Mobile Data Collection

A key process in the oil industry to make decisions is data collection. To improve productivity it is important data and information analysis. For many organizations is not profitable data automation, which has an impact in the way organizations, collect data. Data collection is taken by manual processes that create uncertainty for analysis because it is not reliable. As consequence, making a decision has not the planned results. After working for many years in the oil industry was identified: 1. People collecting data in a manual process normally by using a piece of paper which could be lost or damage. 2. After taking data at the well, data are brought to the office. Then, data are downloaded by another worker in computer software. It can be modified intentionally or not. 3. Accuracy of data collection activity is carried out. How do we know if the staff really went to work area? 4. Training to new staff, lack of experience? 5. There are “risks zones” due vandalism, facilities are damaged by people who stole devices which causes great money losses to companies. All these mentioned factors affect decision making which has a big impact in the production process. This application helps the whole process from collection data until data are registered in databases. This application considered several observations, suggestions and comments from people involve in the oil industry, especially at the production area. As a result, it is a tool that support data collection, standardize information in databases, improve data quality (it doesn’t matter localization), shows time and photographic position in a mobile device. Information is generated digitally taking advantage of easy handling. To summarize advantages of the whole system: • Reduce time of the data re-collection process • Improve data quality • Reduce amount of people working on data registration • Data reliability • Support decisions making • Minimize the use of paper in order to help ambient environment • Improve vehicle logistics • Minimize use of gasoline which helps to reduce costs • Help to optimize routes for vehicles on the field • Productivity, Maintenance, etc., reports can be generated • Vandalism is not a problem

Coupled Heat and Mass Transfer CFD Model for Methane Hydrate

The gas hydrates problem has been growing in offshore deep water condition where due to low temperature and high pressure hydrate formation becomes more favorable. Several studies have been done to predict the influence of gas hydrate formation in natural gas flow pipeline. However, the effects of multiphase hydrodynamic properties on hydrate formation are missing in these studies. The use of CFD to simulate gas hydrate formation can overcome this gap. In this study a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed for mass, heat and momentum transfer for better understanding natural gas hydrate formation and its migration into the pipelines using ANSYS CFX-14. The problem considered in this study is a three-dimensional multiphase-flow model based on Simon Lo (2003) study, which considered the oil-dominant flow in a pipeline with hydrate formation around water droplets dispersed into the oil phase. The results obtained in this study will be useful in designing a multiphase flow metering and a pump to overcome the pressure drop caused by hydrate formation in multiphase petroleum production.

Full Scale Flow Loop Experiments of Hole Cleaning Performances of Drilling Fluids

One important requirement for a drilling fluid is the ability to transport the cuttings out of the borehole. Improved hole cleaning is a key to solve several challenges in the drilling industry and will allow both longer wells and improved quality of well construction. It has been observed, however, that drilling fluids with similar properties according to the API standard can have significantly different behavior with respect to hole cleaning performance. The reasons for this are not fully understood. This paper presents results from flow loop laboratory tests without and with injected cuttings size particles using a base oil and a commercial oil based drilling fluid. The results demonstrate the importance of the rheological properties of the fluids for the hole cleaning performance. A thorough investigation of the viscoelastic properties of the fluids was performed with a Fann viscometer and a Paar-Physica rheometer, and was used to interpret the results from the flow loop experiments. Improved understanding of the fluid properties relevant to hole cleaning performance will help develop better models of wellbore hydraulics used in planning of well operations. Eventually this may lead to higher ROP with water based drilling fluids as obtained with oil based drilling fluids. This may ease cuttings handling in many operations and thereby significantly reduce the drilling cost using (normally) more environmentally friendly fluids. The experiments have been conducted as part of an industry-sponsored research project where understanding the hole cleaning performance of various oil and water based drilling fluids is the aim. The experiments have been performed under realistic conditions. The flow loop includes a 10 meter long test section with 2″ OD freely rotating drillstring inside a 4″ ID wellbore made of concrete. Sand particles were injected while circulating the drilling fluid through the test section in horizontal position.

