HartEnergy.

com

JUNE 2020

Frontier Exploration
the
Drill Bits
SHALE CODE
Decommissioning Lessons from the past
& Disposal can shape shale’s future

Special Report:
Emissions
Management

Unconventional
Report:
HAYNESVILLE
 Accelerate
digital
transformation.
You need an innovative
company to create solutions
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and automate operations for
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 EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION J U NE 2020
WORLDWIDE COVERAGE VOLUME 93 n ISSUE 06

A H AR T E N E R G Y P UB L IC AT ION HartEnergy.com

COVER STORY: COMPLETIONS LESSONS

SPECIAL REPORT:
EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT

22
32 Keeping a lid on GHG emissions Cracking the
In this special report, operators and service
providers share their long-term view on shale code
emissions management.

30
Making the case
FRONTIER EXPLORATION for data sharing

36 Will gas hydrates be developed with

other biogenic gas plays?

40 Mega-merged 3D seismic in the

Vaca Muerta, Neuquén Basin

DRILL BITS
42 Managing transitional drilling challenges

44 Stratigraphic zonation for model-

based bit design

DECOMMISSIONING & DISPOSAL

46 A novel approach to a growing problem

58 UNCONVENTIONAL REPORT:
HAYNESVILLE

INDUSTRY PULSE
8 Conserve R&D budgets
and focus on external
technologies

12 Leading innovation
today

WORLD VIEW
14 Middle East economies
choked by low prices
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E&P DEPARTMENTS AND COMMENTARY

AS I SEE IT
Audience Altered reality 7

by the COMPLETIONS & PRODUCTION

Preserving today’s wells for tomorrow’s production 19

Numbers OFFSHORE ADVANCES

Upstream industry joins COVID-19 fight 21
Reach over 83,900*
subscribers. DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
Traditional models of operating are evolving to meet present demands 48
Six levels of digital oilfield maturity 50

83.9K
Total Circulation
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A different way to think about wellbore surveying 52

57% tocompanies
oil & gas
OFFSHORE SOLUTIONS
Weathering a network storm 54
32% toor contractors
consultants
TECH WATCH
11% tocompanies
service

or others
Catalyst-free PDC cutter technology to drive drilling efficiencies 56

TECH TRENDS 60

96%
of E&P circulation
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
ON THE MOVE/INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 66-67
64

reaches executive
management, LAST WORD
engineers and A standards approach to specifying fluid system components 68
production personnel
COMING NEXT MONTH The July issue of E&P will focus on how remote operations
Distributed in have been put to the test this year. Other features will cover land seismic, downhole tools,

135
last-mile logistics, full-field development and offshore wind. The regional report will high-
light Africa. Also, this issue will feature the annual Shale Technology Showcase as well as
the 2020 Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation winners. As always, while you’re
waiting for your next copy of E&P, be sure to visit HartEnergy.com for the latest news,
industry updates and unique industry analysis.
Countries
HartEnergy.com

*June 2019 BPA Brand Report – includes

both print and digital editions and the JUNE 2020
ABOUT THE COVER The transition from single well to multiwell pad
non-qualified Bonus Distribution Frontier Exploration
the operations, like this one in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, is one
Drill Bits
SHALE CODE
Decommissioning
& Disposal
Lessons from the past
can shape shale’s future of many lessons shale producers have capitalized on to improve their
Special Report:
Emissions
Management
efficiencies. Left, storm clouds are gathering on the LNG export future
Unconventional
Report:
that may disrupt the smooth sailing Haynesville Shale. (Cover photo by
HAYNESVILLE
Yesenia Rodriguez, courtesy of BPX; Left image courtesy of Shutterstock.
com/Hart Energy; Cover design by Melissa Ritchie)

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Oil, gas explorers face murky future after oil price crash
By Velda Addison, Group Senior Editor
Some companies are deferring or canceling plans for wells amid the
latest oil price crash, while gearing up for potential change due to a
shift toward cleaner forms of energy, according to a recent Westwood
Global Energy Group webinar on the state of exploration.
Colorado School of Mines researchers unveil
reservoir characterization study results
By Larry Prado, Activity Editor
Research from this year’s Colorado School of Mines’ Reservoir
Characterization Program includes a field project in the Eagle Ford Shale
conducted in Gonzales County, Texas.
Despite short-term pain, oil and gas leaders
stress infrastructure gain
By Joseph Markman, Senior Editor
In a recent webinar, executives and politicians discussed ways to
position the industry for the coming rebound.
Frac horsepower utilization falls alongside sand demand
By Velda Addison, Group Senior Editor
Westwood Global Energy Group analysts say signs of market recovery
are emerging, with some improvement expected later this year for frac
companies and sand suppliers.

VIDEOS:
n Dr. Yousef Alshammari sees international
opportunities for US service companies
Dr. Yousef Alshammari, CEO and head of Oil
Research at CMarkits, doesn’t expect OPEC
to scale back or deepen cuts at the group’s
June meeting.

n Energy job search tips from David Preng

David Preng, founder, president and CEO of Houston-based Preng &
Associates, says letting your network know immediately is key for those
who have lost their job amid the oil market crash.

n Parsley CEO Matt Gallagher

talks US shale, tech and ESG
Fresh off the end to proration discussions in Texas,
CEO Matt Gallagher shares how Parsley Energy
is responding to demand loss plus the Permian
shale producer’s focus on technology and ESG.

n KPMG’s Regina Mayor says ‘it’s grim’ but shale’s not dead
KPMG’s Regina Mayor looks at how U.S. shale producers will respond to
demand loss and who is getting hit the hardest in the energy industry
amid the current pandemic.

n Oilfield service companies turn to international

market for survival
As oilfield service companies adjust operations in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, many are planning to invest internationally rather
than in U.S. onshore, says energy investment banker Jim Wicklund.

By Jessica Morales, Director of Video Content

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HartEnergy.com
Executive Editor
JENNIFER PRESLEY
jpresley@hartenergy.com
Group Senior Editor
VELDA ADDISON
vaddison@hartenergy.com
Senior Editor
BRIAN WALZEL
bwalzel@hartenergy.com
Senior Editor
DARREN BARBEE
dbarbee@hartenergy.com
Senior Editor
JOSEPH MARKMAN
jmarkman@hartenergy.com
Activity Editor
LARRY PRADO
lprado@hartenergy.com
Editor-at-Large
NISSA DARBONNE
ndarbonne@hartenergy.com
Associate Editors
MARY HOLCOMB mholcomb@hartenergy.com
FAIZA RIZVI frizvi@hartenergy.com
Senior Managing Editor, Print Media
ARIANA HURTADO
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Senior Managing Editor, Digital Media
EMILY PATSY
epatsy@hartenergy.com
Assistant Managing Editor
BILL WALTER
bwalter@hartenergy.com
Creative Director
ALEXA SANDERS
asanders@hartenergy.com
Art Director
MELISSA RITCHIE
mritchie@hartenergy.com
Publisher
DARRIN WEST
dwest@hartenergy.com
Editorial Director
LEN VERMILLION
Senior Vice President, Media,
E&P/Conferences
RUSSELL LAAS
Chief Financial Officer
CHRIS ARNDT
Chief Executive Officer
RICHARD A. EICHLER
As I
JENNIFER PRESLEY SEE IT
Executive Editor
jpresley@hartenergy.com
Read more commentary at
HartEnergy.com
Altered reality
Like life, the digital transformation is moving pretty fast.
D o you remember your first experience with a personal computer? Mine was
in 1983 when my mom brought home an original Compaq Portable all-in-
one computer in a cream-colored suitcase that weighed at least 20 billion tons in
my child-sized grip (OK, it was more like 30 lb).
Using the system’s detachable keyboard and tiny built-in monitor, my mom did
word processing and billing for the small engine repair business she owned with
my dad in the heart of the Austin Chalk. When she wasn’t on it, I was learning
how to spell the names of the U.S. states using a MS-DOS program that I had to
load onto the system to run using a 5¼-inch floppy disk.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down, brought the economies of many
to their knees and forced us all to take a closer look at how we learn, live, play and
work. The memory of that 30-lb “portable” brick lives on as I check work email on
my featherlight iPhone.
The pandemic altered our reality for the worse and for the better. Curious
as to what this new reality means for the future of the oil and gas industry, I
reached out to Enverus’ Chris Dinkler for his views. He is the senior vice presi-
dent and general manager of business automation for the company. First, and
foremost, welcome to the new era of working remotely, he explained.
“As the scramble to respond to COVID-19 and the precipitous drop in prices
continues, one thing is certain: it has created even greater urgency—and oppor-
tunity—for efficiency and innovation in how we operate,” he said. “Some will
wait. Others will wisely act and embrace change.”
Also, staying home does not equal closed for business.
“Leveraging technology that makes working remotely and virtualization pos-
sible is a necessity,” Dinkler said. “Improved workflows to eliminate ineffective
decision-making and identifying actionable intelligence that can be easily shared
among your team is key.”
The industry is going digital, forever.
“The U.S. oil and gas industry spends $5 billion annually processing paper
invoices, royalty check stubs and payment transactions that flow between operators,
suppliers and royalty owners. Going paperless is possibly the fastest and easiest way to
cut down on costly inefficiencies and maintain business continuity,” he noted.
Digital delivers greater efficiency and less exposure.
“Many are tapping into artificial intelligence and machine learning to manage
back-office systems and flagging unthinkable fraud and billing errors,” Dinkler
said. “Millions in mistakes are now being caught at the point of service.”
There’s no doubt we’ll look back and find a label for this period of epic uncertainty.
“It will be full of dramatic drops, both in terms of revenue and resources,” he
said. “But we’ll also look at how we adapted and ushered in
a new era of oil and gas marked by mobility, flexibility,
innovation and automation.”
7
industry
PULSE

Conserve R&D budgets and

focus on external technologies
Technology scouting programs can help preserve R&D capital by looking
to other industries for crossover innovation.

petroleum industry needs. Management teams in this

John C. Barratt, Oil & Gas Innovation Center Inc. industry are in an unenviable position, forced to choose
between cutting near-term capital budgets and providing
Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series outlining why enough funding to support the most important R&D.
oil and gas industry companies should look externally for technol- Fortunately, there is another viable option that pre-
ogy solutions. Part 1 discusses the merits of this approach, Part 2 serves R&D capital and still provides a gateway to inno-
will review numerous relevant external technologies and Part 3 vation and technology. This option involves looking
will address how to initiate a technology scouting program. broadly outside of this industry for external technolo-
gies having crossover applicability. Many of the leading

T he recent downturn in oil prices will inevitably prompt

cuts to petroleum industry R&D budgets and staff
oil and gas producers and oil service companies already
do some technology scouting. Still, there are compel-
The World's Most Innovative Companies 2018
reductions among R&D personnel. This is very unfor- ling financial and business reasons why a much broader
tunate because ongoing technological development cross section of operators and service companies should
What Companies Spend the most on R&D?
is essential to provide the future technologies that the also be actively sourcing external technologies.

2018 R&D SPENDING

$10.8B $13.1B
$15.3B $16.2B $15.8B
$22.6B $5.5B
$10.6B
$11.6B
$3.3B
Toyota Motor

$10B Semiconductors
$6.1B $12.3B and
Semiconductor
$5.9B $10.2B Equipment
$4.6B $8B
$7.8B
$6.1B
$7.3B $8.5B
$6.1B
R&D Intensity (%)
$4.8B
$5.8B More than 40%
$7.1B
$4B
$7.7B $3.4B 20% - 40%
10% - 20%
$3.6B
$3.2B 5% - 10% FIGURE 1. This
$7.1B $6.6B 1% - 5%
Capital listing reflects
Goods R&D Expense
$5.9B 2018 R&D
(in USD billions, income
$4.6B $6.1B
statement exchange rate) expenditures
$4.2B
$5.8B
$20B
$3.9B $5.9B for some of
$3.7B
Diversified $15B
$5.4B Financials the leading

$5.4B companies in
$4.3B $10B
$5.3B
other industries.
$4.2B
$5B $3.3B
$5B (Source:
$4.8B Consumer Durables
$3.7B HowMuch.net)
$3.6B and Apparel

8 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

 industry
PULSE

Petroleum industry R&D compared Change is pervasive in other industries

to other industries Today’s low oil prices, much like similar price down-
R&D and new product development are expensive and turns, will change the petroleum industry in unpredict-
very time-intensive, requiring millions of dollars and able ways. Other major industries are also undergoing
the commitment of significant personnel resources. transformations driven by economic forces and new
According to their financial filings, the largest of the technologies. The automotive industry is a good exam-
oil service companies invested ple. Several years ago, Mary
between $400 million and $800 Barra, the CEO of GM, gave a
million in R&D-related activities The petroleum industry speech in which she indicated
in 2018. Given the challenging that her industry would likely
operating conditions of the last should focus far more change more in the next five to
few years, these were substantial attention on accessing 10 years than it has in the last 50
investments. years. The changes she was allud-
Figure 1 details how much
relevant external ing to have a substantial technol-
the leading companies in sev- technologies. ogy component—the advent of
eral other key industries spent autonomous vehicles, ride-shar-
on R&D in 2018. There may be ing, vehicle-to-vehicle communi-
accounting differences regarding how R&D dollars are cations and, even more fundamentally, how consumers
classified, but the comparisons are nonetheless stark. will utilize automobiles in the future.
R&D expenditures by the leaders in each of these
other industries dramatically exceeded those of even
the largest oil service companies. In fact, the next tier
of companies in these industries materially outspent
the oil service leaders. One possible explanation is the
inherent cyclicality of the petroleum industry. It is chal-
lenging to maintain R&D funding when the profitability
and cash flow of a business fluctuates dramatically every
year. This is also a compelling reason why the petro-
leum industry should devote more time and effort to
external technology scouting.
Figure 1 does not address another critical consider- Call us about our
ation: the proliferation of startups. In each of the listed
industries—automotive, pharmaceuticals, retailing or STEP-UP
semiconductors—there are vibrant and growing startup program for improving
communities having thousands of early-stage compa-
nies involved in R&D and new product development. emissions management,
In many instances, the latest technologies arising from
these startups are far more compelling than even the vapor control and
R&D efforts of the large companies listed in Figure 1. flaring performance.
Certainly, much of this external technology has no
obvious applicability in the petroleum industry, and it
requires time and personnel resources to review large
numbers of external technologies. Even so, the poten-
844-NO-FLARE
tial benefits far outweigh the costs. The global entre- (844-663-5273)
preneurial community is larger than the petroleum
industry and the entrepreneurial ranks are steadily
growing. To yield the best possible results, a technol-
ogy scouting program should, therefore, attempt to
access both the technologies residing in large com-
panies outside of this industry as well as the solutions ecovaporrs.com
developed by startups.

EV Ad - E&P June 2020 - FINAL 050820.indd 1 5/8/20 5:21 PM

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 9
 industry
PULSE

Automotive LiDAR Automotive Radar

Baraja Connected Car Echodyne
Cepton GhostWave
Innoviz Autotalks Metawave
Ouster Cohda Wireless Oculii
Quanergy Commsignia Uhnder
Velodyne Kymeta WaveSense
Savari
Veniam
Tire Safety Driver Assistance
Revvo AEye
Silent Sensors Almotive
Tymtix BestMile
Tyrata DeepMap FIGURE 2. A few of the
Wriggle Solutions nuTonomy early-stage companies
that are driving the
autonomous vehicle
revolution are listed.
(Source: Oil & Gas
Innovation Center)

Figure 2 lists a few of the hundreds of early-stage com-
panies involved in developing autonomous vehicle tech-
nologies such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR)
sensors, compact radar, lane change detection sensors,
pedestrian tracking software and tire monitoring solu-
tions. With very few exceptions, the funding for these
technologies is coming from angel investors and venture
capital firms outside the automotive industry. Absent
these new technologies, vehicle autonomy would still be
a distant concept. The development of these technolo-
gies and their adoption by just a few automobile com-
panies are prompting every other vehicle company to
pursue autonomous solutions. Similar dynamics are tak-
ing place in the pharmaceutical industry where external
companies are developing and commercializing artificial
intelligence and machine learning software capable of
dramatically decreasing the time and cost associated with
developing new pharmaceuticals.
Even the construction industry, which is not con-
sidered to be an early adopter of new technologies, is
being transformed by the implementation of robotic
systems developed by early-stage companies outside of
that industry. These robotic solutions convert indus-
try-standard construction equipment, such as loaders
or bulldozers, into systems that are either operated
remotely by a human or completely unmanned.
Deploying this technology on industry standard rather
than customized equipment dramatically lowers the
implementation cost and accelerates the adoption
rate of the technology. The resulting equipment is
less expensive to operate and as effective as traditional
manned, heavy equipment.
Funding internal R&D does not
foster economies of scale
The petroleum industry is among the largest industries
in the world. However, the various segments of this
industry often require different types of products, from
bulk commodities to very specialized items. Unless there
is a compelling technical reason to develop customized
hardware or software, accessing external technologies
will likely be more cost-effective. As recently as a few
years ago, the advanced LiDAR sensors developed for
the automobile industry cost more than $50,000 apiece,
more than the actual vehicle. However, the sheer size of
the automotive LiDAR market attracted many startups,
and some of the latter developed LiDAR systems having
comparable technical capabilities at 1/100th the cost.
Conclusions
Compared to several other major industries, recent petro-
leum industry R&D expenditures have been modest and
will likely decrease materially during this downturn.
Rather than attempting to increase R&D expenditures,
the petroleum industry should focus far more attention
on accessing relevant external technologies. Importantly,
this is a strategy that oil and gas producers and oil service
companies of all sizes can readily pursue.

