Deviated Drilling Through Salt Dome and Horizontalization Across Extremely Heterogeneous Formations: A Case Study in North Abu Dhabi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ygnacio Jesus Nunez ◽  
Mohamed Sameer ◽  
Fernando Ruiz ◽  
Ahmed Abdulla Al Mutawa ◽  
Eisa Daban Al Shamisi ◽  
...  

Abstract Over the last 60 years, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been producing oil and gas from different conventional fields. Nowadays, and as part of the State long-term strategy to achieve the nation objective of gas self-sufficiency, it has been decided to explore, appraise and develop unconventional plays in the Northern area including the construction of early production facilities to supply the gas power plants. Three wells were drilled as part of the first phase of the project; consisting of a pilot hole into an extremely heterogeneous formation; two of them were horizontalized into the targeted formations. The first well across the salt represented a tremendous challenge due to limited rig capacity generating hole stability issues that required unplanned remedial jobs. The second well was deviated across the salt as pilot hole, then side-tracked and horizontalized in the targeted reservoirs. The third well was drilled directly as horizontal lateral based on previous lessons learned validating the horizontal concept for the future field development plan. The exploration phase constituted by these three wells, were drilled and completed successfully. A detailed data gathering program was executed allowing mapping of the area validating the presence of gas. The drilling parameters, such as rate of penetration (ROP) for the horizontal section was enhanced by optimizing the drilling Bit design. The mud logging results have confirmed the extremely heterogeneous formations across this section allowing determining the most fit for purpose bottom hole assembly (BHA); obtained after a detailed optimization process. Multiple lessons learned were captured and immediately applied leading to a significant reduction on total days per well that reflected on an outstanding cost reduction including rig move optimization, incrementing the overall efficiency of the operations. This project has proven the potential of unlocking the development of this field focusing on the targeted untapped reservoirs. Key unprecedented achievements have been fulfilled during the execution of this phase of the project: 1. First time to drill across a salt dome in Abu Dhabi Emirate 2. First time that horizontalization has been applied to the targeted formations. In addition, a better understanding of the optimum drilling parameters for future phases has been obtained.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Kamble ◽  
Youssef Ali Kassem ◽  
Kshudiram Indulkar ◽  
Kieran Price ◽  
Majid Mohammed A. ◽  
...  

Abstract Coring during the development phase of an oil and gas field is very costly; however, the subsurface insights are indispensable for a Field Development Team to study reservoir characterization and well placement strategy in Carbonate formations (Dolomite and limestone with Anhydrite layers). The objective of this case study is to capture the successful coring operation in high angle ERD wells, drilled from the fixed well location on a well pad of an artificial island located offshore in the United Arab Emirates. The well was planned and drilled at the midpoint of the development drilling campaign, which presented a major challenge of wellbore collision risk whilst coring in an already congested area. The final agreed pilot hole profile was designed to pass through two adjacent oil producer wells separated by a geological barrier, however, the actual separation ratio was < 1.6 (acceptable SF to drill the well safely), which could have compromised the planned core interval against the Field Development Team's requirement. To mitigate the collision risks with offset wells during the coring operation, a low flow rate MWD tool was incorporated in the coring BHA to monitor the well path while cutting the core. After taking surveys, IFR and MSA corrections were applied to MWD surveys, which demonstrated an acceptable increase in well separation factor as per company Anti-Collision Risk Policy to continue coring operations without shutting down adjacent wells. A total of 3 runs incorporating the MWD tool in the coring BHA were performed out of a total of 16 runs. The maximum inclination through the coring interval was 73° with medium well departure criteria. The main objective of the pilot hole was data gathering, which included a full suite of open hole logging, seismic and core cut across the target reservoir. A total of 1295 ft of core was recovered in a high angle well across the carbonate formation's different layers, with an average of 99% recovery in each run. These carbonate formations contain between 2-4% H2S and exhibit some fractured layers of rock. To limit and validate the high cost of coring operations in addition to core quality in the development phase, it was necessary to avoid early core jamming in the dolomite, limestone and anhydrite layers, based on previous coring runs in the field. Core jamming leads to early termination of the coring run and results in the loss of a valuable source of information from the cut core column in the barrel. Furthermore, it would have a major impact on coring KPIs, consequently compromising coring and well objectives. Premature core jamming and less-than-planned core recovery from previous cored wells challenged and a motivated the team to review complete field data and lessons learned from cored offset wells. Several coring systems were evaluated and finally, one coring system was accepted based on core quality as being the primary KPI. These lessons learned were used for optimizing certain coring tools technical improvements and procedures, such as core barrel, core head, core handling and surface core processing in addition to the design of drilling fluids and well path. The selection of a 4" core barrel and the improved core head design with optimized blade profile and hold on sharp polished cutters with optimized hydraulic efficiency, in addition to the close monitoring of coring parameters, played a significant role in improving core cutting in fractured carbonate formation layers. This optimization helped the team to successfully complete the 1st high angle coring operation offshore in the United Arab Emirates. This case study shares the value of offset wells data for coring jobs to reduce the risk of core jamming, optimize core recovery and reduce wellbore collision risks. It also details BHA design decisions(4"core barrel, core head, low flow rate MWD tool and appropriate coring parameters), all of which led to a new record of cutting 1295 ft core in a carbonate formation with almost 100% recovery on surface.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hocine Amor Khemissa ◽  
Salem Ali Alkindi ◽  
Ali Saeed Al Felasi ◽  
Omar Imad Al Mutwali ◽  
Saeed Saleh Al Hajeri ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 543-547 ◽  
pp. 858-861
Author(s):  
Xiao Tian Liu ◽  
Yong Wang ◽  
Shao Rui Niu ◽  
Yan Zhao Zhang ◽  
Zhen Hao Shi ◽  
...  

