Plug and Abandonment Environment in British Columbia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Bizhani ◽  
Élizabeth Trudel ◽  
Ian Frigaard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fractured Reservoirs ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Vertical Wells ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Testing Procedures ◽  
The Past ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
Well Abandonment

Abstract British Columbia (BC) has a significant oil & gas industry, with approximately 25,000 wells drilled in the province since the early 1900s. In the past few decades, the industry has changed from a balanced oil & gas production to activities dominated by unconventional gas production which is recovered by hydraulic fracturing. Concurrently, since 2000 there has been a shift from isolated vertical wells to pad-drilled horizontal wells. The older well stock at end-of-life combines with horizontal production wells and fractured reservoirs, the consequence of which is a growing wave of abandonment in BC, building over the next decade. This paper reviews the existing data on BC wells, as it is relevant to well abandonment operations. This includes the well architectures, trajectories, depths, testing procedures, etc.

Exploitation of oil and gas fields by horizontal wells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Serebryakov ◽  
Gennadiy Zhuravlev
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Fields ◽  
Bottom Hole ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
State Educational ◽  
Gas Fields

The textbook describes the design features of offshore horizontal multi-hole production wells, as well as the bottom-hole components of horizontal multi-hole wells. The classification of complications of multi-hole horizontal wells, methods of their prevention and elimination are given. Methods of underground geonavigation of the development of offshore horizontal production wells are proposed. The geological and field bases of operation of horizontal offshore multi-hole oil and gas wells, modes and dynamics of oil, gas and associated water production, methods for calculating dynamic bottom-hole and reservoir pressures are specified. The technologies of operation of offshore horizontal multi-hole wells are presented. The composition and scope of environmental, field and research marine monitoring of the operation of offshore horizontal multi-hole wells and the protection of the marine environment in the production of oil and gas are justified. Meets the requirements of the federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. It is intended for undergraduates of the enlarged group of "Earth Sciences" training areas, as well as for teachers, employees of the fuel and energy complex, industrial geological exploration and oil and gas production enterprises, scientific and design organizations.

Hele-Shaw Cell of Varying Thickness for Modeling of Leakage Pathways

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Trudel ◽  
Ian Frigaard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Varying Thickness ◽  
Important Player ◽  
Wellbore Leakage ◽  
Well Abandonment ◽  
Hele Shaw Cell

<p>Canada is an important player in the global oil and gas industry and is ranked fourth largest producer of natural gas and crude oil. Alberta and British Columbia are the two largest producing provinces of natural gas with a combined 98% of the national production. Recent development of the Montney formation, a low permeability unit, has led to a rise in the number of unconventional (horizontal and hydraulically fractured) wells drilled in Western Canada. Recent studies have shown that 28.5% of wells drilled starting in 2010 in British Columbia have reported an instance of wellbore leakage, and 4.0% of the wells drilled in Alberta during the same time period have also reported an instance of wellbore leakage resulting in several thousand wells with known leakage issues in these two provinces. Wellbore leakage is the unwanted flow of hydrocarbons from the reservoir, or a formation intersected by the well, through leakage pathways found along the wellbore and discharging to the atmosphere through either the surface casing assembly, surface casing vent flow (SCVF) or a surrounding permeable formation, gas migration (GM). In addition to the greenhouse gas emissions produced by wellbore, groundwater contamination may occur. Provincial regulations state that the remediation of cases of non-serious wellbore leakage, which represents 85.5% of the cases of wellbore leakage in Alberta and over 94% of the cases in British Columbia, can be delayed until the time of well abandonment. Less than 30% of the gas wells in these provinces have been abandoned and both provinces are seeing an alarming number of suspended wells which can be considered ready for abandonment. At which point, wells experiencing wellbore leakage will need to be remediated. Understanding of wellbore leakage, which occurs through leakage pathways such as radial cracks and microannulus, is limited. The model presented in this study relies on flow through a Hele-Shaw cell of varying thickness representing a microannulus. Microannulus thickness data is obtained through experimental data available in the literature. The aim of the model is to determine the flow rate of natural gas through a microannulus of varying thickness and the resulting permeability of the leakage pathways.</p>

