sea for more than 17 years.
The product is classed as Red in Norway
and Silver with substitution warning
in the UK. In addition, according to a
North Sea operator internal classifica-
tion, Products A and B will be classified
Yellow (Y1) and Yellow (no Y classifica-
tion), respectively. Product B represents
the best categorization possible for com-
plex blends under this system.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
The corrosion inhibitor packages were
evaluated using a number of electrochem-
ical laboratory performance tests: aqueous
linear polarization resistance (LPR), par-
titioned LPR, pre-partitioned high-shear
rotating cylinder electrode (RCE) and
pre-partitioned weld tests. Tests were per-
formed at about 80C with all products
being dosed at 50 ppm. Partitioning tests
were carried out with a 50/50 (water/oil)
pre-partitioning ratio.
Aqueous LPR testing. The LPR
method is frequently used to screen and
rank corrosion inhibitors. For this evalu-
ation, brine-only tests were performed
initially to assess the general perfor-
mance of all the inhibitors. Results show
that the new, environmentally accept-
able Products A and B demonstrated
comparable performance to Products C
and D with all products providing more
than 98% inhibition, Table 1.
Partitioned LPR testing. Partitioned
LPR tests assess the ability of inhibitors
to partition from the oil into the water
phase in low-turbulence, low-velocity
pipelines such as export pipelines. Test
protocols are the same as for brine LPR
tests, but a layer of oil is added on top of
the test and the inhibitor is dosed into
this oil phase. The new environmentally
acceptable inhibitors (Products A and B)
outperformed Product C. Product A pro-
vided corrosion protection very close to
that of the traditional inhibitor (Product
D). Overall, performance can be ranked
as D > A > B > C.
Pre-partitioned RCE testing. The
RCE test simulates high-shear flowrates
typically found in the field and pro-
vides information on the persistency of
the corrosion inhibitor film. The tests
performed for this study were pre-parti-
tioned tests in which water and oil are
shaken vigorously and the water phase
is drawn off from the oil phase with
the brine used in the RCE test. Again,
Product A demonstrated comparable
performance to Product D. Product B
provided comparable performance to
the previous-generation green corrosion
E-138 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
inhibitor. In summary, performance in
RCE testing was A = D > B = C.
Pre-partitioned weld performance
testing. Weld performance tests measure
LPR corrosion rates and galvanic current
densities between segments of a weld elec-
trode. A key observation in these tests is
relative polarity of the galvanic coupling
currents, especially the weld galvanic
current. If the weld/heat-affected zone
(HAZ) segments adopt a cathodic cou-
pling current or if the coupling current is
small, risk of weld corrosion is low.
In these tests, a 1% Ni weld material
was used to prepare the weld electrode.
The tests were again pre-partitioned so
oil and water were shaken with corro-
sion inhibitor prior to running the test
with only the water phase. Again, this
allows evaluation of the inhibitors abil-
ity to partition between the oil and water
phases. All inhibitors markedly reduced
the galvanic component measured across
the weld material compared to the blank,
Table 2. Products A and B both out-per-
formed Product C with Product A again
performing comparably to Product D.
CONCLUSIONS
Clariant Oil Services has developed
new, environmentally acceptable corro-
sion inhibitor products based on a novel
amino acid corrosion inhibitor base with
a significantly improved environmental
profile. In aqueous and pre-partitioned
LPR tests, both new-generation green
products out-performed the old-gener-
ation green product. In more extensive
and harsher RCE and weld tests, Product
A provided comparable performance to
the traditional corrosion inhibitor.
The two new products are both
classified Gold (no sub) for UK/Neth-
erlands and Yellow for Norway/Den-
mark. Product A, in particular, pro-
vides a clearly viable high-performance,
environmentally acceptable alternative
to traditional corrosion inhibitors. The
new inhibitor bases are manufactured
by Clariant and will have full REACH
and regulatory support. WO
THE AUTHORS
Andrew MacDonald has
worked for Clariant for more
than 13 years in a variety of
roles. Upon completing a
BSc degree with honors
in Aberdeen, he joined TR
Oil Services as a chemist
working in the hydrates
laboratory. Mr. MacDonald
later moved into a sales
role managing production chemicals for a major
UK North Sea oil company. He now manages the
Integrity and Hydrocarbons group at Clariants
Application Development lab in Aberdeen.
Graham Nelson has worked for Clariant for
more than four years. Upon completing a BSc
degree with honors in Aberdeen, he joined a reg-
ulatory affairs consultancy before joining Clariant
Oil Services in 2006. Mr. Nelson currently works
as a Senior Chemist group at Clariants Applica-
tion Development laboratory in Aberdeen.
Test Formulation Avg. baseline
corrosion, mm/yr
Avg. inhibited
corrosion, mm/yr
% Inhibition
Aqueous, LPR Product A 3.48 0.07 98.0
Product B 3.37 0.07 98.0
Product C 3.29 0.03 99.0
Product D 3.24 0.05 98.0
Pre-partitioned, LPR Product A 2.04 0.01 99.4
Product B 1.93 0.06 96.7
Product C 1.68 0.16 90.3
Product D 1.85 0.003 99.9
Pre-partitioned, RCE Product A 5.59 0.04 99.3
Product B 5.59 0.10 98.1
Product C 5.59 0.09 98.4
Product D 5.59 0.03 99.5
TABLE 1. Results of three electro-chemical tests
Galvanic current, mA/cm
2
Product Weld HAZ Parent 1 Parent 2
Blank 0.0798 0.0124 0.0274 0.0187
Product A 0.0007 0.0025 0.0016 0.0024
Product B 0.0022 0.0024 0.0010 0.0014
Product C 0.0042 0.0105 0.0003 0.0015
Product D 0.0005 0.0006 0.0020 0.0025
TABLE 2. Weld performance test results
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-139
Technology from Europe
Securing personnel electronically
on the Statfjord platforms
Svein Thorsen, Statoil; and Doug Woodbridge, S3 ID
Statoils Statfjord Field is located about
80 mi off the coast of Norway. Statfjord
is a significant trans-median oil and gas
field, meaning that it crosses the bound-
ary between the Norwegian and UK sec-
tors of the North Sea, with about 15%
of the field being located in UK Conti-
nental Shelf waters. One of the largest
fields in this sector, at its peak production
Statfjord exceeded 700,000 bpd, the oil
being loaded offshore and taken direct to
refineries and the gas transported via the
Statpipe pipeline to mainland Norway
and via Brent Field to the UK.
Statfjord Field is produced by three
Condeep concrete production platforms,
Statfjord A, B and C. Each platform has
about 250,000 tonnes of concrete and
about 40,000 tonnes of topside process-
ing, with overall accommodation facilities
for more than 1,000 crew members. With
such a substantial offshore infrastructure,
and with the safety and welfare of person-
nel in mind, Statoil decided in 2006 that
it needed an electronic personnel registra-
tion system (PRS) to improve emergency
preparedness across Statfjord Field.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Statoil was seeking a better way to reg-
ister personnel in an evacuation and to
keep its emergency preparedness manage-
ment team fully updated about the evac-
uation status in real time. Conventional
muster techniques could be used to fulfill
Norwegian safety regulations, which re-
quire that all personnel be accounted for
within 20 min., but meeting this stan-
dard could be challenging in a crisis.
Statoil wanted to remove the risk of
human error during mustering, which
could compromise safety in the event of a
crisis, through failure to properly account
for personnel. The objective was that im-
proved personnel registration would al-
low the search for missing personnel to
take place more quickly and, at the same
time, prevent unnecessary deployment of
rescue teams into a danger zone to find
those incorrectly marked as missing.
An electronic PRS was preferred be-
cause it is not subject to human error
under stress, and because reliable person-
nel counts could be obtained in real time.
Another anticipated benefit of an elec-
tronic PRS was that it could significantly
reduce time, and thus costs, associated
with returning a platform to production
following an emergency muster.
Another disadvantage of manual pa-
per-based mustering techniques is the
time spent administering them and gen-
erating post-muster reports. A PRS gener-
ates time savings by storing a full history
and creating reports automatically.

ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION
The operator selected a PRS supplied
by S3 ID, which automatically registers
personnel during a platform muster us-
ing individual radio frequency identifi-
cation (RFID) active transponder tags
that are allocated to all personnel. The
transponder is worn at all times to ensure
that personnel arriving at their designat-
ed muster station are detected as they
pass the PRS muster station antennas.
The primary transponder type used
at Statfjord Field is worn on the wrist
and resembles a watch in its size and
shape. However, a number of credit
card-type tags are also available for
crew members who are unable to wear
the wrist transponder.
Under normal operation, crew mem-
bers are issued a transponder at the on-
shore heliport. The PRS logs the transpon-
ders unique ID code to the individual.
When a muster is initiated on a platform,
the crew member is registered by the PRS
whenever the transponder is detected at
the designated muster station.
The PRS uses PC servers arranged
in a dual-redundant hardware configu-
ration that maintains a database record
of all muster activities for the platform.
The mustering data is gathered from
transponder readers located at the mus-
ter stations.
A number of PRS operator worksta-
tions, located on the platforms local area
networks and at the onshore heliport,
have access to PRS information screens.
An overview screen shows a summary of
an active muster, and a number of reports
can be generated with current or histori-
cal data. In the event of an incident, indi-
vidual muster lists or incident duties will
be available via the PRS operator screen
and in hardcopy reports.
The heliport onshore has PRS work-
station PCs fitted with PRS transpon-
der tag allocators. This enables offshore
personnel to be issued a transponder and
registered to the PRS on their arrival at
the heliport. On return to the onshore
heliport, the system deregisters each indi-
vidual, and his or her tag is handed in. A
workstation PC and backup tag allocation
system are also provided in the sky lobby
of each installation to enable transponder
allocation when required. The systems
provide definitive location awareness of
personnel from point of departure to per-
sonnel on board, and include provision
of 3,200 active transponder tags, which
are certified as intrinsically safe for use in
hazardous areas.
The S3 ID PRS has been operational
across Statfjord as part of Statoils emer-
gency preparedness system for more than
three years. WO
THE AUTHORS
Svein Thorsen is a Princi-
pal Engineer at Statoil and
is involved in telecommuni-
cation across the Statfjord
A, B and C production plat-
forms. He was involved in
the implementation of the
electronic PRS from its ini-
tial stages through instal-
lation and commissioning.
Mr. Thorsen has extensive experience in the
oil and gas sector, working in both onshore and
offshore facilities.
Doug Woodbridge is
Head of Group Sales and
Marketing at S3 ID. In addi-
tion to marketing the com-
panys range of patented
electronic location aware-
ness, persons-on-board,
mustering, security and
personnel logistics tech-
nologies, Mr. Woodbridge
promotes application ex-
pertise that provides clients with expert consul-
tancy and engineering services.
E-140 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
New class for well intervention units
Per Wiggo Richardsen, Det Norsk Veritas Maritime
Demand has pushed operators of well
intervention units to develop new tech-
nologies to improve access to subsea wells,
creating a need for more efficient subsea
well intervention systems, including riser-
less light well intervention (RLWI) units.
While not appropriate for deep water,
RLWI units are optimal for repair, scale
removal, installation and manipulation
of some equipment (such as valves, plugs
and screens), re-perforations, zone isola-
tion, fluid sampling, production logging,
chemical treatment and well abandon-
ment, among other services.
In the past, this work was performed
by mammoth, slow-moving semisub-
mersible drilling rigs. However, develop-
ments in dynamic positioning systems,
ROVs and other specialized onboard
systems have allowed well intervention
equipment to be placed on monohull
units, which can move quickly from one
well to the next, helping to reduce char-
tering costs and improving well recovery
rates by up to 50%. Riser well interven-
tion units are still preferred for some
kinds of work and in depths greater than
500 m, but new composites now being
developed for wireline may soon allow
RLWI units to work in deeper waters.
A VESSEL OR AN
OFFSHORE UNIT?
Seawell, the first monohull well inter-
vention unit, was built in 1986 by Well-
Ops. The concept proved a success, and,
over the next 10 years, demand for LWI
units grew. However, because these units
are often similar in design to offshore sup-
ply, support or multi-purpose vessels, there
was uncertainty on how to class them: Are
they vessels or mobile offshore units?
Based on its extensive experience in
the North Sea offshore industry (home
to about 40% of the worlds subsea wells)
and other regions, DNV sought to quick-
ly manage these issues. Based on our ex-
perience, technical research and feedback
from the industry, we concluded that if the
unit is capable of taking control of subsea
equipment, such as opening or closing
valves on a producing well, it would be
classed as offshore, not maritime, said
Per Jahre Nilsen, DNVs business devel-
opment manager for well intervention.
Nilsen says that these criteria are con-
sistent with the way many national au-
thorities differentiate between offshore
operation and maritime ship/vessel op-
eration and notes that code compliance
of mobile offshore development units
applies to the offshore classification.
Once developed, the new rules were then
submitted to external hearings for review
and additional comments were solicited
from owners and operators.
UNIQUE OFFERING
Today, DNV is the only class soci-
ety offering the well intervention unit
class notation. Nilsen says that defin-
ing the parameters of a mandatory class
notation for well intervention units re-
quired an exhaustive review of different
technical elements and a broad range
of safety principles that covered ven-
tilation, area classification, shutdown
and gas detection, escape, evacuation
and communication. The organization
sourced in-house expertise on struc-
tural design, which took into account
substructure and foundations for well
intervention equipment and drill floors
when applicable. Other issues included
fire protection, dynamic positioning
and a number of supplementary re-
quirements ranging from gas treatment
in the event of a leakage to rescue lad-
ders in the moonpool.
DNV released a new, optional no-
tation called Well in October 2009.
Nilsen explains that the scope of the
Well class notation includes design veri-
fication of the well intervention equip-
ment and systems, survey and follow-up
during fabrication. Once completed or
certified, the equipment will follow tra-
ditional classification principles and be
inspected on a regular basis.
By introducing the new voluntary
Well class notation together with the re-
vised and mandatory well intervention
unit notation, DNV was able to offer
owners and operators of well interven-
tion units the same options that owners
of drilling units have had in the past,
Nilsen said. We believe the Well class
notation will gain recognition as a mark
of qualityan assurance to charterers
that the vessel follows internationally
recognized standards for well interven-
tion equipment.
DNV has issued certification for six
well intervention vessels, including four
optional well notations, for a number
of subsea services companies. While
the commercial benefits for owners
sailing with the optional Well notation
are difficult to measure, some well in-
tervention unit operators are hopeful
the notation will not only ensure the
safe operation of their vessels, but help
their bottom line.
EARLY ADOPTER
One early adopter of the new DNV
rules was Aker Oilfield Services. Alf Kris-
tensen, manager of engineering projects
at Aker Oilfield Services, says the com-
pany has one well intervention unit
classed by DNVthe newbuild Skandi
Aker. Skandi Aker is a well intervention
unit designed for riser-based interven-
tion. Kristensen says DNV worked to
modify the optional Well notation to fit
the companys needs. WO
Fig. 1. Delivered earlier this year from
STX Europe, Skandi Aker is the most
recent addition to Aker Oileld Services
eet classed with DNV optional Well
notation.
THE AUTHORS
Per Wiggo Richardsen is Director of Commu-
nication of Det Norsk Veritas (DNV) Maritime.
He has served in several management positions
within DNV for more than 12 years, both at the
headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and in Houston,
Texas. Before becoming a DNV manager, Mr.
Richardsen served as Communication Manager
within Norsk Hydro (at that time an oil major and
today part of Statoil). He has a masters degree
in computer science. Mr. Richardsen began his
career as a research scientist.
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-141
Ball-activated valve saves operator
time and money during hole cleaning
Iain Whyte and Brian Coll, M-I Swaco
Technology from Europe
A North Sea operator was planning
to drill an extended-reach well on a plat-
form where hole cleaning problems were
expected during drilling, as was loss of
circulation in and above the reservoir.
Prior successful experience with a ball-
activated drilling valve had led this op-
erator to consider application of the M-I
Swaco Well Commander valve.
TOOL FUNCTIONALITY
The valve assists in removing cuttings
beds in high-angle/horizontal wells dur-
ing drilling and, when opened, relieves
circulating pressure above small-diameter
tools in the bottomhole assembly (BHA)
and in flow-restrictive equipment such
as a mud motor, Fig. 1. After circulat-
ing and boosting annular velocities to
remove cuttings beds, the tool is closed
and drilling is resumed until the next
time it is needed.
Valve applications include enhanced
hole cleaning during hole-opening
and under-reaming operations; spot-
ting lost-circulation material (LCM) or
kill-weight fluid; and conditioning or
displacing wellbore fluids at high flow-
rates. In horizontal, underbalanced and
managed pressure drilling applications,
the tool allows spotting and removal of
kill-weight fluid in the vertical section
prior to commencement of the trip or
additional drilling.
The valves ports can promote jetting
of BOP cavities at high flowrates, when
appropriately positioned. Finally, the
valve can be used as a fill-and-drain sub
in any drilling or displacement string to
avoid swabbing or surging the open hole.
Restrictive BHAs can limit the flow-
rate and annular velocity, preventing
effective hole cleaning while drilling or
displacing wellbore fluids. These same
BHAs can also limit the size and concen-
tration of LCM or wellbore strengthen-
ing material (WSM) that can be placed
in troublesome zones. The valve lets op-
erators perform the necessary operations
by providing a large flow-area bypass on
demand through as many as seven open-
and-close cycles in one trip.
The high flowrates achieved through
the tools large ports save time and
money in spotting effective LCM/WSM
treatments or kill-weight fluids and re-
duce circulating time during displace-
ments. The tool also helps avoid prob-
lems such as cuttings beds and pack-offs
in extended-reach wells.
The tool allows small-diameter work
strings to drain easily during a trip by
bypassing restrictive BHA equipment, so
a slug can work every time at any angle,
thus avoiding drilling fluid spills and
promoting a safer work environment.
Pills can be spotted and circulation in-
creased exactly where the operator wants,
with no impact on the BHA, logging
tools or the bit.
The ball-activated circulating valve
is placed above sensitive BHA equip-
ment such as MWD and LWD tools,
core barrels and mud motors. It provides
an alternate circulation path for boost-
ing annular velocities during drilling or
completion operations. This is typically
done to prevent or remove cuttings-beds
buildup, to enhance fluid displacement
or to simplify reverse circulation. Placing
the tool above other ball-drop tools, such
as an under-reamer, can also be highly
advantageous.
The valve can also be used to help
fill or drain the drillstring during trips,
in order to control surge and swab pres-
sures and to enhance tripping operations
by minimizing fluid discharge.
The tool can be run into or pulled out
of the hole with the ports locked open or
closed. The ports remain in the same po-
sition until the tool is activated by drop-
ping a ball and pressuring up to shift the
circulating port. The tool uses the same
size operating ball to open and close the
ports, with the capacity of the ball catch-
er (14 balls, or seven cycles) being the
only limit. A smaller BHA-shutoff ball
can be dropped to prevent fluid flow or
solids deposition at the top of the BHA.
This ball is expelled with the subsequent
operating ball.
The operating balls and BHA-shutoff
balls are collected in a ball-catcher assem-
bly below the tool. This bypass ball catcher
captures the balls to one side of the inside
diameter to facilitate positioning of other
ball-drop tools below it. This allows the
smaller activation balls to pass through
the valve and the bypass ball catcher.
Unique ball-seat technology allows
same-size balls to open and close the
tool, eliminating the risk of dropping
the wrong size ball. No complicated ball/
dart sequence or potentially problematic
pump on/off hydraulic sequencing is re-
quired to open and close the tool. Ad-
ditionally, high circulation rates will not
cause the tool to function prematurely.
The valve is usually run in the hole in
the closed position, and it remains inac-
tive during normal drilling operations.
When the need arises to open the circu-
lating ports, an operating ball is dropped
and pumped down to the valve. When
the operating ball lands on the seat and
pressure is applied, the tool is primed
open. Increased pressure drives the ball
through the ball seat, and a pressure drop
is observed. The operating ball is ex-
pelled into the ball catcher, and the tool
advances to the locked-open position.
With the circulating ports open, the
pump rate can then be increased to circu-
late at higher annular velocities through
the open ports. In this open position,
there is still a small percentage of fluid
circulating around the BHA, keeping it
lubricated. In this position, the tool can
be used to spot LCM or WSM. If these
materials have the potential to damage
any of the BHA components, flow to the
bit can be isolated by dropping a smaller,
differently colored BHA shutoff ball.
This smaller-diameter shutoff ball can
also be used to stop flow to the bit.
Fig. 1. The ball-activated valve eases
hole cleaning and other drilling
applications.
E-142 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Technology from Europe
To close the tool and restore all the
flow through the BHA again, another op-
erating ball is dropped and pumped down
to the ball seat. When the ball lands on
this seat and pressure is applied, the tool is
primed closed via an indexing system. In-
creased pressure drives the ball through the
ball seat, and a pressure drop is observed.
The operating ball and the BHA shutoff
ball are both expelled into the ball catcher,
and the valve returns to its original, closed
position. The pressure is allowed to bleed
off before continuing operations.
In managed pressure or underbal-
anced drilling operations, the tool can be
opened to displace kill-weight fluid prior
to tripping to simplify the operation. It
can remain open while tripping out of
the hole to avoid swabbing and permit
tripping dry. It can also remain open
while tripping into the hole to avoid
surging and allow the pipe to readily fill.
Once on bottom, an operating ball can
be pumped to close the valve and com-
mence operations. The open-and-close
cycling can be repeated on a single trip
until the maximum capacity of the ball
catcher is reached. The ball catcher can
be emptied on surface during each trip,
and the balls (if still in good condition)
can be reused on subsequent trips. The
valve can be run on multiple trips before
redress is required.
NORTH SEA FIELD EXPERIENCE
On an early application, one opera-
tor dropped a total of 28 activation balls
over the course of five runs, including ac-
tivation balls dropped at surface to func-
tion test the tool while running in hole.
A total of 15 balls were dropped to the
primary tool over two runs, and 13 were
dropped to the backup tool over three
subsequent runs.
Both tools were used principally to
fill pipe while running in hole, to drain
the string while pulling out of hole or
for annulur velocity boosting when re-
quired. No major operational problems
were recorded, and importantly, all of
the shear pressures required to shear the
balls through the unique ball seats were
within the technical specification set out
in the valves running procedure.
The valve showed itself to be a reliable
and functional tool when utilized in the
drilling environment with an average-
weight drilling fluid. Almost three days
were saved, and drilling fluid expenditures
were also reduced significantly. WO
THE AUTHORS
Iain Whyte is Senior
Business Development
Manager for M-I Swacos
Specialized Tools depart-
ment. He graduated with
honors from the Univer-
sity of Glasgow in Scot-
land. Mr. Whyte began his
career in the Middle East
with NL Baroid and held
management roles in Denmark and the UK
before joining Anchor Drilling Fluids. In 1993
he joined Milchem Drilling Fluids in Aberdeen,
which later became Baker Hughes Inteq. Mr.
Whyte also worked for Tetra Technologies and
as Director of Wellbore Productivity and Busi-
ness Development Manager for SPS Interna-
tional in Aberdeen.
Brian Coll is Business
Development Manager
for New Technologies
within the M-I Swaco
Specialized Tools depart-
ment. He joined the oil
industry in 1996, work-
ing as a Downhole Gyro-
scopic Survey Engineer
for Gyrodata UK. Mr. Coll
joined SPS International in 2006 prior to the
merger with M-I Swaco. Based in Aberdeen,
his responsibilities are global and he routinely
works in the Americas, Continental Europe,
Central Europe, Africa and the Far East.
Ball Valves Trunnion and Floating design
side entry, top entry, welded body execution
from up to 60.
L.C.M. ITALIA S.p.a.
www.lcmitalia.com
Head Ofce
Via dei Ciclamini 8
20020 Vanzaghello (Milano), Italy
Ph. +39.0331.308511
Fax +39.0331.308501
Sales Ofce
Via Pacini 93
20131 Milano, Italy
Ph. +39.02.26681002
Fax +39.02.2664984
sales@lcmitalia.com
Wide range of ball valves
for process control
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World Oil APRIL 2010 E-143
Technology from Europe
Command-activated sandface valve enables
improved high-angle wellbore cleanup
Malcolm Adam and David Coul, Omega Completion Technology
A command-activated sandface valve
(CA-SFV) was developed that has signifi-
cantly improved productivity by enabling
improved wellbore cleanup, particularly
in high-angle and openhole completions.
The sandface valve technology has now
seen 35 installations in BPs Clair Field
with a functional 100% success rate. The
valve development was taken from con-
cept to installation in five months, in-
cluding operator engineering reviews.
The sandface valve was developed to
meet BPs requirement for more time
control when selectively cleaning up/
flowing the reservoir sections. The key
objectives of the valve were to allow se-
quential cleanup of the reservoir section
from toe to heel without intervention or
incremental rig time. The valve would
be activated by a pressure recognition
signal; it also needed to deliver the func-
tionality of a sliding side door for future
water shutoff capability along the well-
bore. The valve design combines a field-
proven timer activation mechanism,
a transducer and conventional sliding
sleeve technology. The resulting tool is
the basis for a new completion technique
that has application in high-angle wells
in a wide variety of oilfield applications.
WELL OVERVIEW
Earlier wells at Clair Field were com-
pleted openhole with pre-drilled liner
installed across the lower producing
zone. The upper two producing zones
were isolated by openhole packers and
contain two sliding side doors (SSDs)
run open to enable production and to
provide future water shutoff options.
The liner is installed across the entire
reservoir section to facilitate openhole
tractor-conveyed production logging. It
was identified early on that production
from these wells was restricted to small
areas. As is commonly seen in high-angle
wells, the highest drawdown is at the heel
section (the source of the main flow con-
tribution). Improvements in well startup
would improve production. More im-
portantly, they would ensure access to re-
serves in areas of the field targeted by the
wells, but that were unswept due to the
non-productive section of the wellbore.
The sandface valve is operated with-
out intervention and has a one-shot
opening function. It also has the future
capacity for mechanical opening and
closing. Early wells incorporated timer-
activated sandface valves only. More flex-
ibility regarding when this valve was to
open and allow cleanup was required by
the operator. To activate the new valve,
a pressure signal that it has been pro-
gramed to recognize is sent to the valve.
To allow this pressure signal to work,
the well has to be closed off. This was
achieved by pressuring up against the
electronic liner shoe (ELS) run at the
bottom of the completion string. The
ELS was designed in conjunction with
the sandface valve. The ELS is run in
the open position, providing liner run-
ning circulation. It is programed to start
a timer countdown to close once it sees
the programed hydrostatic well pressure.
The valves are programed to open with a
staggered opening time. The well would
be brought online from the toe section
and allowed a period of cleanup. After
another pre-programed time, the lower
SFVs would open, enabling this middle
zone to clean up. After an additional time
period, the upper SFVs would open, en-
abling cleanup of the upper zone and full
production from the wellbore.
VALVE DEVELOPMENT
The requirement for the CA-SFV de-
velopment was driven by three factors
the unreliability of gauging well start-up
times and, therefore, difficulty in setting
the SFV timer; the need for a design that
could eliminate the use of a completion
barrier valve (this would mean that the
SFV needed to be functioned open on a
unique command from surface); the need
to eliminate the downhole barrier valve,
so the lower completion and cased-hole
wellbore cleanout could be conducted in
a single trip, saving one to two days rig
time per well.
Objectives of the sandface valve in-
cluded: open on command, availability
of a contingency mechanical opening
method, a proven reliable primary open-
ing method for remote opening, a proven
reliable design for long-term production,
and the ability to mechanically open and
close the valve throughout the well life.
Two valve designs were excluded during
the initial well design screening: control
line operated valves, due to the two-stage
completion design, and valves operated
by surface-applied pressure. The latter was
excluded because the well will have been
producing at the time of valve opening;
therefore, formation will be open.
VALVE DESIGN
The sandface valve design comprises
three main sections: the electronic sec-
tion, the actuator and the SSD. The
timer section comprises two indepen-
dent sets of electronics that provide ac-
tuation for the device. Two independent
electronic sections provide 100% backup
functionality within the valve. The valve
is programed prior to installation at sur-
face using simple computer software.
Flexibility exists to allow the user to de-
termine the pressure recognition setting
for the valve.
The electronics are coupled to the ac-
tuator; when activated, they initiate the
opening of an internal port in the valve,
allowing well pressure to drive the piston
and move the SSD sleeve section to the
open position. The actuator is a one-shot
component. The SSD section houses the
valve flow ports. Once actuated, the SSD
is decoupled from the piston section of
the valve and reverts to a stand-alone
SSD; any further functioning of the sleeve
requires mechanical intervention. Valve
specifications are shown in Table 1.
FIELD TRIAL A
A field trial installation was conduct-
ed in January 2009. This was a two-trip
completion design, which would be run
openhole and open ended. Standard
sandface valves and CA-SFVs were in-
stalled in each zone in the lower com-
pletion. All valves were installed in the
closed position.
World Oil APRIL 2010 E-145
Swell packers were used in the open-
hole section to isolate the production
zones. An ELS was run at the bottom
end of the completion string in the open
position to allow wash-down of the liner.
This liner shoe was designed in tandem
with the CA-SFV. Once at depth, the lin-
er hanger was set and tested and the ELS
was activated to close, making the liner
a closed system; then, successful pressure
testing of the liner was conducted. Once
these operations were complete, the lower
set of CA-SFVs were successfully opened
on command, enabling well cleanup to
commence. The second sets of CA-SFVs
were activated by the same command
but set to open on a different time de-
lay. The final two zones had standard
time-delay SFVs installed and opened as
predicted based on the programed tim-
ing. The opening sequence for the well is
shown in Fig. 1. The staged cleanup of
this well was successful. The new comple-
tion design has potentially eliminated all
contingency milling requirements for the
lower completion barrier valve. Cased-
hole cleanup had previously required a
separate trip; this new completion design
saves one to two days rig time over the
conventional design.
FIELD TRIALS B AND C
Two further field trials using a combi-
nation of command-activated and timer-
activated sandface valves have been in-
stalled with a 100% success rate.
CONCLUSIONS
A command-activated sandface valve
was designed in response to an opera-
tors need for a remotely operated valve
that would allow selective cleanup and
production from its multizone comple-
tions and would also offer added con-
trol over purely timer-based valves that
were already being used. The solution to
a common oilfield problem of bad well
cleanup had to be made less complex
and more cost-efficient than conven-
tional solutions or new technology. The
key objectives for the equipment were to
allow control of when the valve would
function open and to improve wellbore
cleanup, leading to improved produc-
tion and reserves access. The timer- and
command-activated valves have bridged
a gap between complex and costly smart
well completions and conventional well
techniques. This technology can be
transferred to many high-angle comple-
tions with production conformance or
well cleanup problems.
Perceived benefits in running with
this design include the ability to selec-
tively start up the well remotely, without
intervention and complicated cleanup/
technology has been achieved. In addi-
tion, the second-generation command-
activated equipment provides more flex-
ibility for future applications, and the
technology has enabled secondary im-
provements to well design and reduced
completion operation time. WO
Fig. 1. Wellbore cleanup sequence.
THE AUTHORS
Malcolm Adam has
worked in the oil and gas
industry for 23 years and
is Business Development
Manager for Omega Com-
pletion Technology, where
he is responsible for sales
and operations worldwide.
Mr. Adam began his ca-
reer at Otis Montrose and
moved to Petroline Wellsystems, later acquired
by Weatherford.
David Coul joined Omega from Weatherford
Asia Pacic, where he held the role of Flow
Control Area Manager, based in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. He joined Weatherford Petroline,
where he was a Heavy Duty Fishing Special-
ist. He gained initial eld experience with Hal-
liburton; prior to this he worked as a Wireline
Supervisor in the UK.
Tool size 4-in. CA-SFV 5-in. CA-SFV
End connections 4-in. premium connection 5-in. premium connection
Material 13% Cr/Super 13% Cr 13% Cr or AISI 4140 18-22Rc
or AISI 4140 18-22Rc
OD 6.260 in. max. 7.578 in. max.
ID 3.313 in. min. 4.313 in. min.
Flow area through valve 8.620 in. 14.610 in.
Length 128 in. 136 in.
Tensile rating 288,000 lb 397,000 lb
Compressive rating 288,000 lb 318,000 lb
Working pressure rating 5,000 psi 5,000 psi
Actuating force per 1,000 psi 9,885 lb 11,600 lb
TABLE 1. CA-SFV specications
Technology from Europe
customization
safety
proximity
WHAT FORMS THE BACKBONE
OF THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY?
From Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Caspian Region to the Arabian
Gulf, from the North Sea to South East Asia, our products lie at the core of
major worldwide development projects in the O&G industry. Our commitment
is to support global O&G companies with a wide range of offshore and
plant & petrochem cables and systems, umbilicals and exible pipes. This is
what we call customer proximity.
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PRODUCED WATER REPORT
FOR ENGINEERS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
by Produced Water Society +1 (281) 480-3087 www.producedwatersociety.com
World Oil APRIL 2010 147
Internals designed for an existing moderate-sized skim tank
(10,000-bbl nominal volume) were studied using computa-
tional fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The proposed inter-
nals included an inlet distribution system, perforated baffles
for flow control, an oil skim mechanism and a controlled wa-
ter flow outlet. The inlet was designed to uniformly distribute
fluid across the inlet perforated baffle, to have minimal pres-
sure drop, and to allow sand cleanout. The inlet perforated
baffle was designed with sufficient pressure drop to provide
flow control and uniform flow across the skim tank. The
exit perforated baffle was similarly designed, with sufficient
pressure drop to control the flow to the water outlet. A skim
trough was designed across the exit perforated plate baffle for
skimming the oil and excess water to an exit oil bucket with
sufficient volume for flow control. The water outlet was de-
signed with controlled flow through perforated plates prior to
exit through staggered outlet nozzles.
CFD simulations were performed on the skim tank with
the recommended internals to evaluate the separation efficien-
cy. CFD simulation was also performed without the two large
perforated baffles. Results indicated a satisfactory performance
of the tank with the proposed internals, but showed poor per-
formance without the two large perforated baffles. Using the
particle residence time analysis at a produced water flowrate
of 100,000 bpd, it was concluded that the volumetric utiliza-
tion of the skim tank was 70% with baffles and only 30%
without baffles. Particle tracking results also indicated that a
droplet size as small as 150 microns could be removed from
the tank with baffles, while the largest droplet size that could
be removed without baffles was 250 microns.
Oil-in-water measurement results with this improved de-
sign indicate that the oil concentration decreased by about
15% with a 100% increase in the water volume flowing
through the vessel.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project was to design and evaluate, by CFD, improved
internals for an oil/water skim tank. Cameron has experience
designing this type of equipment and has previously con-
ducted CFD studies on skim tanks to evaluate the internals
performance.
An inlet distribution system and internal perforated baffles
were designed for the skim tank, and the design was validated
using CFD simulations in Fluent 6.3 software. The objectives
of this CFD study were to:
Model the geometry of the skim tank with the designed
internals
Mesh the flow domain, define phase boundaries and set
up the CFD files
Model the transient simulation under the specified op-
erating conditions
Evaluate the overall volumetric utilization (a measure of
separation efficiency)
Model the oil particle flow and oil/water separation
through the vessel
Understand the fluid flow patterns developed inside the
tank.
The main project objectives were to design the improved tank
internals and to evaluate their performance.
SKIM TANK DESIGN
The skim tank was 48 ft in diameter and 30 ft tall, with a
theoretical water retention time of 2 hr at maximum flowrate.
Figure 1 shows typical internals for older skim tanks similar
(but not identical) to the Chevron tank modified.
Inspection of typical skim tank internals shows that the
upper zones and the area below the distribution cone will
not be effectively used, as the water will seek the most direct
path between the inlet and outlet nozzles. Thus, the wa-
ter will channel down the top of the distribution cone and
from the edges of the cone directly to the single-point water
outlet nozzle, leaving large areas of the skim tank with no
controlled water flow to them. A CFD analysis of the inter-
nal tank geometry showed this flow pattern and indicated
large recirculation zones in the upper areas of the tank and
in the area below the distribution cone, Fig. 2. These flow
patterns would drastically reduce the effective utilization of
the tank volume.
Fluid modeling helps improve
skim tank performance
Using computational uid dynamics simulations, a new internals design
was demonstrated to greatly improve volumetric utilization,
allowing the operator to double the process owrate.
Daniel W. Phelps, Raqul I. Khan and Joseph M. Lee, Cameron;
Paul Andrews and Dan Marlowe, Chevron North America
148 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Produced Water Report for Engineers and Industry Professionals
With a flowrate of about 35,000 bpd, the existing skim
tank reduced oil-in-water to about 100120 ppm at the outlet
from between 150 and 600 ppm at the inlet. For a higher
throughput of 100,000 bpd, the outlet oil-in-water value
would rise to an unacceptable level to feed the downstream
processes. Maintaining acceptable oil-in-water output at the
increased throughput would require that the full tank volume
be effectively utilized, which meant the water flow must be
controlled and managed.
For the improved tank internals, a liquid level of 26 ft was
chosen, that being the maximum water level that allowed for
the proper levels of piping connections and sufficient down-
stream operating head. Based on the flowrate and fluid prop-
erties (Table 1), tank internals were designed for more efficient
oil/water separation, Fig. 3.
A modified gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) -type
inlet system was designed to promote gas/liquid separation
and evenly distribute the liquid stream throughout the inlet
portion of the tank. The majority of the gas phase separates
quickly and immediately exits from the inlet device to a gas
nozzle directly out of the tank, removing almost any chance
of gas pressure buildup and overpressure inside the skim tank
from upset conditions. In this application, the incoming flu-
id contained a very small amount of gas, which was vented
directly into the tank with less than about 2 in. of water pres-
sure to provide a gas blanket for corrosion prevention.
From the GLCC-type inlet pipe, the fluid exits to both
sides of the tank through eight parallel distribution tubes.
The bottom of the inlet pipe has a tapered section to promote
the removal of any solids. Solids collected can be flushed out
through the drain. The open end of each distribution tube is
directed toward the wall of the skim tank and employs the
tank wall as a momentum breaker.
Two large perforated plate baffles are placed downstream
of the inlet to achieve better flow uniformity and minimize
recirculation. One baffle is placed near the inlet distributor to
control and distribute the flow across the tank, and the other is
placed near the water exit to control the flow to the water out-
let nozzles and the oil skimming collector. Additional perfo-
rated plate baffles surrounding the water outlet nozzles prevent
possible flow short-circuiting. A solid baffle was placed parallel
to the large perforated plates, and two perforated baffles were
placed on either side of the solid baffle and perpendicular to
it. It is important to note that the normal forces acting on the
baffle walls are quite large and that the support design must be
carefully engineered both to provide adequate support of the
walls and to avoid tank wall structural deformation.
Also in the new design, oil is drawn off into an oil trough
over a weir. This trough is placed in front of the exit perforated
plate to promote removal of oil before it can reach the exit perfo-
rated plate baffle and be carried to the water exit. The oil trough
slopes to the center of the tank and drains at the center into an
oil bucket, which can have a level control. Water from the skim
tank exits through perforated plate baffles to three outlet nozzles
at staggered positions, designed for uniform water exit.
CFD RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The three-dimensional model of the skim tank geometry
was constructed based on the data (tank dimensions, flow-
rates, fluid properties, etc.) provided. The tank was simpli-
Oil Water
Inlet owrate 300 ppm 100,000 bpd
Density, kg/m
3
860 1,030
Viscosity, cP 32 1.0
Operating pressure, kPa 101.325
Operating temperature 45F winter, 71F summer
TABLE 1. Flowrates and uid properties of the
produced water
Fig. 2. A CFD analysis of ow patterns in the skim tank
indicated large recirculation zones that would drastically
reduce the effective utilization of the tank volume.
Fig. 3. Proposed improvements to the skim tank.
Produced water inlet
Liquid level
Water owpath line
Clean water outlet
Water owpath line
Stagnant zone
Stagnant zone Stagnant zone
Water spreader
Oil skim tray
Oil riser
Oil
outlet
Fig. 1. Typical skim tank and internals.
World Oil APRIL 2010 149
fied based on some reasonable assumptions to minimize com-
putational efforts. For the CFD calculations, only the liquid
section of the tank was considered, since the fluid entering
into the tank contained very little entrained gas. In addition,
the domain inside the inlet tube was ignored to minimize the
computational time.
This simplified tank domain was subdivided into small vol-
umes (meshed) for detailed CFD calculations. The
perforated plates were modeled as porous jump
boundaries to minimize meshing complexity. The
oil trough was simplified by ignoring the V-notch
slot details and their inclinations. Identical mass
flow through all eight distribution tubes (con-
firmed by a study at Cameron) was assumed, so
flow through the large inlet tube was not modeled.
Inlet boundaries were considered to be at the begin-
ning of the distribution tubes as shown in Fig. 4.
For the residence time calculation, a single
phase calculation was performed until a fully con-
verged flow field was achieved. Water particles of
1 micron in size (sufficiently small particles that
closely followed the flow field) were then injected
from the eight inlet boundaries, and the actual
residence time (ART) required to exit through the
outlet boundaries was determined.
Theoretical residence time (TRT) was calcu-
lated by simply dividing the total liquid volume
in the tank by the liquid flowrates entering into
the vessel. This is the ideal or maximum residence
time that will allow the best possible separation.
The ART/TRT ratio defines the volumetric utilization of the
liquid phase within the tank. Separation efficiency is expect-
ed to improve with increased residence time and volumetric
utilization. CFD results were also used to visualize the flow
patterns. Calculations were performed with and without the
presence of the perforated baffles for the skim tank with the
same inlet distribution system.
Volumetric utilization analysis. The time
histogram plots of the water particles graphi-
cally summarize the distribution of the number
frequencies of particles requiring various time
ranges to exit though the outlet boundaries. Fig-
ure 5 shows the time histogram plots of particle
residence time calculated for the two designs: with
and without baffles. Both designs have a TRT of
7,185 s, calculated based on the tanks liquid vol-
ume and inlet flowrate. The mean ART of the de-
sign without perforated plates is 2,132 s, about
30% of the TRT, indicating a poor utilization of
the liquid volume. This clearly indicates that flow
is short-circuiting inside the skim tank. For the
case with perforated baffles, the ART of the pro-
duced water improved to 5,004 s, almost 70% of
the theoretical value, indicating a significant im-
provement of the volumetric utilization.
Furthermore, the residence time of the first par-
ticles exiting through the water outlet boundaries
was 2,446 s for the tank with baffles, almost five
times as long as for the tank without baffles (524 s).
Inlet
Inlet
Inlet
Inlet
Fig. 4. Geometric
details of the modeled
distribution pipes, with
inlet boundaries at the
red circles.
0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500 20,000 22,500 25,000
Time, s
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500 20,000 22,500 25,000
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