10 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

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 industry
PULSE
Leading innovation today
Key actions leaders can take now to innovate effectively.
Gary Covert, Covert Consulting
S ince the start of the pandemic and the crash in oil
prices, leaders have been given much advice: stay
positive and don’t panic; think long term, not just short
term; and continue to innovate. But leaders need more
than sermons. Most would agree they should innovate
now; they are often stymied by a lack of clarity about
how to innovate in a practical way, especially when peo-
ple are remote and money is tight. Below are key actions
that leaders can take to innovate effectively.
Address beliefs
Peter Drucker famously observed that culture eats strat-
egy for breakfast. But what can gnaw away at the effective-
ness of an organization’s culture? Poor beliefs. If culture
is a set of shared beliefs that drive behavior, then leaders
need to be proactive in maintaining useful beliefs and
addressing potentially harmful beliefs.
For example, if employees
believe that helping the company
to innovate is just working them- “Now is the time to get
selves out of a job, then there will
be little honest participation in
even more innovative.”
innovation efforts. If people think —Gary Covert, Covert Consulting
they’re just a supplier and feel too
little of themselves, they will have
resigned themselves to being spectators while the compe-
tition innovates. If people believe they are not creative or
not an engineer and, therefore, cannot innovate, this will
also impair any innovation efforts.
The beliefs of the team and organization may have
changed radically in the last couple of months. Due to
urgency, some beliefs may have changed for the bet-
ter, resulting in people being way more open to new
approaches. Due to fear, some beliefs may have changed for
the worse resulting in people feeling stuck and helpless.
What does the team likely believe today? Take steps to
support the positive beliefs and address the negative beliefs. pered visibility and connection. Addressing both sides of
Insist on synergy
Many key teams work well together, but many do not live
up to their potential to innovate well together. This may
due to team barriers like being separated by distance,
12
team culture, educational differences or even incentive
structures. Sometimes it is because leaders did not push
the teams to innovate together effectively.
For many companies, engineering and field operations
(i.e., “books and boots”) will likely have high-synergistic
innovation potential. Engineering has lots of specialized
knowledge, and field operation leaders have practical
insight on where that knowledge could be best applied.
Leaders need to identify those groups (and there
may be more than two) with high-synergistic innovation
potential. They need to ensure they are organized to
work together with an innovation process and within an
innovation cycle and not let any barriers get in the way.
Create high-touch, high-tech
innovation environments
High-touch innovation environments are characterized
by an engaged network of teams and leaders working
together on ideas and bringing them to fruition. High-
tech innovation environments are characterized by robust
information systems that help
aggregate and organize innovative
ideas and facilitate networks of
innovators across the organiza-
tion.
The most innovative compa-
nies have both high-touch and
high-tech environments. An
innovation environment that is strong in tech but low in
touch results in glorified suggestion boxes. High-touch
innovation with low-tech systems results in teams act-
ing like an old-fashioned bucket brigade moving ideas
down the line with too much effort and little opportu-
nity for synergy with other parts of the organization.
Where is the organization in terms of tech and touch?
Perhaps it has an automated system that is simply a repos-
itory for ideas that get celebrated but never go anywhere.
Maybe there are pockets of great innovation within the
organization, but the lack of a robust system has ham-
the equation will create a great leap forward in impact.
Train leaders
Leading innovation and solving problems are different
skill sets, and leaders need to be able to do both.
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 industry
SPE HYDRAULIC FRACTURING CONFERENCE
TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE
PULSE

Solving addresses
Valve problems getsoperational
us back to a baseline. Innovating
challenges innovative employees
potentially who have allowing
costly maintenance, great ideas but who
pressure
getsdiverter
of us to new levels of performance that have not been see little hope
pumping in getting
operations their ideas
to continue heard.
at their maximum
attained
The impactbefore.
of pumping large volumes of diverter efficiency. diverterplus.com, nov.com
Leadersstimulation
through who lack the processequipment
pumping knowledge isand inter-
a well- Issue strategic challenges
personal skills tochallenge.
lead innovation can inadvertently stifle Disks
All improvements Beads
are welcome, but not all improvements
known industry DiverterPlus and National
innovation.
Oilwell Varco They
(NOV) can squash ideas. They their
have coordinated can hijack
efforts to are strategic. Options to address those challenges should
discussions.
minimize orThey can also
eliminate the(paradoxically)
accelerated wear beand
too poten-
open come from broad sections of the organization. A challenge
to perspectives
tial damage thatand canend
occurup with
whena particulate
bunch of half-baked
diverter may be related to specific operational processes (e.g.,
ideas that
embeds runthe
into into execution
valve problems manipulation
insert. Through or never get attaining a 30% increase in equipment uptime). Recruit-
moved
of to a practical
the polymers’ state. properties and geom-
mechanical ing with more diversity is a people challenge. Reducing
Leaders
etries whomanufacturing
via new are excellent at leading innovation
techniques of its Div+ flaring by a certain percentage is a challenge related to the
can get
line the discretionary
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DiverterPlus has of
been their environmental, social and governance topic.
teams Flakes Powder
able toto come forward
eliminate the need withfor
great ideas and
additional will see
equipment Challenges can start an innovation cycle. Staying
theaggressive
in fast adoption of new
diversion processes and
deployments. activities
Utilizing to
NOV’s focused on strategic areas will ensure outcomes that are
raise Thunder
Blue the bar. Leaders
valve and whotheare poor at this
additional datawill fum-
gained high value and pragmatic.
ble away
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cooperative and promulgate
development, environments
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whichwith
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to wearin and
giving take leaders with the right thinking, using the very best
their ideas
exhibits noneor receive the support embedment
of the problematic to get these issues
ideas tools and people to get it done. Leaders need to encour-
DiverterPlus and NOV developed a solution to minimize wear
out to their boss
traditionally and the
associated team.
with largeEven worse,
particle poor
diverters. age their organizations to engage and apply their inno-
and damage when pumping large amounts of diverter.
innovation
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system also drivedowntime
away thoserisk and vation muscle, and it can be done practically.
(Source: DiverterPlus)

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020

HartEnergy.com | E&P | January 2020 13
49
world
VIEW

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Middle East economies Visit HartEnergy.com/videos

to watch an exclusive

choked by low prices

interview with Dr. Yousef
Alshammari, CEO and head
of Oil Research at CMarkits.
While some oil producers in the Gulf region have taken a
massive hit, others are scaling back projects in an effort to survive.

60% of the nation’s GDP directly related to oil revenues.

Faiza Rizvi, Associate Editor Saudi Arabia recently announced additional production
cuts of 1 MMbbl/d, starting June 1, in a bid to support oil

E conomies of the Middle East region, which rely heav-

ily on oil, will be severely affected if oil prices do not
bounce back in the short term. With the impact of the
prices and stabilize the market. Following the announce-
ment, UAE and Kuwait also announced supply cuts.
Even though Saudi Aramco had to slash its capex
historic market crash echoing across the region, coun- budgets to protect its balance sheet, analysts expect the
tries are struggling to offset losses from a key source of national oil company is strongly positioned to weather
national income. Some nations like Saudi Arabia, the the market collapse and will proceed with strategically
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait are relying on important upstream projects due to low production costs
foreign currency reserves while anticipating higher oil and one of the lowest costs per barrel within the industry.
prices to sustain government spending and social pro- “Due to its heavy dependence on the crude market, it’s
grams. However, countries like Iraq face the added threat not a surprise to anyone that they are being challenged in
of possible social unrest if oil prices remain at current the current market conditions,” Das said, adding that even
levels, according to a recent Forbes report. The country is though foreign reserve funds will be instrumental in pro-
planning “painful cuts in social benefits relied on by mil- viding some cushion to Saudi economy in the short term,
lions of government workers,” the report stated. authorities are scrutinizing public spending, trying to find
Several E&P projects also have been put on hold. areas where cuts can be made, as recently indicated by the
According to GlobalData, the low-price environment will Saudi finance minister.
put E&P projects due to take
final investment decision in Iraq
2020 at an elevated risk of “The scale and breadth of the Numerous industry reports
deferral as governments are confirm that Iraq will be one
introducing cost-cutting mea- pandemic is so severe that it of the hardest hit due to low
sures. Several projects are is being felt across the globe, oil prices. In fact, 90% of
already facing operational the government’s revenue
interruptions and delays,
and the Middle East is not comes from oil, which is used
albeit varying in severity. insulated from this.” to support a payroll of more
“The scale and breadth of —Arindam Das, Westwood Global Energy than 4 million workers as well
the pandemic is so severe as payments to pensions and
that it is being felt across the welfare for the poor.
globe, and the Middle East is not insulated from this,” According to a report by AP, the oil-dependent state
Arindam Das, head of consulting with Westwood Global had been counting on revenues from oil prices at $56/
Energy, told E&P. “Oil companies in the Middle East bbl to fund “badly needed development projects and the
are cutting down production, canceling rig contracts bloated public sector.”
and trying to understand the output levels that could However, oil prices between $20/bbl and $30/bbl and
rebound oil prices…the impact is definitely being felt.” Iraq’s compliance with OPEC to cut over 1 MMbbl/d
from production in May and June have added to the
Saudi Arabia gloomy prognosis of the already depressed economic
Despite efforts by Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman to conditions in the country.
diversify the economy by investing in tourism and enter- Basra Gas Co., a joint venture between the Iraqi gov-
tainment, the country continues to rely heavily on oil, with ernment, Shell and Mitsubishi, has put multiple project

14 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

world
VIEW
contracts on hold due to low oil demand. In addition, due
to staff reductions surrounding fears of the spreading pan-
demic, Petrochina has reportedly halved production from
Iraq’s Halfaya Field while Petronas has halted production
completely at the Garraf oil field, according to GlobalData.
Qatar
Qatar’s reliance on gas production provides the country
some degree of a safety net due to the strong long-term
outlook of gas, Das explained. The country, which
exited OPEC in 2018, is known to be operationally flex-
ible, adjusting maintenance schedules or keeping a few
ships as floating storage. Qatar plans to increase LNG
output by about two-thirds while cushioning the industry
against the recent fall in oil demand, Oxford Business
Group stated in a new report.
State-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) said although
the company is looking at opportunities to reduce its
operating costs and capex, it that would not impact the
company’s major projects. “QP is in a very good position
financially. We have reduced our debt tremendously over
the past years. We can weather the storm very easily,” QP’s
CEO and President Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi told Reuters.
QP also announced that the coronavirus turmoil
would not stop LNG expansion abroad, adding that it
plans to move forward with both foreign and domestic
expansion despite the market downturn caused by the
pandemic. However, QP has postponed the start of pro-
duction from its new gas facilities until 2025 following
a delay in the bidding process, but the company has no
16
Qatar Petroleum recently
commenced drilling at the
North Field East project,
previously known as the North
Field Expansion Project.
(Source: Qatar Gas)
plans of downsizing the North
Field expansion—the world’s
largest LNG project.
“We are moving full steam
ahead with the North Field
expansion. There is absolutely
no hesitation on that. I think
the world still needs this gas
with the cancellation of a lot
of projects and companies
reducing capital expenditure
left and right due to the situa-
tion,” Al-Kaabi stressed.
He added that the Golden
Pass LNG terminal in Texas, in which QP is majority
owner, is on schedule, adding that none of the current
projects have been “taken off the table.”
UAE
The falling oil prices have appeared to dampen sour
gas ambitions of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil
Co. (ADNOC), which has delayed several projects and
canceled contracts in an effort to scale down costs. In
mid-April, ADNOC terminated $1.65 billion worth of engi-
neering, procurement and construction contracts awarded
in February to a Petrofac-led group for an ultra-sour Dalma
Gas development project in northwest Abu Dhabi. The
project was scheduled for completion in 2022.
The Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession, which lies within
Dalma, is jointly held by ADNOC and four international
oil company shareholders, of which Eni holds the larg-
est stakes. In response to the market downturn, Eni had
promptly announced plans to cut 2020 capex by 25%,
severely impacting new upstream projects. This isn’t good
news for the development of the wider Ghasha and Hail
fields either, which were set to produce 1 Bcf/d by 2025.
Although the company is identifying opportunities for
cost optimization, its corporate strategy currently remains
unchanged. The state-owned enterprise also said in an offi-
cial statement that it would continue to invest responsibly
to deliver on its 2030 smart growth strategy during the mar-
ket downturn. However, the ability of ADNOC to steer the
downfall, like many other producers in the region,
depends on how prolonged the oil slump will be.
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
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Preserving today’s wells
for tomorrow’s production
Pickling as part of the shut-in process can help extend the shelf life of a well.
A perfect storm of too low oil prices, too low
demand and too much supply forced many oper-
ators to make the difficult decision to shut in produc-
tion. IHS Markit announced in May that it expected
as much as 17 MMbbl/d total liquids output (which
includes nearly 14 MMbbl/d of crude oil production)
to be cut or shut in between April and June.
The process of shutting in production is more
complicated than simply flipping a switch. Physical
challenges, like paraffin blockages and microbial-
induced corrosion, could be effectively managed by
“pickling” the well.
Pickling is preserving something for an extended
time. Think summer-fresh cucumbers cleaned and
preserved in a briny solution to keep from spoiling
to enjoy on a wintry cold day. Pickling also is the pro-
cess of using acid to remove foreign substances from
metal. When a well is pickled, the wellbore is cleaned
and treated with paraffin inhibitors and biocides to
save downhole components and its production for
better days and higher oil prices.
“The state of the well is preserved when shut in,”
Willem Marais, technical service manager for M-I
SWACO, a Schlumberger company, told E&P. “When
favorable conditions return, the well can be started up
in a condition similar to when it was before shut-in.”
It is a time-proven process, and its application in the
unconventional wells of today demonstrate how the
industry is applying the lessons learned over the years.
“In heritage fields or ones with high water cuts and
significant lifting costs impacting opex, historically
they’ve been shut in to prevent losing money on the
wells,” Jimmy Ott, technical support manager of oil-
field and industrial chemicals with Baker Hughes,
told E&P. “We’ve been through market downturns a
number of times. We’re using our past experiences to
ensure operators understand the value of preserving
their downhole and surface facility assets.”
Controlling the integrity of the well, along with
ensuring a smooth restart with production volumes at
pre-shut-in levels, are the primary reasons to perform
a pickling treatment, Marais noted.
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
completions &
PRODUCTION
JENNIFER PRESLEY
Executive Editor
jpresley@hartenergy.com
Read more commentary at
HartEnergy.com
“In producing wells, the fluids are constantly mov-
ing,” he said. “But when it is shut in, a stagnant envi-
ronment is created.”
Hot fluids flowing through the wellbore and out to
associated flowlines keep the system warm. Shutting
in the well reduces or eliminates the heat distribution,
causing the system to cool down.
“The worst-case scenario is when there are hydro-
carbons in the tubing or in the well that begin to
precipitate organic components like the waxes or
asphaltenes, potentially creating a blockage in the
system that will inhibit flow when the well is restarted,”
Marais said. “It will require a capex spend to remove
and clean out the blockages before the well can
produce again.”
Microbial-induced corrosion is another well chal-
lenge. While microscopic in size, its impact is sig-
nificant in that it is destructive to the wellbore and
associated equipment, according to Ott.
“Bacteria begin to feed on the nutrients found
in the stagnant fluids and begin to proliferate,
with the result being incredibly damaging cor-
rosion. In the Permian Basin, for example, the
sulfate-rich waters provide plenty of nutrients for
sulfate-reducing bacteria to grow and rapidly
damage equipment.”
In 1736 Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase,
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
In today’s rapidly changing oil markets, there is a
truth there in that “an ounce
of preservation today is worth
preventing a pound of head-
aches later.”
19
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Upstream industry joins
COVID-19 fight
An offshore service provider develops a testing facility for homeless communities.
T he fight against COVID-19 is not taking place solely in
pharmaceutical laboratories around the world or only
in meeting rooms of government agencies. It’s happening
across countries, across cultures and across industries.
Although the oil and gas industry has taken a punch
and a kick over the past few months, it still stands
resolutely with a focus on the long game of supplying
the world’s energy. And while it’s honing its focus on
energy production, the industry is also moving, if not
to the front lines, then at least to the battlefield of the
fight against the coronavirus.
Multitudes of producers have donated millions of
dollars to battle the COVID-19 impacts, and service
providers are finding new uses for their technologies
that can be applied in laboratories and affected com-
munities around the world.
With a lack of access to health care, and in many
cities no way to be tested, homeless populations are
among the most at-risk of contracting and spreading
COVID-19. Recently, the Houston branch of Health-
care for the Homeless reached out to Oceaneering
in hopes the company’s know-how in building subsea
From left, Peter Donohue with Oceaneering and Naomi
McCants and Mary Ellen McEvoy with Healthcare for the
Homeless-Houston unveil a mobile COVID-19 testing facility
designed to test members of Houston’s homeless community.
(Source: Oceaneering)
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
offshore
ADVANCES
BRIAN WALZEL
Senior Editor
bwalzel@hartenergy.com
Read more commentary at
HartEnergy.com
technologies—among a host of others—could be
leveraged to develop a mobile testing facility to test
the city’s homeless populations.
Shaun Roedel, senior vice president of subsea man-
ufactured products with Oceaneering, said the com-
pany’s engineers developed a portable walk-up testing
cube in a matter of days that could safely and effectively
test members of Houston’s homeless population while
at the same time keeping health care workers safe.
“We put our manufacturing engineers together and
came up with what was a pretty ingenious design in a
pretty short period of time,” Roedel said.
With widespread and easily accessible testing a key
component in the battle against the coronavirus,
Healthcare for the Homeless recognized making test-
ing available to the homeless was imperative. Roedel
said that in the first three days of the facility’s opera-
tion, 40 tests were conducted.
“That was more testing than they had done in the
previous months,” he said.
Meaningful change in the fight against COVID-19 is
going to come in several incremental victories. While
40 more people tested might not show up in the
next day’s box score, to borrow from Pink Floyd, it’s
another brick in the wall. The oil and gas industry is
stepping forward to join the fight.
“All of the companies within the industry see them-
selves as really part of the larger community,” Roedel
said. “Whatever we can do to make that community
better makes all of us better. As all of the
energy companies look to figure out
what we can do to give back at this time,
it certainly is the right thing to do.”
21
 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS

the SHALE CODE

The hard-learned lessons of the past
decade can shape shale’s future.

22 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS

Jennifer Presley, Executive Editor

C haos is an apt descriptor for 2020, espe-

cially for the last three months. In March,
daily necessities like hand sanitizer became as
precious as gold. For a few days in April, a bottle
of beer cost more in a West Texas bar than a
barrel of oil. May saw way too many in the oil and
gas industry placed on an involuntary but neces-
sary frac holiday.
When historians look back a decade from
now, they’ll see that 339 rotary rigs were operat-
ing in the U.S. for the week of May 15, accord-
ing to the Baker Hughes Rig Count, down from
987 one year ago. They’ll see a drop in the
number of started frac operations from 1,238
in February to fewer than 330 for May, accord-
ing to a Rystad Energy analysis. And if an IHS
Markit analysis holds, then they’ll see that as
much as 17 MMbbl/d of liquids production cut
for the period from April to June 2020.
They also will see that global crude demand
started to show signs of recovery in early May
as parts of the world began to ease mobility
restrictions going into the summer months. If
a careful reintroduction continues, then they’ll
potentially see that demand grow exponentially
and see how quickly the oil and gas industry
moved to fill that demand.
In preparing for that comeback, the U.S. shale
producers have decades of experience and tech-
nologies ready to deploy. The last 10 years, in
particular, are rich with numerous innovations in
digital, electrical, hydraulic and mechanical sys-
tems that all contributed to substantially elevating
production returns.

