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Vol. 8, No.4 |
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PTTC recognizes that products and services featured in “Tech Transfer Track” may not be unique and welcomes information about other upstream technologies. PTTC does not endorse or recommend any of the products or services mentioned
in this publication, even though reasonable steps are taken to ensure the reliability of information sources. |
Tech Transfer Track |
Bulk Mixing of Drilling Fluids Saves Money, Has Environmental BenefitsBulk Mixer Inc. of Monroe, Louisiana (www.bulkmixer.com) has introduced a patented process for bulk mixing of drilling fluids at the wellsite. Material savings of 20% can be realized by mixing lab-quality fluids onsite. Polymers, thickeners and other bulk powders are delivered to the site in collapsible and reusable containers. Materials are mixed using a MegaGrinder shearing pump (www.arde-barinco.com). Lumps and agglomerations are smoothed out quickly and the delivery system allows precise metering for consistency. Since mud components are delivered in bulk, the mess, cost and personnel hazard associated with handling sacked bulk products (paper sacks, shrink wrap, plastic buckets and pallets) are avoided, saving time and money. Product waste by pre-mix mud settling during transportation is eliminated. Limits of water-base mud are extended. Savings in transportation costs can pay off the cost of the mixing system in one month and drillers can expect 10% savings for the life of the system. Excerpted from "Bulk Mixer System Nets 20% Savings," in Hart's E&P, November 2002, p. 30. Visit Bulk Mixer Inc.'s website (www.bulkmixer.com) for more information. | |
Casing Drilling in South TexasConoco is employing Tesco's casing drilling system (www.tescocorp.com/htmls/casing_drilling.html) to drill development wells in the Lobo field in South Texas. Conoco drills as many as 160 wells per year in the Lobo trend. In focusing on the drilling process, the company was striving to reduce drilling costs so that 1.0 BCF wells would be economic to develop, which would extend development potential for several years. With concerted effort, Conoco improved rate of penetration, was drilling each hole section with a single bit, and had improved general rig operation efficiency. But there was still a strong incentive to reduce lost time due to drilling problems. Stuck pipe and lost circulation accounted for about 75% of the trouble time in 2000 and 2001. Well control and a failure to successfully run the 7-in casing were also significant problems. The most significant flat times were associated with keeping and protecting the hole, averaging about 1.5 days per well, and casing running operations. Drilling with casing was deemed to have the most potential to impact flat time because it would eliminate the drill-string tripping and hole conditioning required before running casing, eliminate the casing running time, and reduce the risk of casing getting to bottom. Casing drilling was initially evaluated in a five-well pilot program. Changes in the drilling assembly eliminated initial problems with deviation control. Installing hard-faced wear bands on the casing below couplings of the bottom joints of casing resolved excessive wear problems experienced on the first few wells. Design improvements in a couple components were also needed. By the end of the five well pilot program, drilling performance was matching that of conventional drilling—not bad considering the expected learning curve with new technology and rig crews completely unfamiliar with casing drilling. With casing-drilled wells, certain normal activities take less time than with conventional drilling. For a typical Lobo well, a conservative estimate of the time reduction for normal activities is about 1.5 days (8%) based on experience to date. Although difficult to quantify the trouble time reduction because not that many wells have been drilled with casing, there is sufficient data to support an expectation that trouble time can be reduced 50% compared to conventional drilling. These results led Conoco to expand the casing drilling program by contracting for three custom-designed casing drilling rigs that will be committed to a two-year drilling program in the Lobo field. Excerpted from "Casing Drilling Proves Effective," IADC's Drilling Contractor magazine, September/October 2002, p. 24-27. |
R&D Needs for Unconventional GasThis past summer the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and New Mexico Tech conducted a series of focus group meetings to obtain industry input about R&D needs for unconventional gas. Low-permeability sands, coalbed methane, shale gas and deep gas fell within the unconventional gas definition. Five regional focus group meetings were held—in Farmington, New Mexico; Midland, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Denver, Colorado. In total, there were 127 participants in the five focus group meetings. Just over half were from industry, with the other participants coming from federal and state agencies, academia and research/tech transfer organizations. In evaluating input, there was consensus across the regions in assigning a high priority to reservoir characterization, stimulation, play-based resource assessment and data collection. Within reservoir characterization, a primary need was for improved methods and interpretive models for delineation, identification and quantification of natural fracture systems. Under stimulation, participants identified needs for improved fracture diagnostics, less-damaging completion fluids, and modification of existing fracture models for unconventional reservoirs. Improved methods or tools for identifying net pay and more play-based geologic studies were of notable interest. The final issue was data collection, preservation and sharing, which industry has long recognized as being essential. Producers in the Rockies directed PTTC to develop a Data Exchange (www.mines.edu/research/PTTC/dataexchange/index.html) to facilitate data preservation and sharing. Many participants recognized that further study of preserved data to glean insights, i.e., data mining, was sorely needed and very cost effective when compared to the cost of obtaining new data. Excerpted from article in Gas Tips, Fall 2002. Full article may be viewed online
www.netl.doe.gov/scng/explore/ref-shelf |
Operations-Oriented Training at Midland CollegeThe Geotechnology Training Center at Midland College in Midland, Texas offers a variety of operations-oriented training. The following sample from courses offered early in 2003 illustrates the breadth and variety of offered training.
View course listings and obtain further information at www.midland.edu/~pgtc/. |
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