Time, s
Median retention time: 2,132 s
Minimum retention time: 524 s
Design with no bafe
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Median retention time: 5,004 s
Minimum retention time: 2,446 s
Maximum retention time: 35,657 s
Design with bafe
a)
b)
Fig. 5. Actual residence time histogram a) without perforated
bafes and b) with perforated bafes.
Fig. 6. Colored path lines indicate residence time of water
particles for the tank designs a) without perforated bafes and
b) with perforated bafes.
150 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Produced Water Report for Engineers and Industry Professionals
These results suggest a large improvement of liquid volume
utilization due to the placement of the perforated plates.
Figure 6 shows flow path lines colored by residence time
for cases without and with the perforated baffles. The two
large swirling patterns in the tank without baffles (Fig. 6a) are
characteristic of severe flow recirculation and short-circuiting.
When baffles are included (Fig. 6b), the path lines show sig-
nificantly reduced recirculation patterns, indicating better uti-
lization of the tank volume.
Carry-under of oil droplets in water phase. It is often de-
sirable to know what size oil droplets are easily skimmed off for
good oil/water separation. In order to evaluate the separation
performance of the skim tank with designed internals, the oil
particles of various sizes were injected from the inlet boundar-
ies, and the time history of the particles exiting through the
outlet boundaries was calculated. It should be noted that the
CFD modeling is unable to simulate the coalescence of oil
droplets over time. Therefore, the separation performance il-
lustrated here is the worst case.
Side views of the tank with particle tracking for 50-micron,
100-micron, 125-micron and 150-micron oil droplets are
shown in Fig. 7. Examination of these fig-
ures shows that substantial numbers of the
50-micron and 100-micron oil droplets
exit though the water outlet boundaries.
However, very few 125-micron particles es-
cape through the water outlet, and almost
negligible numbers of 150-micron droplets
leave through the water outlet boundaries.
In summary, with the implementation of
designed internals, any oil droplets larger
than 150-micron are likely to be skimmed
off inside the skim tank at a produced wa-
ter flowrate of 100,000 bpd. However, for
the case without any baffles, results show
that any droplets would need to be about
250 microns or larger to be skimmed off.
Thus, the skim tank with the recommend-
ed baffles can skim off oil droplets that are
much smaller than the tank without the
recommended baffles.
Figure 8 shows the percentage of oil
droplets of various sizes exiting through
the water outlet boundaries. For the case
with baffles, results show a more rapid
decline of the percentage of oil particles
exiting through the water outlets as a function of oil droplet
sizes. However, the results for the case without baffles show a
broader distribution, indicating poorer separation efficiency.
VESSEL PERFORMANCE
After installation of the new internals, the water flowrate was
doubled to 70,000 bpd (resulting in a 50% reduction in theo-
retical retention time). Inlet oil concentrations range from 150
ppm to 600 ppm depending on upstream operations and sea-
sonality. In winter, the outlet concentration with the lower flow-
rate and old internals design had ranged 100200 ppm. With
the new baffle design and higher flowrate, the outlet concentra-
tion ranges 80150 ppm. The summer outlet concentration has
remained in the 4080-ppm range, but with the higher water
flowrate. The lower oil concentrations have allowed the induced
gas flotation vessel following the skim tank to operate better in
an attempt to maintain oil-in-water concentrations below 30
ppm with the increased flowrate. These results were obtained
with intermittent skimming of the skim tank. Improved results
would be obtained with continuous skimming, but a larger vol-
ume of skim oil/water would need to be treated.
BAFFLE WALL INSTALLATION
Installation of the baffle system can be done in one of two
ways. To retrofit an existing tank, all materials must be dimen-
sioned to fit through a typical tank manway (36 in.). The pres-
ence of other appurtenances (heating systems, sparging pipe, ca-
thodic protection, etc.) inside the tank needs to be considered.
The scaffolding and lifting systems used can be labor and mate-
rial intensive, adding significantly to the cost of installation. The
baffle systems are then fabricated off the scaffold inside the tank.
First the structural support members in the steel framework are
assembled, next the mounting lattice, and then the high-density
polyethylene perforated sheets are put in place.
If, on the other hand, the baffle systems are to be installed
in a new tank, installation is much easier. An entire baffle wall
can be laid out and constructed adjacent to the new tank con-
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
O
i
l