Left, the transition from single well to multiwell pad operations,

like this one in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, is one of
many lessons shale producers have capitalized on to improve
their efficiencies. (Source: BPX; photo by Yesenia Rodriguez)

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 23

 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS
Oil and natural gas production in the U.S. has soared
due to the technical and technological breakthroughs
made in accessing the once inaccessible shale resources.
Natural gas production rose from 546.1 Bcm in 2008
‘ In the midst of chaos,
there also is opportunity
to 831.8 Bcm in 2018, while oil production broke new
records increasing from 6.8 MMbbl/d to more than
15.3 MMbbl/d in 2018, according to the BP Statistical
Review of World Energy.
Those advances also radically altered domestic and
global energy markets. The U.S. attained the long-held
goal of energy independence in 2019 when the country’s
energy production (imports not included) was higher
than its consumption for the first time in 62 years,
according to the Institute of Energy Research (IER).
“One can thank the oil and gas industry, and its use
of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, for that
milestone, as production in those industries increased
a combined 11% in 2019. Total U.S. energy production
increased by 5.7% in 2019 while U.S. energy demand
decreased by 0.9%,” the IER report stated.
And then the bottom dropped out in April, leaving
many to ponder on the next steps and if comebacks
were possible.
Sun Tzu, a noted military tactician and philosopher,
provides some wisdom on staging a comeback in his
highly regarded text on strategy, “The Art of War.” A
few of his insights are presented here against recent
industry activities to show how the data, observations
and lessons learned in the past are invaluable in making
a roaring comeback possible.
An intelligent frac spread can deliver operational insights to help improve
efficiencies and more. (Source: Halliburton)
24
’
The shale journey has been a marathon ran at a sprint-
er’s pace. In that time, the industry has advanced its
understanding of shale considerably. As of May 8, there
have been 138,170 horizontal wells drilled and com-
pleted in U.S. shale plays since 2010, with 124,051 of
those wells still considered active, according to Enverus
data provided to E&P. There were 2,562 drilled but
uncompleted (DUC) wells, according to the data. Only
wells that have been drilled, but not completed, outside
of the last six months are in the count.
In the beginning of the shale boom, the focus was
on two simultaneous paths: operational efficiencies
and completion designs, Reveal Energy Services CEO
Sudhendu Kashikar told E&P.
As the industry learned more about shale and its
many layers, it shifted from single-well to multiwell pad
operations and more to become more efficient.
“The transition to multiwell pad operations and zip-
per fracking are two examples of how we gained opera-
tional efficiencies,” Kashikar said. “On the completions
side, we’ve learned that we need to stimulate the rock
much more than we thought we did a decade ago.
“Our stage lengths were too long, and the volumes
of proppant and fluid being pumped were too low.
Considerable experimentation went into determining
the appropriate stage lengths, and higher volumes of
fluid and proppant are necessary,” he said.
“With the transition to infill drilling,
now we are learning what the different
strategies are to work around frac-
ture-driven interference,” he said. “We
are working to understand how to miti-
gate damage to the producing well while
ensuring that the production of the infill
well is not impacted.”
As difficult as the past three months
have been, it has provided a needed
pause to become smarter about work
processes and well performance and to
re-strategize.
“In hard times, such as we are expe-
riencing right now, the two important
roles of management are first to sustain
the business, and even more impor-
tantly, prepare it for a better future.
Companies need to see this situation as
an opportunity for their technical staff
to do an in-depth analysis of past prac-
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
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 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS
Halliburton’s Prodigi Intelligent Fracturing Service uses highly trained
algorithms to control job treatment rates. (Source: Halliburton)
tices to identify areas in which what we are doing can
be done faster, cheaper and more effectively in terms
of higher production results,” Ali Daneshy, president of
Daneshy Consulting International, shared with E&P.
Since the beginning of the year, capex among U.S.
E&P companies has been revised down by $51 billion,
according to James Jang, lead analyst with Westwood
Global Energy Group, in a market outlook presented
on May 8. A sub $30/bbl WTI environment will con-
tinue to push E&P companies to take cost reduction
programs, he added.
The effects of those cost reduction programs are visi-
ble in the declining rig count numbers and the number
of wells completed.
In a May 14 analysis, Rystad Energy estimated that
the total number of started fracturing operations in
the U.S. would end up at about 300 to 330 wells in May
2020, down from April’s 337 wells. Some activity is still
going on, with 92 started frac operations observed so far
in May on a standard-month basis.
“A modest recovery is expected in the third quarter
of 2020, but stable WTI oil prices in the low- to mid-
$30s are required to see this recovery in selected core
acreage positions operated by producers with strong
balance sheets,” said Artem Abramov, head of shale
research for Rystad, in the report.
Fewer wells drilled and fewer DUCs mean there is
less opportunity to test completion designs, according
to Kashikar. Fewer test opportunities require greater
26
attention to how the experiment is designed to ensure
successful results.
“One thing we learned is the design of the experi-
ment, which is knowing what we are testing and how,”
Kashikar said. “The inventory of wells that we will have
to test different parameters is going to be smaller for at
least the next six to 18 months. It becomes even more
critical that we design the right experiments and that
we begin collecting data on many more wells than we
have in the past. Then we use those data to drive those
answers faster collectively.”
Experiments require an expensive commodity—time.
“The feedback loop has been a big challenge for the
industry. We’ll install a particular completions design
and then wait,” Scott Gale, global business strategy man-
ager for Halliburton, told E&P. “It takes several months
of production to determine if that design was successful
and is based on the open metric of cumulative produc-
tion over a designated time frame like 30 or 60 days.”
Data and time are interdependent commodities that
are often at odds with each other. Too much of one
and too little of another leaves questions unanswered.
Too much of both can overwhelm a system with too
many answers to unrelated problems. In the industry’s
current situation, a critical question that arises is how
to manage the process of improving operations, well
completions and production. However, a team looking
back on specific projects and asking the right questions
of the data can find areas of improvement.
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS

“I do not doubt that an in-depth analysis of the data
and information that we have within each company will
lead to changes and alterations in existing practices that
will make it better and more efficient,” Daneshy said. “It
also would allow technical staff to review and compare
what they’re doing with what others have done and
determine if there are better pieces of technology that
could be borrowed and adapted from other companies
that will help improve operations.”
“By the time you get to 20 or even 30 wells, humans
don’t have the bandwidth to be able to ingest and ana-
lyze all of the data generated,” Robart said, offering as
an example the slugging and liquid loading in naturally
flowing gas wells. “If you put a decent engineer on it
that had the time go through all of their wells, then
they’d be able to find the problem. But they just don’t
have the time or the bandwidth to be able to review
a time series for their wells and do the analysis that is
needed to identify the problem.”

‘ By continuing to prepare for the digital decade

Plan for the difficult while through the further digitalization of systems, shale
it is easy, do what is producers will be able to survive and further elevate

’
their successes.
great when it is small Two E&P companies that have done just that are
The COVID-19 pandemic and low-oil price environ- Birchcliff Energy and Parsley Energy. The companies
ment will continue to present a challenging operational use Cold Bore Technology’s SmartPAD to optimize their
environment. When there is a reset in the markets like completions process. Billed as an operations system for
the one underway, old rules and plans are discarded, well completions, the system uses valve positioning and
and new ones are made. Planning for the years ahead pressure monitoring sensors bolted onto the wellheads
is improved through the use of digital systems to help to track operational data for all services, even those gen-
make it possible to find and decode the small details erated by other service companies. All data are collected
that have limited production returns. and processed into a single dataset in a standard format
“We see the next decade as the ‘digital decade.’ that is suitable for viewing on a single screen. The auto-
There’s no doubt that the integration of datasets is mated collection of time-stamped data reduces workload
going to be a key factor in integrating with different while increasing accuracy, according to the company.
disciplines,” Gale said. “Incorporating exploration and
drilling data into a completion design that is then tied
to a well’s performance through production activities
like artificial lift is vital. Enabling those integrated
datasets into a cohesive decision-making application
is an important part of where the industry goes
more broadly.”
The challenge, he said, is getting beyond the “if you
build it, they will come” mentality that occurs when all
of the data are located in one place.
“If we have clarity about the problems trying to be
solved and the outcomes trying to be achieved, then
what data feeds are necessary to achieve those outcomes
become clear,” he said.
The hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of datapoints
from the 138,170 completed horizontal wells tell a story
that requires intensive cleaning, sifting and sorting
before reading. That is when the beauty of algorithms,
the cloud and digitalization are most visible.
Data systems and optimization tools are programmed
to analyze the numbers, to dig in and find the problems
in a well faster and more efficiently than humanly
possible, according to Chris Robart, chief commercial
officer for Ambyint, a provider of artificial-intelligence- Technicians bolt SmartPAD valve positioning and pressure
powered production optimization software. monitoring sensors onto a wellhead. (Source: Cold Bore Technology)

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 27

 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS
Calgary-based Birchcliff Energy has used SmartPAD
since 2018, and it has realized significant efficiency
gains in the two years since the system’s deployment.
“The system has really helped us get the non-
pumping time per day down because we’re tracking
the time between stages in real time, not just after
the operation,” said Mike Zimmerman, completions
superintendent for Birchcliff Energy. “A good day
for us would be 16 to 18 stages pumped. In April,
on our Pouce Coupe pad, we pumped 2,860 tons of
sand and completed 25 stages in a single day. It was
chasing the minutes between pumping stages or well
swaps that made it possible for us to get those addi-
tional stages.”
Zimmerman added that being able to see the com-
pletions data wherever and whenever he needed was a
significant advantage, helping to identify potential oper-
ational issues early.
“About five years ago, we made efficiency a key word,”
said Agustin De Fex, senior manager for completions
with Parsley Energy. “We started keeping track of non-
productive time and areas where we could make the
operations safer and better. This was a manual process
that, as we started to grow, would take several hours of
work to track and write down data.”
In 2019 the Permian Basin operator began working
with Cold Bore Technology’s SmartPAD system and
noticed an immediate improvement in its operations.
“We can now look at the operations 1 minute at a
time and focus on the operation, making it safer,”
De Fex said.
‘
Do not repeat the tactics
which have gained you one
victory, but let your methods
be regulated by the infinite
’
variety of circumstances
Interpretation of data and the application of the anal-
ysis are, in the end, only as good as the human reading
the reports. Bias is an inescapable condition of being
human, and it is reflected in all data that exist. In any
type of work, there is a prejudice in favor of one’s prac-
tices, making it difficult to see areas in need of change.
External perspectives can challenge the status quo,
bringing a variety of solutions to a difficult exercise.
“Generally, most of us, when we do engineering and
technical work, we believe that we’re doing the best
that can be done,” Daneshy said. “In a situation like
28
we are in now, it may be advisable to have an external
group take a look at what we’re doing and advise on
if there could be improvements. The combination of
outside and inside views is more likely to come up with
improvements than an internal group only.”
Daneshy believes that the industry needs to look for
ways of making the whole shale development process
financially viable in a lower oil and gas price environ-
ment. “Obviously, we cannot afford to spend millions
and millions of dollars in a well and hope that we’re
going to get good production. Because at the end of
the day, it has to be a profitable venture,” he said.
Rather than request a larger budget, another option
Daneshy suggested is to try to use more reliable comple-
tion practices that will make it possible to produce the
reservoir with fewer unnecessary expenses. “This is done
not by beating up on the service companies, but with
more efficient engineering,” he said.
For example, by reviewing past operations and identi-
fying inefficiencies, an E&P company can shave time off
its processes, reducing the number of days spent on a
well site and deliver cost savings.
‘
As water retains no constant
shape, so in warfare there
’
are no constant conditions
Let data give peace in the knowledge that it provides.
Historians will see in 10 years that the low-price oil envi-
ronment of 2020 passed, just as it has multiple times
before. The industry will get past this crisis and on to
better times. Hiding is not a destination the oil and gas
industry sails to.
From this storm, the industry will emerge stronger,
said U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette in a
CERAWeek Conversations video with Daniel Yergin,
IHS Markit vice chairman.
“I think you’re going to see the U.S. energy industry
bounce right back. These are some very strong players
and, importantly, they’re very innovative players,” he
said, before going on to share a comment once made to
him by an energy minister.
“He said that every time we do something like
this, everybody thinks that the United States is going
to leave the playing field, that the United States is
dead or certain parts of the industry are dead—and
that never really happens,” Brouillette recounted.
“They take a small break and they come back
stronger than ever. And I do think that’s going to
happen again.”
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
A home for
North American
hydrocarbons
In North America, EDF specializes in commodity price risk
management solutions with a focus on leveraging its
downstream demand to serve the upstream oil and gas sector.
We are part of the EDF Group of companies, one of the world’s
largest generators of electricity and a global consumer of
energy including Natural Gas, NGLs, Crude Oil, and LNG.

www.edfenergyna.com

Chris Beyer Ben Rich

chris.beyer@edfenergyna.com ben.rich@edfenergyna.com
281-653-1068 281-653-1736
 COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS
Making the case for data sharing
Operators are driving sustained efficiencies by sharing their drilling data.
Chris Marland, Noble Energy; and
Kendall Zakariassen and Saraan Vercillo, Moblize
O perators’ needs for operational efficiency, espe-
cially today, are driving them to continuously try
different technologies such as new bits, bottomhole
assembly (BHA) components, string designs, well
designs and new operating parameters for those tech-
nologies. This takes time to implement, can have some
trial and error and always requires performance tracking
(time) and cost tracking to determine the overall perfor-
mance gains well by well.
The oil and gas industry had “Big Data” before that
term was used as widely as it is today. Those data were
used to provide broad drilling key performance indica-
tors (KPIs) such as days versus depth curves, slide versus
rotate percentages, tripping times and has been used
to track nonproductive time (NPT). Data quality, com-
puting and analytical resources limited more detailed
performance evaluation, and performance improve-
ment generally didn’t require anything more granular.
The unseen consequence was often more lengthy and
repeated trial and error loops, untracked procedural
changes as well as large amounts of invisible lost time
and flat time. All of this adds to drilling risk, HSE
events and hidden costs.
KPI improvements
As on-bottom performance improvement slowed, and
market conditions changed, operators have looked for
additional methods to continually improve to reduce
costs and improve performance to satisfy investor
demand for return on investment (ROI), especially
in higher volume markets such as those in the U.S.
onshore. The adoption and industrialization of drilling
data acquisition systems and cloud-based computing
for analytics enabled operators to utilize their Big Data,
and the analytical capabilities cloud computing offers to
develop and refine more granular KPIs to deliver oper-
ational efficiencies to the market are demanding. This
change has brought other challenges.
More detailed KPIs for drilling and related activi-
ties require access to high-quality datasets. Operators
realized data quality issues, such as sensor calibration,
data frequency (10 seconds, 5 seconds, 1 second, etc.),
30
consistent variable naming and data storage, all needed
to be addressed to apply algorithms from simple logic
statements to more complex mathematical calculations
to derive new and improved KPIs.
These challenges are being met by operators and
service companies by standardizing rig data acquisition
systems, industrializing rig connectivity and utilizing
cloud-based systems to store the data and have those
readily accessible. The result is an internal understand-
ing of the performance gains, from on-bottom drilling
performance, tripping times and connections times.
These can be subdivided by well, hole section, bit type,
BHA type, formation, operating parameter and a host
of other categories to develop a more detailed under-
standing of where and how performance gains have
been achieved. With the advent of cloud computing
and remote access, these indicators are available at the
rig site to track performance in real time down to min-
utes compared to relevant offset wells.
Increased data sharing
The adoption of Big Data by the oil and gas industry is
giving operators the tools to internally assess new meth-
odologies, but there is a need to scale this even further.
The industry is moving toward increasing data sharing
among operators. The development of open forums
(such as Open Subsurface Data Universe) for subsurface
data sharing is one such example. Sharing KPIs and
micro-KPIs to more effectively benchmark performance
across a basin will incentivize the industry to deliver
operational efficiencies to match peer groups.
A challenge for those operators willing to lead the
way on creating a data ecosystem for their drilling oper-
ations includes data quality control, data accuracy, data
aggregation, storage and security, standard analytics log-
ics and calculations, and service company neutrality.
Shared KPIs
A proposed solution to these challenges was created so
operators could share KPIs and micro-KPIs among them-
selves and quickly drive drilling operations to best in class.
First, the data need to be aggregated from different
sources such as electronic drilling recorders, MWD
tools, and planning and reporting systems. After this,
aggregating the data needs to be quality controlled so
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

FIGURE 1. Charts like DAYS VS. MEASURED DEPTH
this one provide a clear
0
comparison of operational
efficiencies for a group of 5k
wells in a selected radius. Measured Depth
(Source: Moblize) 10k
15k
the raw data coming in
Noble Well 3
are correct. The data 20k Noble Well 2
need to be stored on Noble Well 1
secure servers available 25k
for approved users with
a robust and consis-
tent analytics engine
applied to the data to derive the KPIs.
Another challenge is how to show enough valuable
information without disclosing any intellectual property
the operators want to keep private. This is accomplished
by creating a quid pro quo environment where operators
can only see the level of details on KPIs they are willing
to share and all other operator names are hidden.
The value proposition of this information is directly
linked to its accuracy, so these KPIs must be generated
from raw sensor data to avoid any bias or reporting
errors. These KPIs also must be updated in real time
so all users have the most relevant information readily
available. From here, the utilization of the information
by each operator will drive value. Data must also be
complete across a basin so all wells, good and bad, are
available so benchmarking isn’t skewed to misrepresent
overall performance.
One of the pioneers of this project is Noble Energy.
In its desire to further increase its drilling operations
efficiency, the company started to contribute high-qual-
ity KPIs and micro-KPIs to a third-party vendor-agnostic
platform. Some of the value extracted from this infor-
mation includes
• Realistic benchmarking operations against other
players in the basins they operate in and use of this
information to drive their own operations to those
levels of efficiency;
• Compare in real time how their BHA, string and/
or procedure changes are improving performance
when compared to others; and
• Provide investors with peer group benchmarking
to demonstrate industry-leading performance and
continual improvement.
An example of such a system is shown in Figure 1.
In this example, well days versus measured depth are
displayed, where the colored curves are the subject
operator and the gray curves are the operators within a
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
COVER STORY:
COMPLETIONS LESSONS
Days
user-selected radius. The analysis can be performed for
total drilled days, average ROP, rotating ROP, sliding,
ROP, drilling connection times and tripping speeds,
to name a few. All either on a radial search by county,
spud date and detailed by sections.
All of these KPIs provide each participating operator
with a clear comparison of their overall and detailed
performance. Using those comparisons enables opera-
tors to focus on critical performance improvement ini-
tiatives specific to their operating area being achieved
by peers, which will deliver a step change in perfor-
mance, time and costs.
As the appetite for operator data sharing increases,
these databases and KPIs will grow more detailed and
complex to include but not be limited to NPT, costs
and parameters—driving continuous improvements for
operators and the industry as a whole. As data sharing
becomes more accepted, moving from anonymized to
open benchmarking may become standard practice.
Including additional well construction information,
data often available through regulatory sites but delayed
in availability may also become more accepted.
There are still additional ways data can be shared in
the future, promoting multifaceted and complete
benchmarking for more robust analysis. To progress sit-
uational awareness, gathering and sharing HSE data
could greatly benefit the industry. A tie in with service
companies’ data streams will award top performers and
drive innovation and reliability to meet the market
needs of both the operator and service company. What
is more, once the groundwork for data acquisition and
streaming capabilities are established for completions
and production data, there is potential for them to see
the same benefits as drilling: the ability to see how oth-
ers are designing, implementing and performing, with
the end goal of presenting to partners and/or investors
how they are performing accurately.
31
 SPECIAL REPORT:
EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT
Keeping a lid on GHG emissions
Operators and service providers maintain a long-term view on emissions management.
Brian Walzel, Senior Editor
B y now, the situation in the oil and gas industry is a
familiar one—the COVID-19 pandemic has weak-
ened global energy demand by nearly 30 MMbbl/d less
than last year, according to the International Energy
Agency (IEA), with only incremental recovery expected.
The historically weak demand has resulted in a global
supply glut, pushing oil prices down and forcing produc-
ers worldwide to shut in wells and shut down rigs.
But despite the dire circumstances, the world still
needs oil, and it will continue to need reliable supplies
of energy as it begins the slow process of recovery. Amid
these challenging circumstances, oil producers still
must abide by state and federal emissions regulations,
and many are resolute in maintaining their own inter-
nal goals of reducing emissions.
In fact, during the midst of the global energy cri-
sis, both Shell and Total announced new efforts to
meet their individual goals of net zero greenhouse-gas
Several major global oil producers, such as Chevron, have
established goals to either significantly reduce or eliminate
carbon emissions throughout their operations. (Source: Chevron)
32
(GHG) emissions by 2050 or sooner, with Shell’s efforts
among the most ambitious.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic having a serious impact
on people’s health and our economies, these are extraor-
dinary times,” said Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal
Dutch Shell, in a release announcing the company’s
plans. “Yet even at this time of immediate challenge, we
must also maintain the focus on the long term.”
According to the IEA, “Methane emissions from the
oil and gas sector reached close to 80 Mt, or 2.4 billion
tonnes of CO2 equivalent [CO2e], in 2017.” Energy
producers around the world ranging from small inde-
pendents to supermajors have taken on the challenge
of reducing the industry’s carbon footprint, and the
services market has answered the call with innovative
technologies to help companies achieve their goals.
A supermajor’s reduction plans
Chevron is among the multitude of supermajors that
have announced plans to either significantly reduce or
move to net zero emissions over the next few decades. In
October 2019, Chevron established new goals to reduce
net GHG emission intensity from its upstream oil and
natural gas operations by lowering upstream oil net GHG
emission intensity by 5% to 10% and upstream natural
gas net GHG emission intensity by 2% to 5% from 2016
to 2023. The company also is targeting reduced methane
emissions intensity by 20% to 25% and flaring intensity by
25% to 30% from 2016 levels to 2023.
Sean Comey, senior adviser of external affairs with
Chevron, said the company’s timing is aligned with the
milestones set in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
“Effectively managing climate change risks and
exploring new lower-carbon business opportunities is
part of our responsibility to our stockholders,” he said.
“Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is a global issue
that requires global engagement and action. We work
with policymakers to design balanced and transparent
GHG emissions reductions policies that address envi-
ronmental goals and ensure consumers have access to
affordable, reliable and ever cleaner energy.”
Chevron’s efforts at reducing emissions include car-
bon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), methane
emissions reductions, flaring reduction and increasing
its use of renewable energy. The company’s emissions
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

