Looking to market your technology? Engage partners, pursue all paths, and learn to catch smaller fish. From the highest courts of the US judicial branch to the C-suite, contests involving patents have recently come to the fore in the innovation hungry US oilfield services industry, even as filings and litigation have declined in recent years. Seeking out, experimenting with, and ultimately embracing technologies from other industries have proven crucial to innovating at oilfield service firms such as Halliburton, which has tried everything from dog food to submarine tech to improve its work downhole. R&D may be the key to the survival of companies as the new economics of the industry take hold.

Good diagnostic testing is often painstaking, time-consuming, and costly, but recent studies suggest that a lack of knowledge can be even costlier. Tiny soil samples may contain as many as 300,000 species of microbial life, but a Netherlands-based startup has figured out that between 50 and 200 of them can tell an operator if a drilling location will hold oil and gas reserves. For the past 2 decades, the use of DNA sequencing technology has largely been relegated to the domains of criminal forensics and the healthcare industry. One company is betting that the shale industry soon will join that list. 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.

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.

Polymers for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) purposes are required to have long term mechanical, thermal, chemical, and biological stability across a wide variety of conditions throughout field deployment. In this work we expand upon initial studies of scleroglucan biopolymer stability and demonstrate that scleroglucan solutions retain a significant proportion of their initial viscosity over a large range of stresses. Thermal stability of the biopolymer, scleroglucan, was tested at temperatures of up to 115°C, wherein the samples retained >95 % of the original viscosity over several months, and at 105 °C sclergolucan maintained >95 % viscosity over the course of 720 days. Scleroglucan was found to be chemically compatible with formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)-phosphonium sulfate (THPS), and 1,3,4,6-tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydroimidazo-[4,5-d]imidazole-2,5(1H,3H)-dione (TMAD) for six months at 37 °C, 85 °C, and 95 °C, indicating these biocides have the potential for use in microbial control during scleroglucan implementation under various conditions. Rheological studies indicate the viscosifying power of scleroglucan is largely unimpacted by common reservoir salts (including divalents and trivalents) even through 20 % (wt/wt) salt addition.

Microbial risks to polymer stability were also investigated. The susceptibility of scleroglucan to microbial degradation was assessed under reservoir relevant conditions using a bottle test system in which the polymer was incubated with active microbial cultures under various conditions that simulate reservoirs spanning 3.5 % to 17 % salinity and 30 °C to 90 °C. Our tests of microbial degradation found that anaerobic samples incubated with active microbial consortia under lower salinities and temperature lost viscosity with concomitant microbial growth indicating the presence of scleroglucan degrading organisms in the inoculum. However, anaerobic samples at temperatures above 60 °C and salinities greater than 7 % retained viscosity during the experiment illustrating polymer stability under conditions similar to those of harsh reservoirs. This study further refines the window of operation where scleroglucan maintains functional viscosity and may be employed for EOR use.

Polymers for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) purposes are required to have long term mechanical, thermal, chemical, and biological stability across a wide variety of conditions throughout field deployment. In this work we expand upon initial studies of scleroglucan biopolymer stability and demonstrate that scleroglucan solutions retain a significant proportion of their initial viscosity over a large range of stresses. Thermal stability of the biopolymer, scleroglucan, was tested at temperatures of up to 115°C, wherein the samples retained >95 % of the original viscosity over several months, and at 105 °C sclergolucan maintained >95 % viscosity over the course of 720 days. Scleroglucan was found to be chemically compatible with formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)-phosphonium sulfate (THPS), and 1,3,4,6-tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydroimidazo-[4,5-d]imidazole-2,5(1H,3H)-dione (TMAD) for six months at 37 °C, 85 °C, and 95 °C, indicating these biocides have the potential for use in microbial control during scleroglucan implementation under various conditions. Rheological studies indicate the viscosifying power of scleroglucan is largely unimpacted by common reservoir salts (including divalents and trivalents) even through 20 % (wt/wt) salt addition.