Laboratory Visualization of Gravity Fluid Displacement in Well Annulus Affected by Sustained Casing Pressure

Sustained Casing Pressure (SCP) in petroleum wells poses environmental risk and needs to be removed using either downhole intervention or annular intervention methods. The latter method involves displacing the annular fluid above the top of the gas-leaking well cement with a heavy fluid to increase the hydrostatic pressure and stop the gas leak. Past field applications of the method failed — most likely due to incompatibility of the two fluids. In this study, a see-through scaled-down hydraulic analog of the well’s annulus was designed and used for video-taped displacement experiments with clear synthetic-clay muds and heavy (kill) fluids. The results show that only immiscible hydrophobic kill fluids provide effective displacement. The study demonstrates importance of controlled injection of the kill fluid to set out efficient buoyant settling and prevent initial dispersion. A side- (versus top-) injection geometry and the injection rate data are analyzed to develop empirical correlation of maximum injection rate for a given properties of the two fluids.

Inherent Safety Aspects for Layout Design of a Floating LNG Facility

This article outlines the aspects of inherent safety for the topside layout design of a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. An FLNG plant requires a compact design; meanwhile, it needs the safest layout to tackle multi-dimensional safety issues. Thus, the layout of the facility is a paramount factor for ensuring its safety in a cost effective way. Three layouts are proposed and evaluated from the inherent safety perspective. The layout of the process area is mainly focused due to its higher risks. Integrated inherent safety index, cost index and domino hazard index are used to evaluate the three layouts in quantitative terms. An optimal layout is finally chosen based on both inherent safety and cost performance.

Integrated Production Management by Processes: A Case History at the Marine Region

As part of its strategic plan 2014–2018 Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP) has decided to modify the organizational structure in order to change from a function based structure to a new one based in process, supported on three fundamental axes: People, Processes and Technology. On this direction, it has been assigned to the Technical Resources Management Vice-presidency the responsibility to implement a strategy that will enable to improve performance into the Assets of the Marine Region. This paper presents the experiences and achievements reached by implementing the strategy of “Integrated Production Management by Processes” which goal is to create and implement a management model that will contribute to the optimization of the Asset performance, integrating through the people, management processes, workflows and information and communication technologies. The “Integrated Production Management by Processes” model, is based on five elements that work integrated and coordinated way; these are: • Organizational issues. • Work methodologies. • Information management. • Monitoring key performance indicators (KPI). • Production costs management The proposal on this paper is based on developing a business process management methodology for PEMEX, by applying the 5 elements of the model to measure current performance of the production assets in order to find the existing gaps between the current management model and the Integrated Production Management by Processes and implement an action plan to close those gaps. In order to homologate and standardize the measurements in PEMEX’s assets, a Capability Maturity Model was developed according to the ISO 9004-2010 and Mexican Standard NMX-CC-9004-IMNC-2009. The maturity model allows weighting each one of the 5 elements into 5 dimensionless levels. The lowest level 1 means that the asset is in the initial stage and it has the Vision of a Functional Management; on the other hand, the highest level 5 means that asset has implemented the new model and has reached a Sustainable Management. To implement the Integrated Production Management by Processes, assets need to demonstrate that Level 4 has been reached.

Investigation of Compaction and Sand Migration Effect on Permeability and Non-Darcy Coefficient With Pore-Scale Simulations

Compaction and sand migration are some of the main problems for the loosely consolidated and unconsolidated high rate gas reservoirs. A reliable estimation of the well productivity depends on accurate modeling of permeability and inertial effects. Therefore, the key objective of this paper is to quantify the flow parameters change in the case of compaction and sand migration, and the development of permeability and the non-Darcy coefficient correlations that can be used in reservoir simulations. The compaction effects are simulated by increasing grains diameters with the same ratio. Permeability and the non-Darcy coefficients are calculated from lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Results indicate that permeability decrease is not directional and the change in permeability can be estimated from porosity change with a Kozeny-Carman type relation with an exponent of 3.2. A Kozeny-Carman type relation between the non-Darcy coefficient and permeability is also found with an exponent −1.303. For high compressibility reservoirs, estimation of the inertial effects from the correlations developed as a function of permeability and porosity may also lead to underestimation of the inertial effects. Sand migration causes pore-throat plugging that leads to significant reduction in permeability. Permeability impairment due to sand or fines migration is usually estimated from Kozeny-Carman type relation based on porosity. There is no study in the literature on how the inertial effects are changed with permeability impairment due to sand or fines migration. Sand particle plugging locations are found from the network simulations for different pore volume reduction, and corresponding permeability and the non-Darcy coefficient are calculated from LBM. It is found that permeability change with sand plugging is direction dependent: permeability reduction in the flow direction is twice compared to other directions. Porosity reduction does not depend on only pore-throat plugging, porosity can be decrease due to compaction and pore-surface deposition. Therefore, a correlation is developed to estimate permeability from pore-throat sand concentration. Even though permeability change is directional, the trend between permeability and the non-Darcy coefficient is similar and the magnitude of exponent in Kozeny-Carman type relation is larger, −1.803, compared to that of compaction.