This first step of ageing management in nuclear power plant is to determine the objectives and their priorities. The characteristics of the objectives are complex and highly nonlinear coupling. A fuzzy logic based screening and grading method have been developed in this research for the first time which combined the genetic ageing lessons learned and field expert experience to resolve the problem. The method have been approved of highly applicability and applied to ageing management in multiple nuclear power plants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 142 (9) ◽  
pp. 1023-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran Mirza ◽  
Laila O. AbdelWareth ◽  
Muneezeh Liaqat ◽  
Peter Anderson ◽  
Bryson Palmer ◽  
...  

Context.— This review chronicles the establishment of a clinical laboratory in Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, a greenfield tertiary/quaternary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates. It discusses the challenges faced, solutions sought, and lessons learned and shares insights and pitfalls that may be encountered in such an undertaking. Objectives.— To share our experience in building a clinical laboratory in a start-up, multispecialty hospital and how we provided support and managed people, processes, and technology for building and making operational the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Data Sources.— The Medline (PubMed, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Bethesda, Maryland) database was used to review this topic as well as other journals, books, and Google (Mountain View, California) search engine. Conclusions.— To deliver on the promise of quality healthcare in a culturally appropriate setting close to home, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi proved to be an unprecedented and ambitious project, jointly carried out by Mubadala Investment Corporation and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Cognizant of the scale of this task, hospital leadership engaged closely with staff and stakeholders through motivational techniques and effective communication. Excellent project planning and execution of complex tasks were required for initiation of services. Establishing the clinical laboratory served as an instructive model in fostering multidisciplinary teamwork by highlighting ways to manage operational roadblocks and opportunities in the planning, commissioning, and activation phases. Throughout the activation process, all efforts were directed to create a patient-safety culture within an intentional-learning organization.


1970 ◽  
pp. 56-63
Author(s):  
Tim Walters ◽  
Susan Swan ◽  
Ron Wolfe ◽  
John Whiteoak ◽  
Jack Barwind

The United Arab Emirates is a smallish Arabic/Islamic country about the size of Maine located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Though currently oil dependent, the country is moving rapidly from a petrocarbon to a people-based economy. As that economy modernizes and diversifies, the country’s underlying social ecology is being buffeted. The most significant of the winds of change that are blowing include a compulsory, free K-12 education system; an economy shifting from extractive to knowledge-based resources; and movement from the almost mythic Bedouin-inspired lifestyle to that of a sedentary highly urbanized society. Led by resource-rich Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the federal government has invested heavily in tourism, aviation, re-export commerce, free trade zones, and telecommunications. The Emirate of Dubai, in particular, also has invested billions of dirhams in high technology. The great dream is that educated and trained Emiratis will replace the thousands of foreign professionals now running the newly emerging technology and knowledge-driven economy.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Gombos ◽  
Christian J. Strohmenger ◽  
T.C. Huang

2005 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frauke Heard-Bey

Nationals represent barely 20% of the population in the United Arab Emirates, but form the economically and socially privileged group of UAE citizens. The Rulers of the seven emirates were able to retain the historical loyalty of the “Emiratis” by advancing the economic development of the individual states, while Abu Dhabi-financed federal development helped to create a viable national state. Democratization is not of the same urgency as in some neighboring Gulf countries.


Author(s):  
Marcin Piatkowski

The book is about one of the biggest economic success stories that one has hardly ever heard about. It is about a perennially backward, poor, and peripheral country, which over the last twenty-five years has unexpectedly become Europe’s and a global growth champion and joined the ranks of high-income countries during the life of just one generation. It is about the lessons learned from its remarkable experience for other countries in the world, the conditions that keep countries poor, and challenges that countries need face to grow and become high-income. It is also about a new growth model that this country—Poland—and its peers in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere need to adopt to continue to grow and catch up with the West for the first time ever. The book emphasizes the importance of the fundamental sources of growth—institutions, culture, ideas, and leaders—in economic development. It argues that a shift from an extractive society, where the few rule for the benefit of the few, to an inclusive society, where many rule for the benefit of many, was the key to Poland’s success. It asserts that a newly emerged inclusive society will support further convergence of Poland and Central and Eastern Europe with the West and help sustain the region’s Golden Age, but moving to the core of the European economy will require further reforms and changes in Poland’s developmental DNA.


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