Learn more about training courses being offered. Learn more about training courses being offered. This course covers the fundamental principles concerning how hydraulic fracturing treatments can be used to stimulate oil and gas wells. It includes discussions on how to select wells for stimulation, what controls fracture propagation, fracture width, etc., how to develop data sets, and how to calculate fracture dimensions. The course also covers information concerning fracturing fluids, propping agents, and how to design and pump successful fracturing treatments. Learn more about training courses being offered. Current and future SPE Section and Student Chapter leaders are invited to engage and share. Every attendee leaves energised with a full list of ideas and a support network of fellow leaders. Those sections and student chapters actively participating in this workshop have consistently been recognized with awards as the best in SPE. SPE Cares is a global volunteering drive aimed at promoting, supporting and participating in community services at the SPE section and student chapter’s level. On its official launch this year at ATCE Dubai, SPE Cares will conduct a “Give a Ghaf” Tree Planting Programme to help preserve Ghaf’s cultural and ecological heritage. The Ghaf tree is an indigenous species, specific to UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is a drought tolerant, evergreen tree that can survive a harsh desert environment. The initiative not only aims to hold events/activities at ATCE, but also recognise community service that SPE members are already conducting in their respective student chapters and professional sections. The KEY Club, open daily, is an exclusive lounge for key SPE members. The lounge is open to those with 25 years or more of continuous membership, Century Club members, current and former SPE Board officers and directors, Honorary and Distinguished Members, as well as this year’s SPE International Award Winners and Distinguished Lecturers. DSATS (SPE’s Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section) will hold a half-day symposium featuring keynote presentations on urban automation. This symposium will explore technologies being used in developing smart cities through the automation of their infrastructure, transportation systems, energy distribution, water systems, street lighting, refuse collection, etc. These efforts rely on many of the same tools needed for drilling systems automation yielding increased efficiencies, lower maintenance and reduced emissions. Their knowledge and experience can guide the path being travelled by the oilfield drilling industry.

Often it is too difficult to create the fault conditions necessary for training a predictive maintenance algorithm on the actual machine. A digital twin generates simulated failure data which can then be used to design a fault-detection algorithm. With their gee-whiz—albeit artificial—intelligence, robots may be the industry’s answer to jobs deemed dangerous, dirty, distant, or dull. This paper describes an automated work flow that uses sensor data and machine-learning (ML) algorithms to predict and identify root causes of impending and unplanned shutdown events and provide actionable insights. For the offshore sector, the collapse in oil demand and prices came just as the market was beginning to look up.

For a low-pressure well with solids and/or heavy oil at a depth of less than approximately 6,000 ft and if the well temperature is not high (75 to 150 F typical, approximately 250 F or higher maximum), a PCP should be evaluated. Even if problems do not exist, a PCP might be a good choice to take advantage of its good power efficiency. If the application is offshore, or if pulling the well is very expensive and the well is most likely deviated, ESPCP should be considered so that rod/tubing wear is not excessive. There is an ESPCP option that allows wire lining out a failed pump from the well while leaving the seal section, gearbox, motor, and cable installed for continued use.

Summary

An object-based algorithm that models turbidite channels using training images, called skeleton-based simulation or SKESIM, is proposed in this study. These images are interpreted as a graph and used to extract the statistical distribution of parameters selected from the graph. From this information, a 3D model of turbidite channel systems was built. These channels were generated within the turbidite lobe, creating a simulated depositional system. After the geometry of the channels were simulated by SKESIM, the petrophysical properties were mapped by Gaussian-like distributions. Numerical simulations were used to fit the simulated permeability field to a reference case through an objective function. A commercial finite difference simulator was used to compare the reference data to the simulated data, and comparable results were obtained.

Intelligent well completion (IWC) or smart wells have been used in the industry for more than two decades. Numerous benefits from this technology have been reported in the literature. These benefits are associated with improved field development economics and better reservoir management. The field economics are mainly impacted by reduction of the well count and the increase of the estimated-ultimate recovery (EUR) and net-present value (NPV) by commingling different reservoirs. The reservoir management benefits are less tangible and more difficult to quantify. They have to rely on certain assumptions that may be controversial among the team members and management. Therefore, the IWC business case is usually supported only by the improved economics.