d
r
o
p
l
e
t
s

e
x
i
t
i
n
g
t
h
r
o
u
g
h

w
a
t
e
r

o
u
t
l
e
t
,

%

Particle diameter, micron
Design with bafes
Design without bafes
Fig. 8. The percentage of oil droplets exiting through the water
outlet boundaries is plotted as a function of oil droplet size for
both tank designs.
Fig. 7. Particle tracking of a) 50-micron, b) 100-micron, c) 125-micron and d) 150-
micron oil droplets in the tank with bafes.
World Oil APRIL 2010 151
struction site and, once the shell of the tank is erected (but
before the roof structure is in place), the baffle walls can be
lifted and lowered into place with an onsite crane.
As stated above, the differential pressure across the non-void
area of the baffle walls imposes a significant force normal to the
wall. The bracing design and materials selection must be engi-
neered to account for this force. It should also be noted that all
attachment details for the baffle and weir system must comply
with API 650 (current version) material, fabrication, erection
and testing requirements. Other considerations involve corro-
sion protection for the new structure. Typically, produced water
is fairly anoxic and the baffle walls remain submerged, reducing
the expected rate of corrosion. However, the aqueous chemistry
is not always the same, and it is certainly worth considering pro-
tective coatings and/or passive cathodic protection (anodes) on
the steel portions of the structure.
CONCLUSIONS
Improvements can be made to older oil/water skim tanks
that will improve the flow patterns and volumetric utilization,
resulting in reduced oil-in-water concentrations or higher
flowrate capacities. Results from CFD modeling demonstrate
that improved internals designs can create flow patterns that
more effectively utilize the skim tank volume in oil/water sepa-
ration. Measured results confirm the modeling. The volumet-
ric utilization of the skim tank in this study was improved to
about 70%. Tanks with a larger diameter/height ratio would
realize a greater improvement. Generally, skim tanks are de-
signed with a diameter/height ratio of 2.0 or greater. WO
THE AUTHORS
Daniel W. Phelps is a Senior Process Consultant at Cameron. He has a
PhD degree in chemistry and several years experience providing tech-
nical evaluations and troubleshooting for oil and gas production and
processing. He has designed onshore and offshore oil, gas and water
processing equipment and has performed debottlenecking studies for
onshore and offshore oil and gas processing.
Raqul I. Khan is a Senior Process Consultant at Cameron and has ex-
tensive industrial experience using CFD modeling. He has worked in the
chemical and petrochemical industries on projects involving multiphase
ows, erosion, porous media, heat transfer, turbulent mixing, cavitation,
rotating machineries and valve design. He has a PhD degree in chemical
engineering from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Joseph M. Lee is Director of Process Solutions at Cameron. He has
over 30 years experience in the oil and gas industry with rms includ-
ing Natco, Amoco, BP and Halliburton. He holds BS, MS and PhD
degrees in chemical engineering. For the last four years, Dr. Lee has
served on the Society of Petroleum Engineers workshop and forum
committees to facilitate technology transfer to the oil and gas indus-
try. He has published more than 30 technical papers.
Paul Andrews performs facility engineering and project management
functions in support of Chevrons Cook Inlet, Alaska, onshore and off-
shore production facilities. He has an MEng degree in civil engineering
from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, and about ve years
of upstream oil and gas production experience.
Dan Marlowe manages chemical and corrosion programs in support
of Chevrons Cook Inlet onshore and offshore production facilities. His
responsibilities include meeting discharge water quality requirements
in accordance with NPDES regulations. He has a BEng degree in me-
chanical engineering from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas,
and about 15 years of upstream oil and gas production experience.
EVENT
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REAL-WORLD TECHNOLOGY TESTS
INDEPENDENT, OBJECTIVE AND PROVEN
by Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center +1 (888) 599-2200 www.rmotc.doe.gov
World Oil APRIL 2010 153
Large volumes of contaminated water are typically pro-
duced during the course of oil and gas operations, from drill-
ing, completion and production activities. Disposal or treat-
ment of this water poses significant operational and economic
challenges to oil and gas producers. In June 2009, Custom
Water Solutions partnered with the Rocky Mountain Oilfield
Testing Center to test a multistage fluid filtering system us-
ing new mechanical separation technology for cleanup of pro-
duced water and of mud pits.
TEST SEQUENCE
RMOTC partnered with Custom Water Solutions to test
oilfield wastewater from RMOTCs test site at the Teapot Dome
oil field north of Casper, Wyoming. The test was performed
June 1517, 2009, at the laboratory and workshop of Custom
Water Solutions in Mills, Wyoming. Testing, sampling and
sample handling were witnessed by a RMOTC staff member.
The water treatment system tested consisted of three prin-
ciple stages: 1) an oil separation stage using both gravity sepa-
ration and a filter medium with chemical affinity to hydrocar-
bon compounds; 2) a pre-treatment stage in which suspended
particulate matter was removed; 3) a reverse osmosis (RO) and
carbon filter stage to remove dissolved salts and minerals. Fig-
ure 1 illustrates the processing sequence.
On June 15, 250 gal of produced water were collected from
RMOTCs field test site, also known as Naval Petroleum Re-
serve No. 3 (NPR-3). The fluids were taken from the T/B-1-20
battery, which is a collection point for produced liquids from
the Second Wall Creek Formation. The water was pumped
into a polypropylene transport tank in the late morning when
the battery tank was almost full. Based on the large volume
of the storage battery tank (about 400 bbl), it was considered
reasonable to assume that, before the test water was taken,
most solids had time to settle to the bottom of the tank and
the free oil had completely separated from the water in the
tank. Because processing did not take place until the following
day, the produced water contaminants had the opportunity to
continue to settle and separate overnight. However, no oil film
was observed the following day.
Chemical affinity filtering. On June 16, the water was
circulated through a 10-in. filter unit containing three new fil-
ter cartridges designed by MyCelx Oil Removal Technologies.
The filter media employs a patented surfactant filter material
that exhibits high chemical affinity to hydrocarbon molecules,
and uses that affinity to remove residual oil from the produced
water. The media also filter out chlorinated solvents, PCBs,
organic solvents, pesticides, biocides and organically bound
metals. Figure 2 shows used filter cartridges (from a different
test) showing particulate matter that has built up on the out-
side of the filter cartridges.
The chemical affinity-based filtering process consumes very
little energy, requires very little differential pressure (less than
1 psi), and is scalable; multiple cartridges can be installed in
parallel to increase process flowrate. Individual cartridges are
available for flows ranging from 1 gal/min. to 780 gal/min.
Testing a multistage uid treatment
The treatment process investigated includes electro-coagulation and advanced
mechanical separation, as well as a low-pressure, chemical afnity-based lter.
Curt Johnson, Custom Water Solutions; Judd E. Sundine, Sundine Enterprises;
and Mike Curtis, RMOTC
Weir or
settling tank
Weir or
settling tank
Produced
oileld water
Chemical
afnity
lter
Electro-
coagulator
Advanced
mechanical
separation
(AMS) unit
Reverse
osmosis
Carbon
lter
Filter press
(solid to waste)
Processed
water
AMS backwash
liquid with
ltrate return
Filter press
liquids returns
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Performed in test sequence
Not performed
Sample 4
Sample 5
Fig. 1. Water treatment test procedure owchart.
154 APRIL 2010 World Oil
RMOTCIndependent, Objective and Proven
Electro-coagulation. Next, the water was treated with an
electro-coagulator, Fig. 3. The test employed a used laboratory
unit that ran on a 220-V supply with 180 A (39,600 watts).
Coagulation has the effect of ionizing small solid particles sus-
pended in the treatment water as the water passes between a
series of plates having opposing electrical charges. Solid sus-
pended particles become electrically charged and, therefore,
electromagnetically attracted to each other. The particles co-
agulate into coarser particles that either settle as a result of their
increased mass or can be more readily filtered due to their in-
creased size. The resulting solids are in an oxide form that can
be put into a non-hazardous landfill after separation.
The electro-coagulation process releases hydrogen, which
tends to foam and pick up particulate matter. This foam was
skimmed from the system. Electrocoagulation makes constit-
uents in the produced water separable, while advanced me-
chanical separation (AMS) filtering is used to actually remove
them from the water.
Electro-coagulation is a scalable process and generally can
process flowrates in multiples of 500 gal/min. However, the
unit used in this test was capable of conditioning 1 gal/min.
Settling. The electro-coagulated water was allowed to stand
overnight in a holding tank. Although overnight holding was
not an intended (or a necessary) part of the test sequence, it
was advantageous because it allowed the coalesced suspended
particles to settle overnight, thereby reducing the load on the
AMS media filtering step.
AMS filtering. On June 17, 60 gal of water was processed
through the AMS unit, which consisted of eight filter units each
with eight cartridges, Fig. 4. Under high pressure, the water
passes through the media filters, which trap suspended particles
greater than 5 microns. Pressure gauges on the control panel
indicate the pressure differential across the media cartridges. Pe-
riodically, as the unit detects a pressure gradient across the filter,
the unit enters a backwash cycle to clean the filters. Filtrate is
collected, then returned to the weir tank or disposed of.
During the test process, hydraulic backwash of the filter
cartridges occurred about every two minutes using 5% of the
total fluid volume. In a production scenario, that backwashed
liquid would be returned to the start tank, and the solids
would be compressed through a filter press.
AMS is a scalable process. The single unit used in this test
was capable of filtering 8 gal/min. to 75 gal/min. Units capable
of flowrates greater than 100 gal/min. are available.
Reverse osmosis. Forty-five gallons of partially processed
water was passed through an RO filter. The filtering process
was accelerated by two 150-psi pumps plumbed in an inline
configuration. The RO unit used in the test contains a very
fine, strong, semi-permeable membrane that removes, under
pressure, dissolved salts including fluoride, chlorine, calcium
and magnesium.
RO filters also remove some bacteria and viruses. Periodi-
cally, the solute that concentrates on one side of the membrane
must be flushed to remove the trapped oxides. Membrane
pore sizes can vary between 0.1 nm and 5,000 nm. Systems are
available in 500-gal/min. increments. RO is a high-pressure
and relatively slow, but scalable, process.
Carbon filtering. As a final step in the process, a few gallons
of processed water were then passed through a non-industrial
carbon filter. Industrial units are readily available.
Commonly called a polishing filter, the carbon filter is a
block of activated carbon that removes any negatively charged
contaminants from the processed water by means of chemi-
cal absorption. The carbon used has a very large surface area
(1 lb has 100 acres of surface area), and it is activated with a
positive charge to attract the contaminants. Carbon filtering
removes chlorine and volatile organic compounds. The effi-
cacy of carbon filtering is related to length of exposure and
flowrate. Carbon filters can also trap particles of sizes ranging
down to 0.550 microns, depending on filter specifications.
Carbon filtering is a scalable process.
Softening (commonly applied to reduce scale), pH adjust-
ment and ultraviolet filtration (to neutralize bacteria) were
considered but not included in the test sequence.
RESULTS
Fluid samples for lab analysis were taken at the following
stages of the test: start water (collected from the water zone
in the T/B-1-20 battery tank), post-chemical affinity filtration,
post-electro-coagulation (EC), post-AMS, AMS reject (not lab
tested), post-RO and post-carbon filter (CF). Figure 5 shows
the comparative clarity of each of the water samples analyzed.
Fig. 2. Used chemical afnity-based lter media.
Fig. 3. Electro-coagulation unit.
World Oil APRIL 2010 155
Five samples were taken at each stage of the test and then
sent for analysis to Energy Laboratories in Mills, Wyoming.
Notable changes in ions, metal content and other proper-
ties resulting from the water processing sequence are summa-
rized in Table 1. It can be observed that electro-coagulation is
effective at reducing calcium, magnesium and sulfate. AMS is
most beneficial at reducing turbidity and metals, and RO is
effective at further reducing turbidity and mineral ions from
the produced oilfield water.
During the test, the following were removed from the water:
93% of CO
3
, CaCo
3
, HCO
3
, calcium, chloride, magne-
sium, potassium, sodium and iron
100% of CO
3
, calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron
94% of total dissolved solids (TDS)
99% of turbidity.
The results reflect the equipment used and the processes
and procedures applied. The process is customizable (with cost
benefit impact) to meet the intended use of the processed water
and the volumes required. It was determined that the treatment
sequence employed could be improved by customizing the pro-
cess, such as by maintaining a longer residence time in settling
tanks. Further improvements could be realized by balancing
the pH (which could further improve coagulation and floc-
culation), by using finer filter media elements for the chemical-
affinity, AMS, RO and carbon filter elements, and by reducing
the flowrate. WO
THE AUTHORS
Curt Johnson is the President of Custom Water Solutions, and main-
tains businesses in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Casper, Wyoming.
His primary business is home construction, but he has spent the past
2 years gaining knowledge regarding water treatment in the oil indus-
try in Wyoming. Mr. Johnsons company has run several hundred water
tests on many types of wastewater.
Judd E. Sundine has more than 36 years of experience in the horti-
culture, wastewater and environmental elds. He earned a degree in
horticulture from Colorado State University and is President and Chief
Technical Ofcer of Sundine Enterprises Inc. Mr. Sundine is a specialist
in water and wastewater remediation, bioremediation, erosion control,
soil amendments, pond aeration, algae and weed control, oileld pro-
duced water reuse and reclamation, and animal waste remediation.
Mike Curtis has more than 30 years of oileld experience with expertise
in international eld development, production optimization and technol-
ogy development. He joined the Rocky Mountain Oileld Testing Center
project management team in 2008 and has special interest in uncon-
ventional energy sources. He holds a BS degree in geology from the
University College of Swansea in Wales.
Fig. 4. The advanced mechanical separation unit used in the
test lab, showing four of eight lter cylinders and one of two
hydraulic backwash pumps.
Fig. 5. Water samples taken (from left to right) before
treatment, after electro-coagulation, after AMS, after RO and
after carbon ltration.
Start Post-EC Post-AMS Post-RO Post-CF Removed Residual
Alkalinity, total as CaC0
3
, mg/L 1,790 1,760 1,760 46 79 96% 4%
Carbonate as C0
3
, mg/L 117 165 165 - - 100% 0%
Bicarbonate as HC0
3
, mg/L 1,950 1,820 1,810 57 97 95% 5%
Calcium, mg/L 11 - - - - 100% 0%
Chloride, mg/L 1,060 1,070 1,060 37 79 93% 7%
Magnesium, mg/L 3 2 2 - - 100% 0%
Potassium, mg/L 7 10 10 - - 100% 0%
Sodium, mg/L 1,660 1,650 1,630 40 85 95% 5%
Sulfate, mg/L 10 5 5 0 8 20% 80%
pH 7.79 8.72 8.68 9.02 7.67 2% 98%
TDS at 180C, mg/L 3,750 3,580 3,590 115 228 94% 6%
Turbidity, NTU
*
36.6 4.7 1.1 0.4 0.5 99% 1%
Iron, mg/L 0.6 0.7 0 0 0 100% 0%
*
Nephelometric turbidity units
TABLE 1. Produced water treatment results by stage
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World Oil APRIL 2010 157
People in industry
FMC Technologies Inc. has ap-
pointed John T. Gremp as President
and COO. He succeeds Peter D. Kin-
near as President. Since joining the
company in 1975, Gremp served in
a variety of operations management
roles, most recently as Executive VP
of Energy Systems. Robert L. Potter
will succeed Gremp as Executive VP of
Energy Systems, and will be responsible
for the Energy Processing and Energy
Production segment businesses. Previ-
ously, Potter was Senior VP of FMCs
Energy Processing and Global Surface
Wellhead businesses.
Michael Bellamy has been appoint-
ed General Manager of GEs PII Pipe-
line Solutions business. He has served
the last six years as General Manager
of Marketing Communications for GE
Oil & Gas, headquartered in Florence,
Italy. Bellamy joined GE through the ac-
quisition of PII in 2002. The company
also announced the retirement of John
Bucci, previous General Manager. Bucci
served with GE for 34 years.
Sir Ian Wood received the Energy
Institutes Cadman award, presented for
outstanding service to the international
petroleum industry. Wood is chairman
of energy services giant the Wood Group.
The Cadman award was created by the
Cadman Memorial Fund to commemo-
rate the late Lord Cadman, Chairman of
the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now
BP) and past President of the institute.
Paul Illingworth will join SSP Off-
shore Inc. as CEO. Illingworth is an ex-
perienced and respected executive in the
oating production industry with over
30 years of experience in the offshore
oil and gas business, prior to which he
served in the British Navy.
Oceaneering International Inc. has
promoted M. Kevin McEvoy to Execu-
tive VP and COO. He has been with
Oceaneering for 31 years, serving most
recently as Executive VP.
Vess Oil Corp. announced that Barry
Hill has been hired as VP and CFO. He
previously served as VP with Raymond
James in the Energy Investment Bank-
ing group. Vess Oil is an independent oil
and gas company operating primarily in
the Permian Basin and Mid-Continent
regions of the US.
GlobaLogix Inc., a Houston-based
oileld services company, announced
the addition of Ron Brogdon, who will
join the company as a Business Develop-
ment manager. Prior to joining Globa-
Logix, Brogdon served as a Business
Analyst and Co-architect at SunGard
Consulting Services, an upstream con-
sulting group.
HB Rentals, a Superior Energy Ser-
vices company, named Ken Ferguson
the Director of Global Business Devel-
opment. Before joining the company,
Ferguson served as the Business Devel-
opment Manager for Emtunga Offshore.
Also, Tim Murphy was named Technical
Sales and Marketing Manager. Murphy
previously served as a Quality Inspector
for SGS and a Project Manager for Con-
tainerhouse International Inc.
The Articial Lift Company Ltd.
(ALC) has promoted Peter Moulsdale
to Director and VP, Operations. Mouls-
dale joined ALC in 2007 and has played
a key role in the companys Rigless ESP
(electrical submersible pump) solution.
In his new position, he is responsible for
the companys operations. He has worked
globally in the articial lift and comple-
tions eld for much of his career.
Advanced Logistics LLC, a provider
of offshore marine and logistics manage-
ment software, named Stewart Soirez
as VP of Business Development. He will
also serve as a member of the executive
team that sets the companys strategic di-
rection. Soirez has 30 years of experience
in supply chain management, contract
development and customer relations.
Quest Offshore Resources Inc. ap-
pointed Bill Donaldson as Scotland/
North England manager. Donaldson
has over 30 years of experience in ma-
rine contracting in Africa, the North Sea
and the Middle East.
Transocean Ltd. named Steven L.
Newman as CEO, succeeding Robert
L. Long, who is retiring after 35 years
with the company. Newman has served
as President and COO since May 2008.
He previously held various senior man-
agement roles, including Executive
VP of Performance; Executive VP and
COO; Senior VP of Human Resourc-
es, Information Process Solutions, and
Treasury; and VP of Performance and
Technology.
Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp., an explo-
ration and production company with
assets in the Williston Basin of North
Dakota and Montana and in the Green
River Basin of southwest Wyoming,
has named James P. Henderson as its
CFO. He rejoined the company after
two years as Director of Finance for As-
pect Energy LLC, a privately held en-
ergy company. Henderson has over 22
years of oil and gas industry nancial
and reporting experience.
Houston-based Valerus Compression
Services named Scott McKinnon as VP
of Procurement and Frank Smith as VP
of Production Equipment. McKinnon
has more than 25 years of industry ex-
perience, previously serving at Ingersoll
Rand Co. as a sector VP. Smith served
previously as Executive VP of NATCO,
where he worked for over 17 years.
Gremp Potter
Ferguson Murphy
Donaldson Newman
The Pinnacle of Our Global Industry
9th Annual World Oil Awards
Nominations Open
16 April 2010 16 July 2010
In 2009, the petroleum industry responded to a challenging year
of global economic uncertainties by reducing costs, improving
efciencies and offering state-of-the-art technologies. On
October 14, the 9th Annual World Oil Awards will recognize the
industrys leading innovators and innovations that represent the
best technological achievements or contributions of July 1, 2009,
through June 30, 2010.
This years World Oil Awards gala will celebrate the industrys
best in 14 categories covering the entire spectrum of the upstream
oil and gas industry. From April 16 through July 16, 2010,
World Oil will be accepting nominations to honor our 2009
industry champions in each of these areas.
For more information:
www.Awards.WorldOil.com or email Events@Gulfpub.com
World Oil APRIL 2010 159
Companies in the news
VAM Drilling, a Vallourec com-
pany, has acquired Protools, a supplier
of bottomhole assembly (BHA) prod-
ucts. Based in Abu Dhabi, Protools was
formerly owned by Hunt Oiltools LLC.
Combined with its existing footprints in
the US, the Middle East and Europe, the
acquisition will make VAM Drilling the
only manufacturer of complete drilling
product solutions in the Middle East.
Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes,
a Vallourec subsidiary, will construct
a new, $650 million rolling mill in
Youngstown, Ohio. Te project includes
heat treatment and threading facilities.
Te mill will start up in the fourth quar-
ter of 2011 and will produce 2 - to 7-in.-
diameter OCTG. Another Vallourec
subsidiary, VAM USA, has started con-
struction on a 54,000-sq-ft R&D testing
facility located in Houston. It is expected
to open early in the fall of 2010.
Transocean Ltd. announced that
the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship
Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2, owned by a
joint venture with Pacic Drilling Ltd.,
has commenced operations for Reliance
Industries in India under a fve-year
drilling contract. Te dynamically posi-
tioned vessel features National Oilwell
Varco drilling packages, of-line tubular-
handling and stand-building capabilities,
advanced mud system designs, systems
for building, storing and running sev-
eral subsea trees, and ef cient riser and
BOP-handling systems. It has a variable
deckload of 20,000 mt and is equipped to
work in water depths of up to 12,000 ft
and construct wells up to 35,000 ft.
TDW Offshore Services AS an-
nounced that it has entered into a frame-
work contract with Statoil ASA to pro-
vide pipeline pressure isolation services
and equipment for its installations in the
Norwegian North Sea. Te agreement re-
quires TDW to supply pipeline pressure
isolation services with its remotely oper-
ated SmartPlug technology.
Superior Energy Services Inc. will
plug and abandon the 29 wells associat-
ed with Shells Bullwinkle, which is the
deepest fxed-leg production platform
on the Outer Continental Shelf. Su-
perior took possession of the platform,
which was installed in 1988, along with
related assets. It produces 4,000 boepd
and serves as a processing hub for third
parties. Superior has also sold a 49%
interest in the assets to Dynamic Off-
shore Resources, LLC, which will
operate the feld. Te platform will be
decommissioned at the end of its eco-
nomic life, and Shell has agreed to pay
Superior an undisclosed amount once
decommissioning is complete.
Deep Casing Tools, an Aberdeen-
based company, has changed its name
from Futuretec Ltd. Te company is de-
veloping a portfolio of deep well construc-
tion tools for its international network of
oil and gas exploration customers.
Schlumberger has acquired the pri-
vately owned French oilfeld services com-
pany Geoservicesa specialist in mud
logging, slickline and production surveil-
lance operations. Te total value of the
transaction, including net debt, is $1.07
billion. Geoservices, founded in 1958,
employs about 5,000 people in more than
50 countries worldwide. Te company
has invested heavily in new technology for
exploration and appraisal well activities,
particularly in deepwater environments.
Ion Geophysical Corp. announced
that it has completed a land seismic equip-
ment joint venture with BGP Inc., a sub-
sidiary of China National Petroleum
Corp. Te companies have received all
necessary government and regulatory ap-
provals in both the US and China. Te
joint venture company, named INOVA
Geophysical Equipment Ltd., will
ofer a comprehensive portfolio of ad-
vanced geophysical technologies used in
oil and gas exploration to land seismic
service providers. Oferings include en-
ergy source and source control systems,
land seismic recording systems and digi-
tal full-wave seismic sensors.
Total has signed an agreement to
acquire a 50% interest in Kazakhstans
Concession that is held by Oil Techno-
Group (OTG), the Kazakh subsidiary
of Polands Petrolinvest. Te roughly
5,500-sq-km onshore license is located
in northwestern Kazakhstan.
The Bourbon Evolution 800, the rst of 10 offshore vessels ordered in 2008, is ex-
pected to be delivered in summer, 2010. The large vessels of the GPA 696 design will
be dedicated to eld support operations and tailored to Bourbons specications. The
company worked with Guido Perla & Associates on the design of the vessel. The two