A Study of Possible Solutions for Cost Efficient Subsea Well Abandonment

There is a large number of subsea production wells offshore Norway approaching the end of their lifetime. Considering high spread rate of semisubmersible rigs, abandonment operations of these wells will be quite expensive. Moreover, Plug and abandonment (P&A) can easily contribute with 25% of the total costs of drilling for exploration wells offshore Norway. Hence it is of great importance to seek approaches and solutions to reduce the P&A cost. This paper reviews some possible new ways and also alternative technologies as the solutions to cut down the P&A expenses. Some of these technologies are now being used offshore Norway. In the first section of this paper, challenges of performing P&A operations offshore Norway together with the main cost drivers are discussed. It is then briefly argued how to consider issues such as barriers setting depth, cementing depth and logging in the design and well construction phases to ease or avoid future P&A challenges. For hydrocarbon exploitation in the Barents Sea and Arctic regions it is important to take into account the P&A phase in the early stage of planning and development. Light well intervention vessels as alternatives to semisubmersible rigs are recognized of being the largest contributor to cost saving. It will then be discussed to what extent vessel technologies can cut down the expenses for subsea abandonment. New ways of performing P&A can be another contributor to cost saving. It is shown how research and testing can assure the operators of new ways for performing P&A. Retrieval of production tubing is a challenging suboperation such that it imposes significant cost to subsea well abandonment. There have been performed studies on how P&A could be performed with tubing left in hole and it is of interest to pursue this further. We will investigate how the abandonment operations can be simplified and be more cost efficient if the production tubing can be left inside the well where the basic assumptions for being able to do it is accounted for. In addition, some complexities in abandonment operations can cause additional cost. An example of such complexities can be the need to establish two permanent barriers for potential permeable zones in overburden. It will be demonstrated how much can be saved with respect to cost if the regulations allow to ease some parts of abandonment operations. In this study, a probabilistic approach as a systematic tool to produce unbiased results is applied to quantify cost savings of new alternatives compared to the traditional ones.

Multiphase Hydrate Induction Experiment in a Subsea Pipeline

Formation of hydrates is one of the many challenges faced in the offshore oil and gas industry. It may result in blockage of subsea pipelines and equipment, which may result in flow line rupture and process accident. Although extensive experiment study is conducted to better understand the nucleation of hydrates and their slug flow behavior in gas-water/oil systems. However, there is limited understanding regarding the effects of multiphase fluid dynamics and geometric scales on the formation/growth of hydrates in subsea pipelines. In this paper a multiphase lab scale flow loop set-up is proposed to study the effects of pipe diameter, wall roughness, solid particles and hydrodynamic properties. The multiphase development length of a pipe for varying geometric and flow parameters is also analyzed considering three phase mixture properties. This study will help in identifying the accurate development length for gas/liquid/solid multiphase flow.

Dynamic Model of a Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit in Deep Water Environments for Drilling Simulation

In this study, a dynamic model of a Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) is described that simulates drilling scenarios, imposed by the environmental factors in offshore drilling. The Response Amplitude Operators (RAOs) of an industry-recognized semi-submersible MODU are modeled for all six degrees of freedom. A stochastic modeling of waves in the North Sea is used and heave disturbance induced by elevation motion of sea surface is modeled using the JONSWAP spectrum. A bond graph model of a MODU predicts axial vibration, torsional vibration, and coupling between axial and torsional vibration due to bit-rock interaction. Axial and torsional submodels use a lumped-segment approach. The model can predict the expected coupling between Weight On Bit (WOB), bit speed, and bit-rock interface conditions. A series of sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate the significance of MODU motion on WOB fluctuations.