reductions initiatives include monitoring and verifying
the integrity of its wells and production equipment with
regular inspections and safety tests, Comey said.
“We have retrofitted or replaced more than 1,000
continuous high-bleed pneumatic controllers from our
onshore U.S. facilities with low-emitting or noncontinu-
ous-bleed technologies to reduce emissions,” he said.
In addition, Comey explained that where electricity is
available, electric and air-driven controllers and pumps
are used, which do not emit methane when actuated.
He said Chevron has piloted several emerging technol-
ogies and remains encouraged that more effective and
efficient tools will improve leak detection and repair
performance in the future.
According to the company, methane accounts for
about 5% of Chevron’s total GHG emissions. About
one-third of the 5% is considered fugitive emissions, or
leaks from equipment and piping, Comey said.
“We have developed internal country-specific plans
to minimize gas flaring, and we are a member of
the World Bank-led Global Gas Flaring Reduction
Partnership,” he said. “In 2019 Chevron had one of
the lowest venting and flaring rates of any company in
the Permian Basin located in Texas and New Mexico.
Chevron flares natural gas only when required for safety
and operational purposes and in areas where pipelines
and other alternatives for transporting gas do not exist.”
Tracking emissions
While producers around the globe have set out ambi-
tious emission reduction plans, the technologies to help
them achieve those goals are surfacing from service pro-
viders across the industry.
Emerson Automation Solutions offers an emissions
reporting system geared toward helping companies track,
manage and report GHG emissions from their equip-
ment and assets throughout their operations. Emerson’s
six-step leak detection and repair program structure
identifies and monitors select components before any
reparative actions are taken. According to the company,
the intent of the system is to consolidate the sources of
emissions information from across an operator’s enter-
prise and consolidate it into a coherent manner.
“We started working on these types of solutions
in Canada, where the regulators put more pressure
on operators to reduce emissions,” said Manuel
Arroyo, oil and gas manager of industry programs
with Emerson. “One of the challenges those operators
had was they operate assets in multiple locations.
Not everything was in a single location. And every
location had its own reporting system or database. It
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
SPECIAL REPORT:
EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT
Integrated data reporting technologies can help field
workers identify sources of GHG emissions. (Source: Emerson
Automation Solutions)
was very difficult for them to report a summary of all
of their solutions.”
To consolidate all of that information, Arroyo said
Emerson integrated all of the data sources and created
a map where the operators can see all of their different
assets in the different locations to increase visibility and
keep track of those emissions. Emerson’s data manage-
ment tool presents a hierarchy of assets across different
locations and geographies, and it tracks, manages and
reports total emissions, organized into operational and
fugitive sources.
Upstream companies often have two sources of emis-
sions—operational and fugitive. Operational emissions
are those resulting from the day-to-day operations of oil
and gas production, while fugitive emissions are those
caused by equipment failures such as leaks.
“Fugitive emissions are where operators often focus
their action plans,” Arroyo said. “They have to repair
where emissions are emitting from. A lot of customers
have started using pneumatic devices. They get the gas
coming from their production, and in their normal
operations they replace those devices. And for what
they cannot replace, they repair.”
Arroyo explained that as a result of there being two
different types of emissions, companies often have two
different isolated databases—one for operations and
one for emissions.
“Between operational emissions and fugitive emis-
sions, everything starts to comingle into one single data-
base,” he said. “Operational emissions are not an indi-
33
 SPECIAL REPORT:
EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT
cation of asset health. If your asset health isn’t good,
you’re going to have two different situations. You’re
going to increase your emissions and you’re going to
reduce your reliability of that asset. We are seeking to
solve those two actions to reduce emissions.”
Crusoe Energy’s Digital Mitigation System helps turn natural
gas that would otherwise be flared into electricity for data
processing centers. (Crusoe Energy)
Qnergy’s compressed air pneumatic system combusts methane
gas that would normally be vented into the atmosphere.
(Source: Qnergy)
34
Visualizing emissions management
Understanding and managing the proliferation of data
collected during a company’s emissions management
programs often presents challenges with data organiza-
tion and comes with steep learning curves. But visualiz-
ing problem areas of methane leaks can save time and
money. Based on technology designed in collaboration
with the U.S. Department of Defense, Geosite serves sat-
ellite imagery that detects methane emissions at scale.
“There is a chasm between the data and the end
user,” said Burke Greer, lead geographical information
systems scientist with Geosite. “It’s really hard for peo-
ple, especially those who don’t have the training, to
take those new data sources and use them in their work-
flows. One of the things that we’re doing at Geosite is
making it easier for people to integrate real data into
the workflows that they’re doing, and methane emis-
sions are an example of that.”
Geosite’s technology combines a variety of data
sources like satellite imagery, sensor data and drone
mapping into an interactive operating system. It pro-
vides the ability to send workers in the field to the right
location to mitigate methane emission leaks.
“At its heart, Geosite is a map,” Burke said. “It’s a map
that contains spatial data and information. The way that
we’ve structured our map, it’s able to leverage cloud
technology. That means a lot of people in your organi-
zation can work with, access and see the same data and
information on the map. For a use case like methane,
what that means is we type in satellite-derived methane
emission estimates that are visible on the map. And
your team that’s out in the field can see those data.”
Burke explained that if a methane emission cloud is
visible in the satellite data, the team working in the field
can see the emission cloud in the map with different data
layers integrated into the visible cloud. A team could then
visit the site, add video imagery and more high-resolution
data to further enhance the available information.
“For something like methane, our platform is really
set up for integrating different data sources so you
can take those safety data and emission data from the
methane satellite imagery sources and use those in your
workflows on the ground,” Burke said.
Mitigating flaring
One of the largest impediments to widespread emis-
sions management success in the upstream oil and gas
industry is the flaring of natural gas. Operators burn
off the excess natural gas they can’t sell and also burn
off methane in the gas in the process. But flaring also
releases CO2 into the atmosphere. According to the
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Texas totaled
0.65 Bcf/d while North Dakota amassed 0.4 Bcf/d of
flared gas in 2017.
For companies looking to meet either internally
established goals or regulatory rules for flaring reduc-
tions, technologies that detect carbon emissions and
reuse associated gas have emerged as adaptable options.
Crusoe Energy System’s Digital Flare Mitigation sys-
tem converts natural gas that would otherwise poten-
tially be flared into electricity to power energy-inten-
sive computing at the well site. Crusoe president and
co-founder Cully Cavness explained that the flare mit-
igation system includes containerized mobile modular
data centers and power generation modules located at
the well site, which are fueled by the otherwise flared
natural gas.
“The natural gas goes into the power generation
module and is the fuel for a generator,” Cavness said.
“A piece of equipment that is very common in the oil
field is power generation, which is fueled by natural gas
or diesel. We’re using a custom-designed and config-
ured type of power generation equipment. Basically, it’s
reciprocating engines or turbines.”
Cavness explained that power is generated by con-
suming natural gas and combusting it in the power
generation process, generating electricity, which is then
used to power the modular data center.
“Then that is distributed to a customized electrical
distribution system that powers hundreds of servers
inside of this containerized data center, and those are
very energy intensive servers doing things like block-
chain processing,” Cavness said.
According to Crusoe, the Digital Flare Mitigation sys-
tem can reduce methane emissions by up to 95% and
CO2e emissions by 39%.
“At the end of the day, we’re looking for really ener-
gy-intensive, constantly running computing processes
so we can have a high demand for energy,” Cavness
said. “That’s what pairs well with the flaring—it’s a high
energy waste pairing with the high energy demand.”
Funding innovation
Securing funding for operations and new technologies
in the upstream industry was challenging even before
the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remains a substantial
challenge amid the energy industry collapse. But the
Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s (OGCI) Climate Invest-
ments fund maintains a long-term view of emissions
management technologies.
The OGCI Climate Investments is a $1 billion-plus
fund that invests in technologies designed to help
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
SPECIAL REPORT:
EMISSIONS MANAGEMENT
decarbonize, among others, the oil and gas industry.
The fund supports technologies and applications that
reduce methane and CO2 emissions and can recycle
and store CO2, according to the OGCI website.
In April, the OGCI fund, along with others, pro-
vided Qnergy with $10 million in Series B funding to
accelerate the deployment of its compressed air pneu-
matics product, CAP3. The application, which couples
Qnergy’s remote power generators with air compres-
sors, offers a low-emission alternative to gas pneumatic
devices, which vent spent gas into the atmosphere and
are often used in upstream oil and gas operations.
“Gas pneumatics are responsible for about 20%
to 40% of the gas industry’s supply chain in North
America,” said Qnergy CEO Ory Zik. “And methane
is a very potent greenhouse gas at 25 or even 85 times
more than CO2, and the gas industry is very sensitive to
those methane emissions. Pneumatic devices are among
the easiest to solve. The same technology that is used
for these pneumatic devices can be used when you use
compressed air or clean air as the source of power. All
you need conceptually is a power generator that com-
presses the air and replaces natural gas or methane as a
source of power with compressed air.”
Zik explained that Qnergy’s technology is based on
the Stirling engine, which generates electricity by a
cyclic compression of air and gas at differing tempera-
tures. Qnergy’s CAP3 system combusts the normally
vented methane.
“The oil and gas industry is focusing aggressively
on reducing methane emissions throughout the sup-
ply chain,” Zik said. “About 20% of those emissions
are low-hanging fruit that can be updated through
pneumatic devices. After focusing intensely on fugitive
emissions through leak detection and correction,
now the next stage is venting, and this is what this
technology serves.”
Sam Gabbita, OGCI Climate Investments venture
director, said Qnergy’s technology was appealing to the
fund because it offered low-cost and reliable energy that
can be applied at scale across much of the industry.
“There are about 250,000 pneumatic devices just in
the U.S. alone,” Gabbita said. “And these are emitting
about 14 million tons of CO2 when you convert the
methane equivalent. So the opportunity to use Qnergy’s
remote power engine to basically run compressed air
rather than typical methane was a beautiful marriage.
We liked the fact that there was established technology,
and we loved the fact that we could use this established
technology to decarbonize an important part of the oil
and gas value chain.”
35
 EXPLORATION:
FRONTIER EXPLORATION
Will gas hydrates be developed
with other biogenic gas plays?
The time line for international R&D to demonstrate safe, sustainable and
economically feasible gas hydrate production is on the horizon.
Dan McConnell, Fugro
E ven though the natural gas market is not currently
affected by supply insecurity, research into natural gas
hydrates as a potential resource is still active. Methane
hydrate resource potential is immense, and the world’s
press took notice of the successful short-term marine
gas hydrate production tests in 2017 off the east coast of
Japan and in the South China Sea. What has international
methane hydrate research achieved so far? What is the
relationship between gas hydrate and large conventional
biogenic gas deposits? And what is the time line for devel-
oping methane hydrate as a natural gas resource?
What is methane hydrate?
Gas hydrates are a solid form of light hydrocarbon
36
Engineers on Fugro’s REM Etive take pressure
cores of buried gas hydrate deposits for reservoir
saturation confirmation. (Source: Fugro)
gases and water. Methane hydrate is a dense energy
source of natural gas and therefore sometimes referred
to as “nature’s LNG.” Gas hydrates, which resemble ice,
are part of the natural hydrocarbon migration system
and an integral component of the Arctic petroleum
system, where it is cold enough for gas hydrates to
form. They are also widespread in deep water on con-
tinental margins, where pressures are high enough
for gas hydrates to form. Gas hydrates are not always
useful: a robust billion-dollar business controls gas
hydrate formation in deepwater pipelines and subsea
production facilities because they can restrict and plug
the flow of hydrocarbons.
International research
Serious research to develop natural gas hydrates as a
resource started in Japan in the early 2000s, followed
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

by India and Korea. At the same time,
the U.S. began a multiagency research
effort led by its Department of Energy
(DOE), and China has fielded six
major field programs in the last 14
years to confirm gas hydrate deposits
in the South China Sea. Advances to
date include reservoir characterization,
including confirmation of direct detec-
tion of high-saturation gas hydrates
in offshore sand deposits, production
technologies and reservoir production
simulators. The consensus so far is that
conventional oil and gas production
equipment and technologies can be
modified to produce gas hydrates. Gas
hydrates, unlike conventional hydro-
carbons, will not flow freely between
the reservoir and wellhead by pressure
differences. Changing the gas hydrate
into gas and water requires active
depressurization through pumping, as
demonstrated in the short-term Arctic
and marine production tests. Thermal
and chemical means to dissociate gas
hydrate are only likely to be employed
for flow assurance and production sys-
tem control.
Biogenic gas plays
The elements of a petroleum system
(source rock, expulsion and migration
to reservoir) are the fundamental con-
cepts of oil and gas exploration. If gas
hydrates are mentioned in the oil and
gas exploration context, they are often
described as possible indicators of
secondary and tertiary migration from
the object of exploration (deep ther-
mogenic hydrocarbon reservoirs). So
far, gas hydrate field expeditions have
confirmed thermogenic gas hydrate,
but these are best described as having
mixed thermogenic and biogenic iso-
topic signatures. Most gas hydrates,
however, are associated not with ther-
mogenic gas migration, which is a
by-product of thermal cracking of ker-
ogen within much older sedimentary
rocks, but with biogenic gas systems, in
which methane is a by-product of the
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
EXPLORATION:
FRONTIER EXPLORATION
Gain A New
PERSPECTIVE
bacterial activity involved in CO2 reduc-
tion in very young sediments during Get a fresh look
their burial.
In parallel, biogenic gas plays are at upstream and
getting a new look, and these will midstream activity
have possible economic gas hydrate
deposits associated with them. In fact, with our collection
gas hydrates might have helped form
them. Economic biogenic gas accumu-
of wall maps.
lations and the associated gas hydrate
deposits are young systems that may
form in less than 100,000 years. In the
last 20 years, deepwater conventional
biogenic gas discoveries with about 100
Tcf of gas reserves have been devel-
oped. Large economic conventional
biogenic gas systems are also highly
likely to be associated with high-satura-
tion gas hydrate deposits.
Gas hydrates are intimately related
to the processes of how biogenic gas
basins generate and preserve economic
quantities of natural gas. The window
for biogenic gas generation is in the
compaction and dewatering phase of
the sediments within the upper 2 km
of burial. After oxygen and sulfates
are depleted during initial burial, the
controlling parameters for biogenic gas
production are temperature, organic
matter and space. In biogenic gas sys-
tems, methanogenic bacteria feed on
labile organic matter in the pore space
until the sediments compact too much
or it becomes too hot for the bacteria
to be there.
Gas hydrate link to biogenic
gas preservation?
Large deepwater biogenic gas plays
have three essential components:
rapid sedimentation of organic rich
sediments, cool geothermal gradients
and early trap formation. This sce-
nario preserves the ability of metha-
nogenic bacteria to produce methane
while the sediment column is compact-
Available Now
ing to create an imperfect but suffi-
HartEnergyStore.com
cient seal.
Gas hydrates also may help concen-
trate conventional biogenic gas deposits.
STORE
37
 EXPLORATION:
FRONTIER EXPLORATION

The map depicts regions

with known conventional
biogenic gas reserves
with stable gas hydrates
overlying. (Source: Fugro)

Recent gas hydrate field programs in India support the stand large conventional biogenic gas resources and
growing hypothesis that large gas hydrate deposits need the associated gas hydrates above them. As these large
an immediate local overlying lithologic seal. biogenic gas plays become sanctioned for development,
Large gas hydrate deposits in India’s Krishna the exploration companies should consider setting
Godavari Basin were direct-detected from seismic targets for developing the secondary gas hydrate that
response, and pressure cores confirmed there was a remains and may be in reach.
tight lithologic directly over the gas-hydrate-filled sand.
In contrast, the same sand in a step-out, also near the Long-term gas hydrate production
base of gas hydrate stability and subject to the same tests are key
vertical methane migration, was not saturated with Preparations for a long-term production test, a joint
gas hydrate. The difference between the two locations project of the U.S. DOE and the Japan Oil, Gas and
was the absence of the sealing Metals National Corp., are
facies where the sand was well underway on the Alaskan
water saturated. North Slope, where a strati-
The ability of gas hydrates to
The ability of gas hydrates graphic and monitoring well
help concentrate and preserve to help concentrate and was drilled in December 2018
biogenic gas is likely an import- preserve biogenic gas in the Prudhoe Bay Unit along
ant mechanism for the preser- the Eileen gas hydrate trend.
vation of biogenic gas deposits. is likely an important This coming winter, the gas
Escaping gassy fluids from the mechanism for the hydrate production wells at
methane generation window the site will be completed with
can be available for capture
preservation of biogenic the goal of demonstrating
within the gas hydrate stability gas deposits. sustained long-term produc-
field, but the overall migration tion of gas hydrates. The time
will happen in the dissolved line for international R&D to
phase and would, without local seals, escape the system. demonstrate safe, sustainable and economically fea-
Hoteling of biogenic gas as gas hydrate as a mecha- sible gas hydrate production is on the near horizon
nism for free gas concentration mechanism has been between five and 15 years.
proposed for Camden Hills in Mississippi Canyon 348 Given the development time for the biogenic gas
in the Gulf of Mexico and at the multi-Tcf Shwe gas fields being developed by the industry, this will be just
field offshore Myanmar. Recycling of gas hydrates at the in time for oil and gas companies to add gas hydrate
base of gas hydrate stability due to rapid sedimentation production to their Arctic and deepwater biogenic gas
and burial could be an important mechanism to under- field production.