companies have collaborated for many years, most recently on the Bourbon Liberty se-
ries of AHTS and PSVs. The 10 units will be delivered between 2010 and 2012 by Sinopa-
cic shipyard in Zhejiang. With main systems redundancy, Bourbon Evolution 800 is
designed to be reliable in adverse conditions. The diesel-electric propulsion system will
consist of three stern Z-drives, two bow-tunnel thrusters and an azimuthing bow thruster,
with fully redundant engine rooms and thruster compartments. The vessel is equipped
with a VSAT communication system, allowing interconnection with phone and network
corporate systems. It has an open deck of 1,200 m
2
and extensive cargo capacity. It can
be used as an ROV support vessel, operating two ROVs simultaneously; a otel vessel
accommodating over 100 persons; a mini FPSO vessel that can store up to 24,000 bbl of
additional crude oil; and a wireline vessel for subsea well intervention support with 150-t
derrick capacities. It is equipped with two active heave-compensated cranes, with lift/
reach capabilities up to 150 t and 3,000-m water depth.
160 APRIL 2010 World Oil
New Products
Company press releases
PC pump drivehead
Te Moyno Ultra-Drive Model A30
drivehead from R&M Energy Systems
provides reliable performance and long
service life for downhole PC pumping
systems. Te A30 is completely compati-
ble with Moyno downhole pump systems
for both crude oil extraction and gas well
dewatering applications. Te drivehead
has superior dynamic wellhead sealing
capability, is easy to install, has safe and
consistent recoil control during shut-
down and a low profle design. It accom-
modates 1 -in. polished rods. Te mo-
tor support frame is designed to accept
electric motors up to 30 hp. Power is ap-
plied through a vertical input shaft in the
drivehead. Other features and benefts in-
clude a hollow shaft design that allows for
simple rotor space out, single-point belt
tension, hydraulic brake system for con-
trolled recoil, removable stuf ng box and
a two-piece hinged belt guard for rapid
sheave access.
www.rmenergy.com
Rugged CO
2
meter
Te ST75 fow meter from Fluid
Components International (FCI) pro-
vides precise direct mass fow mea-
surement of gases in an insertion-style
instrument that requires almost no
maintenance over a long life. Te meter
is ideal for the measurement of CO
2
,
which is commonly recovered from
natural gas wells, and is also used to en-
hance production from older oil wells.
Te ST75 is a rugged, reliable instru-
ment suitable for demanding environ-
ments. Designed for line sizes from
0.25 to 2.0 in. (6 to 51 mm), the ST75
provides three outputs: mass fowrate,
totalized fow and media temperature.
With accuracy to 1% of reading and
0.5% repeatability, the meters design
includes media temperature compen-
sation to ensure performance under
variable temperature conditions. Its
fow element is designed with no mov-
ing parts. It employs platinum RTD
sensors embedded in equal mass ther-
mowells with microprocessor electron-
ics that can be calibrated to laboratory
standards for CO
2
as well as many oth-
er gases. Te ST75 Flow Meter oper-
ates over a wide fow range, from 0.01
to 559 scfm depending on line size,
making it suited for both low-fow and
high-fow applications.
www.uidcomponents.com
CCTV for hazardous areas
R. Stahl has introduced a scalable
package of camera and recording sys-
tem for surveillance in hazardous areas
on gas and oil rigs. In addition to mak-
ing operations safer, it enables users to
carry out a thorough study of causes
and fx any problems in the case of in-
cidents. Te system supports both live
monitoring at HMI stations as well as
complete documentation of events. Te
standard package includes four cameras
whose video signals can be recorded
manipulation-proof for up to 10 days,
and also permits authorized remote ac-
cess to images via the internet. It can be
expanded to include up to four times
the number of cameras, and the stan-
dard 500 GB recording capacity can be
expanded to meet specifc application
Ball-activated drilling valve
Te Well Commander ball-activated drilling valve from
M-I Swaco allows operators to accomplish tasks such as
placing lost-circulation material or conditioning or displac-
ing wellbore fuids at high fowrates, while bypassing sen-
sitive downhole bottomhole assembly tools. Generally run
in the hole in the closed position, the tool remains inac-
tive until needed. Ten the operating ball is dropped and
pumped down to the tool. Pressuring up on the ball acti-
vates the tool, and the increased pressure unseats the ball,
which is expelled into the bypass ball catcher, and the ports
are locked open. To close, another ball is dropped, pressure
is increased, and the ports are closed as the tool deactivates.
Te same size operating ball is used to open and close the
ports. A smaller BHA-shutof ball can be dropped to pre-
vent fuid fow or solids deposition at the top of the BHA.
Up to seven complete cycles are possible on each trip, since
the bypass catcher has a 14-ball capacity. High circulation
rates will not cause the tool to function prematurely. Te
tool can assist in removing cuttings in high-angle/horizontal
wells, and can ef ciently displace fuids by boosting annular
velocities. It also permits easy spotting of coarse lost-circula-
tion material during operations. Other applications include
enhanced hole cleaning during hole-opening operations, managed pressure or
underbalanced drilling operations, and more ef cient pipe flling and draining
during trips.
www.miswaco.com
World Oil APRIL 2010 161
requirements. Resolutions of up to 704
576 at full PAL format can be selected
for the H.264 compressed digital video
fles. A pan/tilt/zoom control module is
available for the remote control of the
cameras. With a diameter of only 55
mm and 435 grams, the cameras can
be ft into very small spaces. Te fxed
viewing angle is 90 horizontally and
68 vertically.
www.stahl.de
Extended-life drilling motor
Mpact Downhole Motors has intro-
duced the model 775 7822 HTS drilling
motor. Te motor features the Mpact
114 stator elastomer, which outperforms
NBR and HNBR elastomers with ex-
tended life expectancy of over 4:1 and a
signifcant increase in performance and
reliability. Tis 7-in. drilling motor is
an ultra-slow-speed design (0.08 revolu-
tions per gallon), delivering more than
15,000 ft-lb of torque at 489-psi difer-
ential pressure. With a maximum power
rating of 192 hp, it has a fow range of
300900 gpm.
mpactmotors.com
Medium-pressure ball valves
Swagelok has released a larger size
of its FKB series medium-pressure ball
valve. Designed for improved cycle life
in the feld, the trunnion-style ball valves
provide a leak-tight seal for applications
up to 15,000 psig (1,034 bar) and fea-
ture the direct-load design, which deliv-
ers a consistent seal across a full range
of pressures. Stem and end connection
seals prevent shell leakage and provide
robust cycle life in severe conditions.
Te two-way 8FKB ball valve comple-
ments the original 6FKB ball valve
introduced in 2009. Te 8FKB, with
a 0.375-in. (9.52-mm) orifce, ofers
-in. gaugeable medium-pressure tube
ftting end connections or -in. female
NPT. All valves feature 316 stainless
steel body construction, and reinforced
PEEK seat seals. Tey are rated for tem-
peratures from 0 to 250F, and main-
tain a full pressure rating throughout
the entire operating temperature range.
Multiple o-ring materials are available,
including nitrile, fuoroelastomer and
perfuoroelastomer.
www. swagelok.com
Underreaming tool
Allamon Tool Co. has introduced the
Commander underreamer for wellbore
enlargement. Te tool is designed for ro-
bust applications and weak bottomhole
formations. It is the only underreamer
to provide fully opened cutters to their
intended diameter throughout the en-
tire hole section. Te cutters are manu-
factured with PDC material, and the
tools axial cam assures that the cutters
are rigidly supported at the desired
cutting diameter. Te capped housing
design and cutter spacing reduce vibra-
tion to the workstring and provide in-
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162 APRIL 2010 World Oil
New Products, cont.
creased torque resistance and stability.
It is readily activated with a ball drop.
www.allamontool.com
Infrared ame detector
General Monitors Multi-Spectrum
Infrared (MSIR) FL4000H fame de-
tector features a new housing for easy
installation that simplifes wiring and
other set-up tasks. Te FL4000H, with
its fame sensor incorporating neural
network technology, provides reli-
able fame monitoring with superior
false alarm immunity, a wide feld of
view and a long detection range. An
improved design permits cables to be
inserted quickly into the base of the
unit, which allows the detector to ft
in tight corners near ceilings and other
structures. Te devices detection algo-
rithm is based on mathematical models
that correlate certain patterns of infra-
red and visible radiation with the inci-
dence of fame. Te optical IR sensor
array and the neural network function
together as an adaptive and intuitive
decision-making mechanism, resulting
in a reliable scheme for discrimination
between actual fames and false alarm
sources.
www.generalmonitors.com
Industrial thermometer
protection
Winters Instruments has made the re-
movable Termowell standard on its in-
dustrial 5-in. and 9-in. solar digital and
hot water thermometers. Termowells
create sealed systems where temperature
measurement can be safely performed.
With the media contained, replacement
or service of thermometers can be per-
formed without draining or shutting
down the system. Te Termowells ofer
superior protection to thermometers by
isolating them from harmful or corro-
sive media, and also shield the sensitive
sensing element from high pressures.
For the TBM (bi-metal) series of ther-
mometers, various types of thermowells
can be used. Industrial, sanitary, fanged,
weld-in, socket-weld and bimetal-type
thermo wells are available.
www.winters.com
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- A full-version Canadian outlook, with a focus on oil sands
- International coverage on current projects and drilling activity broken out by country regions
The full presentation by the World Oil Editorial Staff, with accompanied editorial speeches, from
the 2010 World Oil Forecast Breakfast given on January 29, 2010.
Compiled together for the rst time are detailed industry statistics and data on worldwide drilling,
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- A history of US drilling totals dating from 1859 to present
- US wildcat well history
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164 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Advertisers in this issue
This Advertisers Index and procedure for securing additional information is provided as a service to World Oil advertisers and a convenience
to our readers. Gulf Publishing Company is not responsible for omissions or errors.
Advertiser Page Advertiser Page Advertiser Page
Website Website Website
ABV Energy SpA .....................................................122
www.abvenergy.com
Acergy ......................................................................120
www.acergy-group.com
Aker Solutions ...........................................................74
www.akersolutions.com/drillingequipment
ALCOA Oil & Gas .................................................168
www.alcoaoilandgas.com
American Block .........................................................54
www.americanblock.com
American Petroleum Institute ...................................39
www.api.org
At Balance ..................................................................81
www.atbalance.com
ATV SpA ......................................................... 126-127
www.atvspa.com
BJ Services .................................................................63
www.bjservices.com
Burgess Manufacturing, Inc.......................................70
www.burgess-mfg.com
Cameron ......................................................................5
www.c-a-m.com/fastrac
Cameron .............................................................. 26-28
www.c-a-m.com/camserv
Ceradyne, Inc ............................................................46
www.ceradyne.com
Champions Pipe & Supply ........................................64
www.championspipe.com
CNPC GWDC .......................................................100
www.cnlc.cn
Contitech ...................................................................24
www.contitech-online.com
Cudd Energy Services ................................................31
www.cudd.com
Cudd Well Control ....................................................73
www.cuddwellcontrol.com
Cummins Inc ............................................................61
www.cumminsoilandgas.com
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Corp ......................... 6-7
www.cwfc.com
DMG World Media ................................................134
www.globalpetroleumshow.com
Doris Engineering ...................................................135
www.doris-engineering.com
Downhole Products ...................................................99
www.downhole.org/zerofail
Dragon Products, Ltd ..........................................37, 53
www.dragonproductsltd.com
Dresser-Rand .............................................................59
www.dresser-rand.com
Drilling Controls Inc. ................................................84
www.dcitype80.com
Drillmec SpA ...........................................................124
www.drillmec.com
Dyna-Drill Technologies ...........................................88
www.dyna-drill.com
Dyna-Mac Engineering .............................................67
www.dyna-mac.com
DYNAenergetics .......................................................91
www.dynaenergetics.com
Echometer Company ..............................................103
www.echometer.com
Expro Group (North Sea) ..........................................62
www.exprogroup.com
F.O.C. Ciscato SpA .................................................130
www.foc.it
FAST Srl ..................................................................138
www.fastoilequipment.com
FMC Technologies ....................................................12
www.fmctechnologies.com
Fugro ........................................................................85
www.fugro.com/askfugro
Global Energy Systems ..............................................56
www.glb-energy.com
Gulf Publishing Company
World Oil Circulation ...........................................156
www.worldoil.com
Marketing In The Oilfield Conference ................151
www.gulfpub.com/mito
Womens Global Leadership Conference ..............161
www.wglnetwork.com
World Oil Awards ................................................158
www.awards.worldoil.com
World Oil Forecast And Data Book .....................163
www.gulfpub.com
Gusto MSC .............................................................123
www.gustomsc.com
Halliburton ................................................................10
www.halliburton.com
High Pressure Equipment Co. ...................................90
www.highpressure.com
Industrial Rubber ........................................................4
www.iri-oiltool.com
ITS Energy Services ...................................................32
www.its-energyservices.com
Jet-Lube ...................................................................111
www.jetlube.com
K.C.I. BV ................................................................131
www.kci.nl
L.C.M. Italia SpA ....................................................142
www.lcmitalia.com
LeTourneau Technologies ........................................167
www.letourneautechnologies.com
Leutert .....................................................................119
www.leutert.com
LTI Offshore Products ...............................................87
www.lti-offshore.com
M & D Industries Of Louisiana ................................49
www.ultrasealinc.com
M-I Swaco .................................................................55
www.miswaco.com
Magnum Oil Tools International ..............................57
www.magnumoiltools.com
Metrolog ..................................................................116
www.metrolog.com
MTU .........................................................................97
www.mtu-online.com
National Oilwell Varco ................................................2
www.nov.com/rig
National Oilwell Varco ..............................................40
www.nov.com/fgspipe
National Oilwell Varco ..............................................20
www.nov.com/xlsystems
Newpark Drilling Fluids .............................................8
www.newparkdf.com
Nomads ...................................................................134
Offshore Technology Conference ............................114
www.otcnet.org/2010
Oilfield Christian Fellowship .....................................86
www.oilfieldchristianfellowship.com
Oilfield Improvements Inc. .....................................101
www.rodguides.com
OMC SCRL ..............................................................79
www.omc.it
ONS ........................................................................152
www.ons.no
Packers Plus ...............................................................45
www.packersplus.com
Permian Basin Intl Oil Show ..................................102
www.pbioilshow.org
Pride International .....................................................82
www.prideinternational.com
Prysmian SpA ..........................................................146
www.prysmian.com
R&M Energy Systems ...............................................96
www.rmenergy.com
RE.MAC.UT Srl .......................................................98
www.remacut.com
RWE Dea AG ............................................................93
www.rwedea.com
Saint-Gobain Oil & Gas Group ..............................109
www.oilandgas.saint-gobain.com
Sandvik Steel Ab ......................................................128
www.smt.sandvik.com/uk
Schlumberger.............................................................13
www.slb.com/stethoscope
Schlumberger ............................................................22
www.slb.com/ic
Schlumberger ..........................................................107
www.slb.com/carbostim
Society Of Petroleum Engineers ..............................162
www.spe.org/atce
Society Of Petroleum Engineers ..............................104
www.spe.org/join
Stallion Oilfield Services ............................................50
www.stallionoilfield.com
Swagelok Co. ...........................................................113
www.swagelok.com/value
T3 Energy Services ....................................................18
www.t3energy.com
Technogenia ..............................................................89
www.technogenia.com
Tenaris .......................................................................47
www.tenaris.com/tenarishydril
Tesco Corporation .....................................................35
www.tescocorp.com
The Lee Company .....................................................92
www.theleeco.com/mpsv
Timken Company .....................................................77
www.timken.com/products/alloysteel
Valbart Srl ................................................................136
www.valbart.com
Van Beest Bv ............................................................131
www.vanbeest.com
Vicinay Cadenas S.A. ..............................................144
www.vicinaycadenas.com
Volant Products Inc. ............................................42, 48
www.volantproducts.ca
Weatherford ...............................................................14
www.weatherford.com
Weatherford ...............................................................15
www.weatherford.com/micro-seal
WEI-Well Equipments International srl ..................133
www.wei.it
WEI Srl ...................................................................117
www.wei.it
WesternGeco Limited ................................................16
www.westerngeco.com/pofq
Wild Well Control, Inc. ............................................43
www.wildwell.com
William Jacob Management ......................................60
www.williamjacob.com
Wood Group ESP .....................................................94
www.woodgroup-esp.com
Wood Group Surface Pumps .....................................69
www.woodgroupsurfacepumps.com
World Oil Marketplace .............................................165
World Oil APRIL 2010 165
World Oil Marketplace To place an ad, call 713/525-4658 or email: classifed@worldoil.com
EQUIPMENT
World Oil Marketplace To place an ad, call +1 (713) 520-4426 or email: classified@worldoil.com
Ron Higgins, Publisher
Houston Office:
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020,
Houston, Texas, 77046 USA
Phone: +1 (713) 529-4301, Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433
E-mail: ron.higgins@worldoil.com
www.worldoil.com
North America Advertising Sales
LA, MS, TX
Don DePugh
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, TX 77046
Phone: +1 (713) 520-4435, Fax: +1 (713) 520-4495
E-mail: don.depugh@gulfpub.com
AR, KS, MO, OK, TX
Morgan Mascio
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, TX 77046
Phone: +1 (713) 525-4660, Fax: +1 (713) 525-4655
E-mail: morgan.mascio@gulfpub.com
AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, FL, IA, ID, IL, IN, GA,
KY, MD, MI, MN, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OH,
OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY and
WESTERN CANADA
Andy McDowell
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, TX 77046
Phone: +1 (713) 520-4463, Fax: +1 (713) 525-4655
E-mail: andy.mcdowell@gulfpub.com
CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT and EASTERN
CANADA
Merrie Lynch
20 Park Plaza, Suite 517, Boston, MA 02116
Phone: +1 (617) 357-8190, Fax: +1 (617) 357-8194
E-mail: merrie.lynch@gulfpub.com
Outside North America
Advertising Sales
AUSTRALIA
Brian Arnold
4 Peggs Place, Leeming 6149
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Phone: +61 (8) 9332-9839, Fax: +61 (8) 9313-6442
E-mail: australia@gulfpub.com
BRAZIL
Alfred Bilyk
Brazmedia
Rua General Jardim, 633 Cj 61
01223 011 So Paulo SP, Brazil
Phone/Fax: +55 (11) 3237-3269
E-mail: brazil@gulfpub.com
ITALY, EASTERN EUROPE
Fabio Potesta
Mediapoint & Communications SRL
Corte Lambruschini-Corso Buenos Aires, 8
5 Piano-Interno 7, 16129 Genova, Italy
Phone: +39 (010) 570-4948, Fax: +39 (010) 553-0088
E-mail: fabio.potesta@gulfpub.com
FRANCE, GREECE, NORTH AFRICA, SPAIN,
PORTUGAL, SOUTHERN BELGIUM,
LUXEMBOURG, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY,
AUSTRIA
Catherine Watkins
Ohana, 30 rue Paul Vaillant Couturier
78114 Magny-les-Hameaux, France
Phone: +33 (0) 1 30 47 92 51, Fax: +33 (0) 1 30 47 92 40
E-mail: catherine.watkins@gulfpub.com
RUSSIA, FSU
Lilia Fedotova
Anik International & Co., Ltd.
10/2, Build.1, Bolshoy Kharitonyevskii Lane
103062 Moscow, Russia
Phone/Fax: +7 (495) 628-10-33
E-mail: lilia.fedotova@gulfpub.com
JAPAN
Yoshinori Ikeda
Pacific Business Inc.
Matsuda Bldg., 2-4-6, Nihonbashi Kayabacho
Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 103-0025, Japan
Phone: +81 (3) 3661-6138, Fax: +81 (3) 3661-6139
E-mail: japan@gulfpub.com
KOREA
Joong Hyon Kwon & JES Media, Inc.
2nd Fl., Jinseung Bldg., 267-1, Myungil-Dong,
Kangdong-Gu, Seoul 134-070 Korea
Phone: +82 (2) 481-3411, Fax: +82 (2) 481-3414
E-mail: korea@gulfpub.com
INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND
Peggy Thay
Publicitas Singapore Pte Ltd
72 Bendemeer Road
#02-20 The Luzerne
Singapore 339941
Phone: +65 6836 2272, Fax: +65 6297 7302
E-mail: singapore@gulfpub.com
PAKISTAN
S. E. Ahmed
Intermedia Communications
G.P.O. Box 18020, B-138 Block D North Nazimabad
Karachi-74700, Pakistan
Phone: +92 (21) 663-4795, Fax: +92 (21) 663-4795
UNITED KINGDOM, NETHERLANDS, NORTHERN
BELGIUM, SCANDINAVIA
Peter Gilmore
57 Keyes House, Dolphin Square, London, SW1V 3NA
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)20 7834 5559, Fax: +44 (0)20 7834 0600
E-mail: peter.gilmore@gulfpub.com
Classified Sales
JNette Davis-Nichols
Phone: +1 (713) 520-4426, Fax: +1 (713) 525-4655
E-mail: jnette.davis@gulfpub.com
World Oil advertising sales offices
Do you think advertising works?
It just did.
Call (713) 520-4426
for information.
W
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M
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Books
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Conference/Seminars
Consulting Services
Employment
Equipment
Idle Assets
Invitation to Bid
Legal Notices
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SERVICES
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Licenses available to non
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166 APRIL 2010 World Oil
Meetings & events
APRIL
SWPSC (Southwestern Petroleum Short
Course), Lubbock Memorial Civic Cen-
ter, Lubbock, TX, April 1922. Contact:
Ronda Brewer, SWPSC, Phone: +1 (806)
742-1727. Fax: +1 (806) 742-3502.
Email: ronda.brewer@ttu.edu.
RusBBTC (5th Russia & CIS Bottom of the
Barrel Technology Conference), Mos-
cow, Russia, April 2122. Contact: Euro
Petroleum Consultants, Phone: +44 (0)
20 7357 8394. Email: claire_butler@eu-
ropetro.com.
SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium,
Renaissance Hotel, Tulsa, OK, April 26
28. (See box for contact information.)
SPE Tight Gas Completions: Technology Ap-
plications and Best Practices Workshop,
Denver, CO, April 2729. (See box for
contact information.)
MAY
OTC (Ofshore Technology Conference), Reli-
ant Center, Houston, TX, May 36. Con-
tact: OTC, Phone: +1 (972) 952-9494.
Fax: +1 (972) 952-9435. Email: service@
otcnet.org. Internet: www.otcnet.org.
Asia BBTC (4th Asia Bottom of the Barrel
Technology Conference), Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, May 1819. Contact: Euro Pe-
troleum Consultants, Phone: +44 (0) 20
7357 8394. Email: claire_butler@euro-
petro.com.
SPE International Conference on Oilfeld
Corrosion, Aberdeen Exhibition and Con-
ference Centre, Aberdeen, UK, May 2425.
(See box for contact information.)
SPE International Conference on Oilfeld
Scale, Aberdeen Exhibition and Confer-
ence Centre, Aberdeen, UK, May 2627.
(See box for contact information.)
JUNE
SPEE (Society of Petroleum Evaluation En-
gineers), 47th Annual Meeting, Fairmont
Empress, Victoria, BC, Canada, June 58.
Contact: SPEE, Phone: +1 (713) 651-
1639. Fax: +1 (713) 951-9659. Email:
info@SPE.org.
ALRDC (Artifcial Lift Research and Develop-
ment Council), 2010 Appalachian Basin
Gas Well Deliquifcation Seminar, Mari-
etta College, Marietta, Ohio, June 78.
Contact: ALRDC, Internet: www.alrdc.
com/workshops/2010_AppalachianGas-
WellDeliquifcationSeminar.
Global Petroleum Show & Conference,
Stampede Park, Calgary, AB, June 810.
Contact: DMG World Media, Phone: +1
(888) 799-2545. Fax: +1 (403) 245-8649.
SPE 72nd EAGE Conference & Exhibition
incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2010,
Centre Convencions Internacional, Bar-