Microbial risks to polymer stability were also investigated. The susceptibility of scleroglucan to microbial degradation was assessed under reservoir relevant conditions using a bottle test system in which the polymer was incubated with active microbial cultures under various conditions that simulate reservoirs spanning 3.5 % to 17 % salinity and 30 °C to 90 °C. Our tests of microbial degradation found that anaerobic samples incubated with active microbial consortia under lower salinities and temperature lost viscosity with concomitant microbial growth indicating the presence of scleroglucan degrading organisms in the inoculum. However, anaerobic samples at temperatures above 60 °C and salinities greater than 7 % retained viscosity during the experiment illustrating polymer stability under conditions similar to those of harsh reservoirs. This study further refines the window of operation where scleroglucan maintains functional viscosity and may be employed for EOR use.

During the implementation of microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technique in reservoirs, various reservoir and microbial kinetic parameters play major roles in governing the efficiency of crude oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. The present study numerically investigates the sensitivity of reservoir porosity, injected microbial species at different temperatures, maximum microbial specific growth rate, Monod saturation constant and yield coefficient on biomass and biosurfactant production and their impacts on microscopic oil displacement efficiency within the reservoir.

A black-oil biochemical multi-species reactive transport model in porous media is developed by coupling the kinetic model with the corresponding transport model. The governing equations involve coupled transport of nutrients and microbes by dispersion and convection, growth and decay rates of microbes, chemotaxis, nutrient consumption, and deposition of microbes and nutrients on rock-grain surfaces. Coupled empirical equations are used to estimate biosurfactant production, oil-water interfacial tension reduction, change in viscosity of injection fluid and their impacts on oil mobility and decrease in residual oil saturation within reservoir. Finite difference discretization technique is adopted to solve the governing equations.

Results of the present model are found to be numerically stable and match very well, when verified, with the previously published analytical and experimental results. The model results suggest that at very low reservoir porosity (less than 20%), an early breakthrough of nutrients, microbe and biosurfactant leave insignificant concentrations in their respective fronts which are insufficient for the recovery of the trapped oil. Also, increase in porosity beyond 20% causes loss of nutrients, microbes and biosurfactant because they undergo higher dispersion during their transport within reservoir. Further it is observed that the nature of microbes and nutrients used for MEOR application affect biosurfactant production and in turn oil recovery to a large extent. Those microbial species having very less Monod saturation constant values have high affinity towards their substrates. This phenomenon drastically increases the rates of nutrient consumption and production of biomass and biosurfactant within reservoir when suitable substrate compounds are used, irrespective of differences in the yield coefficients of the microbes. The optimized reservoir and microbial kinetic properties increase capillary number above 10⁻³ which further increases oil mobility towards production well and there is a significant decline in the effective residual oil saturation (less than 5%) within the reservoir.

The present study provides an improved understanding of the combined effects of reservoir porosity and microbial kinetic parameters on fundamental MEOR processes which will better characterize the suitability of a MEOR technique in a typical petroleum reservoir. Moreover, the developed numerical model is easier to implement and produces faster results with relatively lower computational cost which helps in making quick decision before applying MEOR processes in the field.

Asphaltenes are a major problem for oil industry. Their variability in size, structure and polarity presents a challenge to develop formulations that are effective against precipitation and deposition for all types of asphaltenes. Also, changes in production systems, such as the rate of water break through, can also impact the efficiency of dispersants. In this paper sophorolipids, a class of microbial surfactants, that are renewable and biodegradable with low aquatic toxicity, are tested as asphaltene dispersants. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, asphaltenes were extracted from a heavy oil and their solubility and stability were evaluated at different concentrations of n-heptane and water. The behavior under n-heptane concentration sweep was found to be in line with previous experimental works and water did not change that behavior. The sophorolipids were able to inhibit 100 % of the polar asphaltenes precipitation at low concentrations. Under similar conditions dodecylobenzesulfonic acid, which was used as a benchmark for comparison, did not perform at concentrations up to 1000 ppm either with or without water. The high performance of biosurfactants is attributed to their enhanced dispersing properties for organics such as wax and asphaltenes.

From the highest courts of the US judicial branch to the C-suite, contests involving patents have recently come to the fore in the innovation hungry US oilfield services industry, even as filings and litigation have declined in recent years. Seeking out, experimenting with, and ultimately embracing technologies from other industries have proven crucial to innovating at oilfield service firms such as Halliburton, which has tried everything from dog food to submarine tech to improve its work downhole. R&D may be the key to the survival of companies as the new economics of the industry take hold. Even as the oil and gas industry looks for the next great idea to propel it forward, it should constantly reconsider past innovations for inspiration, the CEO of a major operator said Monday on the opening day of 2017 SPE ATCE. The R&D Technical Section dinner at ATCE drew varying perspectives as the panelists discussed, and sometimes debated, a range of approaches to safeguarding industry viability and growth in the years ahead.