38 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

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 EXPLORATION:
FRONTIER EXPLORATION
Mega-merged 3D seismic in the
Vaca Muerta, Neuquén Basin
A basin-scale geocellular model provides a tool for sweetspot identification.
Shihong Chi, Felix Dias and Zakir Hossain,
ION Geophysical; Jhon Rivas, independent consultant;
and Yijie Zhou, Noble Energy
T he tectonics of Argentina’s Neuquén Basin has been
studied in detail by many authors. The extensional
period between the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic
resulted in a system of northwest-to-southeast-oriented
half grabens; and a later compressive-transgressive
period from the Upper Jurassic resulted in a system
of mainly east-to-west reverse and transgressive faults.
Trans-tension related to this period adds structural
complexity to the area. Similarly, the stratigraphy
and facies of the Vaca Muerta Formation have been
studied in detail.
The mega-merged 3D seismic clearly shows the
characteristics and geometries that make the interpreta-
tion of strata stacking patterns, their stratigraphic rela-
tions and the interpretation of internal configurations
(e.g., onlaps and downlaps) much easier than before.
From the southeast to northwest, it can be observed
that the major architectural trends from proximal
40
FIGURE 1. Several arbitrary lines of
the mega-merged seismic show the
stratigraphy variation across the basin.
(Source: ION Geophysical)
basin margin facies through central basin settings and
into distal basin floor facies (Figure 1).
Petrophysical analysis
A total of 14 wells with a relatively complete log set were
identified for the petrophysical analysis. Given the complex
mineralogy of the Vaca Muerta Formation, a statistical min-
eral analysis was used. The method included log response
equations for several tools simultaneously to obtain the
mineralogy, fluid content and total porosity. Gamma ray,
density, neutron and compressional sonic and clay volume
estimated from normalized gamma ray were used as input
curves for all the wells analyzed. The results show the Vaca
Muerta is predominantly limestone, with some marl or
siltstone interbeds. Kerogen is mainly deposited in the
lower Vaca Muerta formation with a maximum 12% of vol-
ume. Total porosity can reach up to 25% at the lower Vaca
Muerta. The interpretation was calibrated to core data.
Post-stack seismic inversion
Three key horizons around the target formation, Top
B, Vaca Muerta and Todrillo, were interpreted for well
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 EXPLORATION:
FRONTIER EXPLORATION

tie, background model building and inversion. The rich and high-porosity zone is located in the lower Vaca
seismic data quality is relatively good in the target zone Muerta of the southeastern part of the basin.
(Vaca Muerta to Todrillo). However, this seismic volume
comes from different surveys, and the spectra of differ- Conclusions
ent surveys are not quite balanced, which may affect the An integrated study of the Vaca Muerta Formation,
inversion results. Neuquén Basin, was performed using mega-merged 3D
All the wells inside the seismic survey are tied with seismic data covering about 12,000 sq km to estimate
seismic before inversion. The Gardner equation is used the kerogen, porosity and lithology (Figure 2). Four key
to predict the density log for the wells without the den- tasks were included in this project: regional structural
sity measurement. and stratigraphic interpretation, petrophysical analysis,
The inversion results show a relatively good match with post-stack inversion, and geocellular model building.
the wells. The lower Vaca Muerta shows relatively low acous- 3D structures of the Vaca Muerta are revealed from the
tic impedance (AI), which is a typical Kerogen response. mega 3D interpretation. Regional scale stratigraphic fea-
The inverted AI volume, together with the well logs inter- tures and lateral transitions have been evidenced from a
pretation results are then later integrated using the geologic single seismic volume for the first time.
modeling technique for detailed rock property estimation. Geocellular modeling combines the well log data
and inverted AI volume together with the geological
Geomodeling information to produce a detailed description of the
A geocellular model represents the reservoir geology geological deposition and kerogen distribution. The
and the vertical and horizontal variation of the reservoirs basin-scale geocellular model provides a powerful tool
in detailed log scale. The model incorporates the 3D for sweetspot identification during the exploration
structural framework, the conceptual depositional sys- phase and reserve estimation and well planning
tem (facies) and reservoir sublayers. The reservoirs and during field development.
formations above and below the reservoirs, constraining
the structural model, are divided first into zones and
later into thin layers and into a 3D mesh of cells until the
cells with thickness of rocks can simulate the reservoir
properties. For each cell, just one lithofacies type can be
assigned, but it can storage multiple reservoir properties.
The cells cut by wells are populated with facies and
reservoir properties, using averaging methods such as
arithmetic mean. The values of facies and a cell’s proper-
ties loaded from well logs are distributed or interpolated
through all the cells of the geocellular model based on
the spatial continuity concepts. The spatial distribution
is carried out by applying geostatistics, which includes
data analysis and deterministic and stochastic algorithms.
Sequential Gaussian Simulation is applied to create
heterogeneity-property volumes honoring input/output
of local data, histograms and variograms. Rock physics
constraints and a co-located cokriging method were used
to honor the well data and seismic inversion result simul-
taneously. Finally, the geocellular model was populated
with petrophysical and elastic rock properties that can be
used to assess, develop and manage the reservoir.
Two types of geomodels are created: one using well
data only, and the other using both seismic and well
data. By comparing two geomodels, significant values
of applying seismic data in delineating the 3D rock FIGURE 2. Seismic surveys overlay a topographic map in which the
properties are demonstrated. From the basin-scale geo- red dots are wells used in performing well tie and velocity model
models, it was observed that the highest total organic building for time to depth conversion. (Source: ION Geophysical)

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 41

 DRILLING:
DRILL BITS

Managing transitional
drilling challenges
A new active torque cutting structure is saving millions
of dollars in transitional drilling applications.

Having the bit lean on these hard surfaces while

Chris Gooch, Ulterra Drilling Technologies drilling also causes increased friction, which can cause
torsional vibration. To solve these problems, manufac-

T ransitional drilling and interfacial severity are the

buzz words of the drilling industry right now. Essen-
tially, they refer to the same problem—to drill through
turers have recently started experimenting with moving
DoC control elements built into the bit, but the added
complexity of moving parts in the bit face brings a
layers of varying rock types and strengths. As the bit whole new set of risks.
moves through these transitions, the cutting structure
is subjected to uneven forces in different parts of the Drilling the Permian Basin
profile, which can overload and damage cutters, The 12¼-inch intermediate section in the Permian
shortening bit life and leading to unplanned trips.
Basin has one of the toughest transitional sections in
These uneven forces also can be transmitted up the
the world. The upper part of the section is relatively
drillstring in the form of harmful vibrations, which
easy and fast. But approximately two-thirds of the way
could increase the risk of tool failures in the button-
through the interval, the bit will encounter the Brushy
hole assembly (BHA). Canyon and Cherry Canyon formations that have a mix
The way to control this uneven loading is to man-
of hard carbonate lithologies interbedded with softer
age the drill bit’s depth of cut (DoC); if the bit can be
silicates and anhydrites. This part of the section defines
stopped from taking too big a bite of the formation, the
whether a run will be successful or not. About 30% of
magnitude of the uneven forces through that transition
bits don’t make it. While the rest will go on to section
can be reduced. Drill bit manufacturers have used a
total depth (TD), that 30% must be pulled for an
few methods to control DoC. Historically, this was done
expensive trip and may be damaged beyond repair.
using hard-stop surfaces such as the blade top or inserts
Seeking a solution to the transitional drilling prob-
behind the cutter. This very effectively stops the bit
lem, Ulterra engineers set to work brainstorming var-
from taking that bigger bite, but by tuning that DoC
ious options. By year-end 2019, the concept evolved
control for the transitions, it also prevents the bit from
into the new RipSaw product technology, which had
achieving high instantaneous ROP. quickly accumulated more than 2,000 runs and drilled
9 MMft of hole.
RipSaw uses a new form of active
BIT TRANSITIONS THROUGH HARD AND SOFT LITHOLOGIES
torque technology to manage DoC
proactively using the cutting struc-
ture itself rather than passive ele-
ments in the bit face. At the core of
this technology are high back rake
cutters strategically placed in differ-
ent parts of the profile. The more
passive cutters resist rapid changes

As the bit transitions through hard and

soft lithologies, load forces move around
the profile causing damage. (Source:
Ulterra Drilling Technologies)

42 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

 DRILLING:
DRILL BITS

in DoC but, at the same time, still cut elements so as to

THE RIPSAW EFFECT
not prevent high-instantaneous ROP when more weight
on bit (WOB) is applied.
In this way they act like a shock absorber on a vehi-
cle, protecting the occupant or bit from potholes and
bumps while also allowing a smooth and compliant
ride. In transitions, the higher back rake cutters prevent
the more aggressive parts of the profile from over-
engaging so the driller, rather than backing off to man-
age WOB, can lean on the bit and allow the RipSaw
cutting structure to regulate itself.
In real world applications, this means less damage to
the bit and BHA, better dulls and increased reliability,
which ultimately lead to faster average penetration
rates and a better chance of shoe-to-TD performances. Traditional DoC control limits ROP and converts any added
In the current economic and drilling industry climate, WOB into friction, whereas the new technology does not
the one thing that drillers need is better reliability prevent high ROP but controls high axial forces. (Source: Ulterra
so they can reliably plan well construction time and Drilling Technologies)
reduce cost overruns.
runs out of the shoe and created risk profile graphs
Measuring success to demonstrate how likely it was that bits would reach
The drill bit industry has typically focused on ROP as the any given depth. They found that bits equipped with
primary and, at times, only demonstration of success, but RipSaw technology would have an 80% chance of hit-
a successful run can be measured in many other ways. ting a critical depth that conventional products only
Ulterra analysts wanted to show what increased reliabil- managed 50% of the time.
ity means in the real world, especially as the industry In terms of well costs, that increased reliability trans-
evolves to focus on delivering lates to a 39% improvement in the
a quality wellbore with maxi- cost per foot, applying standard-
mum efficiency. Performance ized costs across the board for
data analysts pulled every The drill bit industry comparison. By extrapolating that
comparable Permian Basin has typically focused number over the 1.8 MMft of hole
12¼-inch intermediate run in drilled by RipSaw in this study, the
the previous six months from on ROP as the primary results show that those 434 runs
Ulterra’s bit record database. demonstration of success, saved Permian operators more
This dataset consisted of 3,264 than $42 million in drilling costs.
runs on 2,147 wells with more
but a successful run Moreover, if RipSaw technology
than 11 MMft of hole drilled can be measured in had been used on every single
for 128 different operators. Of many other ways. run in the study, that amount
these, 434 runs were with the would be more than $220 million,
new RipSaw technology, 1,320 demonstrating that seemingly
with competitor bits and the small gains in reliability translate
remainder with other Ulterra products. With so many into the potential for massive cost savings.
datapoints, the effects of outliers and one-offs were mini- The challenge for Ulterra engineers is to expand the
mized and any findings from these data were guaranteed technology into other applications where active DoC
to be statistically significant. control would bring benefits. Focus has now moved to
The new active torque technology drilled on aver- long lateral sections and RipSaw technology has deliv-
age 750 ft farther per run than all other bits from ered longer runs, better tracking and improved tool-
any manufacturer. The data also showed that this face control.
technology improved the shoe-to-TD rate by nearly The technology also will be highly effective in com-
30%, delivering a one-run section nearly 90% of the plex 3D directional wells where steering control and
time. Ulterra analysts then filtered the dataset for first wellbore quality are essential to success.

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 43

 DRILLING:
DRILL BITS
Stratigraphic zonation for
model-based bit design
A novel application for drilling optimization proves successful
in the Brazilian deepwater presalt.
Romulo Aguiar and João Pedro Tocantins,
Schlumberger; and Danilo Gozzi and
Rafael França, Petrobras
T he majority of oil discoveries offshore Brazil are
in the presalt formations, and drilling activity has
focused primarily on economically viable ways to
develop these reserves. Presalt is a geological formation
consisting of heterogenous carbonates and other sedi-
ments that pose innumerous drilling challenges, includ-
ing hard silicate nodules and low-porosity layers, which
make the formation strength extremely high.
The presalt reservoirs are drilled with various types
of drill bits and drilling assemblies. Drilling in this
region can produce high lateral vibrations and stick/
slip levels in the drilling system leading to polycrystal-
line diamond compact (PDC) cutter damage, bottom-
hole assembly tool failure, well
deviation and low ROP. Generally,
in the reservoir intervals, opera-
tors encounter undesirable dull
conditions on the bit such as ring
out in the outer region or core out
of the innermost cutting elements.
These wear-out conditions are usu-
ally related to drilling dynamics,
which confirm the impact-prone
characteristics from the highly
heterogeneous formation. A major
challenge today is to reach section
total depth (TD) in a single run
with good overall ROP.
As part of a joint presalt drilling
optimization project, Schlumberger
and Petrobras developed and
executed an approach to reduce
drilling costs. This approach was
inspired by rock typing method-
ology, paired with 4D modeling
and simulation to develop a fit-for-
purpose drill bit design solution.
These complementary workflows
44
were applied during an exploratory campaign to
develop the ultradeepwater Búzios Field located in
Brazil’s Santos Basin. The system led to the develop-
ment of customized drill bit designs with improved
cutting structure resistance and dynamic stability, which
resulted in overall improved performance when drilling
the field’s presalt cluster.
Stratigraphic zonation for drilling
Stratigraphic zonation for drilling is a novel application
that uses rock typing to define the distinctive hetero-
geneity and non-uniform nature of carbonates. It is
designed to gain better understanding of the physics
and causes behind poor drilling performances. Since
optimal drilling parameters for one layer might not be
appropriate for the other, a good characterization and
understanding of each of these zones, their occurrence
and possible thickness are critical
for drilling optimization.
This approach comprises a com-
prehensive workflow that facilitates
integrating large amounts of mul-
tiwell data acquired from drilling,
logging and coring operations to
derive relevant drilling informa-
tion and knowledge. Stratigraphic
zonation from a drilling perspective
presents a road map to benchmark
and understand the performances
of any given drilling system through
each of the zones and guides the
design of new engineering solu-
FIGURE 1. Stratigraphic zonation for
drilling is a novel workflow that uses
spectroscopy from wireline, combined
with technical expertise, to reproduce
actual drilling scenarios into virtual
formations. It is used to determine
the distinctive heterogeneity and
nonuniform nature of carbonates.
(Source: Schlumberger)
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

tions. Figure 1 shows a virtual carbonate formation that
was created using the IDEAS integrated dynamic design
and analysis platform to reproduce the drilling condi-
tions of the presalt carbonates.
Information about the formation geological properties
obtained from the drilling zonation workflow was then
extracted to build an engineering model using the inte-
grated dynamic design and analysis platform. An advanced
4D drilling dynamics model predicts real-time vibrations
and stick/slip and enables engineers to optimize drilling
parameters for drill bit designs and drillstring configura-
tion. In addition, the model simulates drilling interactions
in a virtual environment to predict bit performance while
eliminating costly trial-and-error field tests and enabling
the achievement of desired results on the first run. All
models are verified and validated extensively using theo-
retical calculations, commercial finite element packages,
in-house drill rig tests, full-scale rig tests and field tests with
MWD or downhole drilling dynamics sensors.
Modeling bits for presalt application
The integrated dynamic design and analysis platform
created a model for application-specific bit designs to
optimize drilling efficiency while aiming to drill the
entire reservoir section in a single run. Two new cut-
ting structures were developed to tackle the various
carbonate complexity within the field. Figure 2 shows
two fit-for-purpose drill bits featuring the Stinger con-
ical diamond cutting element that were proposed to
enhance performance and durability.
The conical-shaped cutter incorporated in the new
bit design is a cutting element that combines 3D geom-
etry with superior impact strength and wear resistance,
enabling increased ROP and footage in hard-to-drill
formations. It has twice the diamond thickness of conven-
tional PDC cutters and is manufactured from synthetic dia-
mond material engineered to provide superior resistance
to abrasive wear and impact loading. The conical shape
places a highly concentrated point load on the formation,
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
DRILLING:
DRILL BITS
FIGURE 2. Using its integrated dynamic
design and analysis platform, Schlumberger
designed two fit-for-purpose drill bits to
tackle the carbonate complexity within the
Búzios Field. These bits featured a central
Stinger conical diamond element (left)
and Stinger conical diamond elements
dispersed throughout the blades (right).
(Source: Schlumberger)
enabling the cutter to fracture high-compressive-strength
rocks more efficiently while generating less torque and
vibrations compared with a conventional PDC cutter.
These new bits were designed to improve footage and
ROP while maintaining directional control and mini-
mizing shock and vibration levels in challenging drilling
applications that can cause impact damage to conven-
tional bits. Depending on the offset wells, bit selections
were made to provide the optimal cutting structure
for each well in the drilling campaign. Several prejob
simulations compared the benchmark bit to the newly
designed bits. The simulations with the new drill bit
designs showed a 40% reduction in shocks and vibra-
tions and a 57% improvement in ROP.
Results
Drilling optimization in the Búzios Field was success-
fully achieved by using the combination of stratigraphic
zonation for drilling and model-based approach for
customized drill bit designs. There were eight runs
using the proposed drill bits. Except for the first run,
where the existence of Drill Zone C was unknown, the
12¼-inch reservoir sections of all wells were drilled in a
single run. On the last attempt, the bit run achieved an
average ROP of about 27 ft/hr—197% higher than the
offset average—and reached interval TD after drilling
about 1,716 ft in a single run. As a result of the perfor-
mance improvement, this bit run set a new performance
benchmark with regard to cost per foot for the 12¼-inch
section in presalt fields offshore the Santos Basin.
Furthermore, while optimizing bit designs and drill-
ing performance were initially motivated to tackle the
challenging presalt carbonates in Brazil, an applica-
tion-specific bit design is applicable to any drilling sce-
nario and can be applied to different fields and geo-
graphical locations using the presented workflows.
Editor’s note: This article was adapted from the SPE-
196057-MS paper.
45
 OFFSHORE:
DECOMMISSIONING & DISPOSAL
A novel approach to a
growing problem
A vessel-led approach to surface intervention addresses the issue of
retiring deepwater and ultradeepwater pipeline assets.
David Sheetz, C-Innovation
D uring the 1990s, U.S. deepwater oil production
exceeded shallow-water production for the first
time. By the early 2000s, deepwater operations pro-
duced twice as much as shallow water. In the ultradeep-
water sector, production was growing at a rapid pace.
More than 20 years on from that initial boom in the off-
shore industry, pipeline operators are beginning to face
serious practical challenges surrounding the decommis-
sioning of these trailblazing deepwater pipelines.
U.S. regulatory and industry requirements state that
any pipeline destined for decommissioning must be
effectively cleaned and made safe before its abandon-
ment in place. Traditionally, to ensure the retired pipe-
line is inert and free of product, divers would be called
in to access the pipeline to perform a flush or cut the
pipe to bring to the surface. However, these techniques
were only ever feasible for shallow-water pipelines. The
newer, deeper pipelines of the world are beyond the
capabilities of any divers, and usually a rig would be
required to perform any remedial work on them. As the
necessity for pipeline decommissioning spreads from
the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and the North
Sea to the aging Brazilian oil fields and eventually West
Africa, the challenges of deepwater decommissioning
will become a global issue.
46
The M/V Island Venture is an
Ulstein SX165-design multipurpose
construction and light well intervention
vessel. (Source: C-Innovation)
In 2017 a large international operator in the GoM’s
Mississippi Canyon area approached C-Innovation with
an aging deepwater pipeline that exhibited an extensive
asphaltene blockage but needed to satisfy the govern-
ment’s decommissioning requirements. Due to its location
at a depth of 4,000 ft and access challenges, C-Innovation
devised a novel way to remove the blockage and prepare
for abandonment. After considering several alternatives to
clean it in place while it was on the seabed, C-Innovation’s
subsea projects team, alongside partner Halliburton,
successfully lifted the pipeline off of the seabed. It was
threaded through the vessel’s moonpool and supported
for weeks while a surface intervention was performed.
Phase 1
The asphaltene blockage was thought to be closer to
the upstream/pipeline end termination (PLET) of
the flowline submerged under 4,000 ft of water. The
flowline was lifted to the surface for surface injection of
coiled tubing (CT) to reduce the total distance to the
blockage. An adequate hangoff structure, load tested to
more than 1 MMlb to support the catenary weight, was
designed, engineered and installed in-house by C-Inno-
vation with a safe working load of 300 t. A custom moon-
pool bridging system was designed and built by North
American Shipbuilders (an Edison Chouest Co.).
Once the flowline was recovered, a change-out of the
interface was required to allow CT injection. An addi-
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 OFFSHORE:
DECOMMISSIONING & DISPOSAL

tional structure was needed to support the rigup of a Once the pipeline was recovered to the vessel,
BOP and injector system and to allow a safe workspace C-Innovation removed the PLET and installed a slip-on
in the vicinity of the equipment. The flowline was lifted wellhead connector. Then a tractor and 30,000 ft of CT
and threaded through the moonpool of the Island were rigged up, which enabled a jetting head to remove
Venture, C-Innovation’s flagship intervention vessel. and wash the asphaltene blockage back to the vessel.
The full extent of the blockage was unknown at this Returns were routed through a shaker to remove solids;
point. The flowline needed to be flushed to maintain gas was vented at a vent boom and liquids were routed
cleanliness after the blockage remediation, which required to four 500-bbl tanks.
service vessels at the tension-leg platform (TLP) and PLET. The remaining pipe that still needed to be remedi-
A large capacity of hazardous material storage and offload- ated was raised to the deck of the boat utilizing a ball
ing to another vessel while on site was needed to handle the grab tool. Once at the surface, the pipe was hung off on
substantial quantities of solvent that were required and the the support structure and pressure control equipment
anticipated volume of returns from the flowline. were connected and tested. The pipeline cleaning pro-
The downstream side of the flowline (on the TLP) cess began using a WWT tractor that pulls the CT into
required a temporary interface to the riser and nitro- the pipeline to enable extended cleanout distances.
gen packing and water flushing systems installed. The The first run was 14,500 ft. The tractor was left to run
nitrogen packing was to provide a positive indication and perform its washout, and then the whole assembly
of a breakthrough on the was pulled back out.
solid blockage, and the water Internal well tools were
pumping system was to flush As the necessity for pipeline used to set another plug, then
the remediated flowline to pulled out. The pipeline was
regulatory cleanliness stan- decommissioning spreads, laid down, the vessel transited
dards for decommissioning. the challenges of deepwater 14,000 ft down the line and
However, there was only a cut was performed. Three
enough room on the platform
decommissioning will more tractor CT runs were
for the temporary system that become a global issue. made, establishing communi-
directly interfaced with the cation through the pipeline.
riser. All other systems were All segments of the pipeline
deployed on a platform supply vessel (PSV) with a flex- were flushed and abandoned in place. The whole project
ible hose connecting the systems on the TLP and the was completed to Bureau of Safety and Environmental
system on the PSV. Enforcement regulations, with no recorded releases to
The flowline was safely recovered and secured, and the the environment and no HSE incidents.
interface was changed for intervention. The end of the flow-
line downstream of the blockage was packed with nitrogen. Equipped to meet future challenges
Asphaltenes blocking the flowline were removed. However, One of the main objectives of decommissioning is to
due to conditions more extreme than the client expected prevent the acute and long-term release of trapped
to encounter, the removal of all asphaltenes was prevented. hydrocarbons inside a pipeline on the seafloor into
The client decided to cease intervention and demobilize the environment. To that end, C-Innovation has joined
with the solution deemed a success. forces with one of the key vendors involved in this proj-
ect, WWT International, to devise a new tractor that
Phase 2 will reach even farther than before and help reduce the
In 2019 a Phase 2 solution was undertaken through number of cuts required. By reducing the number of
C-Innovation to continue to complete the work scope cuts, many days of necessary work can be reduced.
safely and without impact on the environment. In this By lifting a pipeline off of the seabed, threading it
case, the flowline blockage remediation was performed through the vessel moonpool and supporting it while a
with a CT tractor system supplied by Houston-based WWT surface intervention was performed, the client saved about
International. Four vessels were involved: the Island Venture, 50% of costs and a significant amount of time that would
Island Performer, Carol and Fast Hauler. Pipeline communica- have been associated with bringing in a rig to perform the
tion was achieved to the platform following four CT tractor same work. Discussions are underway with another two
runs. Finally, a successful flush of the pipeline to seawater operators for deployment of a pipeline intervention
was required to enable riser cut and abandonment. technique such as this one in the GoM.