celona, Spain, June 1417. (See box for
contact information.)
API (American Petroleum Institute), Wash-
ington, DC, June 28July 3. Contact:
API, Phone: +1 (202) 682-8000. Internet:
www.api.org/meetings.
AUGUST
Gulf Publishing Events, Marketing in the
Oilfeld Conference, Omni Hotel, Hous-
ton, TX, Aug. 18. (See box for contact in-
formation.)
NAPE Summer Expo, George R. Brown Con-
vention Center, Houston, TX, Aug. 1920.
Contact: NAPE, Phone: +1 (817) 306-
7171. Fax: +1 (817) 847-7703. Email:
info@napeexpo.com.
SIPES (Society of Independent Professional
Earth Scientists), 47th Annual Meeting,
Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Colorado
Springs, CO, Aug. 2124. Contact SIPES,
Phone: +1 (214) 363-1780. FAX: +1 (214)
363-8195 Email: sipes@sipes.org.
ONS 2010 (Ofshore Northern Seas),
Stavanger, Norway, Aug. 2427. Contact:
ONS, Phone: +47 5184 9040. Email:
info@ons.no. Internet: www.ons.no.
SEPTEMBER
EAGE (European Association of Geoscien-
tists & Engineers), Near Surface 2010,
ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, Sept. 68.
Contact: EAGE, Phone: +31 88 995
5055. Fax: +31 30 634 3534. Email:
spb2010@eage.org.
Gulf Publishing Events, High Pressure, High
Temperature Drilling & Completions
Conference, Houston, TX, Sept. 1415.
(See box for contact information.)
ALRDC (Artifcial Lift R&D Council),
2010 International Sucker Rod Pump-
ing Workshop, Wyndham Hotel, Dal-
las, TX, Sept. 1617. Contact: Dr. Jim
Lea, Email: jamesfea@aol.com. Internet:
www.alrdc.com.
SPE Annual Technical Conference and Ex-
hibition, Florence, Italy, Sept. 1922.
(See box for contact information.)
South East Asia Australia Offshore Confer-
ence, Darwin Convention Centre, Dar-
win, Northern Territory, Australia, Sept.
2224. Contact IIR Conferences, Phone:
+61 2 9080 4090. Fax: +61 2 9299 3109.
Email: info@iir.com.au.
IADC Drilling HSE Europe Conference &
Exhibition, Mvenpick Hotel Amster-
dam City Center, Amsterdam, Sept. 29
30. (See box for contact information.)
OCTOBER
SPE Middle East Health, Safety, Security,
and Environment Conference and Exhi-
bition, Manama, Bahrain, Oct. 46. (See
box for contact information.)
Texas A&M University Turbomachinery
Laboratory, Turbomachinery Sympo-
sium, George R. Brown Convention
Center, Houston, TX, Oct. 47. Contact:
TAMU, Phone: +1 (979) 845-7417. Fax:
+1 (979) 845-1835. Email: inquiry@
turbo-lab.tamu.edu.
World Oil/Gulf Publishing Events, World
Oil Awards, Houston, TX, Oct. 14. (See
box for contact information.)
SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysicists),
International Exposition and 80th Annual
Meeting, Denver, CO, Oct. 1721. Con-
tact: SEG, Email: meetings@seg.org.
Permian Basin International Oil Show, Odessa,
TX, Oct. 1921. Contact: PBIOS, Phone: +1
(432) 367-1112. Fax: +1 (432) 367-1113.
Email: pbioilshow@pbioilshow.org.
Gulf Publishing Events, Womens Global
Leadership Conference, Houston, TX, Oct.
2728. (See box for contact information.)
NOV
SPE/IADC Asia Pacifc Drilling Technol-
ogy Conference and Exhibition, Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam, Nov. 13. (See box
for contact information.)
IADC General Meeting, Hyatt Regency Riv-
erwalk, San Antonio, TX, Nov. 1112.
(See box for contact information.)
PESGB (Petroleum Exploration Society
of Great Britain), PETEX 2010, Earls
Court 2, Warwick Road, London, Nov.
2325. Contact PESGB, Phone: +44 (0)
20 7408 2000. Fax: +44 (0) 20 7408
2050. Email: petex@pesgb.org.uk.
OSEA 2010, 18th International Oil & Gas
Exhibition & Conference, Suntec, Singa-
pore, Nov. 30Dec. 3. Contact: Singapore
Exhibition Services Pte Ltd, Phone: +65
6233 6638. Fax: +65 6233 6633. Email:
mg@sesallworld.com.
IADC (International Association of Drilling
Contractors), Contact: IADC, Phone:
+1 (713) 292-1945. Fax: +1 (713)
292-1946. Email: info@iadc.org.
SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers),
Contact: SPE, Phone: +1 (972) 952-
9393. Fax: +1 (972) 952-9435. Email:
spedal@spe.org. Internet: www.spe.org.
World Oil/Gulf Publishing Events Con-
tact: Gulf Events, Phone: +1 (713)
529-4301. Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433.
Email: events@gulfpub.com.
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SPRI NG 2010 SOFTWARE REFERENCE 3
Publisher
Bill Wageneck
Production Manager
Jessica Crowley
Cover Design
Amy Dodd
Advertising Production Manager
Cheryl Willis
Advertising Sales
Laura Kane
Phone: +1 (713) 520-4449
Gulf Publishing Company
P.O. Box 2608
Houston, Texas 77252-2608
Phone: +1 (713) 529-4301
Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433
A SUPPLEMENT TO
S p r i n g 2 0 1 0
CONTENTS
Advertising Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3031
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Budgeting, Capital Allocation & Planning . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Business Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Enterprise Operations Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Land and Leasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Plant Lifecycle and Performance Monitoring . . . . . . . . . .5
Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
DOWNSTREAM
Alarm Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Asset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Collaboration and Knowledge Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Design, Construction and Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Dynamic Simulation and Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Energy Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Enterprise Portal Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Online Monitoring & Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Planning, Scheduling and Blending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Predictive Maintenance and Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Process Control and Information Systems . . . . . . . . . . .16
Process Engineering and Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Rening, Petrochemical and Gas Processing . . . . . . . . . .19
SIS/Safety Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
MIDSTREAM
Estimating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
UPSTREAM
Alarm Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Asset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Design, Construction and Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Field Data Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Process Control and Information Systems . . . . . . . . . . .26
Process Engineering and Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Production Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Production Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Well Log Data Access and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
upstream / midstream / downstream
Visit the Software Reference Website: www.gulfpub.com/gpc/
4 SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010
BUDGETING, CAPITAL
ALLOCATION AND PLANNING
3esi
#200, 1601 Westmount Road N.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2N 3M2
Canada
Phone: 403-270-3270
Fax: 403-270-3343
E-mail: info@3esi.com
www.3esi.com
Company Bio:
3esi is an international E&P, Software and Ser-
vices Company committed to serving the Oil
and Gas industry by creating Integrated Busi-
ness Planning and Capital Management Soft-
ware Solutions designed to increase ef ciency
by streamlining all of the processes associated
with the Oil and Gas Value Chain.
Products:
esi.manage is an Integrated Business Planning
and Capital Management solution that sup-
ports the E&P processes focused on managing
the portfolio of opportunities (projects) from
the planning stages through execution and look-
backs. esi.manage allows companies to collect
and analyze opportunities, perform portfolio
analysis in order to create Long Term Plans and
Budgets. esi.manage ofers the capability of
importing actuals from 3rd party applications
to allow companies to prepare variance reports
and perform look-backs analysis.
esi.manage improves an E&P companies busi-
ness results through superior decision making
due to enhanced corporate agility and improved
data quality; by entrenching best practices and
key business processes and by improving work-
force efectiveness.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-401
BUSINESS INTEGRATION
m:pro IT Consult GmbH
Kirchgasse 47
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 611 39843 0
Fax: +49 611 39843 12
E-mail: info@mpro-it.com
www.mpro-it.com
Company Bio
m:pro IT Consult is a project services and soft-
ware products company which enables petro-
leum refning, petrochemical and other indus-
tries to achieve total integration of information
sources and applications, from business systems,
ERP and supply chain management through to
plant information, production planning, sched-
uling and operations decision support.
Products:
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solu-
tions - easy and fast to implement - which truly
integrate the production and business applica-
tions required to manage the overall assets.
m:pro enables, consult and assists business
process improvements, especially for refning
supply chain management (SCM).
Te m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and
applications including ERP, planning, schedul-
ing, functional databases, plant information
systems, forecasting in a phased justifed ap-
proach. Te m:ip enables and improves the use
of best-in-class software, plant and business ap-
plications = asset maximization.
Te m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our
integration, data storage/management, and
business intelligence back-end. Te m:owh is
based on standard and open relational data-
base technology.
Te m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
fully web-enabled common graphical user in-
terface including build and administration
tools. Te m:exp can run as the portal or can
seamlessly be embedded in popular web portal
environments.
m:pro provides standard applications/inter-
faces for:
Production planning, scheduling and blending
Performance monitoring and dashboards
Data and process quality
Information analysis, visualization, fow-
sheeting, trending and reporting
Featured applications/interfaces are:
Analyzer Monitoring
Blend Monitoring and Reporting
Crude Composition Tracking
Crude Scheduling
GRTMPS Planning Interface
Heat Exchanger Monitoring
KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual
Lab Interface and Reporting
LP Data Collector
Oil Movement Logging
ORION Scheduling Interface
PIMS Planning Interface
Quality Tracking
Tank Calculation System
www.info.hotims.com/30874-402
ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT
Oildex
1999 Broadway, Suite 1900
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: 303-863-8600
Toll Free: 888-922-1222
Fax: 303-863-0505
E-mail: info@oildex.com
www.oildex.com
Other Oildex Of ce Locations:
11777 Katy Freeway, Suite 350
Houston, Texas 77079
Phone: 281-741-6300
Fax: 281-741-6296
Company Bio:
Oildex is the energy industrys leading provider
of ePayables, digital data, workfow, and spend
analysis solutions. With Oildex, companies can
do more in less time, and managers can get up-
to-the-minute data to help them make well-in-
formed decisions. Tats why today, more than
8,400 companies depend on Oildex to receive
and process their electronic invoices, check
stubs, and joint interest bills.
Service products & descriptions:
Oildex provides software solutions to com-
panies looking to get the most out of their
resources, so they can quickly and accurately
process, track, and manage critical business in-
formation. Oildex is the energy industry leader
when it comes to supplying digital data, work-
fow, and spend analysis solutions to companies
that want to boost productivity and cut costs.
Proven Technology to Transform the Business
of Energy:
Spendworks - Oildexs ePayables (EIPP) sys-
tem for simplifying the way companies manage
invoices and track spending.
Checkstub Connect (CDEX) Te industrys
largest eRevenue data exchange which speeds-
up the processing of check stub data.
JIB Connect - Oildexs ePayables, joint inter-
est bill exchange for automating JIB processing
and eliminating routine monthly data entry.
CDEX Complete - Te industrys only eRev-
enue solution to address time-consuming check
stub detail. It eliminates hand-keying and con-
verts paper check stub data into a digital, up-
loadable format.
Owner Relations Connect - Oildexs eInfor-
mation, owner-relations tool for providing se-
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE Business Management
5
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE Business Management
cure web access to monthly statements of rev-
enue, production, gas balance, JIBs, frequently
asked questions, and more.
Oildex Helps Energy Companies:
Save time & work smart
Spot opportunities
Cut up to 70% of processing costs
Track revenue & expenses
Collaborate via the Internet
www.info.hotims.com/30874-403
LAND AND LEASING
geoLOGIC systems ltd.
900, 703 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2P 0T9
Phone: 403 262-1992
Fax: 403-262-1987
E-mail: sales@geologic.com
www.geologic.com
Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. provides well data and
integrated software solutions to the energy and
production industry. Te company is an inno-
vator in supplying data in more accessible and
usable forms so clients can make better deci-
sions - from the well head to senior levels of
accounting and administration.
Products:
geoSCOUT
TM
is a fully integrated, Windows-
based exploratory system that combines pre-
sentation-quality mapping and cross-section
tools with data handling and analysis soft-
ware. It integrates public and proprietary data
on wells, well logs (Raster and LAS), land,
pipelines and facilities, felds and pools, and
seismic studies. It includes powerful, easy-
to-use tools for searching, viewing, mapping,
reporting, graphing, analysis and managing
information.
Te gDC
TM
(geoLOGIC Data Center) is an
online exploration information system that
gives users instant access, through their choice
of software, to high quality data in the open
Public Petroleum Data Model. Extremely fast
and reliable, the gDC gives access to general
well data, including geoLOGIC Tops, Original
Operator data, DST and other well test data,
directional well data, land data, and LAS and
Raster log data.
petroCUBE
TM
is an innovative suite of prod-
ucts that provide unbiased, consistent statis-
tical insights that can help you make more
proftable decisions about petroleum plays.
From reserve and production data through to
full-cycle economics, petroCUBE gives you
immediate access to a full spectrum of current
geostatistical, technical and fnancial informa-
tion and comprehensive analytical tools. pet-
roCUBE instantly delivers the data engineers
and geologists need to accurately assess risk
and justify exploration and development pro-
posals before wells are drilled.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-404
PLANT LIFECYCLE AND
PERFORMANCE MONITORING
m:pro IT Consult GmbH
Kirchgasse 47
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 611 39843 0
Fax: +49 611 39843 12
E-mail: info@mpro-it.com
www.mpro-it.com
Company Bio:
m:pro IT Consult is a project services and soft-
ware products company which enables petro-
leum refning, petrochemical and other indus-
tries to achieve total integration of information
sources and applications, from business systems,
ERP and supply chain management through to
plant information, production planning, sched-
uling and operations decision support.
Products:
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solutions -
easy and fast to implement - which truly integrate
the production and business applications required
to manage the overall assets.
m:pro enables, consult and assists business pro-
cess improvements, especially for refning sup-
ply chain management (SCM).
Te m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and
applications including ERP, planning, schedul-
ing, functional databases, plant information
systems, forecasting in a phased justifed ap-
proach. Te m:ip enables and improves the use
of best-in-class software, plant and business ap-
plications = asset maximization.
Te m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our in-
tegration, data storage/management, and business
intelligence back-end. Te m:owh is based on
standard and open relational database technology.
Te m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
fully web-enabled common graphical user in-
Select 402 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
6 SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE Business Management UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
terface including build and administration
tools. Te m:exp can run as the portal or can
seamlessly be embedded in popular web portal
environments.
m:pro provides standard applications/inter-
faces for:
Production planning, scheduling and blending
Performance monitoring and dashboards
Data and process quality
Information analysis, visualization, fowsheeting,
trending and reporting
Featured applications/interfaces are:
Analyzer Monitoring
Blend Monitoring and Reporting
Crude Composition Tracking
Crude Scheduling
GRTMPS Planning Interface
Heat Exchanger Monitoring
KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual
Lab Interface and Reporting
LP Data Collector
Oil Movement Logging
ORION Scheduling Interface
PIMS Planning Interface
Quality Tracking
Tank Calculation System
www.info.hotims.com/30874-402
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Codeware, Inc.
Codeware, Inc.
5224 Station Way
Sarasota, FL 34233
United States
Phone: (941) 927-2670
Fax: (941) 927-2459
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com
www.codeware.com
Company Bio:
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu-
sively on providing the most comprehensive
software for the design and analysis of ASME
vessels and exchangers. Codewares Austin,
Texas based development team has the exper-
tise needed to understand the complexities of
the Code rules and the practical experience re-
quired to implement an efective solution.
Products:
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant.
From individual components to complex mul-
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model
virtually any geometry.
Te standard functionality of COMPRESS
includes everything needed to perform ASME
Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu-
lations. Tis includes the U.S. Customary and
Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
as a selection of Building Codes and related
Engineering Standards.
To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
lowing optional modules are available:
ASME Section VIII, Division 2
Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Standard,
ASME UHX rules, tube feld layout capabil-
ity and bi-directional interface with HTRIs
Xchanger Suite)
Drafter (converts COMPRESS fles into Au-
toCAD drawings)
Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel cost
estimates)
COMPRESS generates both detailed and ab-
breviated reports, the former suitable for use
as a calculation audit trail. COMPRESS also
generates ASME U forms and NBIC R forms.
Once fnalized, forms can be saved in PDF
or EDT compliant format. EDT compliant
fles can be directly submitted to the National
Board electronically. To simplify document
management, a new Project feature allows
users to organize, view and backup fles of any
type from within COMPRESS.
Visit www.codeware.com to download your
complimentary COMPRESS trial software
today.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-405
RISK MANAGEMENT
Te Equity Engineering Group,
Inc.
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519
Fax: 216-283-6022
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
www.equityeng.com
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
Company Bio:
Te Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
nized leader on aging infrastructure fxed equip-
ment service and support for the oil and gas
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
improve proftability with cutting-edge soft-
ware and consulting strategies that maximize
equipment operational availability, control in-
spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.
Products:
API RBI Software is the industry standard for
plant risk management, developed through the
API consensus standards process and docu-
mented in API 581. It provides risk values and
metrics for equipment, enabling plants to iden-
tify areas of potential failure and prioritize in-
spection dollars based on measured risk. Mod-
ules include fxed equipment, heat exchanger
bundles, atmospheric storage tanks, and pres-
sure relief systems.
VCESage is a collection of modules providing
an easy-to-use computerized design/analysis
resource consistent with the new API 579-1/
ASME FFS-1 standard. Te modules enable
users to review and/or analyze existing and new
equipment for structural integrity, code compli-
ance, re-rating and remaining life evaluations.
VCEDamage Mechanisms is a quick refer-
ence guide to identify the potential damage
mechanisms that can cause equipment failure.
It guides users through the damage mechanism
identifcation process, helps in selecting the
best inspection method for each damage type,
and provides simplifed Process Flow Diagrams
showing where damage will likely occur.
VCEIntelliJoint ofers a total solution to
bolted joint leakage with the latest advanced
bolted joint technology, including assembly
procedures and gasket test results. Te program
provides industry best practice gasket specifca-
tions and incorporates knowledge in areas re-
quired to efectively identify the root cause of a
leakage problem.
Training:
Equity Engineering ofers software training for
the API RBI and VCESage programs, as well
as training in other engineering disciplines. Te
software courses, designed to help both the nov-
ice and experienced user make more efective
use of the software, emphasize both hands-on
training and in-class example problems. Pub-
lic courses are held at E
2
G of ces in Cleveland
and Houston, or private courses can be held at
your site. To fnd out more about E
2
G training
courses, go to www.equityeng.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-406
PLANT LIFECYCLE AND
PERFORMANCE MONITORING, CONT.
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 7
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
ALARM MANAGEMENT
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
diverse customer base with market-leading products
including analyzers, fow meters, transmitters, con-
trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
uted control systems and more.
Products:
CAMS - Yokogawas Consolidated Alarm Man-
agement System (CAMS) is an alarm manage-
ment software designed on the innovative concept
of acquiring real-time alarms and events from a
variety of various automation systems - not only
from Distributed Control Systems (DCS) but
also Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), Super-
visory and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA
and DAQ) and Plant Asset Management Sys-
tems (PAM); then to sort and deliver only essen-
tial alarms to the right person at the right time.
Important information such as the root cause of
alarm occurrence and role-based guidance are
also added to the displayed message.
AAASuite - AAASuite is a comprehensive alarm
management system that optimizes and enhances
process alarms issued by control systems. AAA-
Suite improves operator performance by minimiz-
ing nuisance alarms and providing timely notifca-
tion of only necessary alarms, thereby preventing
alarm fooding and enabling safe, stable and cost
efective plant operations.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Te Equity Engineering Group,
Inc.
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519
Fax: 216-283-6022
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
www.equityeng.com
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
Company Bio:
Te Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
nized leader on aging infrastructure fxed equip-
ment service and support for the oil and gas
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
improve proftability with cutting-edge soft-
ware and consulting strategies that maximize
equipment operational availability, control in-
spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.
Products:
API RBI Software is the industry standard for
plant risk management, developed through the
API consensus standards process and docu-
mented in API 581. It provides risk values and
metrics for equipment, enabling plants to iden-
tify areas of potential failure and prioritize in-
spection dollars based on measured risk. Mod-
ules include fxed equipment, heat exchanger
bundles, atmospheric storage tanks, and pres-
sure relief systems.
VCESage is a collection of modules providing
an easy-to-use computerized design/analysis
resource consistent with the new API 579-1/
ASME FFS-1 standard. Te modules enable
users to review and/or analyze existing and new
equipment for structural integrity, code compli-
ance, re-rating and remaining life evaluations.
VCEDamage Mechanisms is a quick refer-
ence guide to identify the potential damage
mechanisms that can cause equipment failure.
It guides users through the damage mechanism
identifcation process, helps in selecting the
best inspection method for each damage type,
and provides simplifed Process Flow Diagrams
showing where damage will likely occur.
VCEIntelliJoint ofers a total solution to
bolted joint leakage with the latest advanced
bolted joint technology, including assembly
procedures and gasket test results. Te program
provides industry best practice gasket specifca-
tions and incorporates knowledge in areas re-
quired to efectively identify the root cause of a
leakage problem.
Training:
Equity Engineering ofers software training for
the API RBI and VCESage programs, as well
as training in other engineering disciplines. Te
software courses, designed to help both the nov-
ice and experienced user make more efective
use of the software, emphasize both hands-on
training and in-class example problems. Pub-
lic courses are held at E
2
G of ces in Cleveland
and Houston, or private courses can be held at
your site. To fnd out more about E
2
G training
courses, go to www.equityeng.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-406
KBC Advanced Technologies,
Inc. (Regional Of ce in AMERI-
CAS)
15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600
Houston, TX 77094
Phone: 281-293-8200
Fax: 281-616-0900
E-mail: answers@kbcat.com
www.kbcat.com/Products-and-Services/
Software/Simulation-Software/
KBC Regional Of ce Locations
EMEA: + 44 (0)1932 242424
ASIA:+ 65 6735 5488
Company Bio:
Since 1979, KBC consultants have provided in-
dependent advice and expertise to enable lead-
ing companies in the global energy business
and other processing industries manage risk
while maximizing the value from their assets.