Paleostructural control of hydrocarbon production from the Cretaceous Niobrara in a part of the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado and Wyoming

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48
Author(s):  
Tom Spurr ◽  
Jeff Ware
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Niobrara Formation ◽  
Vertical Wells ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Horizontal Drilling ◽  
Water Currents ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bottom Hole ◽  
Porosity And Permeability ◽  
Reservoir Porosity

Horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation of the Niobrara Formation chalks within the last decade have resulted in a widespread resource play in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin where over 50,000 vertical wells had already penetrated the Niobrara. The first fracture-stimulated horizontal Niobrara well in the DJ Basin was drilled in 2005. By the end of 2015, over 2000 horizontal wells had been drilled targeting the Niobrara and these new wells have made over 120 MMBO and nearly 500 BCF. Thickness changes correlate with the varying success of hydrocarbon production from the Niobrara in a part of the DJ Basin of Colorado. In the study area, the Niobrara comprises four chalks with interbedded marlstones; from top to bottom the A, B, and C chalks, and the Fort Hays Limestone. The Niobrara B chalk is the primary target for horizontal drilling; both the A and C chalk are secondary targets. The Niobrara Formation is self-sourcing and the hydrocarbons in the study area are not thought to have migrated. Within the study area, productivity in the Niobrara may be directly related to thermal maturity. Regionally thinner Niobrara trends are more likely to contain more productive wells than where thicker Niobrara is present. Thin intervals also coincide with higher resistivity values in the Niobrara B chalk and higher bottom hole temperatures. Temperatures were likely elevated in these locations in the past which led to increased organic maturity. Reservoir porosity and permeability may be enhanced along thin trends where shallow water currents winnowed sediments. Mapping the interplay of thickness, resistivity, and temperature of the Niobrara Formation can greatly improve the success rate of drilling in this play.

ESTIMATED NET ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM AUSTRALIA'S UPSTREAM OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: 1980-2010

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
L. Hogan ◽  
S. Thorpe ◽  
S. Zheng ◽  
L. Ho Trieu ◽  
G. Fok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Export Market ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Australian Economy ◽  
Oil And Gas Resources

Australia's oil and gas resources industry has made a significant contribution to the Australian economy and is expected to continue to do so over the next 15 years and beyond. While oil and gas production from Bass Strait has been the most important part of the industry in the past, offshore oil and gas production has increased strongly in northwest Australia over the past decade. Future growth in the industry is expected to be mainly associated with further strong growth in gas production for both domestic use and the export market. This paper contains an assessment of some major net economic benefits from the exploration, development and production of Australia's oil and gas resources during the period 1980 to 2010.

Domestic rotary steerable systems development potential for drilling horizontal wells

2020 ◽  
pp. 74-80
Author(s):  
V. V. Saltykov ◽  
Yu. S. Makovsky ◽  
M. M. Mansurova
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Technological Solution ◽  
Deviation Angle ◽  
Vertical Wells ◽  
Special Equipment ◽  
The Past

A complex of special equipment is required for the construction of high-tech wells. The basis of modern time efficient, precise and safe drilling is rotary steerable systems (RSS). For the past five years, rotary steerable systems have been using in Russia as a technical and technological solution to reduce accidents and to improve the quality of well construction with large vertical deviations of the extended drilling radius. These systems allow drilling to be oriented along the entire length of the well. Rotary steerable systems allows drilling both perfectly vertical wells with a deviation angle of not more than 0,2°, and horizontal wells more than 2 000 metres long. Implementation of rotary steerable systems allows building wells with extremely extended reach and conducting wells in 1–2 metres thick reservoirs with precision. In 2016, OktoGeo LLC carried out pilot well program with APS Technology's 172 mm RSS (with power section) at an oil field in the territory of KhantyMansiysk Autonomous Okrug — Ugra. All the rotary steerable system positioning programs were completed based on the results of that work and results of drilling 2 205 metres long directional well.

