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2005
World Oil Awards
On October 20 World Oil announced winners of
its 2005 Awards. In its fourth year, the awards program
recognizes technological advancements and innovative
companies. Nominations are gathered over a three-month period,
then short-listed to finalists in each category. Award winners
are determined by the Awards Advisory Board (21 people) and
the Next Generation Committee (15 recent graduates). Winners
in selected categories shown below are:
Best Drilling
Technology—
Hughes Christensen's EZCase Casing/Liner Drilling
System (www.bakerhughes.com/hcc/
diamond/ezcase.htm): bit technology
specifically designed for drilling with casing/liner.
Best Production
Technology—
Weatherford International's Optical MultiPhase Flowmeter (www.ep-solutions.com/News_Events_
Whats_New.htm#World): an all optical,
non-intrusive downhole meter.
Best Completion Technology—
Easywell's Swell Packer Technology (www.ews.as/technology/swell):
swells when exposed to hydrocarbons, can flex and stay sealed.
Best Exploration
Technology—
Health, Safety, Environment/ Sustainable Development: Encana
Corporation's Drilling Waste Management System (www.encana.
com/responsibility/cr_reporting/
ehs/stories/sagd.html): recycles and reuses 90%
of drilling waste while greatly reducing cost.
Best Data Management
Solution—
Transzap's SpendWorks (www.
transzap.com/services/spendworks
.html): a web-based system to streamline the
procurement-to-pay process. There are
several finalists in each category. Producers are urged to
review all finalists— technologies may not have won the award,
but they may be just what one needs.
For more details and to view a complete list of recipients,
visit:
www.awards.worldoil.com. |
Downhole Fluidic Oscillator Tool Removes Near
Wellbore Damage
The Downhole Fluidics Oscillator, offered by
Downhole Fluidics, Inc., creates pulsating pressure waves to
break up near wellbore damage. The tool is a true fluidic
oscillator, based on the Coanda Effect (http://abcasia
pacific.com/nexus/stories/s704526.
htm). It does not rely on cavitation to create
pressure waves. There are no packer elements to fail. Unlike
mechanical tools, which suffer from high-energy losses, the
tool maximizes the energy potential of the pumped fluid.
Downhole Fluidics' reports that they have
treated more than 2,500 wells in 12 states and seven
international areas. In their experience, the tool leads to
longer-term production/ injection increases than "similar"
tools/processes. Limited case study data are presented on
their website. Additional applications reported by them to
PTTC include:
- Injection well
(Texas)—cleaned perfs with water, then acid/xylene.
Injection rate went from 48 bwpd @ 1,500 psi to 400 bwpd @
less than 2,000 psi.
- Oil well
(Gulf of Mexico)—tool in conjunction with CO2
acid stimulation. Production increased from 1,100 bopd on a
22 choke to 2,100 bopd on a 28 choke.
- Gas well
(south Texas)—tool in conjunction with acid job using
the Gidley CO2
process (www.pttc.org/news/
3qtr2005/v11n3p8.htm. Before treatment the
well would not produce against line pressure (300 Mcfd @ 800
psi). Production limited by scale and fines in the pack.
After treatment the well produced 2,000 Mcfd @ 4,800 psi.
- Gas storage
wells (Oklahoma)—Gas deliverability was improved
32.5% in 14 wells (SPE 91390).
For more information, visit Downhole
Fluidics' website (www.
dhfluidics.com) or contact Andy Rowe (andy.rowe@dhfluidics.
com). |
Quickly Finding Infill-Drilling Potential in
Mature Tight Reservoirs
As opposed to performing a complete reservoir
evaluation, which involves significant effort and time, a fast
approach that extends the moving-window method is proposed. It
consists of multiple local analyses, each in an areal window
centered on an existing well. Going beyond empirical or
statistical analyses, the model-based analysis combines the
material balance equation and the equation for pseudosteady-state
flow. Parameters used as proxies in the pseudosteady-state-flow
model are best-year production (BYP, the best 12-consecutive
month production period) and virgin best-year production (VBY,
monthly average rate of a well at virgin-reservoir
conditions). Well spacing is used as a proxy for drainage.
Tested through simulation, the influences of
various parameters were found to be:
- Heterogeneity:
Estimates of average infill-well performance are
conservative and become more scattered as the reservoir
becomes more heterogeneous.
- Average
Permeability: Estimates become more scattered as
average permeability increases (comparing results in 0.2 md
and 1.0 md analyses).
- Search Area:
The smaller the search area the better, as long as there are
enough wells. Geologically, the search-area size should be
small enough to avoid large changes in reservoir properties.
Estimates for individual "picked" locations can
vary widely, but it is significant that "average" infill-well
performance for different windows was accurately predicted.
Thus, while not a tool for estimating individual well
performance, the approach is reliable for defining
infill-drilling potential in different local areas. Knowing
this, operators can avoid infill drilling in the wrong area
and focus their development effort in areas of highest
potential.
Excerpted from "Fast Method Finds
Infill-Drilling Potential in Mature Tight Reservoirs," Journal
of Petroleum Technology, Oct. 2005 (www.spe.org/specma/binary/files/
445063991755Syn.pdf), itself a synopsis of SPE
No. 91755. |
Tech
Transfer Track