A key input on the economics is the production forecast. The industry lacks a standard workflow to predict the production from an IWC. Reservoir engineers have to be creative using their available tools to model the performance of this complex well operation. The methods regularly used are simple inflow-performance relationships (IPR), nodal analysis, well modeling with pipeline-network simulators, and 3D reservoir simulators with multi-segment well capabilities. The latter is the most appropriate to capture the value for new developments, but still extensive customization is required to optimize the production forecast while honoring all the constraints in the field operational philosophy; the others are more suitable for routine production optimization. In our case, deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the operating philosophy is (1) use primary well-head choke to control well production, (2) limit the pressure drop across the inflow-control valves (ICV), and (3) limit the producing zone drawdown. In addition, the productivity index (PI) degradation mechanism has to be included in the forecast. None of the commercial reservoir simulators have these requirements built-in.

This paper presents an approach that integrates detailed wellbore modeling, reservoir simulation, and the field operating philosophy. The workflow is based on a pipeline network simulator (GAP™) coupled to 3D reservoir simulation models in INTERSECT™. The IWC optimization under the operational philosophy is executed through a Python script—INTERSECT custom functionality—that manages the GAP network information obtained from OpenServer™ and the reservoir simulation data to select the ICV settings that optimize the well production while honoring all constraints. This workflow provides an accurate production forecast assuring all critical operating constraints are incorporated.

Summary

A series of earthquakes was recorded along a mapped fault system near Azle, Texas, in 2013. To identify the mechanism of seismicity, geologic, production/injection, and seismicity data are gathered to build a detailed simulation model with coupled fluid flow and geomechanics to model fluid injection/production and the potential onset of seismicity. Sensitivity studies for a broad range of reservoir and geomechanical parameters are performed to identify the influential parameters for injection wellhead pressure and earthquake data. A Pareto-based multiobjective history matching is performed using these influential parameters. The calibrated results are used to identify the controlling mechanisms for seismicity in the Azle area, North Texas, and their relationship to hydrocarbon production and fluid injection in the vicinity.

Geomechanical interaction has a significant impact on seismicity in the Azle area. Unbalanced loading created by the difference in the net fluid injection and production on different sides of the fault seems to generate accumulation of plastic strain change, likely resulting in the onset of seismicity. Previous studies ignore fluid withdrawal from gas production. Thus, they seem to have significantly underestimated the fluid withdrawal rates, almost by an order of magnitude. The equivalent bottomhole-voidage fluid rate used in this study suggests a drop in history-matched reservoir pore pressure that is consistent with the observed tubinghead pressure trends. Pore pressure increases may not fully explain the seismicity near the Azle area. Instead, geomechanical effects and strain propagation to the basement appear to be the dominant mechanisms. The low fault cohesion and minimum effective horizontal stress obtained from history matching confirm that the faults must be near or at the critically stressed state before the initiation of fluid production/injection. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the minimum effective horizontal stress and fracture gradient play a critical role in the potential risk for seismicity related to fluid injection/production. A streamline flow pattern further shows that there is no fluid movement in the basement formation and the unbalanced loading from different sides of the fault is more likely the controlling mechanism for seismicity.

Wood is Shell’s exclusive partner for Shell’s Smart Choke technology, which suppresses riser-induced slugging. A small core team with the ability to make decisions was responsible for getting a subsea tie-back project up to sanction within a short-time frame. SPE’s technical sections offer communities rich with industry expertise. And your engagement adds to the wealth of knowledge to be shared. As companies look to reduce the time it takes to inspect a subsea pipeline, as well as the costs involved in the operation, autonomous systems have become a more desirable option.

Wood is Shell’s exclusive partner for Shell’s Smart Choke technology, which suppresses riser-induced slugging. A small core team with the ability to make decisions was responsible for getting a subsea tie-back project up to sanction within a short-time frame. SPE’s technical sections offer communities rich with industry expertise. And your engagement adds to the wealth of knowledge to be shared. As companies look to reduce the time it takes to inspect a subsea pipeline, as well as the costs involved in the operation, autonomous systems have become a more desirable option.

As companies look to reduce the time it takes to inspect a subsea pipeline, as well as the costs involved in the operation, autonomous systems have become a more desirable option. How close are they to becoming the norm? Approved in October, the Flow Measurement Technical Section will help engage the greater SPE technical community in flow-measurement-related issues and technologies. It will cover the full spectrum of flow measurement, including single-phase and multiphase flow. A newly developed superhydrophobic coating keeps offshore drilling pipes from being clogged by various substances.

As companies look to reduce the time it takes to inspect a subsea pipeline, as well as the costs involved in the operation, autonomous systems have become a more desirable option. How close are they to becoming the norm? Approved in October, the Flow Measurement Technical Section will help engage the greater SPE technical community in flow-measurement-related issues and technologies. It will cover the full spectrum of flow measurement, including single-phase and multiphase flow. A newly developed superhydrophobic coating keeps offshore drilling pipes from being clogged by various substances.