In this paper, a new type of sand-consolidation low-viscous binding material, based on a combination of inorganic and organic components, is presented. Researchers have developed a novel water-based-drilling-fluid system compatible with deepwater HP/HT wells in the Lingshui Block on the basis of a conventional drilling fluid and further optimization. The combination of ultrasonic pulse-echo and flexural-attenuation measurements was adopted in this project in the South China Sea for cement-integrity evaluation. Weather conditions aging offshore facilities presented challenges during a monsoon in the South China Sea. This paper presents the results of a performance-improvement effort in extended-reach drilling (ERD) in three campaigns in the Huizhou HZ 25-4 oil field in the South China Sea.

A biotechnology company from the San Francisco Bay Area is selling a futuristic solution to an old problem: lubricating drill bits grinding though rock. While increasing coiled-tubing (CT) diameter remains a theoretical option to improve reach, doing so creates logistical challenges.

The chemical reactions creating buildups of scale that can clog a well can be replicated in a chemical lab, but researchers are finding many more variables on the surfaces of pipes that need to be considered. At the 2017 SPE Oilfield Chemistry Conference, an assistant professor from Heriot-Watt University discusses the optimization of squeeze treatments delivered by diving support vessels. This paper describes a novel method of chemical dosage based on time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) that allows a simple, accurate, and efficient quantification of chemicals below parts-per-million ranges, even for double (scale/scale, scale/corrosion) quantification. Rigless coiled-tubing-unit (CTU) interventions can be effective in returning to production wells that have lost electrical-submersible-pump (ESP) efficiency because of organic, inorganic, or mixed scale deposits. The gas-producing carbonate zones of the Ghawar field in eastern Saudi Arabia have been affected by extensive iron sulfide (FeS) scale deposition, reducing overall gas production and increasing risks during well interventions.

The complete paper discusses the importance of adequate preparation and the approaches used to overcome challenges of EOR operations, including handling back-produced polymer. The complete paper presents steps to accelerate enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in a Grimbeek field from a four-injector pilot to 80 new injectors in a rapid deployment. The authors examine methods of adopting an aggressive approach to optimizing stimulation design to lower the break-even level of operations and evaluate the results. This paper summarizes a technology using SMP to provide downhole sand control in openhole environments. With multistage operations becoming the industry norm, operators need easily deployable diversion technologies that will protect previously stimulated perforations and enable addition of new ones.

Microbial-influenced corrosion (MIC) has been implicated in few corrosion-related challenges in the well-service industry in the past. DuPont is ramping up the commercial-scale implementation of its microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) method after nearly a decade of development and testing of what it says is a low-risk way to improve production from mature fields.

A study by a real-time monitoring company showed that many coiled-tubing strings are retired with a lot of life left in them. It suggested companies could lower costs by using pipe for a longer time and could benefit from multicompany studies showing how their decisions compare to the competition. This paper describes the integrated approach taken by Petronas to reinforce effective management of fatigue. The installation of flowlines in ever-deeper and -more-remote areas requires specific technologies for precommissioning. Coiled tubing can be a solution, but long durations may affect tubing stress and fatigue.

Wireline continuous coring (WCC) has been adapted from the mining industry for unconventional resources. This paper is aimed at identifying and addressing complications experienced in the use of WCC.

The conductor anchor node (CAN) technology was introduced as part of the architecture for Centrica’s Ivory deepwater exploration well in the Norwegian Sea to optimize efficient operations for the well’s riserless section.

The complete paper discusses an advanced matrix-stimulation work flow that brings reliability and flexibility to the acidizing of tight carbonate water injectors and has delivered injectivity improvements tight carbonate onshore reservoirs in the Middle East. In a collaborative project, the possibility of measuring fluid levels in a wellbore by use of distributed optical pressure gauges was conceived, prototyped, field-trialed, and further developed to a point of widespread commercialization. The treatment in a deepwater, frac-packed well with fiber-optic-equipped coiled tubing (CT) and a rotating, hydraulic high-pressure jetting tool achieved successful stimulation of a 500-ft-long frac-packed zone after several previous failures using different techniques. In the past decade, fiber-optic -based sensing has opened up opportunities for in-well reservoir surveillance in the oil and gas industry. In this paper, the authors present a recent example of single-phase-flow profiling with distributed acoustic sensing.

The complete paper describes a physics-based model of interference and a sensitivity study to propose guidelines for well spacing and a drilling timeline for multiple horizontal wells in the Vaca Muerta shale. The state-owned firm is looking within its home country, around Southeast Asia, and to the Americas—including shale—in an effort to maintain its forecast average yearly production of 1.7 million BOE/D over the next 5 years. Vaca Muerta production is on the upswing. Will increasing activity propel the Argentine play to the ranks of US shale? Data suggest it is both already there and has a ways to go.