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 47

 digital solutions
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES

Traditional models of operating are

evolving to meet present demands
A remote operations center enables performance benchmarking and drilling
optimization, improving consistency and performance.

Ahmad Alhajami, Brian Jansky and

achieve optimal drilling performance, as one-off issues can
Stephen Forrester, Gyrodata dramatically impact performance. Additionally, with the
pressure on the driller to increase ROP and drill the well

T he shift to digital has slowly but surely changed the

way the oil and gas industry does business. Much
has been said about the need to keep personnel out
faster, relevant lessons learned are not always captured.
In one basin, the spread rates between rigs on a days-
versus-depth curve can vary wildly, which requires addi-
of harm’s way, prompting operators and drilling con- tional analysis between well types and groupings to estab-
tractors to seek new ways of improving safety while also lish the proper well for benchmarking, often called the
increasing performance. This has historically been dif- pacesetter well. Understanding the answers to certain
ficult due to the need for so many people on the rig to questions, like what differentiates the wells in a grouping
operate the machinery. With the continued growth of and if drilling behavior patterns can be established via
remote operations as a valid way to manage rig perfor- well proximity, will help to establish the pacesetter well
mance, however, the traditional model is changing. in a given grouping. The operator also can focus on the
Remote operating centers have existed for some limitations of the slower, more challenging wells instead of
time. Current reductions in capex and opex on contin- those that have already achieved excellent performance.
ued commodity price weakness, however, are driving
renewed focus on eliminating costs and risks. In this Drilling road map
environment, the evolution of these remote operating Drilling performance is often measured against the
centers has been brought back into the spotlight. pacesetter well(s) in an area regardless of well or
casing profile, target forma-
Benchmarking DRILLING PRODUCTION SUMMARY tions or planned hole sizes.
Performance benchmarking To maximize the potential
has long been used to help improvements possible with
operators improve the way they drilling optimization, knowing
drill future wells. By analyzing what data are available and
historical data from previously pertinent, as well as properly
drilled wells, the operator can identifying the objectives of the
effectively leverage the successes drilling program beforehand,
and challenges of those wells is critical.
to enable better performance. Additionally, comparisons
With a benchmark set, an between wells must involve
acceptable performance thresh- similar well types, not just the
old becomes standard, and as regions where they were drilled.
additional improvements are Two wells in the Permian Basin
made, drilling performance ver- might look completely different,
sus this benchmark and earlier with each well plan irrelevant to
wells can be compared to holis- the other. As such, the criteria
tically understand the drivers of for success cannot be static.
efficiency in the area. Simply choosing one fast well
Some difficulty arises with FIGURE 1. The operator successfully drilled the well, could effectively invalidate the
this. Not all local offset wells which included a record extended-reach lateral, in nine entire process if it was a one-off
are applicable when trying to days less than the planned time. (Source: Gyrodata) project with a unique factor

48 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com


EIGHT CONSECUTIVE ONE-RUN HORIZONTAL WELLS
9,000
8,476 Footage Drilled in Lateral (ft)
8,323
Avg ROP (ft/hr)
8,000 7,940
7,733 7,742
7,565
124
7,000
109
99
101
94
89
6,000
Well 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
FIGURE 2. Footage drilled versus ROP showed an overall upward
trend in ROP as the BHA was continually optimized, culminating
in a record run at 166 ft/hr. (Source: Gyrodata)
impacting drilling performance. Understanding the lim-
itations in slower offset wells also is critical. Just because
one well took longer to drill than surrounding wells does
not mean the learnings from that well should be dis-
carded; rather, the entire operation should be examined
so that limitations, either with drilling or on the rig, can
be identified and accounted for. At the end of this pro-
cess, a drilling road map with optimized parameters based
on the pacesetter well can be created and used to repli-
cate performance of the benchmarked well.
Enabling success
Once well objectives are identified, the execution phase
involves multidiscipline collaboration. A remote oper-
ating center typically brings together several functional
experts from drilling engineering, drilling optimization,
bottomhole assembly (BHA) design, survey tool selec-
tion and configuration, and well planning to formulate
the drilling road map that will align with the pacesetter
well and, should performance increase beyond the
intended results, become the next pacesetter well.
The well planning/well engineering team ensures
that well design does not exceed mechanical limitations
and other dysfunctions that could prevent the well from
successfully reaching total depth (TD). This informa-
tion is then used by other groups within the remote
operating center to inform their review. Survey tool
selection takes place next, with the team determining
the ideal survey tool for the parameters detailed in the
well objectives. This could be a gyro tool or MWD tool,
depending on the analysis of risks.
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
digital solutions
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES
After this, the drilling services continue to update
170 the latest historical data while monitoring the live data
166
feeds from each rig to seek optimal drilling perfor-
mance and validate the analytical models. This informa-
tion is fed into the road maps and optimization reports
for field personnel to use as a drilling guide.
7,778
7,704
Case histories
In a project in the Permian Basin, an operator was experi-
encing challenges while drilling an extended-reach well in
the Wolfcamp Formation. The operator’s two main objec-
106
tives were to improve drilling performance and decrease the
rig time necessary to drill the well. Earlier BHA designs on
offset wells had encountered issues with similar well profiles,
85
including reduced ROP and an inability to reach TD.
8
Using historical data from conventionally drilled wells
in this formation, experts helped the operator develop
an optimized BHA configuration. By applying learnings
from the data, Gyrodata suggested the operator incor-
porate a motor-assisted rotary steerable system BHA
and provided recommendations on better MWD equip-
ment for the formation’s challenges. After implement-
ing the new BHA design, the operator was able to drill
a 9,015-ft lateral in only one run of 43.84 drilling hours
at an average ROP of 206 ft/hr. Collectively, this pro-
cess reduced rig time by nine days and achieved total
cost savings of about $500,000 (Figure 1).
On another project, an operator wanted to use the
lessons learned from remote monitoring of its previous
wells to optimize its current eight-well pad. Drawing
from the historical database of previous work done with
this operator, Gyrodata developed a new plan for the
pad. Implementing an optimized BHA with a new motor
selection, Gyrodata also used data coming into the remote
operating center to continuously update the BHA config-
uration and drilling parameters for each well.
The eight wells were drilled successfully as consecutive,
one-run horizontals. After drilling each well, ROP and
footage drilled in the lateral were correlated to ensure
that the BHAs were continuing to improve drilling perfor-
mance. The project ultimately showed an upward trend in
average ROP across the eight wells, and ROP of 166 ft/hr
set a record on the final well of the pad (Figure 2). Based
on an assumed spread rate at current pricing, the lack of
damage to the equipment in the optimized BHA, and all
the time saved by doing each well in one run, the opera-
tor saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Editor’s note: This article was submitted prior to the acquisi-
tion of Gyrodata’s directional drilling product line by Intrepid
Directional Drilling Specialists.
49
 digital solutions
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES

Six levels of digital oilfield maturity

A true digital oil field delivers operational excellence by providing significant
advantages in reporting and analytics.

field through a mobile-enabled system, as in Levels 2-3,

Michael Maltsev, RigER departments can share data smoothly—and each can
create their own unique reports.

I n today’s hypercompetitive market, energy service

companies are quickly learning that it is not enough
to be the best at their core business; the greater compet-
The deep data and analytics available at Level 4
let an organization clearly see and fix billing and cash
flow bottlenecks. Empowered by live information
itive advantage comes through improving operational and analytics, managers and investors can then make
efficiency. Old-school tools are out the window as com- daily data-driven decisions instead of waiting for
panies race toward operations excellence. While this is monthly or quarterly updates. Data visibility leads to
an important first step, the true digital oil field offers precision in actions.
great advantages in reporting and analytics. On the operations side, higher levels allow the
A true digital process helps accounting to bill faster tracking of a number of key metrics (i.e., client per-
and accurately, and it gives operations detailed infor- formance, equipment utilization, schedules for main-
mation on each piece of inventory, service and rental tenance/repairs, job costs and other data) that man-
fleet in real time. The operations department gains agement needs to assess progress on the path to opera-
insights on hours in use, status tional excellence.
of repairs or maintenance, reve- Large integrated companies
nue versus costs, and more, for may have the resources to
each asset. Oilfield service create their own ticketing,
These issues were already a companies are finding tracking and billing software in
problem for companies still house. But even in this case, a
using paper tickets. Since the cost efficiencies by using system requires ongoing invest-
outbreak of COVID-19 and the leading-edge solutions. ments in upgrades to stay cur-
resulting oil price crash, reve- rent and useful.
nue losses could send a com- Smaller companies may
pany into bankruptcy. buy off-the-shelf software that
The RigER approach identifies six basic levels of auto- requires the user to adapt to the software instead of the
mation in its Digital Oilfield Road Map. A few years ago, software being tailored to the user’s needs. This is still
most companies were at Level 0 or 1 on the road map, inefficient. The way a company operates is their com-
but now more and more have advanced to about Level petitive advantage, and the system must fully support it.
3. While it can take up to a few years to get from Level 0
to 5, most companies move incrementally, seeing signif- Solutions
icant bottom-line savings and efficiencies at each step. A growing number of oilfield service companies are
This moves them toward operational excellence. finding cost efficiencies by using leading-edge solutions
that bring them as close to Level 5 as possible. This
Taking the path forward lets them rely on professional system providers to take
The automation process often starts with a basic desktop their existing base product and tailor it to the client’s
database such as Microsoft Excel, which is certainly an requirements. The service company gets the operational
improvement over the paper and whiteboard system of and reporting functions it needs without building an
Level 0. But spreadsheets offer little in the way of opera- in-house system or bending their own operations to the
tional analysis. unyielding requirements of a one-size-fits-all product.
Advancing further opens the door for deeper opera- Properly tailored software brings sales, operations
tional insights. By connecting back-office people to the and accounting departments together by supplying

50 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com


the need for fast-paced information in operations and
the requirements in accounting for cumulative data
less often. It allows the sales department to under-
stand each client’s needs and how to serve them bet-
ter. A common database stores all field ticket data,
from which both departments draw what they need
in real time.
Searches by client, equipment status (e.g., rented,
returned, rental/service history, maintenance costs),
job status and more allow all departments to discover
and remedy revenue bottlenecks. The company can
identify its most and least profitable assets and decide
whether to expand its best assets and minimize or elimi-
nate its lowest-performing items.
As equipment ages out, it may become more cost-ef-
fective to replace it than to continue to repair, espe-
cially when adding together the cost of parts with lost
revenue from time spent in the shop. Level 5 digitaliza-
tion gives management the numbers needed to make
these decisions.
When data are immediately available across depart-
ments, it creates the ultimate transparency. No longer
can a single manager tailor a report to boost their own
department’s numbers. Nor is knowledge concentrated
in the mind of one person who could depart suddenly,
leaving a crippling information gap.
DIGITAL OILFIELD ROAD MAP
ZERO DIGITAL
Level Paper Tickets,
0 Whiteboards Level SIMPLE SOFTWARE
1 Basic Desktop Software
Level
3 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
MOBILE OILFIELD
Mobile Applications
There are six levels of automation ranging from notes
on a simple whiteboard to advanced analytics.
(Source: RigER)
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
digital solutions
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES
Starting in place
Current market instability is the right time for compa-
nies to advance their automation levels, because survival
may depend on becoming more efficient. Each move
up the map brings more savings, better diagnostics and
companies closer to operational excellence.
While stepping up the ladder pays off in many ways, it
is important to remember internal human factors during
the change. Any kind of change encounters some resis-
tance and temporary pain during the learning process,
so it is important to change at a speed acceptable to staff.
Moving too fast can sour staff members on any change,
no matter how beneficial it is after the transition.
A step toward keeping people on the job
The crash in commodity prices also put downward pressure
on pricing and payment schedules for service companies.
Moving up the automation scale to any extent can improve
cash flow on the front end. In the back office, its real-time
and extensive database’s reporting functions can quickly
reveal areas of greatest profit as opposed to areas of negative
cash flow. This information lets companies focus on their
strongest areas and adjust or eliminate the worst ones.
All of this improves the bottom line in ways that can
be the difference in staying in business or shutting the
doors and putting more people out of work.
Level CLOUD OILFIELD
2 SaaS, IaaS, PaaS
Level
Telemetry, Smart Devices,
4 IoT, Business Analytics
Level
ADVANCED DIGITALIZATION 5
Block Chain, Smart Contracts,
Digital Twins, Predictive Maintenance,
Machine Learning
51
 operator solutions
EFFICIENCY ADVANCES
A different way to think
about wellbore surveying
Solid-state gyro system improves accuracy in cleanout BHA in Gulf of Mexico.
Ty Mitschke, BP; and Rob Shoup, Sean White
and Stephen Forrester, Gyrodata
W hen discussing wellbore surveying, it is impossible
not to examine the ways in which the oil and gas
industry has changed and evolved over the past several
decades. Particularly after the recent downturn, oper-
ators began to focus intently on drilling wells more
efficiently, with drillers given a prime directive: reduce
nonproductive time and invisible lost time. This was
apparent across virtually all published media in the
industry, from scientific papers touting dramatic reduc-
tions in days-versus-depth curves to marketing materials
insisting that the more efficiently a company could drill,
the better.
It has now become more imperative than ever that
the industry recognizes the need for significantly better
accuracy in wellbore surveys—and thus, better wellbore
placement. This has taken place in the creation of
committees overseeing the management of survey accu-
The graph on the left is the gyro earth rate QC for the
spinning-mass gyro, which was mostly out of spec, while the
graph on the right is the gyro earth rate QC for the OmegaX
system, which was in spec. The middle image shows the
ellipses of uncertainty and wellbore trajectory with the MWD,
rate gyro and solid-state gyro surveys (black, blue and red,
respectively). (Source: Gyrodata)
52
racy, the development of new error models involved in
survey uncertainty calculations and the realization that
better data quality and survey accuracy enhance a well’s
recovery factor and production life. Gyroscopic surveys
have long been recognized for being more accurate and
precise than standard MWD surveys, but evolution in
well design and well complexity, as well as the need for
in-field survey validation, made an innovation necessary.
Technology
Gyrodata has developed a first-of-its-kind solid-state
gyroscopic technology that allows a dual-probe setup,
which is deployed in the OmegaX all-attitude drop
gyro surveying system. The OmegaX system is built on
solid-state circuit technology. This advanced sensor
package integrates two independent three-axis sensor
probes to measure the Earth’s rotational rate, and
thus more precisely determines wellbore inclination
and true north. Due to its solid-state construction, the
OmegaX system is significantly more rugged than its
predecessor. Additionally, while traditional gyros had
to be placed in a thermal flask to operate at tempera-
tures of 150 C (302 F) for extended time periods, the
OmegaX system can operate at such a temperature with
no thermal flask and no time limitation—the only such
tool on the market. The three-axis sensor package and
electronics, including memory and data processing
modules, are only 19 inches long, thus allowing addi-
tional flexibility in operators’ bottomhole assembly
(BHA) designs and configurations.
Continuing from existing spinning-mass technology,
the system seamlessly collects surveys during pipe con-
nections without adding critical path rig time. Due to
the nature of solid-state gyros, no post-run calibrations
are required with the tool since it is not affected by
mass balance errors. Additionally, quality assurance/
quality control (QA/QC) is more comprehensive, and
validation of the survey run can be completed at the
well site once the tool system is retrieved from the
BHA. This eliminates the delay incurred by having to
wait for the tool to return to its home base for process-
ing, as required by existing spinning-mass gyros.
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
 operator solutions
EFFICIENCY ADVANCES

Case history data were shown to statistically agree with the position
BP ran a rate gyro survey system through a cased-hole of the MWD surveys, thus increasing confidence in the
cleanout BHA inside the production casing of a well in placement of the wellbore. By being unaffected by the
the Gulf of Mexico. The BHA incorporated a debris- string magnet, the solid-state gyro enables BP to imple-
recovery tool with a high-strength permanent magnet ment a shorter, more effective BHA design and elimi-
designed for large-volume cleanup of ferrous debris in nates the need for extra collars and other costly com-
the wellbore. When the rate gyro survey was compared ponents from a more conventional configuration. In
against the definitive MWD survey, the two surveys did addition, BP and Gyrodata took several lessons learned
not agree within statistical expectation. Post-job analyses for future implementation:
showed that all survey tools passed their respective QA/ • When running a magnet as part of a cleanout BHA
QC tolerances. run, the OmegaX solid-state gyro system is not
Further investigation into the gyro run revealed that affected by magnetic interference regardless of the
although the gyro BHA landed in the expected loca- placement of the magnet in the BHA configuration;
tion, the spinning-mass gyro sensor had sat within 16.16 • The OmegaX system enables more flexibility in clea-
ft of the string magnet throughout the survey run. It nout BHA configuration by eliminating the need
was suspected that the magnet’s large magnetic field to reposition the magnet relative to the gyro or to
and proximity to the gyro system in the BHA had influ- adjust the gyro landing point to avoid the magnet.
enced that survey run. This enables the magnet to be placed closer to the
To prove this hypothesis, a subsequent well with simi- bit, thus potentially improving the efficiency of the
lar casing design and cleanout BHA design was chosen cleanout operation; and
to deploy the OmegaX solid-state gyro system in tandem • The time necessary to conduct a post-job roll
with the rate gyro system to confirm the interference test with the rate gyro is eliminated via use of the
from the string magnet, eval- OmegaX system. This effec-
uate the viability and perfor- tively closes the QA/QC
mance of the solid-state system loop at the well site by being
against the existing technology, able to receive a final defin-
and to prove its viability for
Improving the precision, itive survey within hours of
future use in BP. An additional accuracy and speed retrieving the tool at surface.
objective was to evaluate the of wellbore surveys Subsequent operations are
solid-state gyro’s sensitivity to then able to proceed sooner.
the string magnet placed in the has been the dominant
cleanout BHA. factor driving the Conclusion
The well profile consisted Improving the precision, accu-
of a vertical section with less development of solid- racy and speed of wellbore sur-
than 5 degrees of inclination state gyro technology. veys has been the dominant
from the seabed at 5,042 ft to factor driving the development
the kickoff point at 7,850 ft, of solid-state gyro technology.
followed by a gradual build With this capability clearly
from 7,850 ft to 10,609 ft and about 42 degrees of proven, however, other benefits have become more
inclination. This trajectory was maintained on an East apparent. Due to its smaller size and the inherent
heading (about 92 degrees) to 18,202 ft. The well then advantages of solid-state technology, a system like
proceeded to drop gradually in inclination, first to OmegaX can help an operator implement a wider
37.5 degrees at about 19,142 ft and then to 37 degrees range of BHA designs, as BP learned from this project
until reaching total depth at 24,806 ft. Surveys were with the cleanout BHA. In addition, the results prove
collected at every stand while pulling out of the hole. that in applications where rate gyro systems might face
No issues were encountered during rigup, rigdown or technical limitations based on well design or BHA con-
during the trip out of hole. figuration, the solid-state gyro system is an effective,
The project proved that the solid-state OmegaX sys- high-performing alternative. As the industry continues
tem experienced no observable interference from the its journey to drill better wells and improve operational
magnet and was able to deliver a valid survey run. With efficiency, solid-state gyros will see greater implementa-
a relative instrument performance test, the gyro survey tion in projects around the world.

HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 53

 offshore
SOLUTIONS
Weathering a network storm
Dynamic positioning control systems, when flooded with too much data,
can potentially lose position and other critical functions.
Ben Hukins, DNV GL
M any operations at sea rely on a vessel with a dynamic
positioning (DP) system whereby the vessel
maintains a specific position or track to perform posi-
tion-critical operations. The DP system comprises power
generation, power distribution, a thruster and propulsion
system, heading, environmental and position reference
systems and the control system. The system components
are typically arranged into two or more redundant
groups, with each group able to generate and control ves-
sel thrust in three axes: surge, sway and yaw.
Control system
The DP control system is typically arranged as two sep-
arate ethernet networks to ensure redundancy. The
network nodes (e.g., operator stations, field stations
and processors) contain network switches, hubs and
other hardware that can create common points between
redundant groups. While a single fault or loose connec-
tion in one network can result in operations continuing
without a loss of position on the other redundant net-
work, there are potential network faults that can affect
both networks and defeat the redundancy concept.
The external forces and
degrees of motion experienced
by a vessel and controlled by vessel thrust using a
DP system are depicted in the diagram. (Source: DNV GL)
54
A network storm, associated with ethernet networks,
has the potential to affect both networks and result in a
loss of position.
Network storms
It is not possible to be certain how often network storms
occur on DP vessels because some are not reported and
sometimes it is unclear if it was actually established that
a system failure was a result of a network storm. DNV
GL recently investigated several events where a network
storm has contributed to a loss of position, including
onboard diving support vessels and drillships.
In normal operation, the network has plenty of capac-
ity to handle the packets of data that are exchanged
between the various system nodes. The processors and
control equipment process these packets of data and
take action accordingly. In a network storm, the net-
work is flooded with too much data and the network
becomes overloaded. This can impact critical respon-
sibilities, such as controlling thrusters, monitoring
shutdown conditions or providing switchboard protec-
tion. Other possible causes of a netstorm can include
software and hardware failure, human error, inherited
design issue and network configuration errors.
The performance of a network also can deteriorate
over time. Likewise, controller or network hardware can
be replaced with lesser capacity components; or with
different firmware, software files can become corrupt
and controller hardware can fail. There is also a regu-
lar flurry of firmware/software upgrades/downgrades
involved in service work, backups and restores. All of
these activities could potentially introduce issues into
the DP control system and network infrastructure.
Protection
Many network switches will feature some form of traffic
control and rate-limiting functionality. This can essen-
tially drop packets of various types when a specified traffic
level is exceeded, potentially averting the degradation of
performance for essential traffic during a critical period.
This first line of defense can stop the overload of a con-
troller, and the system can maintain proper function.
If the DP control system software detects a netstorm,
then it may be possible that any switch-based protection
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

has failed or is not present. The increased traffic level
now poses a real threat to the control system and to
maintaining position.
The system can warn the operator and also attempt
to limit the effects by disabling the affected network
while continuing operation on the redundant network.
Netstorm and the associated protection should be
addressed within the vessel’s failure mode and effects
analysis (FMEA) and suitably tested as part of the DP
FMEA proving trials and annual DP trials as necessary.
It is important to distinguish between throughput
and bandwidth to ascertain sufficient performance. It
also is vital in a control system that traffic reaches its
destination in a time that is expected; in other words,
good network latency.
Testing
Interestingly, the DP community has traditionally shied
away from the concept of condition, confidence or risk-
based testing, preferring to adhere to calendar-based test
programs. For instance, the most recent update of the
International Maritime Organization guidelines can be
paraphrased as test everything every year. Opinions on
the frequency of testing differ, but many agree that testing
every five years or after a software or hardware change/
repair is prudent. The vessel and its systems should at the
very least be tested when it is commissioned.
It is more common to find that network problems exist
when the system is tested at FMEA, proving trials, which
are not universal. The first network test is potentially the
most important as a vessel with no protection, or defec-
tive protection stands no chance of surviving a netstorm
or performance-related failure.
The duration of any testing also should be factored into
these considerations and, most importantly, the duration
for which the netstorm is maintained during the test.
Fortunately, the ease with which netstorm testing can
be carried out is improving, and tests are more regular
and commonplace. It is now possible to test networks
annually with little, if any, additional burden on vessel
availability. Options include facilities to allow the crew
to test the networks themselves or to have the test car-
ried as part of the annual DP trials—a service that DNV
GL’s Noble Denton marine services perform.
It is imperative that preventative measures and through-
put be tested to demonstrate that the system can detect
and protect the controllers from a network storm on
one of the two process networks and that alarms are effi-
ciently and effectively delivered to the operator. Testing
should also prove the network can maintain communi-
cations at the expected data rates as well as being inde-
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
offshore
SOLUTIONS
Network redundancy in DP control systems enable safe operations by
ensuring the vessel stays in position. (Source: DNV GL/Polar Media)
pendent of any joystick system. The result should be no
loss of position or an unexpected failure of equipment.
Testing can be performed using a software utility run
from a laptop or specialized hardware test equipment.
Thought and consideration also should be given to how
results are demonstrated and displayed for an assurance
audit or other activity.
Addressing dilemmas
The DP fleet currently in operation has a wide vari-
ety and age of vessels. Only in recent years has the
danger of network storms been appreciated, and the
requirements for its consideration and protection were
included in classification society rules for such vessels.
As such, it is quite common that only in newer vessels
has this phenomenon been considered, designed for
and tested to ensure the vessel is fault-tolerant. Older
fleets are potentially not protected against and have
never been tested for their resilience to network storms.
Any ethernet network on the vessel is subject to such
a storm and should be considered in the DP FMEA
and when testing. Other such networks and situations
to consider are the thruster control system, emergency
shutdown system or an integrated automation system.
Netstorms can have a detrimental impact on all networks,
not just those that are actively exchanging commands and
instructions. It has been observed that a storm on a network
only utilized for the exchange of data and not processing
any executive actions can actually interfere with the vessel’s
ability to control its thrusters resulting in a loss of position.
Risk-free methods to fully simulate scenarios mean
there is no longer an unreasonable time or cost burden
to identify and eliminate potential failure and its costly
consequences.
55
 tech
WATCH
Catalyst-free PDC cutter technology
to drive drilling efficiencies
A new manufacturing process optimizes PDC cutter performance.
Faiza Rizvi, Associate Editor
P olycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bits
have been historically used as key drilling tools and
have dramatically changed the oil and gas industry since
their introduction in the1970s. Currently, PDC bits
account for about 90% of the total drill bit market due
to significant advancements in PDC cutter technology,
including deep leaching process applications. However,
drilling hard, highly abrasive and interbedded forma-
tions is a challenge for PDC bits that are currently being
used in the industry, which do not provide sufficient
wear or impact resistance nor adequate thermal stability
to drill entire intervals in a single run. This is due to the
use of unavoidable cobalt catalyst needed to bind the
diamonds that compose the PDC cutting structure.
Eliminating the use of catalysts, Saudi Aramco has
released the Ultra-HP/HT technology to manufacture
catalyst-free ultra-strong PDC cutting elements, explained
David Zhan, the R&D team leader of the Drilling
Technology Division at the EXPEC Advanced Research
Center at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran.
The company has developed the technology in
collaboration with Chengdu Dongwei Technology Co.,
the world’s only ultra-HP/HT technology provider.
Overcoming challenges
Removal of cobalt, a key ingredient in the manufactur-
ing process, is the challenge in optimizing the perfor-
mance of PDC cutters made for traditional HP/HT use.
“The PDC cutter relies on a distributed network in
which the crystals are strongly combined. The key point is
A) B)
56
to bond them together with metal catalysts, usually cobalt.
It is also used to combine the diamond cutting element
tables with substrates like tungsten carbide,” Zhan said.
He pointed out that the problem arises when the
cobalt residue heats up due to intense friction during
the drilling process, which causes the metal to expand
more than the diamond until it begins to split. The
expansion of cobalt also leads to the development of
cracks, resulting in failure.
Zhan has previously worked on the development of
a film with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to
demonstrate the consequences of heating a PDC sam-
ple under controlled reservoir conditions.
“Due to the heat, irregular cracks appear [and] the
material dims, turning the once evenly surface into
something similar to the cracked mud seen at the bot-
tom of a dry pond,” Zhan said, adding that he has con-
tributed in-depth research to deep leaching technol-
ogy—one of the possible solutions to the problem. This
solution involves dipping the PDC into acid to leach
most of the cobalt.
“The industry is researching improved leaching meth-
ods or other methods to further reduce the effects of
cobalt. But it also has its limitations as some metals are
sealed in spaces that the liquid cannot reach and are
left behind,” Zhan said.
Discussing the findings of a PDC cutter’s typical micro-
structure under SEM, he said, a PDC cutter is made up
of a continuous network of diamond coexisting with a
cobalt catalyst binder distributed in interstices.
“The cobalt catalyst could have both beneficial and
detrimental effects on the cutter performance,” he said.
“During PDC cutter manufacturing, the cobalt catalyst
The image depicts A) wear flat of the Ultra-HP/
HT technology synthesized managed pressure
drilling (MPD) and B) a reference cutter
generated under the same testing condition,
which shows “industry-record” wear resistance
of the Ultra-HP/HT MPD diamond cutting
material, according to the company. (Source:
Saudi Aramco)
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

The PDC cutting elements possess metallic fracture toughness that is more than 100% higher than that of current PDC cutters.
(Source: Saudi Aramco)
enhances strong diamond-to-diamond bonding and
lowers the sintering temperatures and pressures as well.
“However, cobalt can also expand to break diamond-
to-diamond bonding during drilling, especially for hard
and abrasive formations, resulting from frictional heat
generated from cutter/rock interface. That’s why the
PDC industry is working on leaching and other emerg-
ing technologies to reduce cobalt in the cutter with a
rapid pace of improvements,” Zhan said.
Research
Saudi Aramco has documented the successful synthesis of
catalyst-free PDC compacts in centimeter size under ultra-
high pressure of 16 GPa and ultrahigh temperature of
2,300 C using micron diamond powder as the starting mate-
rial. A large sample dimension of more than 10 mm in
diameter and up to 6 mm in thickness has been achieved,
which are sufficiently large enough and cost-effective to
make parts and components for not only hydrocarbon drill-
ing but also a wide range of other industrial applications.
“Across the industry, the goal is for PDC cutters to be
able to endure long periods of time at high temperatures
as they cut through hard, variable formations,” Zhan
explained, adding that the industry’s rule of thumb is
that temperatures higher than 750 C damages the PDC
cutter and leaching pushes that limit to about 1,200 C.
“Although there have been many attempts to further
optimize these limits, Saudi Aramco has successfully devel-
oped the Ultra-HP/HT technology to manufacture cata-
lyst-free ultra-strong PDC cutting elements,” Zhan said.
Features
The new method manufactures diamond-cutting materi-
als with ultrahigh wear resistance, which is 300% higher
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
tech
WATCH
than the PDC cutters currently used in the industry,
according to the developers. The development of an
ultra-strong and catalyst-free PDC cutter delivers signifi-
cant increases in performance, durability and improved
well economics, according to the company.
Conventional HP/HT technology has a synthesis
capability of pressures ranging from 5.5 GPa to 7 GPa.
Saudi Aramco’s Ultra-HP/HT technology used a
two-stage multi-anvil apparatus with high-pressure
assembly designs for generating ultrahigh pressures
up to 35 GPa—seven times higher than current
PDC cutters—as well as ultrahigh temperatures of
up to 2,300 C.
Saudi Aramco said the PDC cutting elements
possess metallic fracture toughness that is more than
100% higher than that of current PDC cutters. The
material is catalyst-free and has the highest thermal
stability of up to 1,200 C in air, which is 600 C higher
than the best commercial PDC materials, according
to the company.
Moving forward
During Phase 1 of the research, laboratory testing of the
catalyst-free PDC cutting materials synthesized by the
Ultra-HP/HT technology proved its potential in E&P
and drilling operations as well as in physics, aerospace
science, geoscience and petroleum engineering.
Zhan concluded, “Our next step in Phase 2, which we
are currently working on, is to join or bond the ultra-
strong catalyst-free PDC cutting elements or layers onto
a substrate to form a full-scale PDC cutter that will be
attached to the drill bit body for field testing. Once the
field testing is completed, the technology will be
deployed in our operations.”
57
 UNCONVENTIONAL REPORT:
HAYNESVILLE

LNG exports to decline

for Haynesville Shale
An analysis reveals a 20% output decline in a $1.80 to $1.90
Henry Hub scenario for the gas play.

wells per month will be put on production. Haynesville

Contributed by Rystad Energy gross gas output will then fall from 12.5 Bcf/d to 10 Bcf/d
throughout 2020-2022, stabilizing in 2023.

T he Haynesville gas basin, arguably the most import-

ant basin for LNG exports in the U.S. due to its
proximity to existing and planned terminals, is set for a
20% decline in output toward 2023 if Henry Hub prices
average $1.80 to $1.90/MMBtu, according to a Rystad
Energy analysis.
Henry Hub prices are currently within the $1.80 to
$1.90 range, and if they maintain current levels until 2023,
gas production in Haynesville is set for a decline in activity.
As a result, Rystad expects only an average of 20 horizontal
Storm clouds are gathering
on the LNG export future that
may disrupt the smooth
sailing Haynesville Shale.
(Source: Shutterstock/
Hart Energy)
In a Henry Hub environment of $2.20 to $2.40, the
running rate of activity is at about 30 horizontal wells per
month in the medium term. Such an activity level deliv-
ers an almost perfect match with maintenance require-
ments, with production remaining close to 12.5 Bcf/d
during 2020 to 2023. Higher gas prices are sufficient to
trigger continuous production growth in the Haynesville.
In a $2.70 to $3 Henry Hub environment, the run-
ning rate of activity is set to increase to 40 wells per
month—sufficient to see another 3 Bcf/d added by the
Haynesville before year-end 2023.
“As of today, we have not seen any meaningful pro-
duction slowdown in Haynesville gas output—yet.
With the declining trend, activity is set to fall below
maintenance requirements in the next few months.
Nevertheless, we should not forget about the likelihood
of continuous productivity improvements, which always
accompany declining activity due to the renewed focus
on the best projects,” said Artem Abramov, Rystad
Energy’s head of shale research.
The total number of horizontal spuds per quarter has
already declined from about 110 to 120 wells per quar-
ter in the fourth quarter of 2017 to the third quarter of
2019, and to 85 wells in the first quarter of 2020. With
the current rig count, the basin will likely be down to 75
horizontal spuds in the second quarter of this year.
The number of wells put on production has lagged
behind spuds in 2017 to 2019. But everything changed
in the fourth quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of this
year, as operators began diving into their drilled but
completed inventory (a normal trend when the drilling
market begins to decline). In the first quarter, it is esti-
mated that Haynesville operators put 94 horizontal wells
on production, but the recent decline in fracking will
likely result in about a 15% contraction in activity put
on production in the second quarter.
Among all major unconventional oil and gas basins in
the U.S., the Haynesville exhibits the highest production
contribution from private operators. As of the first quarter,

58 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

 UNCONVENTIONAL REPORT:
HAYNESVILLE

private operators produced 7.2 Bcf/d of HAYNESVILLE REGION, GROSS GAS PRODUCTION OUTLOOK
gross gas in the region, almost 60% of total
output. Private operators also drove nearly
all recent growth in the region.
As of the first quarter, short-term
growth is probably over for dedicated
public operators and supermajors—both
groups exhibit little to no growth on a
year-over-year basis, with a growing num-
ber of operators managing a plateau. In
turn, many private operators had a back-
loaded growth schedule in 2019, and the
group as a whole pushed its year-over-year
growth to a record high level of about 1.5
Bcf/d, a level previously achieved in 2018.
“The pace of year-over-year growth in the (Source: Rystad Energy research and analysis, ShaleWellCube)
Haynesville has decelerated since mid-
2019. However, it is clear that it may take some time
before the low gas price environment and the decline in Rystad Energy’s own base case scenario has Henry
drilling and completion activity pushes basinwide output Hub prices steadily recovering to nearly $3/MMBtu
downward,” Abramov said. in 2022.

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HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020 59
 tech
TRENDS
Remote training for offshore vessels
Kongsberg Maritime offers virtual, targeted training
through digital platforms including remote training,
e-learning and the Kongsberg Competence Assessment
Tool (K-CAT). Video conferencing and virtual machines
allow in-depth, hands-on training to be safely delivered,
maintaining skills and continuing development. The
virtual training environment enables remote students to
learn using their own vessel’s software, assisted live by a
qualified instructor. Remote training delivered through
established virtual classrooms and online training tools
will ensure that vessel crews can fully benefit from Kongs-
berg’s expertise from the convenience and safety of their
homes or offices. E-learning delivers an interactive experi-
ence without the instructor, allowing the student to com-
plete the course at their convenience. E-learning typically
comprises a combination of theoretical lessons, practical
tasks and summative tests after every topic, qualifying the
student to sign up for a final online assessment. Aiming
to help ship owners safeguard and verify the development
and retention of their crews’ skills, K-CAT offers compe-
tence assessments for key damage prevention personnel,
with additional offerings expected soon.
Kongsberg Maritime instructors will conduct courses in real time
in virtual classrooms. (Source: Kongsberg)
New system for remotely
monitoring drilling operations
Stress Engineering Services (SES) has released a digital
flex joint angle measurement system for monitoring real-
time drilling operations. Using the core technology of a
real-time fatigue monitoring system and subsea vibration
data logger system, the technology has been leveraged and
improved to determine quasi-static and dynamic lower and
upper flex joint angles in real time. The development adds
to the company’s present technology portfolio of asset-
60
based surveillance systems, together with its predictive data
analytics and Internet of Things ecosystem, to manage and
assess client operations. The enhanced level of services pro-
vided by this system during drilling operations will vastly
benefit those with a stake in identifying and managing
risks and any asset deterioration.
Risk management tool to help
businesses resume operations smoothly
ABS Consulting has released the Restart Risk Model to
help commercial and public organizations resume oper-
ations safely as restrictions around the COVID-19 pan-
demic have started easing. The Restart Risk Model builds
on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and OSHA, offering a way for organizations
to systematically evaluate the risk of disease transmission
to their sites, operations and work areas. This risk-based
framework will help organizations develop a plan to
restart operations with enhanced working practices that
address the “new normal” business environment after the
pandemic. The Restart Risk Model leverages industry-
specific templates developed by ABS Consulting to assess
an organization’s site and develop a custom risk profile.
Through a systematic process, the company will work
with a client to document current risk controls for worker
safety and make recommended mitigation controls for
back-to-work scenarios and the opening and closing of
sites. The Restart Risk Model also includes an integrated
dashboard that provides a visualization of risk levels at
work sites. As conditions and guidance evolve, organiza-
tions can easily see where they need to adapt.
Device ensures the safety of
workers through social distancing
Triax Technologies Inc. has released Proximity Trace
devices that provide proximity distancing alerts and con-
tact tracing through a wearable device for workers. The
device offers added protection for essential workers during
the COVID-19 pandemic and helps companies get workers
back to work safely while addressing recommended social
distancing practices. The Proximity Trace devices are
affixed to a hard hat or worn on the body with a lanyard
and emit a progressively louder alarm, alerting workers
when they are too close to each other. The alarm also
serves to change behaviors by reminding workers to prac-
tice safe social distancing. In the event of a confirmed case
of COVID-19 in an employee, the employer can conduct
contact tracing using historical data captured passively
by the worker’s device to identify who may have been
exposed. With more reliable information, companies can
decide who needs to be in mandatory or precautionary
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com
Independents Fuel
America – We Make Sure
Policymakers Know

Join IPAA Today!