In times of economic uncertainty and increasing
environmental pressure, the KBC proprietary
methodologies and innovative tools guide clients
key strategic decisions, prioritize and implement
initiatives that maximize return on investment,
and improve operational performance. For more
information, visit www.kbcat.com.
Products:
KBC ofers a wide range of software and associ-
ated services, from detailed reactor unit modeling
to refnery-wide simulation. At the operations
level, KBC SIM models are used in performance
monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization,
such as cycle-length optimization.
Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express are the
full-featured, KBC graphical process simula-
tors, featuring industry-proven process mod-
els. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 8 SPRI NG 2010
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
general-purpose unit operations, an extensive
component library, a range of thermodynam-
ics packages, and innovative methods to fully
integrate the software with plant information
systems, databases, Excel, and the LP.
KBC ofers unsurpassed model breath and depth
that lets you truly model any part of the refnery.
Our industry-leading KBC SIM Suite reactor
models include: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking),
HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Re-
former), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreater Series), DC-
SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation
unit) and VIS-SIM (Visbreaker). New addi-
tions include ISOM-SIM (C6 Isomerization),
AROM-SIM (Xylene Isomerization and Aro-
matics Transalkylation) and Olefn-SIM (for
pyrolysis furnace modeling).
www.info.hotims.com/30874-409
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
diverse customer base with market-leading products
including analyzers, fow meters, transmitters, con-
trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
uted control systems and more.
Products:
PRM - Plant Resource Manager (PRM) is a
real-time instrument device maintenance and
management software package that provides
a platform for advanced instrument diagnos-
tics. PRM is an integrated software solution
that unifes the monitored data from intelli-
gent and non-intelligent feld devices running
within Yokogawas CENTUM VP and STAR-
DOM control systems or as a stand-alone
solution. Te key feature of PRM is that it
provides easy access to automatically collected
data from feld networks such as Foundation
Fieldbus, and HART allowing integration,
management and maintenance these devices
using a common database.
PRM provides integrated plant and device
performance data, maintenance records, audit
trails, device confguration with auto-device
detection, historic data management, param-
eter comparison, advanced device diagnostics
information, and access to on-line documen-
tation such as device drawings, parts list and
manuals in a client server architecture that
provides information to multiple users within
a plant facility. It provides the ability to adjust
the parameters of intelligent devices online
and allows comparison of the current data to
historical data of a device.
Fieldmate - FieldMate is an asset manage-
ment software developed for portable laptop
computers that provides confguration and
maintenance of intelligent feld devices. Field-
mate supports the use of open interface Field
Device Tool (FDT) technology to facilitate
the confguration and adjustment of feld de-
vices such as sensors and valves at production
sites, regardless of the manufacturer or the
communication protocols. Fieldmate also
supports Electronic Device Description Lan-
guage (EDDL) interface technology.
With its device navigation and device mainte-
nance information management features, this
software relieves users of the dif culties with
dealing with a variety of communication proto-
cols and confguration methods from multiple
manufacturers which used diferent confgura-
tors and/or multiple confguration procedures.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
COLLABORATION
AND KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Elec-
tric Corporation, a global leader in the manu-
facture and supply of instrumentation, process
control, and automation solutions. Headquar-
tered in Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation
of America serves a diverse customer base with
market-leading products including analyzers,
fow meters, transmitters, controllers, record-
ers, data acquisition products, meters, instru-
ments, safety instrumented systems, distributed
control systems and more.
Products:
Exapilot - Exapilot is a patented Advanced
Operation Ef ciency Improvement software
package that plant operators use to develop a
structured methodology of operating certain
standard procedures. Exapilot makes it pos-
sible to incorporate the know-how and plant
operation expertise of experienced operators in
automated plant operation procedures that en-
sure standard and uniform plant operation. By
enforcing a common and structured operating
methodology, Exapilot helps plants run more
ef ciently and safely.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
ASSET MANAGEMENT, CONT.
Downstream
9
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
AND ENGINEERING
Chemstations, Inc.
2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77042
Toll Free: 800-243-6223
Phone: 713-978-7700
Fax: 713-978-7727
E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
www.Chemstations.net
Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
Company Bio:
With of ces worldwide, Chemstations is a lead-
ing global supplier of process simulation soft-
ware for the following process industries; Oil
& Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine
Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals. We
currently ofer several individually licensed, and
tightly integrated, technologies to address the
needs of the chemical engineer, whether doing
new process design or working in the plant.
Products:
CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simu-
lation Software - Includes database of chemical
components, thermodynamic methods, and
unit operations to allow steady state simulation
of continuous chemical processes from lab scale
to full scale.
CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
Software - Takes your steady state simulations
to the next level of fdelity to allow dynamic
analysis of your fowsheet. Te combination of
two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
namic simulator of choice.
CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation
Software - As an add-on or stand alone pro-
gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
simulation and design easy with intuitive, op-
eration step based input.
CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat-
ing Software - As an add-on or stand alone
program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple
international standards for design and materials
to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster
and more accurate.
CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net-
work Simulation Software - A subset of CC-
STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous
analysis of any piping network.
CC-FLASH Physical Propertieis & Phase
Equilibria Calculation Software - A subset of
the CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD
Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili-
ties), this program allows rigorous calculation
of pure component and mixture physical prop-
erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE).
www.info.hotims.com/30874-408
Codeware, Inc.
Codeware, Inc.
5224 Station Way
Sarasota, FL 34233
United States
Phone: (941) 927-2670
Fax: (941) 927-2459
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com
www.codeware.com
Company Bio:
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu-
sively on providing the most comprehensive
software for the design and analysis of ASME
vessels and exchangers. Codewares Austin,
Texas based development team has the exper-
tise needed to understand the complexities of
the Code rules and the practical experience re-
quired to implement an efective solution.
Products:
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant.
From individual components to complex mul-
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model
virtually any geometry.
Te standard functionality of COMPRESS
includes everything needed to perform ASME
Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu-
lations. Tis includes the U.S. Customary and
Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
as a selection of Building Codes and related
Engineering Standards.
To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
lowing optional modules are available:
ASME Section VIII, Division 2
Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Standard,
ASME UHX rules, tube feld layout capabil-
ity and bi-directional interface with HTRIs
Xchanger Suite)
Drafter (converts COMPRESS fles into Au-
toCAD drawings)
Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel cost
estimates)
COMPRESS generates both detailed and ab-
breviated reports, the former suitable for use
as a calculation audit trail. COMPRESS also
generates ASME U forms and NBIC R forms.
Once fnalized, forms can be saved in PDF
or EDT compliant format. EDT compliant
fles can be directly submitted to the National
Board electronically. To simplify document
management, a new Project feature allows
users to organize, view and backup fles of any
type from within COMPRESS.
Visit www.codeware.com to download your com-
plimentary COMPRESS trial software today.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-405
Select 408 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 10 SPRI NG 2010
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
College Station, TX 77845 USA
Phone: 979-690-5050
Fax: 979-690-3250
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
www.HTRI.net
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development
Asia - Pacifc
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Fax: 81-43-297-0354
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Manager
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Te Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B, Indraprasth
Complex
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially
relevant research and provides software tools
for design, rating, and simulation of process heat
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
range of technical publications and provides oth-
er services including contract research, software
development, consulting, and training.
Products:
HTRI Xchanger SuiteIntegrated graphical
user environment for the design, rating, and
simulation of heat transfer equipment.
XaceDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
recovery units, and air preheaters.
XfhSimulates the behavior of fred heaters.
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
box heaters and the convection section of fred
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
XhpeDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
XistDesigns, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing flm evaporators, and refux condensers.
XjpeDesigns, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
XpheDesigns, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
ally using local physical properties and process
conditions.
XspeRates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers.
XtloGraphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist.
XvibPerforms fow-induced vibration analy-
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
ous modes and ofers fexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
Xchanger Suite EducationalCustomized ver-
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only.
R-trendCalculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
KRC Technologies
6637 Covoy Ct.
San Diego, CA 92111
Toll Free: 888-467-2127
Phone: 858-490-0028
Fax: 858-777-5462
E-mail: support@engineering-software.com
www.engineering-software.com
Mike Stephenson, President
Company Bio:
KRC Technologies provides engineering soft-
ware solutions. Te company sells hundreds of
commercial engineering software applications
from the companys website. KRC Technolo-
gies also develops custom engineering solu-
tions and has delivered software for the design
and analysis of heat exchangers, on-line six
sigma, factory automation and valve tray de-
sign software.
Products:
KRC Technologies develops, sells and distributes
software to engineers. Our mission is to provide
software solutions to increase the productivity
of engineers. For this reason, our products tran-
scend most engineering disciplines. You can fnd
software on our website to solve a multitude of
engineering tasks. Some of these include:
Design programs:
Shell and tube heat exchangers
Waste heat boilers
Cooling towers
Steam heaters
Heat recovery steam generators
Fluid mixers and atmospheric tanks
Mixer designs in vertical tanks
Vertical and horizontal storage tanks
Plate-fn heat exchangers
Compact heat exchangers
Heat transfer in process vessels and
fermenters
Physical properties:
Steam tables (IFC-97)
Gas compressibility calculators (AGA-8)
Psychrometrics
Combustion analysis
Termodynamic and transport properties of
over 600 common organic and inorganic com-
pounds
Economic evaluation:
Cogeneration
Flash tanks
Insulation
Transport:
Piping pressure loss
Pipe Networks
Duct design
Flow calculation (nozzle, orifce, venturi)
Structural:
Wind Load analysis
Snow load analysis
Single or multiple span beams
Rods
Self supported stacks
Guy wire supported stack
Analysis of horizontal vessels supported on
two saddles
KRC Technologies also creates custom software
to various industries, including oil and gas.
Tese have included:
Factory automation
On-line leak testing with six-sigma on-line
analysis
Mist eliminator design
Valve tray design
Compact heat exchanger design
Many products have demo versions that
can be downloaded from the website,
www.engineering-software.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-410
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
AND ENGINEERING, CONT.
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 11
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
DYNAMIC SIMULATION
AND OPTIMIZATION
Chemstations, Inc.
2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77042
Toll Free: 800-243-6223
Phone: 713-978-7700
Fax: 713-978-7727
E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
www.Chemstations.net
Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
Company Bio:
With of ces worldwide, Chemstations is a lead-
ing global supplier of process simulation soft-
ware for the following process industries; Oil
& Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine
Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals. We
currently ofer several individually licensed, and
tightly integrated, technologies to address the
needs of the chemical engineer, whether doing
new process design or working in the plant.
Products:
CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simula-
tion Software - Includes database of chemical com-
ponents, thermodynamic methods, and unit opera-
tions to allow steady state simulation of continuous
chemical processes from lab scale to full scale.
CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
Software - Takes your steady state simulations
to the next level of fdelity to allow dynamic
analysis of your fowsheet. Te combination of
two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
namic simulator of choice.
CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation
Software - As an add-on or stand alone pro-
gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
simulation and design easy with intuitive, op-
eration step based input.
CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat-
ing Software - As an add-on or stand alone
program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple
international standards for design and materials
to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster
and more accurate.
CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net-
work Simulation Software - A subset of CC-
STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous
analysis of any piping network.
CC-FLASH Physical Properties & Phase Equi-
libria Calculation Software - A subset of the
CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD
Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili-
ties), this program allows rigorous calculation
of pure component and mixture physical prop-
erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE).
www.info.hotims.com/30874-408
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
College Station, TX 77845 USA
Phone: 979-690-5050
Fax: 979-690-3250
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
www.HTRI.net
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development
Asia - Pacifc
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Fax: 81-43-297-0354
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Te Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B, Indraprasth
Complex
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
evant research and provides software tools for
design, rating, and simulation of process heat
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
range of technical publications and provides
other services including contract research, soft-
ware development, consulting, and training.
Products:
HTRI Xchanger SuiteIntegrated graphical
user environment for the design, rating, and
simulation of heat transfer equipment.
XaceDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
recovery units, and air preheaters.
XfhSimulates the behavior of fred heaters.
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
box heaters and the convection section of fred
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
XhpeDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
XistDesigns, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing flm evaporators, and refux condensers.
XjpeDesigns, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
XpheDesigns, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
ally using local physical properties and process
conditions.
XspeRates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers.
XtloGraphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist.
XvibPerforms fow-induced vibration analy-
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
ous modes and ofers fexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
Xchanger Suite EducationalCustomized ver-
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only.
R-trendCalculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
ENTERPRISE PORTAL SYSTEMS
m:pro IT Consult GmbH
Kirchgasse 47
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 611 39843 0
Fax: +49 611 39843 12
E-mail: info@mpro-it.com
www.mpro-it.com
Company Bio
m:pro IT Consult is a project services and
software products company which enables
petroleum refning, petrochemical and other
industries to achieve total integration of in-
formation sources and applications, from
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 12 SPRI NG 2010
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
business systems, ERP and supply chain man-
agement through to plant information, pro-
duction planning, scheduling and operations
decision support.
Products:
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solu-
tions - easy and fast to implement - which truly
integrate the production and business applica-
tions required to manage the overall assets.
m:pro enables, consult and assists business pro-
cess improvements, especially for refning sup-
ply chain management (SCM).
Te m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and
applications including ERP, planning, schedul-
ing, functional databases, plant information
systems, forecasting in a phased justifed ap-
proach. Te m:ip enables and improves the use
of best-in-class software, plant and business ap-
plications = asset maximization.
Te m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our
integration, data storage/management, and
business intelligence back-end. Te m:owh is
based on standard and open relational database
technology.
Te m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
fully web-enabled common graphical user in-
terface including build and administration
tools. Te m:exp can run as the portal or can
seamlessly be embedded in popular web portal
environments.
m:pro provides standard applications/inter-
faces for:
Production planning, scheduling and blending
Performance monitoring and dashboards
Data and process quality
Information analysis, visualization, fowsheeting,
trending and reporting
Featured applications/interfaces are:
Analyzer Monitoring
Blend Monitoring and Reporting
Crude Composition Tracking
Crude Scheduling
GRTMPS Planning Interface
Heat Exchanger Monitoring
KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual
Lab Interface and Reporting
LP Data Collector
Oil Movement Logging
ORION Scheduling Interface
PIMS Planning Interface
Quality Tracking
Tank Calculation System
www.info.hotims.com/30874-402
ONLINE MONITORING
AND OPTIMIZATION
Chemstations, Inc.
2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77042
Toll Free: 800-243-6223
Phone: 713-978-7700
Fax: 713-978-7727
E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
www.Chemstations.net
Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
Company Bio:
With of ces worldwide, Chemstations is a lead-
ing global supplier of process simulation software
for the following process industries; Oil & Gas,
Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine Chemicals,
including Pharmaceuticals. We currently ofer
several individually licensed, and tightly inte-
grated, technologies to address the needs of the
chemical engineer, whether doing new process
design or working in the plant.
Products:
CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simu-
lation Software - Includes database of chemical
components, thermodynamic methods, and
unit operations to allow steady state simulation
of continuous chemical processes from lab scale
to full scale.
CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
Software - Takes your steady state simulations
to the next level of fdelity to allow dynamic
analysis of your fowsheet. Te combination of
two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
namic simulator of choice.
CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation
Software - As an add-on or stand alone pro-
gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
simulation and design easy with intuitive, op-
eration step based input.
CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat-
ing Software - As an add-on or stand alone
program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple
international standards for design and materials
to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster
and more accurate.
CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net-
work Simulation Software - A subset of CC-
STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous
analysis of any piping network.
CC-FLASH Physical Propertieis & Phase
Equilibria Calculation Software - A subset of
the CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD
Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili-
ties), this program allows rigorous calculation
of pure component and mixture physical prop-
erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE).
www.info.hotims.com/30874-408
Flexware, Inc.
PO Box 110
Grapeville, PA 15634-0110
Phone: 724-527-3911
Fax: 724-527-5701
E-mail: sales@fexwareinc.com
www.fexwareinc.com
Company Bio:
Flexware is focused on servicing companies
interested in monitoring and improving tur-
bomachinery performance for energy conser-
vation and capacity improvements. Central to
this is software development to assist the rotat-
ing equipment engineer in assessing the oper-
ating equipment along with training programs
and supporting consulting services.
Products:
Gas Flex, frst developed as a DOS program
in 1990, does gas compressor performance
calculations using BWR (Benedict, Webb &
Rubin) equations of state. In its present form,
Gas Flex Live Analysis will automatically
process compressor data. Gas Flex will read
raw data, process it and store results for trend-
ing purposes while you watch the results dis-
played on the OEM performance curve. Te
trending, including transients like hard start-
ups aid troubleshooting eforts.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-416
PLANNING, SCHEDULING
AND BLENDING
AMI Consultants, Inc.
4102 Tremont Ct.
Sugar Land, TX 77479
Phone: 281-565-4745
Fax: 281-565-1196
Email: Info@AmiConsultants.com
www.AmiConsultants.com
Company Bio:
AMI Consultant develops and markets software
for Petroleum refnery planning and economics.
Since the introduction of the PetroPlanSM soft-
ware in 1996, AMIs customer base has grown
with installations now at over 50 sites world-
wide. Licensees include operating and E&C
companies as well as educational institutions.
ENTERPRISE PORTAL SYSTEMS, CONT.
Downstream
13
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Products:
PetroPlan
SM
is a software to simulate the whole
refnery using a truly user-friendly graphic in-
terface. Applications include: evaluation of re-
vamp/expansion options, planning of grassroots
facilities, evaluation of alternative feedstocks,
changed product specifcations and optimiza-
tion of plant operations.
In the simulation each refnery unit is repre-
sented by a block (e.g. FCC). For each block,
the prediction of product yields and properties
is based on feed characteristics and user speci-
fed parameters (e.g. conversion). Te equa-
tions for predicting a blocks performance are
visible to the user and are editable. Crude oil
cutting and specifcation product blending are
integrated into the main simulation.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-412
Haverly Systems, Inc.
12 Hinchman Avenue
Denville, NJ 07834
Phone: 973-627-1424
Fax: 973-625-2296
E-mail: newjersey@haverly.com
www.haverly.com
Other Haverly Of ce Locations
Ventura, CA: 805-653-5355
Houston, TX: 713-776-3161
St. Albans, U.K.: +44 1727 826321
Singapore: +65 9630 6364
Company Bio:
Haverly Systems Inc. is an independent software
company that has specialized in the development
and use of optimization-related products and ser-
vices for over four decades. Teir systems are used
in more than 50 countries worldwide by interna-
tional and independent oil companies, chemical
companies, and many other industrial and gov-
ernment entities. Te efectivenss of their products
has long been recognized in the continued patron-
age and goodwill of their clients. Te ownership
has been unchanged since the companys found-
ing, and most senior management and technical
staf has been with the company for more than 15
years. Tis continuity in ownership, management,
and business specializaiton is refected in the cor-
porate stability, continued proftability, and very
personal pride found in satisfying each clients need
for technically excellent products and services.
Products:
H/CAMS: a software system for the manage-
ment, development, analysis, and application of
crude assay data. H/CAMS determines and relates
the efects associated with mixing and distilling
crude oils, as well as other virgin hydrocarbons.
Hundreds of varying whole crude, distillate, and
residue properties are accepted, reported, corre-
lated, or otherwise calculated. Raw assay data is
easily entered and results displayed through vivid
graphs. Tese can be readily smoothed, augment-
ed, and contraasted against other properties and
known references to provide the very best repre-
sentation of crude behavior to applications that
depend on good assay data. Correlations and
calculations-based sound engineering principles
provide users additional intelligence in determin-
ing data quality and best data interpretation. H/
CAMS features several useful utilities that allow
easy updating of existing assays with refnery labo-
ratory or current operating data and assure accu-
rate representations. H/CAMS may be supplied
with one or more high quality, industry developed
crude assay libraries to supplement a users local
library and extend the application of the system.
H/COMET: the on-line version of H/CAMS
which allows for the quick access and evaluation
of crude oils from a large, on-line crude assay da-
tabase. Crudes may be easily cut, blended, com-
pared, and analyzed using advanced graphical
and computational techniques. LP optimization
technology is used to calculate netback value for
selected crude or blends of crude. Crude netback
values may readily be determined for a user cus-
tomized set of refnery confgurations.
GRTMPS: Haverlys premier economic opti-
mization planning system. GRTMPS is used
to model individual refnery and petrochemical
plant operations, as well as entire business enter-
prises, of any size and complexity, and over any
time horizon. It employs both advanced linear
and non-linear modeling techniques. Its non-lin-
ear modeling abilities extend to cut-point optimi-
zation, reformulated gasoline modeling, rigorous
process simulation interfacing, and investment
opportunity studies. Haverly also ofers an ad-
vance refnery modeling platform in GRTMPS
structure and developed by the industry consult-
ing frm: Turner, Mason & Company -- to assist
in the development and execution of models.
H/Sched: advanced operations scheduling tools.
Each H/Sched system couples superior schedule
simulation and generation technology with state-
of-the-art graphics to provide tools with unsur-
passed scheduling optimization abilities. Schedules
are automatically generated and optimized, using
Haverlys own Progressional LP technology. After
reviewing informative Gantt charts, fow diagrams,
inventory profles and detail windows - schedulers
may directly modify these mediums to alter their
schedules and obtain more desirable results.
H/Gal-XE: an expert H/Sched application
specifcally designed for the optimization of
gasoline blend scheduling. Allow for fast con-
struction and execution of models constrained
by operational parameters typically found in
gasoline blending and distribution operations.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-413
Visit www.haverly.com to learn more or call us at (973) 627-1424
Revolutionary Web-Based Application
With H/COMET you can:
Quickly access & evaluate crudes from a large assay database
Select crudes based on user-dened criteria
Compare crudes side-by-side for any desired qualities
Re-cut and blend crudes using Haverlys H/CAMS technology
Determine netback values of crudes or blends for a variety of
renery congurations.
Baver|y 5ystems lnc.
Crude Oil Management Evaluation Tool
B/00MET
Select 413 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Downstream
14
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
m:pro IT Consult GmbH
Kirchgasse 47
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 611 39843 0
Fax: +49 611 39843 12
E-mail: info@mpro-it.com
www.mpro-it.com
Company Bio
m:pro IT Consult is a project services and soft-
ware products company which enables petro-
leum refning, petrochemical and other indus-
tries to achieve total integration of information
sources and applications, from business systems,
ERP and supply chain management through to
plant information, production planning, sched-
uling and operations decision support.
Products:
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solutions -
easy and fast to implement - which truly integrate
the production and business applications required
to manage the overall assets.
m:pro enables, consult and assists business pro-
cess improvements, especially for refning sup-
ply chain management (SCM).
Te m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and
applications including ERP, planning, schedul-
ing, functional databases, plant information
systems, forecasting in a phased justifed ap-
proach. Te m:ip enables and improves the use
of best-in-class software, plant and business ap-
plications = asset maximization.
Te m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our in-
tegration, data storage/management, and business
intelligence back-end. Te m:owh is based on
standard and open relational database technology.
Te m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
fully web-enabled common graphical user inter-
face including build and administration tools. Te
m:exp can run as the portal or can seamlessly be
embedded in popular web portal environments.
m:pro provides standard applications/interfaces
for:
Production planning, scheduling and blending
Performance monitoring and dashboards
Data and process quality
Information analysis, visualization, fowsheeting,
trending and reporting
Featured applications/interfaces are:
Analyzer Monitoring
Blend Monitoring and Reporting
Crude Composition Tracking
Crude Scheduling
GRTMPS Planning Interface
Heat Exchanger Monitoring
KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual
Lab Interface and Reporting
LP Data Collector
Oil Movement Logging
ORION Scheduling Interface
PIMS Planning Interface
Quality Tracking
Tank Calculation System
www.info.hotims.com/30874-402
M3 Technology, Inc
10375 Richmond Ave., Suite 380
Houston, TX 77042
Phone: +1-713-784-8285
Fax: +1-832-553-1893
E-mail: m3.sales@m3tch.com
www.m3tch.com
Company Bio
M3 Technology is the premier supplier of supply
chain management solutions focused on enterprise
planning, advanced asset scheduling and optimiza-
tion solutions for the petroleum, petrochemical &
LNG industries. M3s solutions capture economic
oppor-tunities and reduce the cost of managing
complex facilities at the plant level, regional operat-
ing level and global enterprise level. M3 has a global
network of implementation partners to provide lo-
cal consulting expertise and customer support.
Products:
SIMTO Scheduling
SIMTO Scheduling is the next generation
plant scheduling technology
Powerful comprehensive fowsheet modeling
Models facility connections
Easy to create multiple modes of unit operation
Models pipeline and jetty operations
Handles imperfect tank mixing
Flexible Plant Simulator
Predicts plant inventories, compositions,
properties, and unit yields
Runs multi-month simulations in seconds
Friendly and easy to use interfaces
Interactive, dynamic process fowsheet
User confgurable Gantt charts, trends and
tabular view, all are fully synchronized
Custom scheduling logic without program-
ming
Quick and low cost implementation
PLANNING, SCHEDULING
AND BLENDING, CONT.
Select 414 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 15
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Many customers self implement
Easy to maintain; saves manpower
Scalable Enterprise Workfow/Collaboration
Users are notifed of data changes detailing
who changed what, when
Easy to integrate with plant and enterprise
systems using standard web services.
Standardized reports
Proftable:
Today it is not enough to drive cost out of your
supply chain. SIMTO Scheduling pro-vides
you the agility to take full advantage of proft
opportunities.
SIMTO Blending
SIMTO M-Blend is a multi-period, multi-
blend optimization technology for blending
crude oil, gasoline, distillate, fuel oil, asphalt,
petrochemical feedstock and more.
M-Blend is part of the native construct of SIM-
TO Scheduling and inherits the rich capability
and robustness of the parent.
Powerful blend modeling
Models rundown streams, component tanks
and group blending
Respects logistic and running gage con-
straints
Models multiple blenders operating separate-
ly or in parallel
Supports non-linear blend correlations such
as CARBOB
Flexible blend recipe optimization
Predicts non-linear, linear and index based
properties
Optimizes single blend and multiple blends
Allows priority for near term blends
Issues component buy/sell signals
Intuitive and easy to use interfaces
Provides blend performance analysis for
comparing schedule vs. actual, and adjusting
blend correlations
Blend operators can customize and confgure
Gantt charts, trends and tabular view, to fully
meet individual needs
Visualization of inventories and specifcation
violations improves understanding of blend-
ing efects
Fast and low cost implementation
Outputs standard blend recipes or transfers to
an advanced blend control system
Easy to maintain; saves manpower
Leverageable blend knowledge base builds
competitive advantage
Blend Knowledge Base contains data about
product specifcations, property bonuses and
interactions, and blending methods used in
blending optimization.
Easy to update blend methods to assure com-
pliance with government regulations.
Proftable, high ROI, fast time-to-cash
Reduces quality giveaway, maximizes proft
across the planning horizon, able to capture
proft opportunities, assures timely comple-tion
of blends to minimize demurrage, ef -cient use
of human resources, empowers per-sonnel to
quickly troubleshoot proft stealing problems.
SIMTO Distribution
SIMTO Distribution is a supply and distri-
bution optimizer designed specifcally for the
petroleum downstream industry. It is built with
the latest software systems such as .NET and
SQL Server along with integration via industry
standard web services. SIMTO Distribution
delivers sustainable benefts today and in the
future. It is part of M3s ongoing commitment
to our customers to develop best-in-class solu-
tions.
Powerful supply chain modeling system
Inventory and location modeling
Buy supply locations and materials
Sell demand locations and materials
Trade/exchange locations and materials
Locations inventory/material constraints
Point-to-point network
Logistics for point-to-point movements
Material blend modeling
Recipes for material blending
Quality specifcation for blending
Components used for blending
Material qualities used in blending
Route modeling
pipeline and vessel routes
Commercial modeling
All cost and contract matters including tiered
pricing
Versatile supply and distribution optimization
Trade Management make/buy/exchange
Cost Management Transportation pricing,
availability and routing
Inventory Management safety stock, sea-
sonal changeover, turnarounds
Terminal Management right product, place,
price and time
Product Mix material blending
Flexible, user advantage
Provides customizable presentations of the
supply and distribution environment
Provides optimized solution for decision sup-
port
Empowers the planner/scheduler/trader to
make fast, accurate and proftable decisions
Easy to maintain; saves manpower
Proftable: low cost, very short payback
Bottom-line reduction in distribution cost,
right sizing terminal inventory and safety stock,
maximizes proft across the planning horizon,
able to assure timely completion of transactions
and transfers; empowers people to seize proft
opportunities.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-414
PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
AND REPAIR
Codeware, Inc.
Codeware, Inc.
5224 Station Way
Sarasota, FL 34233
United States
Phone: (941) 927-2670
Fax: (941) 927-2459
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com
www.codeware.com
Company Bio:
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu-
sively on providing the most comprehensive
software for the design and analysis of ASME
vessels and exchangers. Codewares Austin,
Texas based development team has the exper-
tise needed to understand the complexities of
the Code rules and the practical experience re-
quired to implement an efective solution.
Products:
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant.
From individual components to complex mul-
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model
virtually any geometry.
Te standard functionality of COMPRESS
includes everything needed to perform ASME
Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu-
lations. Tis includes the U.S. Customary and
Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
as a selection of Building Codes and related
Engineering Standards.
To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
lowing optional modules are available:
ASME Section VIII, Division 2
Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Standard,
ASME UHX rules, tube feld layout capabil-
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 16 SPRI NG 2010
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
ity and bi-directional interface with HTRIs
Xchanger Suite)
Drafter (converts COMPRESS fles into Au-
toCAD drawings)
Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel cost
estimates)
COMPRESS generates both detailed and ab-
breviated reports, the former suitable for use
as a calculation audit trail. COMPRESS also
generates ASME U forms and NBIC R forms.
Once fnalized, forms can be saved in PDF
or EDT compliant format. EDT compliant
fles can be directly submitted to the National
Board electronically. To simplify document
management, a new Project feature allows
users to organize, view and backup fles of any
type from within COMPRESS.
Visit www.codeware.com to download your com-
plimentary COMPRESS trial software today.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-405
Te Equity Engineering Group,
Inc.
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519
Fax: 216-283-6022
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
www.equityeng.com
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
Company Bio:
Te Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
nized leader on aging infrastructure fxed equip-
ment service and support for the oil and gas
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
improve proftability with cutting-edge soft-
ware and consulting strategies that maximize
equipment operational availability, control in-
spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.
Products:
API RBI Software is the industry standard for
plant risk management, developed through the
API consensus standards process and document-
ed in API 581. It provides risk values and metrics
for equipment, enabling plants to identify areas of
potential failure and prioritize inspection dollars
based on measured risk. Modules include fxed
equipment, heat exchanger bundles, atmospheric
storage tanks, and pressure relief systems.
VCESage is a collection of modules providing
an easy-to-use computerized design/analysis
resource consistent with the new API 579-1/
ASME FFS-1 standard. Te modules enable
users to review and/or analyze existing and new
equipment for structural integrity, code compli-
ance, re-rating and remaining life evaluations.
VCEDamage Mechanisms is a quick refer-
ence guide to identify the potential damage
mechanisms that can cause equipment failure.
It guides users through the damage mechanism
identifcation process, helps in selecting the
best inspection method for each damage type,
and provides simplifed Process Flow Diagrams
showing where damage will likely occur.
VCEIntelliJoint ofers a total solution to bolted
joint leakage with the latest advanced bolted joint
technology, including assembly procedures and
gasket test results. Te program provides indus-
try best practice gasket specifcations and incor-
porates knowledge in areas required to efectively
identify the root cause of a leakage problem.
Training:
Equity Engineering ofers software training for
the API RBI and VCESage programs, as well
as training in other engineering disciplines. Te
software courses, designed to help both the nov-
ice and experienced user make more efective
use of the software, emphasize both hands-on
training and in-class example problems. Pub-
lic courses are held at E
2
G of ces in Cleveland
and Houston, or private courses can be held at
your site. To fnd out more about E
2
G training
courses, go to www.equityeng.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-406
PROCESS CONTROL AND
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
diverse customer base with market-leading products
including analyzers, fow meters, transmitters, con-
trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
uted control systems and more.
Products:
CENTUM VP - CENTUM VP is an inte-
grated production control system used to man-
age and control the operation of plants. Te
highly acclaimed, extremely reliable integrated
production control system combines rugged
control station and remote I/O hardware with
a scalable Windows XP/VISTA-based opera-
tion. Designed to handle information and con-
trol from small-scale facilities to the very largest
of plants, the CENTUM VP provides a highly
scalable, easy to operate, engineer, and main-
tain, high performance automation platform.
Te system architecture includes a 1 GB control
and information highway utilizing Yokogawas
deterministic VNet protocol over Ethernet that
provides built-in security for critical communi-
cations. CENTUM VP is an open platform for
control and information providing high perfor-
mance with low cost of ownership and a seam-
less technology migration to its installed base.
ExaQuantum - Exaquantum is an intelligent
and scaleable Plant Information Management
System that provides a platform for collecting,
storing and displaying current and historical
data from production equipment. Its historian
software processes and stores process data, alarms
and events acquired from the production control
system through a standard OPC interface. Plant
operational performance can be monitored and
analyzed using this data as it is an enabling plat-
form for production management applications
like data reconciliation, production account-
ing, performance monitoring, environmental
monitoring, and operations electronic logbook.
Exaquantum also enables supervisory enterprise
applications to be able to share this data.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
AND REPAIR, CONT.
Downstream
17
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
PROCESS ENGINEERING
AND SIMULATION
Chemstations, Inc.
2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77042
Toll Free: 800-243-6223
Phone: 713-978-7700
Fax: 713-978-7727
E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
www.Chemstations.net
Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
Company Bio:
With of ces worldwide, Chemstations is a lead-
ing global supplier of process simulation soft-
ware for the following process industries; Oil
& Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine
Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals. We
currently ofer several individually licensed, and
tightly integrated, technologies to address the
needs of the chemical engineer, whether doing
new process design or working in the plant.
Products:
CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simula-
tion Software - Includes database of chemical com-
ponents, thermodynamic methods, and unit opera-
tions to allow steady state simulation of continuous
chemical processes from lab scale to full scale.
CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
Software - Takes your steady state simulations
to the next level of fdelity to allow dynamic
analysis of your fowsheet. Te combination of
two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
namic simulator of choice.
CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation
Software - As an add-on or stand alone pro-
gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
simulation and design easy with intuitive, op-
eration step based input.
CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat-
ing Software - As an add-on or stand alone
program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple
international standards for design and materials
to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster
and more accurate.
CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net-
work Simulation Software - A subset of CC-
STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous
analysis of any piping network.
CC-FLASH Physical Propertieis & Phase
Equilibria Calculation Software - A subset of
the CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD
Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili-
ties), this program allows rigorous calculation
of pure component and mixture physical prop-
erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE).
www.info.hotims.com/30874-408
Codeware, Inc.
Codeware, Inc.
5224 Station Way
Sarasota, FL 34233
United States
Phone: (941) 927-2670
Fax: (941) 927-2459
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com
www.codeware.com
Company Bio:
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu-
sively on providing the most comprehensive
software for the design and analysis of ASME
vessels and exchangers. Codewares Austin,
Texas based development team has the exper-
tise needed to understand the complexities of
the Code rules and the practical experience re-
quired to implement an efective solution.
Products:
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant.
From individual components to complex mul-
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model
virtually any geometry.
Te standard functionality of COMPRESS
includes everything needed to perform ASME
Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu-
lations. Tis includes the U.S. Customary and
Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
as a selection of Building Codes and related
Engineering Standards.
To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
lowing optional modules are available:
ASME Section VIII, Division 2
Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Standard,
ASME UHX rules, tube feld layout capabil-
ity and bi-directional interface with HTRIs
Xchanger Suite)
Drafter (converts COMPRESS fles into Au-
toCAD drawings)
Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel cost
estimates)
COMPRESS generates both detailed and ab-
breviated reports, the former suitable for use
as a calculation audit trail. COMPRESS also
generates ASME U forms and NBIC R forms.
Once fnalized, forms can be saved in PDF
or EDT compliant format. EDT compliant
fles can be directly submitted to the National
Board electronically. To simplify document
management, a new Project feature allows
users to organize, view and backup fles of any
type from within COMPRESS.
Visit www.codeware.com to download your com-
plimentary COMPRESS trial software today.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-405
Select 405 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