Cumulative-Gas-Production Distribution on the Nikanassin Tight Gas Formation, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (03) ◽  
pp. 357-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisael Solano ◽  
Liliana Zambrano ◽  
Roberto Aguilera
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fractured Reservoirs ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Distribution Model ◽  
Tight Gas ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Gas Formation ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Cumulative Production ◽  
Tight Gas Formation

Summary 271 wells producing exclusively from the Nikanassin and equivalent formations in a very large area of more than 15,000 km2 in the Western Canada Sedimentary basin (WCSB), Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, have been evaluated with a view to determine the distribution of cumulative gas production and the possibilities of intensive infill drilling. The Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Nikanassin formation is generally characterized as a tight gas formation with low values of permeability (typically a fraction of millidarcy) and low porosities (usually less than 6%). It is likely that natural microfractures and slot pores dominate the productivity of the formation. The study area was divided into six smaller narrow areas (A through F) approximately parallel to the northwest/southeast-trending thrust belt of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Area A is located to the west of the deformation edge, Area B is on the deformation edge, and Areas C through F are located to the east. Area C is the deepest and closest to the thrust belt, whereas Area F is the shallowest and farthest from the thrust belt. Cumulative production characteristics within each area were evaluated with a variability distribution model (VDM) developed recently for naturally fractured reservoirs. The evaluation of each one of the six areas (271 wells) resulted in coefficients of determination, R2 greater than 0.99 in all cases. The results indicate that the gas cumulative production distribution per well is more homogeneous along the deformation edge (Area B), in which 80% of the wells contribute approximately 50% of the cumulative production. The highest heterogeneity was found in Area F (the shallowest), with 80% of the wells contributing only 25% of the cumulative gas production. Areas A, C, D, and E have more or less the same distribution with 80% of the wells contributing between 35 and 45% of the cumulative gas production. In preliminary terms, there is an association between the cumulative-production distribution and lateral variations of borehole breakouts in the Nikanassin formation on a transect perpendicular to the deformation belt of the WCSB. Analysis of the distributions leads to the conclusion that the Nikanassin is a very heterogeneous formation and that there is significant potential for massive drilling to efficiently drain the formation. The possibilities of horizontal wells and multistage hydraulic-fracturing jobs are being investigated at this time.

Evaluation of Annulus Pressure Buildup During Injection Operations

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Mohamed ◽  
Y. Panchal ◽  
N. Mounir ◽  
G. Woolsey ◽  
O. A. Abou-Sayed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Enhanced Recovery ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Pressure Buildup ◽  
Testing Procedures ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Pressure Changes

Abstract More than 300 million barrels of saltwater is produced everyday from oil and gas production wells. Most of this volume is injected through either saltwater disposal wells or used for water flooding and enhanced recovery purposes. Usually, the regulations require the injection to be conducted through the injector well tubing that is isolated from the well annulus to protect the underground source of drinking water (USDW) by preventing any possible leak through the well casing. Monitoring of the annulus pressure during injection ensures the well integrity. The annulus pressure changes can occur by one of the following mechanisms: thermal expansion of the annulus fluid; ballooning of the injection tubing; communication between the tubing and the annulus; or fluid migration behind the casing. Determining the communication mechanism can be a complex process and a need may arise to run several testing procedures and inspect all the wellbore components. Successful evaluation of the annulus pressure values and trends can directly identify the root cause of the annulus pressure buildup and simultaneously save time and reduce the cost associated with the workover operations. The seven case studies presented in this paper focus on the details pertaining to the annulus pressure buildup under different well conditions and purposes the interpretation technique for each case.

Maximizing Condensate Recovery With Proven Cost Simulation for a Giant UAE Field: Base Study to Estimate Productivity between Horizontal and Vertical Wells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim Sudarev ◽  
Mariam Al Hosani ◽  
Ahmed Mohamed Al Bairaq ◽  
Ihab Nabil Mohamed ◽  
Zainah Salem Al Agbari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Vertical Wells ◽  
Hydrodynamic Simulation ◽  
Field Assessment ◽  
Base Study ◽  
Horizontal And Vertical Wells ◽  
High Production ◽  
Production Demand