Visit www.ipaa.org/join
Contact Tina Hamlin at thamlin@ipaa.org or 202.857.4768

Wildcatters Fund
the political action committee
of independents

I N D E P E N D E N T P E T R O L E U M A S S O C I AT I O N O F A M E R I C A | W W W. I P A A . O R G
 tech
TRENDS

quarantine per the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention guidelines and whether the site can con-
tinue to operate safely without the need to shut down
the entire operation. Proximity Trace was designed
to support appropriate social distancing guidelines as
outlined by government agencies, which can be used
alongside an organization’s internal policies on social
distancing and other safety guidelines. The device com-
municates to a cloud dashboard designed for contact
tracing. The product is undergoing field testing, and
key feedback from early customers will be incorporated
into production for commercial availability.

3D data capture service for offshore operations

Viewport3 has developed a new remote data capture
service, allowing users to collect and process 3D data
from offshore operations via remote working arrange-
ments. Demand for the data capture service has grown
as operators seek to reduce personnel working offshore,
combined with travel restrictions related to COVID-19.
The company’s technique involves providing divers
and ROV personnel with instructions for the task along
with remote support, allowing them to collect and sub-
mit the data to Viewport3 for processing and analysis.
Over the course of the development, the company has
improved the service to ensure users can retrieve the
correct data. Because written instructions were insuffi- Acoustic Data’s deployment model for its wireless monitoring
cient, site-specific video and graphical workflows were system is designed to give operators a cost-effective data
created to demonstrate how to collect all the required solution. (Source: Acoustic Data)
information. Viewport3 can process and interrogate
data acquired from any source, in addition to its own. underground storage, production, injection and moni-
toring wells. The technology can be quickly and safely
Remote deployment for retrofitted via slickline in existing wells with Acoustic
wireless monitoring system Data’s Barracuda HEX-Hanger, a high-expansion gauge
Acoustic Data has released a remote deployment model hanger system.
for its SonicGauge Wireless Monitoring System to over-
come travel restrictions related to COVID-19. The sys- Editor’s note: The copy herein is compiled from press releases
tem enables operators to self-install their real-time and product announcements from service companies and does
wireless downhole monitoring system without any spe- not reflect the opinions of Hart Energy. Submit your company’s
cialist engineers on site. With much of the industry’s updates related to new technology products and services to
workforce grounded, Acoustic Data is offering full oper- Faiza Rizvi at frizvi@hartenergy.com.
ational support in real time from its U.K. headquarters.
In conjunction with online training videos, operators
will now be able to install the prepackaged and prepro-
grammed technology in standard well installations,
from underground gas storage to production and moni-
toring wells. The SonicGauge provides simple, real-time
data acquisition and reporting as an alternative to
cabled permanent downhole gauges and sporadic mem-
ory gauge surveys. The acoustic telemetry system enables
engineers to conduct real-time reservoir evaluation in

62 June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

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 international
HIGHLIGHTS
1 US
An oil discovery was reported at
the Monument exploration pros-
pect by Equinor (operator) and its
partners Progress Resources USA
Ltd. and Repsol. The OCS G35081
encountered about 200 ft of net oil
pay with good reservoir character-
istics in Paleogene-aged sandstone.
The well was drilled to 33,348 ft and
is in Walker Ridge Block 316 (OCS
G36084). Walker Ridge Block 271
(OCS G35080) is also part of the
Monument project.
2 Suriname
A significant offshore Suriname oil
discovery was reported by Apache
Corp. at the Sapakara-1 West well in
Block 58. It was drilled to 6,300 m.
Preliminary fluid samples and test
results indicate at least 79 m of net
oil and gas condensate pay in two
intervals. The shallower Campan-
ian interval contains 13 m of net gas
condensate and 30 m of net oil pay
(35-40°API). The deeper Santonian
interval contains a 36-m, net oil-bear-
ing reservoir. Block 58 comprises 1.4
million acres and offers potential
beyond the discoveries at Sapakara
West and Maka Central. Apache has
identified at least seven distinct play
types and more than 50 prospects
within the thermally mature play fair-
way. Two other wells are planned at
Kwaskwasi-1 and Keskesi-1, and both
will test oil-prone upper Cretaceous
targets in Campanian and Santonian
intervals in reservoirs that appear to
be independent of Maka-1 and Sapa-
kara-1 discoveries.
3 Brazil
Petrobras found oil in the pioneer
well of the Uirapuru Block offshore
Brazil’s presalt Santos Basin. The
Uirapuru-1 well is in 1,995 m of water.
64
Oil was found in porous reservoirs
in the exploratory prospect known
informally as Araucária. The well data
will be analyzed to better target the
exploratory activities in the area and
assess the potential of the discovery.
4 Brazil
Petro-Victory Energy has announced
an oil discovery at exploration well
1-VID-1-ES (Vida) in Block ES-T-
487 in the Espírito Santo Basin in
Brazil. It was drilled to 1,890 m in
the onshore portion of the basin.
Evaluation of logging, pressure and
fluid data confirms that Vida com-
prises high-quality, oil-bearing Cre-
taceous sandstone reservoirs. The
well encountered 49 m of net oil pay.
Oil was recovered to surface during
fluid sampling from a sandstone res-
ervoir at 1,600 m, and preliminary
testing of oil samples indicate simi-
lar qualities (24°API) to a nearby oil
field. Most of the reported oil pay
was found 1,560 m to 1,660 m. Addi-
tional testing is planned.
5 UK
UK Oil & Gas has filed a planning
application with the U.K. Isle of
Wight Council for exploration drill-
ing and flow testing of the Arreton oil
discovery. A deviated borehole test is
planned for the Arreton-3 well plus a
possible horizontal sidetrack off the
main borehole at Arreton-3Z. The
Arreton conventional oil discovery is
similar to the company’s Horse Hill
oil field. It contains three stacked
Jurassic oil pools with a calculated,
aggregate gross P50 oil in place of
127 MMbbl. If short-term flow test-
ing of Arreton-3 indicates commer-
cial viability, flow testing could also
be conducted in the planned hor-
izontal sidetrack wells, including
an extended well test to assess lon-
ger-term flow performance.
6 Norway
In offshore Norway PL836 S, Winter-
shall completed wildcat well 6406/3-
10. The primary target for the well was
to prove petroleum in reservoir rocks
from Early and Middle Jurassic (Ile
and Tilje). The secondary explora-
tion target was to prove petroleum in
reservoir rocks from Middle Jurassic
Age (Garn). In the primary explora-
tion target, the venture encountered
a 35-m, hydrocarbon-bearing sand-
stone layers in Ile with poor reservoir
quality. The well also found a 120-m
oil column in Tilje, with sandstone
layers totaling about 75 m with poor-
to-good reservoir quality. In the sec-
ondary exploration target, a 60-m oil
zone was encountered in Garn, with
poor-to-moderate sandstone reservoir
quality. Preliminary estimates indicate
4 MMcm to 15 MMcm of recoverable
oil equivalent. The well was drilled to
4,566 m. This is the first exploration
well in the license area.
7 Norway
Aker BP completed wildcat well
6506/5-1 S in PL1008, the first well in
the license. The objective of the Skarv
Field well was to prove petroleum in
Upper Cretaceous reservoir rocks
(Lysing). The wildcat encountered a
gas column of about 15 m in Lysing,
of which 10 m of sandstones had very
good reservoir quality. Deeper in the
Lysing Formation, about 25 m of net
water-bearing reservoir rocks were
encountered with moderate reservoir
quality. It was drilled to 3,225 m and
terminated in Lange in the Lower
Cretaceous. Preliminary estimates
indicate the discovery is between 1
Bcm to 2.4 Bcm of recoverable gas.
8 Germany
Neptune Energy announced an oil
discovery in Germany’s Rhine Valley
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

1
at exploration well Schwegenheim-1.
According to the company, two lay-
ers of the Bunter Sandstone reservoir
were found to be oil-bearing. The ven-
ture was drilled to 2,600 m. It has been
cased and suspended for further test-
ing. The Bunter Sandstone reservoir
is an equivalent to the nearby Romer-
berg structure. During production
testing, the well produced 1,500 bbl of
oil during an unspecified period.
9 Egypt
SDX Energy announced an oil dis-
covery at 12X-SD-12X in the South
Disouq Exploration Permit in Egypt’s
Nile Delta region. It was drilled to
7,245 ft and hit 108 net ft of high-qual-
ity gas-bearing sands with an average
porosity of 20% in Kafr El Sheikh.
Current estimates by the company
indicate about 24 Bcfe of recoverable
gas and condensate resources. Addi-
tional testing is planned.
HartEnergy.com | E&P | June 2020
7
6
8
5
9
10
3
10 Saudi Arabia
Lukoil plans to drill two deep
unconventional gas exploration
wells in Saudi Arabia’s Rub al-Khali
region. Both wells will be drilled to
about 5,800 m in the Mushaib Field,
a tight gas play. Aramco wants gas
to help it cover subsidized domestic
power demand so it can save oil for
more lucrative exports. Aramco is
willing to spend up to $3 billion on
shale gas development in the King-
dom, but it has given no details on
the investment. Adequate supply of
water for fracturing will be a major
issue. Aramco is developing new
hydraulic fracturing technologies to
increase recovery rates and improve
cost efficiency, including a CO2-
based fracturing fluid. Aramco has
a plan to produce 200 MMcf/d of
unconventional gas to supply a new
phosphate project and power plant
in the Eastern Province.
international
HIGHLIGHTS
11
11 Australia
Santos Ltd. has submitted a develop-
ment plan for the Narrabri Gas Project
in New South Wales, Australia. The
project will develop a coal seam gas
field with as many as 850 gas wells on
up to 425 well pads over 20 years. Gas
processing and water treatment facili-
ties also are planned. According to the
company, the project can potentially
supply enough gas to meet 50% of the
demand for New South Wales, and it
has committed 100% of Narrabri gas
production to that market, which will
be supplied through the existing
Moomba-to-Sydney pipeline.
By Larry Prado, Activity Editor
For additional information on these projects
and other global developments, visit the
activity highlights database at
65
 on the
MOVE
PEOPLE
Joe B. Foster, founder
and former chairman,
president and CEO of
Newfield Exploration
Co., has passed away. According to
an internal email sent to employ-
ees by Ovintiv Inc., Foster, 86,
died May 9 at his home in Hous-
ton from an apparent heart attack.
His death was not COVID-19-
related. When he started Newfield
in 1989, Foster had a team of 26
employees and $9 million of equi-
ty capital. By the time he retired
from Newfield in 2000, he had
built the company into a thriving
multibillion-dollar business.
Eni’s board of directors has
appointed Claudio Descalzi CEO
and general manager.
Mitch Little (left) has retired as
executive vice president
of operations with Mar-
athon Oil Corp. and will
transition to executive vice
president and adviser to the CEO
with oversight for Equatorial Guinea
operations. Additionally, Mike
Henderson has been promoted to
senior vice president of operations
and will oversee Marathon Oil’s U.S.
Resource Play businesses.
Stephen M. Johnson (left), CEO of
WaterBridge
Resources LLC, will transi-
tion into the newly created
role of vice chairman. He
will be succeeded by CFO Steven
Jones and COO Jason Long, who
have been named co-CEOs. Both
Jones and Long will retain their
roles as CFO and COO, respectively.
ARROW Exploration Corp. has
appointed Joe McFarlane CFO,
succeeding John Newman.
66
Golar LNG Partners L.P. has
appointed Karl Fredrik Staubo
interim CEO and Golar LNG
Ltd. has appointed Callum Mitch-
ell-Thomson CFO, both succeeding
Graham Robjohns, who has stepped
down from those positions.
ConocoPhillips has announced the
retirement of Don E. Wallette, Jr. as
executive vice president and CFO,
effective Aug. 31. He held a 39-year
career with the company.
Nigel Filer has joined
tech startup Xergy as an
investor and COO.
Imperial Oil Ltd. has named S.P.
(Simon) Younger senior vice presi-
dent of upstream, effective June 1.
He will succeed J.R. (John) Whelan,
who has been appointed vice presi-
dent of Global Heavy Oil at Exxon
Mobil Upstream Oil and Gas.
SeekOps has named Jim
Rutherford vice president
of engineering.
The Oil and Gas Authority has
appointed Iain Lanaghan and
Sarah Deasley nonexecutive direc-
tors. Deasley will assume responsi-
bilities in October, following the
retirement of Robert Armour at the
end of September.
Xodus Group has
appointed Nigel Under-
wood to manage the com-
pany’s London subsea and
pipelines division.
Ian Tyler, Cairn Energy’s chairman,
has announced his intention to
retire from the board once a succes-
sor has been appointed. The board
will begin a comprehensive process
to identify and appoint a successor,
which is anticipated to take place
within the next 12 months. In the
meantime, Tyler has indicated his
commitment to continue serving as
chairman of the board.
Daniel Energy Partners has
appointed 10 executive advisers:
Don Gawick, Joe Freeman, Mark
Hood, Larry Kerr, Chris Menefee,
Royce Mitchell, Brian Smith, Garrett
Smith, Bill Stanger and Denzil West.
Cub Energy Inc., a Ukraine-focused
energy company, has appointed
Patrick McGrath to the board. Dr.
Timothy Marchant has resigned
from the board.
COMPANIES
CUI Global Inc. has changed its
name to Orbital Energy Group,
Inc. The new name reflects the
company’s strategic repositioning to
become a diversified energy infra-
structure services company.
Murphy Oil Corp. is set to relocate
its headquarters to Houston, shutter-
ing its legacy headquarters office in
El Dorado, Ark., where the compa-
ny was formed by its namesake in
1944. The E&P company also plans
to close its longstanding office in
Calgary, Alberta. Both offices are set
to close by early third quarter.
Peloton has acquired ExproSoft, a
supplier of well integrity, reliability
and data modeling software and
consulting services.
MAKEEN Energy’s daughter
company, Kosan Crisplant, has
signed an agreement to acquire
Gas Equipment Company Inc.
The Petroleum Equipment &
Services Association welcomed
Wellbore Integrity Solutions as its
new member company.
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com

MARKETING | SALES | CIRCULATION
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HartEnergy.com E&P
| June
| June
20202020
on the
MOVE
The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact technologies and software that mea-
Commission, a consortium of 31 states, sure and control the flow of material
has asked the Trump administration for in a manufacturing process.
stimulus funds to hire laid-off energy
workers to plug abandoned wells, a pro- KLX Energy Services Holdings Inc.
posal aimed at fending off unemploy- and Quintana Energy Services Inc.
ment while tackling a growing environ- announced that they have entered into
mental problem. a definitive agreement whereby the
companies will combine in an all-
Emerson will invest more than $100 stock merger transaction. The merger
million in Boulder to significantly is expected to close in the second
expand its manufacturing space half of 2020.
and launch a new innovation center
focused on research, new product Flotek Industries Inc. has acquired
development and industry training 100% ownership of JP3 Measurement
for its advanced flow measurement LLC, a privately held data and
products. The nearly 180,000-sq-ft analytics technology company, in
expansion includes a new, 85,000-sq-ft a cash-and-stock transaction. The
laboratory and manufacturing facility transaction is valued at approximately
to design and develop products, $34.4 million.
ADVERTISER INDEX
Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
CP Energy Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
EcoVapor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
EDF Trading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
EnviroProp LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
E&P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5
FTS International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
GR Energy Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
HartEnergy .com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Hart Energy Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Hart Energy Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Hart Energy Video Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Helmerich & Payne Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FC
IPAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Rextag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Sand Separation Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Universal Pressure Pumping Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Weatherford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC
67
 last
WORD
A standards approach to
specifying fluid system components
Certified materials ensure repeatability and reliability.
Matthew Gallaugher, Swagelok Co.
W hen designing fluid systems for corrosive oper-
ating environments, asset owners often follow a
standard approach to ensure repeatability and reliabil-
ity. A design that has performed dependably over time
will likely do the same in a new system in the same envi-
ronment and conditions. Yet, owners also can customize
systems and still achieve optimal performance.
Standardization is a requirement for fluid system
component manufacturers. Suppliers must adhere to
industry standards to ensure compliance with those
guidelines. Of course, component repeatability and reli-
ability typically follow.
Consider the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI)/NACE MR0175/ International Organization
for Standardization (ISO)15156 “Petroleum,
Petrochemical and Natural Gas Industries—Materials
for Use in H2S-containing Environments in Oil and Gas
Production” standard.
This consensus standard is a collaboration of three
major standards organizations: ANSI, NACE International
and ISO. These parties have agreed on the minimum
requirements for selecting and qualifying various alloys
to enhance component corrosion resistance.
When manufacturers follow the standard’s metal-
lurgical requirements, components are more likely to
resist corrosion and perform reliably. Similar results are
expected when manufacturers produce components
based on guidelines from other standards organizations
such as ASTM International and NORSOK.
Adhering to the standard
The ANSI/NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 standard helps
ensure materials used in sour gas environments can
reliably mitigate stress corrosion cracking and sulfide
stress cracking. Sulfide stress cracking can develop when
H2S is present. To produce fluid system components
that comply with the standard, manufacturers must use
qualified raw materials, test those materials and follow
specific manufacturing methods.
When producing components that are compliant with
this standard, manufacturers must follow the manufac-
68
turing and material property requirements listed in the
relevant tables of the standard’s Annex A to optimize
the corrosion resistance. Failure to follow the defined
material conditions may compromise component per-
formance and life span as well as NACE compliance.
Following NORSOK standards
Similar to NACE standards, the Norwegian petroleum
industry’s NORSOK standards outline material and
supply chain requirements to ensure component qual-
ity. Such provisions include material selection guide-
lines for specific applications and strict manufacturing
protocols. For example, the NORSOK M-650 standard
verifies that a manufacturer has sufficient experience
with relevant material grades as well as the necessary
facilities and equipment to manufacture those materi-
als into components.
Going above and beyond
The industry relies on material standards to provide
a level of confidence that a component will perform
as stated. However, a standard represents a minimum
requirement. A part designed to meet the minimum
should perform reliably. Yet, a part that exceeds that
minimum should perform even better.
When specifying components made from 316
stainless steel, ASTM A479/A479M-18 “Standard
Specification for Stainless Steel Bars and Shapes for
Use in Boilers and Other Pressure Vessels” requires
the material to have at least 10% nickel and 16% chro-
mium content to mitigate corrosion. Field-testing has
shown that 316 stainless steel tubing with elevated ele-
mental concentrations closer to 12% nickel and 17%
chromium resists corrosion far better than tubing man-
ufactured to minimum standards. Selecting a better 316
stainless steel grade should enhance system reliability.
To realize the best outcomes, asset owners must
ensure their fluid system component suppliers meet
industry standards and exceed them, when possible.
Practices also should include assurances covering com-
ponent repeatability and reliability.
Like the very processes outlined in component stan-
dards, these qualifications should be a standard part of
an owner’s vetting process.
June 2020 | E&P | HartEnergy.com