DOWNLOAD YOUR TRIAL SOFTWARE TODAY
www.codeware.com
COMPRESS

Simplify ASME VIII Code Calculations
We have the expertise needed to understand
the complexities of the Code rules and the
practical experience required to implement
an effective solution. Let COMPRESS be
your expert assistant.

x Intuitive interface
x Code rule reminders during input
x ASME U and NBIC R form generation
x New Project view

Downstream
18
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
College Station, TX 77845 USA
Phone: 979-690-5050
Fax: 979-690-3250
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
www.HTRI.net
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development
Asia - Pacifc
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Fax: 81-43-297-0354
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Te Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
Indraprasth Complex
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
evant research and provides software tools for
design, rating, and simulation of process heat
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
range of technical publications and provides
other services including contract research, soft-
ware development, consulting, and training.
Products:
HTRI Xchanger SuiteIntegrated graphical
user environment for the design, rating, and
simulation of heat transfer equipment.
XaceDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
recovery units, and air preheaters.
XfhSimulates the behavior of fred heaters.
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
box heaters and the convection section of fred
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
XhpeDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
XistDesigns, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing flm evaporators, and refux condensers.
XjpeDesigns, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
XpheDesigns, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
ally using local physical properties and process
conditions.
XspeRates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers.
XtloGraphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist.
XvibPerforms fow-induced vibration analy-
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
ous modes and ofers fexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
PROCESS ENGINEERING
AND SIMULATION, CONT.
Select 406 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 19
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Xchanger Suite EducationalCustomized ver-
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only.
R-trendCalculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
REFINING, PETROCHEMICAL
AND GAS PROCESSING
Te Equity Engineering Group,
Inc.
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519
Fax: 216-283-6022
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
www.equityeng.com
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
Company Bio:
Te Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
nized leader on aging infrastructure fxed equip-
ment service and support for the oil and gas
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
improve proftability with cutting-edge soft-
ware and consulting strategies that maximize
equipment operational availability, control in-
spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.
Products:
API RBI Software is the industry standard for
plant risk management, developed through the
API consensus standards process and docu-
mented in API 581. It provides risk values and
metrics for equipment, enabling plants to iden-
tify areas of potential failure and prioritize in-
spection dollars based on measured risk. Mod-
ules include fxed equipment, heat exchanger
bundles, atmospheric storage tanks, and pres-
sure relief systems.
VCESage is a collection of modules providing
an easy-to-use computerized design/analysis
resource consistent with the new API 579-1/
ASME FFS-1 standard. Te modules enable
users to review and/or analyze existing and new
equipment for structural integrity, code compli-
ance, re-rating and remaining life evaluations.
VCEDamage Mechanisms is a quick refer-
ence guide to identify the potential damage
mechanisms that can cause equipment failure.
It guides users through the damage mechanism
identifcation process, helps in selecting the
best inspection method for each damage type,
and provides simplifed Process Flow Diagrams
showing where damage will likely occur.
VCEIntelliJoint ofers a total solution to
bolted joint leakage with the latest advanced
bolted joint technology, including assembly
procedures and gasket test results. Te program
provides industry best practice gasket specifca-
tions and incorporates knowledge in areas re-
quired to efectively identify the root cause of a
leakage problem.
Training:
Equity Engineering ofers software training for
the API RBI and VCESage programs, as well
as training in other engineering disciplines. Te
software courses, designed to help both the nov-
ice and experienced user make more efective
use of the software, emphasize both hands-on
training and in-class example problems. Pub-
lic courses are held at E
2
G of ces in Cleveland
and Houston, or private courses can be held at
your site. To fnd out more about E
2
G training
courses, go to www.equityeng.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-406
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
College Station, TX 77845 USA
Phone: 979-690-5050
Fax: 979-690-3250
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
www.HTRI.net
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development
Asia - Pacifc
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Fax: 81-43-297-0354
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Te Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
Indraprasth Complex
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially
relevant research and provides software tools
for design, rating, and simulation of process
heat transfer equipment. HTRI also produc-
es a wide range of technical publications and
provides other services including contract
research, software development, consulting,
and training.
Products:
HTRI Xchanger SuiteIntegrated graphical
user environment for the design, rating, and
simulation of heat transfer equipment.
XaceDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
recovery units, and air preheaters.
XfhSimulates the behavior of fred heaters.
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
box heaters and the convection section of fred
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
XhpeDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
XistDesigns, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing flm evaporators, and refux condensers.
XjpeDesigns, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
XpheDesigns, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
ally using local physical properties and process
conditions.
XspeRates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers.
XtloGraphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist.
XvibPerforms fow-induced vibration analy-
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
ous modes and ofers fexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
Xchanger Suite EducationalCustomized ver-
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only.
R-trendCalculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 20 SPRI NG 2010
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
M3 Technology, Inc
10375 Richmond Ave., Suite 380
Houston, TX 77042
Phone: +1-713-784-8285
Fax: +1-832-553-1893
E-mail: m3.sales@m3tch.com
www.m3tch.com
Company Bio
M3 Technology is the premier supplier of sup-
ply chain management solutions focused on
enterprise planning, advanced asset schedul-
ing and optimization solutions for the petro-
leum, petrochemical & LNG industries. M3s
solutions capture economic oppor-tunities and
reduce the cost of managing complex facilities
at the plant level, regional operating level and
global enterprise level. M3 has a global network
of implementation partners to provide local
consulting expertise and customer support.
Products:
SIMTO Refning
SIMTO Refning is a comprehensive solution
for refnery planning, scheduling and blending
that includes:
SIMTO Scheduling schedules all pipeline and
tank transfers, crude oil receipts, process unit
operation, product run downs, product single
blend optimization and shipment
SIMTO M-Blend provides multi-period
blend optimization including rundown blend-
ing for gasoline, distillates, fuel oil, other refn-
ing products, crude oil that blends from vessels,
pipelines & tanks with or without a separate
crude feed tank
SIMTO Dock Manager calculates and visual-
izes demurrage, automatically schedules vessels
and berths/jetties
SIMTO Global manages distributed refning
assets and inventories, inherits and synchro-
nizes with multi-plant scheduling models
SIMTO Integration Depot provides integra-
tion with the plant information system, LIMS,
oil movements, plant LP planning, advanced
optimization process models, crude assay sys-
tem, and ERP for crude nominations, and is
made easy and robust through the use of web
services standards and a multitier architecture.
User Experience:
SIMTO Refning is used by planning, schedu-
ing and operating personnel. Te soft-wares
Service Oriented Architecture enables collabo-
ration across the entire enterprise. Recently a
SIMTO user said, Tanks for this GREAT
tool. We are in preparation for a turnaround and
without this amazing software I would be totally
lost.
Benefts:
SIMTO Refning produces benefts of over
$1118 million for a 200,000 bpd high-con-
version refnery or about 1525/bbl.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-414
SIS / SAFETY SYSTEMS
exida
64 North Main Street
Sellersville, PA 18960
Phone: 215-453-1720
Fax: 215-257-1657
E-mail: Info@exida.com
www.exida.com
Iwan van Beurden, Senior Safety Engineer,
Iwan.vanbeurden@exida.com
Company Bio:
exida is an engineering consulting frm special-
izing in safety critical / high availability auto-
mation systems, control system security, and
alarm management. Core competencies in de-
sign, analysis, implementation, operation, and
maintenance of critical automation systems,
along with expertise in the application of the
IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 / ISA 84 functional
safety standards, has allowed exida to develop
an extensive suite of software tools that assist in
the implementation of the Safety Lifecycle.
Products:
exSILentia Integrated Safety Lifecycle Suite:
Te exSILentia integrated toolset helps tackle
three of the most important steps in the safety
lifecycle: Safety Integrity Level (SIL) selection,
Safety Requirements Specifcation, and SIL
verifcation. exSILentia lets the user defne a
project consisting of one or more Safety In-
strumented Functions. It helps you manage
project documentation through easy report
generation and viewing of reports in Microsoft
Word. Sharing data for multi-person projects,
for independent review, or for input into other
lifecycle tools (e.g. PHA), is easy with the built-
in exSILentia import/ export functionality.
exSILentia provides fully customizable SIL se-
lection options like risk graph, hazard matrix,
and frequency based targets. In addition, a com-
plete SIF SRS template ensures completeness
in requirements defnition. exSILentia contains
the most comprehensive SIL verifcation pro-
gram on the market, SILver, allowing extensive
Safety Instrumented Function defnition, and
an IEC 61508-approved calculation engine
based on the Markov Modeling technique. Fi-
nally exSILentia includes a built-in reliability
database from the best-selling Safety Equip-
ment Reliability Handbook (SERH), speeding
up the process of SIL verifcation by allowing
users to select equipment items directly from
the database without having to manually enter
reliability data. For more information, please
visit www.exSILentia.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-415
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
diverse customer base with market-leading products
including analyzers, fow meters, transmitters, con-
trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
uted control systems and more.
Products:
ProSafe-RS - ProSafe-RS is an integrated
safety instrumented system (SIS) designed
for such applications as emergency shut-
down (ESD), Fire and Gas (F&G), Boiler
management (BMS). It provides safe, reliable
and available control without compromise
and is certifed by the German certifcation
Downstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 21
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
organization, Technische eberwachungs-
Verein (TV) to meet Safety Integrity Level
(SIL) 3 as specifed in IEC 61508. An inte-
gral feature is that it can be combined with
Yokogawas CENTUM VP DCS system that
allows all information to be combined into
one screen integrating alarms and events, tag
data onto graphics and trends. With ProSafe-
RS, the safety-instrumented system uses the
common DCS network for safety communi-
cations with absolute integrity.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
TRAINING
Te Equity Engineering Group,
Inc.
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519
Fax: 216-283-6022
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
www.equityeng.com
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
Company Bio:
Te Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
nized leader on aging infrastructure fxed equip-
ment service and support for the oil and gas
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
improve proftability with cutting-edge soft-
ware and consulting strategies that maximize
equipment operational availability, control in-
spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.
Products:
API RBI Software is the industry standard for
plant risk management, developed through the
API consensus standards process and docu-
mented in API 581. It provides risk values and
metrics for equipment, enabling plants to iden-
tify areas of potential failure and prioritize in-
spection dollars based on measured risk. Mod-
ules include fxed equipment, heat exchanger
bundles, atmospheric storage tanks, and pres-
sure relief systems.
VCESage is a collection of modules providing
an easy-to-use computerized design/analysis
resource consistent with the new API 579-1/
ASME FFS-1 standard. Te modules enable
users to review and/or analyze existing and new
equipment for structural integrity, code compli-
ance, re-rating and remaining life evaluations.
VCEDamage Mechanisms is a quick refer-
ence guide to identify the potential damage
mechanisms that can cause equipment failure.
It guides users through the damage mechanism
identifcation process, helps in selecting the
best inspection method for each damage type,
and provides simplifed Process Flow Diagrams
showing where damage will likely occur.
VCEIntelliJoint ofers a total solution to
bolted joint leakage with the latest advanced
bolted joint technology, including assembly
procedures and gasket test results. Te program
provides industry best practice gasket specifca-
tions and incorporates knowledge in areas re-
quired to efectively identify the root cause of a
leakage problem.
Training:
Equity Engineering ofers software training for
the API RBI and VCESage programs, as well
as training in other engineering disciplines. Te
software courses, designed to help both the nov-
ice and experienced user make more efective
use of the software, emphasize both hands-on
training and in-class example problems. Pub-
lic courses are held at E
2
G of ces in Cleveland
and Houston, or private courses can be held at
your site. To fnd out more about E
2
G training
courses, go to www.equityeng.com.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-406
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE Midstream
ESTIMATING
Gulf Publishing Company
PO Box 2608
Houston, Texas 77252-2608
Phone: 800-231-6275
E-mail: software@gulfpub.com
www.gulfpub.com/soft
Company Bio:
Gulf Publishing Companys Software Divi-
sion publishes and distributes more than
40 desktop applications designed specif-
cally for the needs of the engineering com-
munity involved in the petroleum industry.
Additional information on the titles ofered
by Gulf Publishing Software can be found at
www.gulfpub.com/soft.
Products:
EST$PRO was designed for estimators, plant
engineers and process engineers who need to
produce estimates quickly. Tis desktop appli-
cation provides the tools necessary for calculat-
ing estimates for plant design. Estimating-soft-
ware features include:
Curve-ftting utility
Risk analysis routine
Capacity cost estimatingcan be tailored
with your own historical data
Ability to create overall average craft wage
rates for limited data
Compute the efect of extended workweeks
on productivity
Field craft manpower projections and more
New upgrade allows storing and recall of user
input data
IF YOU ARE AN
ESTIMATOR, A PLANT
ENGINEER, OR
PROCESS ENGINEER,
THIS IS THE CONCEPTUAL
COST ESTIMATING
PACKAGE FOR YOU!
+1 (713) 520-4426
+1 (800) 231-6275
Software@GulfPub.com
www.GPCSoftware.com
$oftware for Dealmakers
QUICK, ACCURATE ESTIMATES
AT THE CLICK OF A BUTTON.
Midstream Midstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 22 SPRI NG 2010
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
ALARM MANAGEMENT
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
diverse customer base with market-leading products
including analyzers, fow meters, transmitters, con-
trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
uted control systems and more.
Products:
CAMS - Yokogawas Consolidated Alarm
Management System (CAMS) is an alarm
management software designed on the innova-
tive concept of acquiring real-time alarms and
events from a variety of various automation
systems - not only from Distributed Control
Systems (DCS) but also Safety Instrumented
Systems (SIS), Supervisory and Data Acquisi-
tion Systems (SCADA and DAQ) and Plant
Asset Management Systems (PAM); then to
sort and deliver only essential alarms to the
right person at the right time. Important
information such as the root cause of alarm
occurrence and role-based guidance are also
added to the displayed message.
AAASuite - AAASuite is a comprehensive
alarm management system that optimizes and
enhances process alarms issued by control
systems. AAASuite improves operator perfor-
mance by minimizing nuisance alarms and
providing timely notifcation of only neces-
sary alarms, thereby preventing alarm food-
ing and enabling safe, stable and cost efective
plant operations.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Merrick Systems, Inc.
4801 Woodway, Suite 200E
Houston, TX 77056
Toll Free: 800-842-8389
Phone: 713-579-3400
Fax: 713-579-3499
E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com
www.MerrickSystems.com
Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com
Company Bio:
Merrick Systems provides the industrys most
robust software and hardware solutions address-
ing production operations, engineering and
asset tracking. Recognized for its industry ex-
pertise and innovative technologies, Merrick is
committed to delivering best of breed solutions
to improve production operations, helping
companies extend oil and gas producing asset
life, lower lifting costs, increase production and
optimize operations. Merricks integrated ap-
plications, installed or hosted, include real-time
surveillance and optimization; feld operations
management; feld data capture; hydrocarbon
production accounting; mobile computing for
feld and drilling operations and ruggedized
RFID for drilling and asset management.
Products:
RFID Diamond Tags: Merricks ruggedized
RFID asset tracking system, including RFID
Diamond Tags, software and hardware, was de-
veloped to meet the unique needs of oil & gas
operations and track downhole, sub-sea and
surface equipment . It allows to uniquely iden-
tify, track, trace and document high-value as-
sets for location, measurements, maintenance,
use, inspection history and certifcations. Ac-
cess to this information in near real-time al-
lows companies to make informed decisions on
asset use and re-use, manage assets ef ciently,
reduce cost and reduce the risk of catastrophic
failure, improving the safety of their operations
and people. Merricks RFID tags can survive
the harsh conditions of drilling and subsea op-
erations, including corrosion, abrasives, vibra-
tions, extreme temperatures up to 4000F and
pressures of up to 22,500 psi and are readable
through thick layers of drilling mud.
RFID features include:
Various durable and rugged tags and mount-
ing methods for diferent components includ-
ing drill pipe, HWDP, subs, drill collars, bits,
risers, fow irons, casing, production tubing,
safety equipment and any other downhole,
sub-sea and surface equipment components
that requires tracking
Tags are rated for sustained temperatures and
pressures expected under harsh drilling and
operating conditions
Tags can be installed during the component
manufacturing process or retroftted in the
feld
RFID data is linked to corporate-wide asset
management, maintenance management and
ERP systems including Merricks Rig-Hand
and CATS software or any in-house asset
tracking system
Rig-Hand: Rig-Hand is a drilling operations
data-collection software using patented RFID
technology to automate the identifcation of
surface or down-hole equipment. Rig-Hand
has a mobile component, used on a mobile de-
vice with an integrated RFID reader for rig and
yard operations (such as scanning pipe upon
arrival or tripping in or out of the hole) and
a desktop component that is used for drilling
engineering, technical and logistics workfows.
A typical Rig-Hand workfow includes de-
sign of a drill string schematic, comparison of
the planned drill string with the inventory of
equipment on the rig and tracking drilling op-
erations as the well is drilled and completed.
Te drill string information can be viewed in
real-time at the rig as well as remotely, at a drill-
ing operations center.
CATS (Corporate Asset Tracking System):
CATS provides all necessary asset tracking and
management via RFID tags or a combination
of tags and bar codes. CATS is a user confgu-
rable system utilizing .NET architecture along
with a Microsoft SQL database. Te applica-
tion communicates with industrial hardened
mobile handheld devices via a wireless link or
in a disconnected state (data batching) process.
As data objects and associated attributes are
transferred to mobile handhelds, data replica-
tion is used to transfer the required information
for business processes by users. Te respective
asset tag is associated with the corresponding
asset attributes that are either entered into the
CATS database directly or via a fle transfer
from the host ERP system. CATS is an open
system which allows IT power users the ability
to independently confgure the product to meet
current and future business processes.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-417
Business Management Midstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 23
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
diverse customer base with market-leading products
including analyzers, fow meters, transmitters, con-
trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
uted control systems and more.
Products:
PRM - Plant Resource Manager (PRM) is a
real-time instrument device maintenance and
management software package that provides a
platform for advanced instrument diagnostics.
PRM is an integrated software solution that
unifes the monitored data from intelligent and
non-intelligent feld devices running within
Yokogawas CENTUM VP and STARDOM
control systems or as a stand-alone solution. Te
key feature of PRM is that it provides easy access
to automatically collected data from feld net-
works such as Foundation Fieldbus, and HART
allowing integration, management and mainte-
nance these devices using a common database.
PRM provides integrated plant and device
performance data, maintenance records,
audit trails, device confguration with auto-
device detection, historic data management,
parameter comparison, advanced device di-
agnostics information, and access to on-line
documentation such as device drawings,
parts list and manuals in a client server archi-
tecture that provides information to multiple
users within a plant facility. It provides the
ability to adjust the parameters of intelligent
devices online and allows comparison of the
current data to historical data of a device.
Fieldmate - FieldMate is an asset manage-
ment software developed for portable lap-
top computers that provides confguration
and maintenance of intelligent feld devices.
Fieldmate supports the use of open inter-
face Field Device Tool (FDT) technology to
facilitate the confguration and adjustment of
feld devices such as sensors and valves at pro-
duction sites, regardless of the manufacturer
or the communication protocols. Fieldmate
also supports Electronic Device Description
Language (EDDL) interface technology.
With its device navigation and device main-
tenance information management features,
this software relieves users of the dif culties
with dealing with a variety of communica-
tion protocols and confguration methods
from multiple manufacturers which used dif-
ferent confgurators and/or multiple confgu-
ration procedures.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
DATA MANAGEMENT
geoLOGIC systems ltd.
900, 703 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2P 0T9
Phone: 403 262-1992
Fax: 403-262-1987
E-mail: sales@geologic.com
www.geologic.com
Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. provides well data and
integrated software solutions to the energy and
production industry. Te company is an inno-
vator in supplying data in more accessible and
usable forms so clients can make better deci-
sions - from the well head to senior levels of
accounting and administration.
Products:
geoSCOUT
TM
is a fully integrated, Windows-
based exploratory system that combines presen-
tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools
with data handling and analysis software. It
integrates public and proprietary data on wells,
well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and
facilities, felds and pools, and seismic stud-
ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for
searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
ing, analysis and managing information.
Te gDC
TM
(geoLOGIC Data Center) is an
online exploration information system that
gives users instant access, through their choice
of software, to high quality data in the open
Public Petroleum Data Model. Extremely fast
and reliable, the gDC gives access to general
well data, including geoLOGIC Tops, Original
Operator data, DST and other well test data,
directional well data, land data, and LAS and
Raster log data.
petroCUBE
TM
is an innovative suite of prod-
ucts that provide unbiased, consistent statistical
insights that can help you make more proft-
able decisions about petroleum plays. From re-
serve and production data through to full-cycle
economics, petroCUBE gives you immediate
access to a full spectrum of current geostatis-
tical, technical and fnancial information and
comprehensive analytical tools. petroCUBE
instantly delivers the data engineers and geolo-
gists need to accurately assess risk and justify
exploration and development proposals before
wells are drilled.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-404
DATA VISUALIZATION
geoLOGIC systems ltd.
900, 703 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2P 0T9
Phone: 403 262-1992
Fax: 403-262-1987
E-mail: sales@geologic.com
www.geologic.com
Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. provides well data and
integrated software solutions to the energy and
production industry. Te company is an inno-
vator in supplying data in more accessible and
usable forms so clients can make better deci-
sions - from the well head to senior levels of
accounting and administration.
Products:
geoSCOUT
TM
is a fully integrated, Windows-
based exploratory system that combines presen-
tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools
with data handling and analysis software. It
integrates public and proprietary data on wells,
well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and
facilities, felds and pools, and seismic stud-
ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for
searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
ing, analysis and managing information.
Midstream Midstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 24 SPRI NG 2010
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Te gDC
TM
(geoLOGIC Data Center) is an
online exploration information system that
gives users instant access, through their choice
of software, to high quality data in the open
Public Petroleum Data Model. Extremely fast
and reliable, the gDC gives access to general
well data, including geoLOGIC Tops, Original
Operator data, DST and other well test data,
directional well data, land data, and LAS and
Raster log data.
petroCUBE
TM
is an innovative suite of prod-
ucts that provide unbiased, consistent statistical
insights that can help you make more proft-
able decisions about petroleum plays. From re-
serve and production data through to full-cycle
economics, petroCUBE gives you immediate
access to a full spectrum of current geostatis-
tical, technical and fnancial information and
comprehensive analytical tools. petroCUBE
instantly delivers the data engineers and geolo-
gists need to accurately assess risk and justify
exploration and development proposals before
wells are drilled.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-404
PIXOTEC, LLC
15917 SE Fairwood Blvd.
Renton, WA 98058 US
Phone: 425-255-0789
Fax: 425-917-0104
E-mail: info@slicerdicer.com
www.slicerdicer.com
Skip Echert, Director of Marketing
Company Bio:
PIXOTEC, LLC specializes in the develop-
ment of software for the analysis of com-
plex data in three or more dimensions. Dr.
David Lucas, the originator of Slicer Dicer,
heads the software development eforts and
is co-owner of PIXOTEC. Slicer Dicer and
its precursors have been under development
since the late 80s.
Products:
Slicer Dicer - Volumetric Data Visualization
Software for Windows, is designed for geoscien-
tists and engineers involved with complex data
defned in three or more dimensions. Tis easy-
to-use tool is employed for the analysis of seismic
data and geological model outputs. It has users
in over 50 countries. Te latest version of Slicer
Dicer, v5, includes 3VO
TM
Slicer Dicers power-
ful new 3D viewer. It simplifes rotating, zoom-
ing, and other manipulations of your data scene,
all by simply moving your mouse.
With Slicer Dicer, you can explore your mul-
tidimensional volume data visually by slicing
and dicing to create arbitrary orthogonal and
oblique slices, rectilinear blocks and cutouts,
isosurfaces, and projected volumes. You can
generate animation sequences featuring con-
tinuous rotation, moving slices, blocks, para-
metric variation (time animation), oblique slice
rotation, and varying transparency. Use the new
3VO
TM
viewer to easily rotate, zoom, control
lighting and light refection, and change the
center of rotation of your data image.
Pricing for Slicer Dicer starts at only $495. Go
to our web site, SlicerDicer.com, to download
a full-featured demo that is limited only by a
15-day trial period. Low-cost upgrades from
previous versions of Slicer Dicer are also avail-
able from the SlicerDicer.com web site.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-418
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
AND ENGINEERING
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
College Station, TX 77845 USA
Phone: 979-690-5050
Fax: 979-690-3250
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
www.HTRI.net
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development
Asia - Pacifc
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Fax: 81-43-297-0354
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Te Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
Indraprasth Complex
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
evant research and provides software tools for
design, rating, and simulation of process heat
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
range of technical publications and provides
other services including contract research, soft-
ware development, consulting, and training.
Products:
HTRI Xchanger SuiteIntegrated graphical
user environment for the design, rating, and
simulation of heat transfer equipment.
XaceDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
recovery units, and air preheaters.
XfhSimulates the behavior of fred heaters.
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
box heaters and the convection section of fred
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
XhpeDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
XistDesigns, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing flm evaporators, and refux condensers.
XjpeDesigns, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
XpheDesigns, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
ally using local physical properties and process
conditions.
XspeRates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers.
XtloGraphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist.
XvibPerforms fow-induced vibration analy-
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
ous modes and ofers fexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
Xchanger Suite EducationalCustomized ver-
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only.
R-trendCalculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
Business Management Midstream
25
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
EXPLORATION
geoLOGIC systems ltd.
900, 703 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2P 0T9
Phone: 403 262-1992
Fax: 403-262-1987
E-mail: sales@geologic.com
www.geologic.com
Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. provides well data and
integrated software solutions to the energy and
production industry. Te company is an inno-
vator in supplying data in more accessible and
usable forms so clients can make better deci-
sions - from the well head to senior levels of
accounting and administration.
Products:
geoSCOUT
TM
is a fully integrated, Windows-
based exploratory system that combines pre-
sentation-quality mapping and cross-section
tools with data handling and analysis soft-
ware. It integrates public and proprietary data
on wells, well logs (Raster and LAS), land,
pipelines and facilities, felds and pools, and
seismic studies. It includes powerful, easy-
to-use tools for searching, viewing, mapping,
reporting, graphing, analysis and managing
information.
Te gDC
TM
(geoLOGIC Data Center) is an
online exploration information system that
gives users instant access, through their choice
of software, to high quality data in the open
Public Petroleum Data Model. Extremely fast
and reliable, the gDC gives access to general
well data, including geoLOGIC Tops, Original
Operator data, DST and other well test data,
directional well data, land data, and LAS and
Raster log data.
petroCUBE
TM
is an innovative suite of prod-
ucts that provide unbiased, consistent statistical
insights that can help you make more proft-
able decisions about petroleum plays. From re-
serve and production data through to full-cycle
economics, petroCUBE gives you immediate
access to a full spectrum of current geostatis-
tical, technical and fnancial information and
comprehensive analytical tools. petroCUBE
instantly delivers the data engineers and geolo-
gists need to accurately assess risk and justify
exploration and development proposals before
wells are drilled.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-404
FIELD DATA CAPTURE
Merrick Systems, Inc.
4801 Woodway, Suite 200E
Houston, TX 77056
Toll Free: 800-842-8389
Phone: 713-579-3400
Fax: 713-579-3499
E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com
www.MerrickSystems.com
Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com
Company Bio:
Merrick Systems provides the industrys most
robust software and hardware solutions address-
ing production operations, engineering and
asset tracking. Recognized for its industry ex-
pertise and innovative technologies, Merrick is
committed to delivering best of breed solutions
to improve production operations, helping
companies extend oil and gas producing asset
life, lower lifting costs, increase production and
optimize operations. Merricks integrated ap-
plications, installed or hosted, include real-time
surveillance and optimization; feld operations
management; feld data capture; hydrocarbon
lf you know what you're doing
- you only need one
Having everything you need in
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lt's also easy to use with our
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Thousands of landmen, engineers
and geologists use geoSCOUT

