Perdido Field

ADNOC has embarked on the second phase of its ambitious integrated capacity model (ICM) project with the overall aim to optimise its fluid production portfolio from the well level to the processing facilities. A key feature of the new software tool is the ability to track and predict fluid properties over time across the entire production network, comprising thousands of wells and a myriad of pipelines.

The reservoir fluid composition is assigned at well level for each producing reservoir. The compositional tracking over time is straightforward for many wells, but complicating factors do arise, such as

Lateral compositional variation related to complex reservoir charging history

The fluid systems range from medium-API oil to gas condensates and the key chemical components vary as follows: C₁ [5-80%], CO₂ [0.5-8%], and H₂S [0-35%].

Mixing of pressurized fluids with different compositions at various junctions in the network requires a robust thermodynamics model to capture the associated variation in fluid properties, particularly density and viscosity as a function of pressure and temperature. We demonstrate that it is possible to constrain one unified equation of state applicable to all fluids, as long as the fluid systems used for the tuning span the entire range of compositions observed. Mixing of fluid streams is computationally much simpler if each stream is made up of the same components (although in different amounts) with the same component properties. On average, the predicted fluid density is within 1% of the measured value from a multi-stage separator test.

Asia Pacific Santos discovered gas with the Corvus-2 well in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia. The well, located in permit WA-45-R, in which Santos has a 100% interest, reached a total depth of 3998 m. It intersected a gross interval of 638 m, one of the largest columns discovered across the North West Shelf. Wireline logging to date has confirmed 245 m of net hydrocarbon pay across the target reservoirs. Total SA and partners ExxonMobil and Oil Search have signed a gas agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea that defines the fiscal framework for the Papua LNG project in the country's Eastern Highlands. The plan involves construction of three 2.7-mtpa LNG trains on the existing PNG-LNG plant site at Caution Bay just west of Port Moresby. Total has 31.1% interest, ExxonMobil has 28.3% interest, and Oil Search has 17.7%.

The first permanent electrical distributed temperature array system (EDTA-S) was installed with a single trip in water injection wells in the Perdido fold belt, Gulf of Mexico. The oil field is offshore in the Alaminos Canyon block ultradeepwater environment, which consists of heavily faulted sand formations. Water injection is part of field development, and the risk of out-of-zone injection (OOZI) has a negative impact on the pressure support in the oil zone and causes part of the injected water to be allocated to an undesired formation and reducing hydrocarbon recovery.

The EDTA-S was identified as a technology solution to monitor OOZI. It comprises a permanent array of high-resolution temperature sensors distributed across the formation and overlying caprock with discrete dual-sensor pressure and temperature (PT) gauge measurements. A subsea acquisition card interfaces with the subsea control module, sending power and telemetry to the system via an electric cable installed across the completion. The sensors are installed below the feedthrough packer and positioned on a shroud offset from the tubing to thermally decouple the sensors from the tubing and enable monitoring of the formations. The installation is supported with a data interpretation platform that the operator’s technical teams review to assess whether injected water has been rerouted from the reservoir to some other sink, such as a fractured caprock. This ensures that production is maximized by establishing all the injected volume in the reservoir zone.

The first operator to deploy the permanent EDTA-S subsea used it in one water injector in 2016, and one in 2017. To deploy the array system in a single-trip completion, several enabling components were developed and qualified, including an electrical feedthrough system for the tree/hanger, subsea and topside control integration, shrouded tubing for the array sensors, and a feedthrough control line set packer. The completion operations went according to plan, and the sensors were positioned to monitor 100 m of formation above the perforations. The monitoring system was successfully integrated with the subsea controls and topside system and provides real-time monitoring of the injection and warmback periods. A biweekly system data health check shows good quality of data. Warmback data analysis indicates cooling in the nonperforated sand formation and possible water invasion is moving upward. To date, there is no evidence of OOZI into the caprock or channeling to the wellbore. Advanced thermal modeling software was used for interpretation, and a good match has been obtained with sensor measurements. Modeling of warmbacks confirms the data analysis result with no evidence of OOZI currently in caprock. However, continuous monitoring provides value in that it will capture any behavior changes over time.

The paper details the integration of components, execution, and data interpretation of EDTA-S in the Perdido fold belt. There is a significant potential for implementation of this system in deepwater developments to increase recovery factors.

Reverse time migration (RTM) is a very expensive depth imaging algorithm, particularly at high frequencies. The cost of RTM scales to the 4^th power of the relative frequency. As such, the increase of the bandwidth for RTM may result in prohibitive costs, also reducing the ability to handle accurately the elastic properties, or to gather output such as surface offset gathers. Herein, we propose a novel method to efficiently cut the cost of RTM without sacrificing image quality, hence enabling the use of most advanced features in production environment. This new approach involves using a depth-variant migration strategy, with spectrum balancing.