The lifecycle of any field consists of three main periods; green, plateau and maturity periods. Currently most of GUPCO fields are brown what made us very concerned to sustain and even increase our production. To achieve that, we have looked at new different options to exploit our resources better. Generally, this can be achieved by whether optimizing current system, applying new technology or evaluating unconventional resources.

One of the high-potential resources that we do have in GUPCO is unconventional resources with many tight carbonate formations. Nevertheless, we did not try to appraise it before since most of our reservoirs are clastics that can be easily characterized and evaluated. On the other hand, tight carbonate formations cannot be characterized or appraised utilizing conventional logging tools or even classical reservoir engineering concepts. It always requires unique techniques relevant to its unique complexity degree especially in presence of micro-porosity and unknown fluid content. This paper sheds light on Appraisal Unconventional Resource Study that resulted in the first successful producer in the company.

GUPCO started to appraise tight carbonate rocks (named Thebes in Lower Eocene) and basaltic intrusion in GoS. This study involved high integration between key disciplines; Petrophysics, Petrology and Reservoir Engineering. To manage uncertainty, we have acquired wide range of data types starting from advanced petrophysical logging tools like Magnetic Resonance, Borehole Imaging and spectroscopy, and full petro-graphic description, reaching to predicting reservoir dynamic performance using measured pressure points (RFT), its analysis and fluid characterization. Ultimately, we have succeeded to completely characterize Thebes formation, and proposing its development plan. The first successful well resulted in 300 BOPD gain as the first successful tight carbonate producer in GUPCO. Development plan is being built to drill new wells targeting unconventional resources including a few possible potential in basalt intrusions, as well.

Dealing with unconventional resources is not an easy task. It requires a lot of work and analysis. Having all of your homework done is not always enough, you have to integrate with interrelated disciplines to link dots and complete the picture. In this paper, we have conceived a new approach in evaluating such formations, and it is a very good example of managing uncertainty by integrating different data to convert hypothesis into reality that can be translated ultimately into oil production and revenues.

Previous laboratory studies have shown that the combination of molasses and commercially-available fertilizer (NPK and ((NH₄)₂HPO₄) can stimulate bacterial growth that decreases oil viscosity and interfacial tension (IFT). In this project, a huff-and-puff field implementation of MEOR nutrient injection has been conducted in two selected wells in Bentayan Field, South Sumatera, BN-38, and BN-81. The project objective is to evaluate and analyze the effect of nutrient injection towards oil recovery, changes of indigenous microbes that alter oil characteristics from the two selected wells during three months of post-nutrient injection monitoring phase. Changes of oil production were measured in-line after the gross produced liquid passes through a separator unit. The abundance of aerobic, anaerobic, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) was examined by using Total Plate Count (TPC) method, while anaerobic bacteria and SRB were cultivated using the Hungate technique. The chemical compositions of the oil were analyzed before and after nutrient injection by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Fluid analysis of the oil (kinematic viscosity and interfacial tension) were measured by viscometer and IFT meter. The program of nutrient injection started with 500 bbls of first nutrient injection, followed by 100 bbls of post-flush 1, 500 bbls of second nutrient injection, 100 bbls of post flush 2, soaking for 14 days, 2000 bbls post-flush 3, and soaking for seven days. Based on the results of bacterial abundance analysis for three months, there was an increase of almost 1000-fold of total aerobic bacteria abundance and 10-fold of anaerobic bacteria abundance after nutrient injection. The expansion of bacterial abundance successfully changed the physical-chemical condition of the oil, decreasing oil viscosity by approximately 24% and IFT by 47%. In both wells, water cut values were decreased from 99% to 92%, and incremental oil was gained by 1395 barrels. Huff and puff nutrient injection seems to be low-cost EOR since it can be included in the daily operating cost with the additional cost of workforce, nutrient, monitoring, and analysis. Economic analysis calculation of this project resulted in Pay-out-Time (POT) by four months with an incremental gain of approximately 1750 barrels.