Abstract Implementing the horizontalization scheme was developed for number of wells in order to increase the Gas and Condensate production, which will achieve sustainable and profitable Gas Supply. It worth to highlight that most of these wells are being subjected to N2 and lean gas breakthroughs. By adopting a comparison methodology, the horizontal wells showed better performance in terms of HC production and CGR performance. The number of breakthrough in horizontal wells is less or delayed in term of time. High production demand was promoting this project to take place, where the current situation was not supporting due to N2 and lean gas breakthrough, which is affecting the quality of the gas sales. It was challenging to balance between high production demand, N2, and lean gas breakthrough. Initially, optimizing the production allowable was considered to maximize the production from high CGR wells and minimize the production from low CGR wells. The sidetrack scheme is important to penetrate the un-swept area and to maintain the geometry/distances between wells to prevent early breakthrough and minimize the interference. All results from surveillance and hydrodynamic simulation were integrated for final field assessment impact. This work has resulted in positive expected outcome with few millions additional condensate recovery and extended gas production plateau. According the outcomes analysis the implementation plan was designed.

scholarly journals Research of inflow control devices for estimation of application in intellectual well

2021 ◽  
pp. 201-209
Author(s):  
R. A. Ismakov ◽  
◽  
E. V. Denisova ◽  
S. P. Sidorov ◽  
M. A. Chernikova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Control Device ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Vertical Wells ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
Measurement Devices ◽  
Control Devices ◽  
Inflow Control Device

Ensuring the completeness of oil and gas production from the subsoil by using modern techniques and technologies for controlling the inflow into the well is an urgent task, especially for wells with long horizontal ends. Inflow control devices (ICD), used in conjunction with packers and downhole measurement devices, are part of such systems, covered by the concept of «smart well». In general, such systems make it possible to control the inflow (flow rate) in individual intervals of horizontal wells or in vertical wells of multilayer fields while operating simultaneously in order to optimize production without additional downhole operations in real time. Keywords: inflow control device; horizontal well; intelligent well.

Guest Editorial: Digital Transformation of the Oil and Gas Industry in an Altered Market

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (04) ◽  
pp. 11-12
Author(s):  
Robert Borne
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Past ◽  
Digital Ecosystem

The blending of digital and physical worlds has been happening all around us at a rapid pace for many years. In the early days of digital transformation efforts, it would show up incrementally and sporadically, with varying levels of success. I remember my first email address, my first mobile phone, my first iPod, and my MySpace account page. Those all seem so long ago now. As time moved on, digital and physical connections seemed more real, and progress became clearer with more tangible benefits. And it was all happening more and more quickly. Fast-forward to a current, pandemic-clouded existence. Can anyone imagine not being connected to the internet or digital ecosystem around us less than 24/7 these days? Over the past year, we could barely keep up with how important our interactions between the digital and physical landscapes had become. As we have been forced to rethink in every way how we interact with people, places, and things, our connection to digital tools in our altered physical world has become a lifeline for individuals to connect with each other. These tools have also been critical for companies to connect to their customers and the greater market. We no longer speak or think about what it will be like to go back to “normal.” Our use of different digital tools to connect with people and data is now normal and will not be going away. Historically, the oil and gas industry has been grounded in fundamentals of science, technology, and intelligent people working at the outer edge of what was thought possible to produce hydrocarbons. Even with this forward thinking and adventurous spirit permeating the entire industry, we have been very slow to pick up digitally transforming how we work. It has become apparent over the past few years the requirement to move in this direction, or risk obsolescence. Even though this digital space is not new in our personal lives, we still act as though it is new to us in our working lives. To think of that in a real-time scale, I purchased my first mobile phone 24 years ago, yet I sometimes still need to wait for a daily drilling report through email to understand what is happening on a location half a world away. It is taking our phenomenal and advanced industry way too long to catch up, but it appears that most of our membership are now on board. From this point, the digital transformation of upstream oil and gas production will fundamentally change how our business is conducted and measured with a clear and targeted focus on optimizing each part of the customer journey. We will smartly and efficiently use data and technology to help create frequent, low-friction, and positive experiences throughout the connected customer relationship. This industrywide digital transformation will be a long path that is difficult and takes time. The market may be altered, but the path to a successful digital transformation is fluid and the core principles of success have not changed. It starts with digitizing. This is the foundation the rest of the digital transformation is built upon.

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