Presentation Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Start Time: 1:50:00 PM

Location: 207A (Anaheim Convention Center)

Presentation Type: Oral

Mexico's historic public tender for its deepwater real estate resulted in the awarding of eight out of 10 blocks on offer. Held Monday in Mexico City, the event marked the fourth and final tender of the country's Round One process that has reopened the doors to foreign oil and gas firms for the first time since the energy sector was nationalized almost 80 years ago. A total of 13 companies were awarded rights to explore and produce from offshore fields in the Gulf of Mexico. The winning bids also committed to drill at least eight deepwater wells. All four blocks on offer in the Perdido area were awarded, including two that went to the Chinese Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and one to a consortium of Chevron, Pemex, and Inpex--Japan's largest oil company.

Mexico Awards Its First Deepwater Blocks; What Comes Next? The port of Dos Bocas, located along the coast of the Mexican state of Tabasco, is used to support jackup rigs and supply vessels but will need significant upgrades and expansion to become a deepwater facility. The nearby town of Dos Bocas also lacks many hotel rooms or an international airport. Held last December in Mexico City, the event marked the fourth and final auction of the country’s Round One, which reopened doors to foreign oil and gas investment for the first time since the country’s energy sector was nationalized almost 80 years ago. The awarded blocks went to 13 companies whose exploration and production operations are expected to generate around USD 34 billion over the next 15 years.

Mexico Awards Its First Deepwater Blocks; What Comes Next? The port of Dos Bocas, located along the coast of the Mexican state of Tabasco, is used to support jackup rigs and supply vessels but will need significant upgrades and expansion to become a deepwater facility. The nearby town of Dos Bocas also lacks many hotel rooms or an international airport. Mexico’s historic public tender for its deepwater real estate resulted in the awarding of eight out of 10 blocks on offer. The awarded blocks went to 13 companies whose exploration and production operations are expected to generate around USD 34 billion over the next 15 years.

Mexico’s historic public tender for its deepwater real estate resulted in the awarding of eight out of 10 blocks on offer. Held last December in Mexico City, the event marked the fourth and final auction of the country’s Round One, which reopened doors to foreign oil and gas investment for the first time since the country’s energy sector was nationalized almost 80 years ago.

The awarded blocks went to 13 companies whose exploration and production operations are expected to generate around USD 34 billion over the next 15 years. The winning bids also committed to drill at least eight deepwater wells.

All four blocks offered in the deep-water Perdido area were awarded, including two to Chinese Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and one to a consortium of Chevron, Pemex, and Inpex—Japan’s largest oil company. An additional four blocks in the Salina Basin were contracted to three different consortiums, including one formed by Statoil, BP, and Total.

Another block encompassing a deep-water discovery known as the Trion field was awarded as a farmout agreement between BHP Billiton and Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex. BHP will acquire 60% of the project’s interest under the terms of the contract, which it won through a tie-breaking offer of a USD 624 million cash bonus to Mexico’s petroleum fund. BP was the losing bidder.

Including the three previous onshore and shallow-water auctions, Mexico has awarded 39 exploration and production contracts to companies from nine foreign countries.

In a press conference following the auction, the government said it expects to receive close to 60% of the combined profits from the eight blocks and the lone farmout. Mexican officials also said they are hoping the deepwater contracts eventually will yield 900,000 B/D of crude, a volume that would help stem the country’s declining production from existing fields. Government officials added that first production from Trion might be reached within 6 years, while it is expected that the other areas will need up to a decade to be developed.

What’s Next?

According to many observers, the production potential that the deep water holds for Mexico was the chief driver behind the country’s sweeping energy reforms that became law in 2013. But now that a number of the prime blocks have been allocated, what comes next?

Mexico’s deepwater auction resulted in nine development contracts that include commitments to at least eight subsea wells. Mexico’s historic public tender for its deepwater real estate resulted in the awarding of eight out of 10 blocks on offer. Held Monday in Mexico City, the event marked the fourth and final tender of the country’s Round One process that has reopened the doors to foreign oil and gas firms for the first time since the energy sector was nationalized almost 80 years ago. A total of 13 companies were awarded rights to explore and produce from offshore fields in the Gulf of Mexico. The winning bids also committed to drill at least eight deepwater wells.

Mexico’s deepwater auction resulted in nine development contracts that include commitments to at least eight subsea wells. Mexico’s historic public tender for its deepwater real estate resulted in the awarding of eight out of 10 blocks on offer. Held Monday in Mexico City, the event marked the fourth and final tender of the country’s Round One process that has reopened the doors to foreign oil and gas firms for the first time since the energy sector was nationalized almost 80 years ago. A total of 13 companies were awarded rights to explore and produce from offshore fields in the Gulf of Mexico. The winning bids also committed to drill at least eight deepwater wells.