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software every day, to make more
effcient, informed decisions.
Give us an hour for a demo -
we know you'll see the value.
Call 403.262.1992
Email info@geoscout.com
Online ^^^NLVZJV\[JVT
F
R
O
M
industry-leading
customer service
easy & effcient
migration of existing data
helping clients
increase productivity
Select 404 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Midstream Midstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE 26 SPRI NG 2010
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
production accounting; mobile computing for
feld and drilling operations and ruggedized
RFID for drilling and asset management.
Products:
eVIN: Used in 20% of all oil & gas wells in
the US and multiple global locations, eVIN en-
ables data capture from oil and gas felds using
handhelds and PCs. Designed to meet feld op-
eration needs anywhere in the world, including
the unique complexities of dif cult environ-
ments and products such as coal bed methane,
water foods and CO2, eVIN handls mixed
units of measure and multiple languages.
Field operators use eVIN to easily enter data
from the feld with automated feld calculations
of diferent gas metering devices and oil tick-
ets. eVIN provides error validation and reliable
transfer of the data to the companys central
of ces 24/7 where production supervisors, ac-
counting personnel and engineers can access it
in near real time. It also allows SCADA and
other automated readings and information to
be transmitted to feld personnel for review and
action. eVINs confgurability enables captur-
ing any desired data, allowing it to be used for
asset tracking, environmental and safety com-
pliance and much more.
Designed for use in remote locations, eVIN
can be deployed in areas of low bandwidth and
manages interruptions in connectivity without
disruption to the data capture process. Easy to
deploy, eVIN can manage updates via a simple
set-up, a single point of deployment and stan-
dard TCP/IP protocol. Te software can be
used on multiple devices including desktop,
Pocket PC or TabletPC.
RFID-Based Asset Tracking System: rugged,
handheld system for asset tracking at a rig-site
and for yard operations. Te system includes
both intrinsically safe and non-intrinsic hard-
ware. For rig operations, the system automati-
cally creates a drill string schematic as tagged
drill pipe components are scanned. Te sche-
matic provides the toolpusher an accurate tally
of the components going in and out of the hole
and in what sequence. If the system identifes
any potential out of order sequencing, it will
alert the toolpusher of the thread mismatch
as the drill string is being built via a graphic
display on the handheld device. Te ease of
scanning tags with a single button click on the
handheld device, even with gloved use, makes it
possible to facilitate normal drilling operations
speed while maintaining accuracy.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-417
OPERATIONS
Merrick Systems, Inc.
4801 Woodway, Suite 200E
Houston, TX 77056
Toll Free: 800-842-8389
Phone: 713-579-3400
Fax: 713-579-3499
E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com
www.MerrickSystems.com
Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com
Company Bio:
Merrick Systems provides the industrys most
robust software and hardware solutions ad-
dressing production operations, engineering
and asset tracking. Recognized for its indus-
try expertise and innovative technologies,
Merrick is committed to delivering best of
breed solutions to improve production op-
erations, helping companies extend oil and
gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs,
increase production and optimize operations.
Merricks integrated applications, installed or
hosted, include real-time surveillance and
optimization; feld operations management;
feld data capture; hydrocarbon production
accounting; mobile computing for feld and
drilling operations and ruggedized RFID for
drilling and asset management.
Products:
Merricks suite of products provides a complete
production and drilling management solution.
From the feld to the back of ce, all of your
data is integrated into a single system:
eVIN Mobile and PC-based feld data
capture system designed for simple, fast
and ef cient entry of daily readings with
feld validation and AGA calculations
built in.
ProCount Comprehensive hydrocarbon
accounting solution to manage simple
and complex daily and monthly produc-
tion allocations, including full component
allocations with over 100 standard reports
included.
Carte Web based production monitor-
ing and reporting tool for viewing, graph-
ing, analyzing and exporting daily and
monthly oil & gas production trends.
Catch potential production areas before
they become problems.
PetroRegs Complete regulatory compli-
ance modules for state and MMS report-
ing.
RIO Petro technical data store for exploi-
tation, exploration, property evaluation,
reservoir analysis, and feld operations.
Used to manage and analyze production,
reservoir, geological, and petrophysical
data, allowing multiple applications to
utilize and beneft from the same data.
RFID-Based Asset Tracking System for
tracking down-hole, subsea and surface
equipment onshore and ofshore. Te sys-
tem includes a portfolio of ft-for-purpose
Diamond RFID tags, Rig-Hand and
CATS software for drill-site and corpo-
rate-wide asset tracking.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-417
PROCESS CONTROL AND
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America
12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
Te Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia
PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Jingan District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Elec-
tric Corporation, a global leader in the manu-
facture and supply of instrumentation, process
control, and automation solutions. Headquar-
tered in Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation
of America serves a diverse customer base with
market-leading products including analyzers,
fow meters, transmitters, controllers, record-
ers, data acquisition products, meters, instru-
ments, safety instrumented systems, distributed
control systems and more.
FIELD DATA CAPTURE, CONT.
Business Management Midstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 27
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Products:
FAST/TOOLS
TM
(Advance Process Control
Management software) is a powerful, state-
of-the-art, fexible, distributed Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
system. It is a client/server based open archi-
tecture that provides support for standards
such as XML, HTML, Java, ODBC and
OPC ensures uniform and standard inter-
faces to other packages and applications.. It
has been developed and evolved over a period
of three decades to span a wide range of op-
erating platforms such that it ofers stability
and scalability during the lifetime of the pro-
cess. It has a proven track-record, guaranteed
best-of-class availability, data integrity, high
levels of performance and on-line confgura-
tion capabilities. FAST/TOOLS is scalable
from less than a hundred to more than a
million I/O points, and supports multiple
architectures from single node solutions to
multi-node client/server systems and is used
in many application areas, such as:
Oil & Gas exploration, production and dis-
tribution supervision
Pipeline Management
Ship monitoring and control
Production control supervision
Utilities like water, waste-water treatment, gas
and electricity distribution and management
Embedded applications in advanced produc-
tion equipment.
STARDOM
TM
, network based control system,
is coupled with FAST/TOOLS to provide the
remote terminal units (RTU). STARDOM
consists of a family of highly functional auton-
omous controller RTUs and application port-
folios. It features small, scalable architecture
which is capable of being highly distributed,
both within a facility and also geographically.
STARDOM family of controllers include a
Field control node (FCN) a modular control-
ler with a wide range of I/O modules and two
expansion units suitable for mid-size applica-
tions, a Field Control Junction an all-in-one
compact controller with built-in I/O suitable
for direct installation on equipment or utilities
and a FCN-RTU suitable for low power ap-
plications. STARDOM enables operation and
monitoring of the process anywhere, anytime
using commercial of-the-shelf (COTS) com-
ponents. STARDOM autonomous controllers
are FOUNDATION feldbus certifed and can
be adapted to any infrastructure to integrate all
process information. STARDOM autonomous
controllers have great remote management and
stand-alone capability, and reduce running
costs by making fexible use of e-mail, the Web,
and SCADA technology.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
PROCESS ENGINEERING
AND SIMULATION
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
College Station, TX 77845 USA
Phone: 979-690-5050
Fax: 979-690-3250
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
www.HTRI.net
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development
Asia - Pacifc
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Fax: 81-43-297-0354
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Te Surrey Technology Centre
40 Occam Road
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
Indraprasth Complex
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
evant research and provides software tools for
design, rating, and simulation of process heat
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
range of technical publications and provides
other services including contract research, soft-
ware development, consulting, and training.
Products:
HTRI Xchanger SuiteIntegrated graphi-
cal user environment for the design, rating,
and simulation of heat transfer equipment.
XaceDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
+1 (713) 520-4426 l +1 (800) 231-6275 l Software@GulfPub.com l www.GulfPub.com/Soft
Featuring more than 70 routines associated with control valves, rupture disks, fow elements,
relief valves and process data calculations, InstruCalc
TM
is one of the industrys most popular
desktop applications for instrumentation calculations and analyses.
Features:
Graphs for Control Valves and Flow Elements
Restriction devices
Material yield strengths fle
ISO orifce plate calculations have been updated to ISO 5167, 2003
Relief Valve programs, sudden entrance and exit to the calculations.
l ww ww ww ww ww ww www.GulffffffffPub.com/Softtttttt
p
f Valve program mmmmms,,,,,, sssssuddddde de de de dd
analyses.
The industry-standard software for instrumentation design
Version 7.1
Midstream Midstream Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
recovery units, and air preheaters.
XfhSimulates the behavior of fred heaters.
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
box heaters and the convection section of fred
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
XhpeDesigns, rates, and simulates the per-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
XistDesigns, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing flm evaporators, and refux condensers.
XjpeDesigns, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
XpheDesigns, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental program,
each plate channel is calculated individually using
local physical properties and process conditions.
XspeRates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers.
XtloGraphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist.
XvibPerforms fow-induced vibration analy-
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
ous modes and ofers fexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
Xchanger Suite EducationalCustomized ver-
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only.
R-trendCalculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING
Merrick Systems, Inc.
4801 Woodway, Suite 200E
Houston, TX 77056
Toll Free: 800-842-8389
Phone: 713-579-3400
Fax: 713-579-3499
E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com
www.MerrickSystems.com
Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com
Company Bio:
Merrick Systems provides the industrys most
robust software and hardware solutions ad-
dressing production operations, engineering
and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry
expertise and innovative technologies, Mer-
rick is committed to delivering best of breed
solutions to improve production operations,
helping companies extend oil and gas produc-
ing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase pro-
duction and optimize operations. Merricks
integrated applications, installed or hosted,
include real-time surveillance and optimiza-
tion; feld operations management; feld data
capture; hydrocarbon production accounting;
mobile computing for feld and drilling opera-
tions and ruggedized RFID for drilling and as-
set management.
Products:
ProCount - ProCount is a comprehensive hy-
drocarbon accounting solution for daily and
monthly volumetric allocations, management
and partner reporting. Used onshore, ofshore,
domestically and globally, ProCount helps
meet allocation needs in both operated and
non-operated properties and handles simple
to complex allocations by mass, energy and
volume, with plant and pipeline, meter, tank
and fuel wellhead allocations.
Providing daily and monthly volume reconcil-
iations that are used to minimize month-end
operational surprises and operational discrep-
ancies, ProCount also supports allocations
for production sharing agreements and other
contractual needs. Handling multiple units of
measure, ProCount has built-in integration
with several standard ERP accounting and f-
nancial systems as well as third-party engineer-
ing and economic analysis software packages.
With over a hundred standard reports and ad-
hoc reporting capabilities, ProCount is highly
scalable, confgurable and built to integrate
well with other software packages. In addi-
tion, It has a built-in auditability and trace-
ability which are required for fnancial regula-
tory compliance.
ProCount features include:
Simple drag and drop tool that allows us-
ers to create simple to complex multi-tiered
connections for allocation networks
Quick setup of daily and monthly allocations
using templates for multiple objects (meters,
tanks, equipment and completions)
Allocate by volume, energy based BTU
and analysis, including component alloca-
tion of plant products and liquids/NGL
User defned error checking and validation,
custom formulas for allocation requirements
and user confgurable data felds and screens
Handles requirements for mixed units of
measurement (Imperial and Metric) within
one data store
Scalable to handle daily allocations for
20,000+ wells (with related equipment in a
network)
Integrates with revenue/fnancial systems
like Artesia, Excalibur, SAP as well as Aries
for Petroleum Economics
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hydrocarbon production
accounting
mobility solutions for field
and drilling operations
field operations
management and field
data capture
ruggedized RFID for
drilling and asset
management
real time surveillance and
optimization
Industrial IT
for the Digital Oil Field
We Underst and
4801 Woodway
Suite 200E
Houston, TX 77056
+1.713.579.3400
800.842.8389
www.MerrickSystems.com
PROCESS ENGINEERING
AND SIMULATION, CONT.
Select 417 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Business Management Midstream
SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 29
Upstream UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Regulatory fling of production for all key
states and MMS either in electronic format
or printed
100+ reports included for daily operations,
daily and monthly accounting/allocations
and management/partner reporting.
Carte Carte is a web-based production man-
agement dashboard and monthly oil & gas pro-
duction reporting system that allows access to
information by a single well, feld or entire as-
set, viewed graphically or in tabular form. Carte
reads data from Merricks ProCount software or
other standard third-party production databases
and provides KPI and variance reports. It allows
operations staf and executives to easily access
production data at varying levels, including
corporate division and asset summaries, or drill
down to completion levels. As a web based so-
lution it ofers simple deployment from a central
location to feld and of ce personnel at multiple
locations. It can also be used to share informa-
tion with partners.
Carte features include:
View allocated production data to spot early
trends and potential problem areas
Drill down to the completion level and access
critical information for decision making
Activate Excel from within Carte to generate
user spreadsheets
Annotate with sticky notes on well produc-
tion graphs
Print one or all production graphs with a
single mouse click
Graph the forecasted economic model versus
actual production on a daily basis
PetroRegs From production form flings with
state and federal agencies to gas allowable com-
putations and well test calculations, these mod-
ules help ensure regulatory compliance.
Regulatory features include:
Flexible fling options with hard copy reports,
electronic fling and PDF format
Automatic handling of prior period adjust-
ments (PPA)
Each module generates state-approved digital
flings
Generate error reports for identifying poten-
tial problems before fling with the state
www.info.hotims.com/30874-417
PRODUCTION OPTIMIZATION
OVS Group, LLC
580 Westlake Park Blvd.
Suite 100
Houston, TX
USA 77079
Phone: 281 531 4333
Fax: 281 531 4177
E-mail: sales@OVSGroup.com
www.OVSGroup.com
Norman Kroon, VP Business Development
Norman.Kroon@OVSGroup.com
Company Bio:
OVS

is a highly confgurable platform created


for Engineering Asset Management. It is used to
confgure ft-for-purpose solutions combining:
Data Integration & Visualization
Surveillance-by-Exception
Engineering Workfow Guidance and Auto-
mation with Application Integration
In addition to our products, we provide a full
suite of professional, training, and support ser-
vices to assist you in the implementation of so-
lutions based on the OVS

framework.
Product and Service Descriptions:
OVSis proven software commercialized in 2006,
written in .Net and in use on a global basis.
Our software solution includes:
Data integration and visualization to utilize
all your existing information, no need to
change databases or applications, no duplica-
tion of data
Production operations surveillance allows au-
tomated and unattended surveillance of pro-
duction operations using your own business
rules and logic
Engineering workfow automation accommo-
dates your unique work processes in the drill-
ing, production, and reservoir domains
Our application and strategic deployment ser-
vices enable our clients to beneft by:
Improving operational ef ciency by deliver-
ing client designed and approved workfows
Advancing technology to the industry desired
Digital Oil Field vision
Adding value to existing applications and
data for engineering and operational use, ulti-
mately to make better decisions
OVS in practice: Our clients are using OVS
to deliver solutions for:
Production Operations
Gas Lift Optimization & Virtual Metering
using Models
Production Surveillance & Optimization
Surveillance-by-Exception
Electronic Wellbook
Reservoir Management
Fluid Contact Surveillance
Pressure Maintenance Program Monitoring
& Online Simulation
Field Development Planning
Inter-departmental coordination of prospect
evaluation process using workfows for stan-
dardized analysis from drilling, completions,
production, reservoir, and pipeline technol-
ogy groups.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-419
WELL LOG DATA ACCESS
AND MANAGEMENT
geoLOGIC systems ltd.
900, 703 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
Canada T2P 0T9
Phone: 403 262-1992
Fax: 403-262-1987
E-mail: sales@geologic.com
www.geologic.com
Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. provides well data and
integrated software solutions to the energy and
production industry. Te company is an inno-
vator in supplying data in more accessible and
usable forms so clients can make better deci-
sions - from the well head to senior levels of
accounting and administration.
Products:
geoSCOUT
TM
is a fully integrated, Windows-
based exploratory system that combines presen-
tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools
with data handling and analysis software. It
integrates public and proprietary data on wells,
well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and
facilities, felds and pools, and seismic stud-
ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for
searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
ing, analysis and managing information.
Te gDC
TM
(geoLOGIC Data Center) is an
online exploration information system that
gives users instant access, through their choice
of software, to high quality data in the open
Public Petroleum Data Model. Extremely fast
and reliable, the gDC gives access to general
well data, including geoLOGIC Tops, Original
Operator data, DST and other well test data,
directional well data, land data, and LAS and
Raster log data.
petroCUBE
TM
is an innovative suite of prod-
ucts that provide unbiased, consistent statistical
insights that can help you make more proft-
able decisions about petroleum plays. From re-
serve and production data through to full-cycle
economics, petroCUBE gives you immediate
access to a full spectrum of current geostatis-
tical, technical and fnancial information and
comprehensive analytical tools. petroCUBE
instantly delivers the data engineers and geolo-
gists need to accurately assess risk and justify
exploration and development proposals before
wells are drilled.
www.info.hotims.com/30874-404
30 SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
BUDGETING, CAPITAL
ALLOCATION & PLANNING
3esi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Schlumberger Information Solutions
BUSINESS INTEGRATION
Baker & OBrien
Ensyte Energy Software
IBM Solutions
m:pro IT Consult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT
Oildex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
OSIsoft
P2 Energy Solutions
LAND AND LEASING
geoLOGIC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
PLANT LIFECYCLE &
PERFORMANCE MONITORING
ABB
Emerson Process Management
m:pro IT Consult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
PRODUCTION YIELD/ACCOUNTING
Bolo Systems
CGI Solutions and Technologies
Data Scavenger
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Codeware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
RISK MANAGEMENT
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Decisioneering
Dyadem
DOWNSTREAM
ALARM MANAGEMENT
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Aspen Technology
Asset Performance Networks
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Lloyds Register
Expertune
ICONICS
INOVx
Intergraph
KBC Advanced Technologies . . . . . . . . . .7
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
COLLABORATION AND
KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION &
ENGINEERING
AVEVA
Chemstations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Codeware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI). . . .10
KRC Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
McLaren Software
Peng Engineering
DYNAMIC SIMULATION &
OPTIMIZATION
Chemstations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Invensys SimSci-Esscor
Kinesix Software
RSI Simcon
ECONOMIC EVALUATION
Axxis
Spiral Software
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI). . . .11
ENTERPRISE PORTAL SYSTEMS
m:pro IT Consult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
FLUID FLOW ANALYSIS
ABZ
CPFD-Software
Engineered Software
How to use this index:
1. Learn more about the display advertisers by visiting the pages provided in
the rst column under Display Advertisers. For more information, go to
www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS and follow the instructions.
2. The companies shown in bold-faced type have product listings on the page
numbers provided.
DISPLAY ADVERTISERS
Chemstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
www.info.hotims.com/30874-408
Codeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
www.info.hotims.com/30874-405
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . 18
www.info.hotims.com/30874-406
geoLOGIC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
www.info.hotims.com/30874-404
Haverly Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
www.info.hotims.com/30874-413
Heat Transfer Research Inc. . . . . . . . 2
www.info.hotims.com/30874-411
M3 Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
www.info.hotims.com/30874-414
Merrick Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
www.info.hotims.com/30874-417
m:pro IT Consult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
www.info.hotims.com/30874-402
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
www.info.hotims.com/30874-407
Software Reference Index
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Your company can be listed under a single category in this index at no charge.
For information, please contact Laura Kane at 1-713-520-4449 or laura.kane@gulfpub.com
31 SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010
ONLINE MONITORING &
OPTIMIZATION
Chemstations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Flexware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
PLANNING, SCHEDULING &
BLENDING
AMI Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Haverly Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
m:pro IT Consult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
M3 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
PLANT LIFECYCLE &
PERFORMANCE MONITORING
Dassault Systemes
innotec
Ventyx
PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
& REPAIR
Codeware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . .16
Metegrity
Siemens Energy & Automation
PROCESS CONTROL
& INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
PROCESS ENGINEERING
& SIMULATION
Ansys
Bryan Research & Engineering
Chemstations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Codeware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Farris Engineering Services
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI). . . .18
Total Systems Resources
PRODUCTION/YIELD ACCOUNTING
Soteica
REFINING, PETROCHEMICAL & GAS
PROCESSING
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . .19
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI). . . .19
M3 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
SIS / SAFETY SYSTEMS
ACM Facility Safety
exida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
TRAINING
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . .21
MIDSTREAM
ESTIMATING
GPC Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
PIPELINE ENGINEERING & FLUID
FLOW
CD-adapco
C-FER Technologies
Multiphase Solutions
UPSTREAM
ALARM MANAGEMENT
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
ASSET MANAGEMENT
IHS Energy Group
Landmark (Halliburton)
Merrick Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
DATA MANAGEMENT
Decision Dynamics Technology
Enertia Software
geoLOGIC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Open Spirit
Paradigm
DATA VISUALIZATION
geoLOGIC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Slicer/Dicer (PIXOTEC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION &
ENGINEERING
BlueCielo ECM Solutions
COADE
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI). . . .24
DRILLING ENGINEERING
Knowledge Systems
Pegasus Vertex
EXPLORATION
Digital Formation
Software Reference Index
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REFERENCE
Your company can be listed under a single category in this index at no charge.
For information, please contact Laura Kane at 1-713-520-4449 or laura.kane@gulfpub.com
geoLOGIC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Knowledge Systems
FIELD DATA CAPTURE
Merrick Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
OPERATIONS
Merrick Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Peloton
PROCESS CONTROL AND
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
PROCESS ENGINEERING &
SIMULATION
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI). . . .27
Softbits
Sun Microsystems
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING
Merrick Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
Well Flow Dynamics
PRODUCTION OPTIMIZATION
Fekete Associates
Joshi Technologies
OVS Group, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Pavilion Technologies
RESERVES MANAGEMENT
Geomechanics International
Petro-Soft Systems
Roxar
Sitelark
TRC Consultants
RESERVOIR MODELING
CMG
Geomodeling
SEISMIC DATA INTERPRETATION
& ANALYSIS
Earth Decision
Fugro-Jason
I/O
SEISMIC PROCESSING
CGGVeritas
TGS
WELL LOG DATA ACCESS &
MANAGEMENT
geoLOGIC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
32 SOFTWARE REFERENCE SPRI NG 2010 332 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 333322 32 32 32 32 332 333222 3 SOF SOF SOF SO SOF OF SOF O SOF SOF SOF SOF OF SSOFF SOF SSOF SOF SSSSOF SSOF SSOFTWA TW TW TWA TWA WA WWA WA TWA WA WA TWA WWWWA WWA TWA TWA TWA WWA WAA WA WA WAA WWW RE RRE RRRRE REEE RE RE RREE RE REF REF RREF REF REF REF REF RE REF REF REF RE RREF REF REF REF RE REF REF REF RE REF REF REF RRRE RRREF EE R ERE ER ERE ERE RR EREE ERE RE EEERE ERR EREE RRR NCE NCE NCE NNCE NCCEEE NCE NCEEEE NCE CCE N SPRI NG 2010
Select 407 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

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