Drilling and Completions

Bob Carpenter, SPE, Research Consultant, Chevron Exploration and Technology Company's Cement Team

The number and economic contribution of unconventional (tight gas/shale and steamflood) wells continued to increase rapidly in 2011, as did the participation of major operators. That increased industry focus was evident again in the distribution of papers. Also, there were more papers relating advances in plug-and-abandonment, Arctic, high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT), and carbon-capture technologies.

Alvaro Felippe Negrão, SPE, Senior Advisor, Woodside Energy USA

The "what's worked well in the past" conservative approach is not possible anymore, in face of the damaged trust of the public about upstream activity. Though the criticism soars against exploration and production activities, the industry has allocated substantial investments in research for new technologies aimed to preclude risk events of recent years. New procedures and technologies, in addition to existing ones, will be deployed in the near future to eliminate blowouts or underground contamination from upstream operations.

Jacques Braile Saliés, SPE, Drilling Manager, Queiroz Galvão E&P

No word defines deepwater projects better than "innovation," and on 25 February 2012, one of the most innovative field-development projects came on stream: Cas- cade and Chinook (C&C) in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM). One well is producing from Cascade to the first floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the US GOM. The project brings several firsts and innovations that will be available to the entire oil industry in the near future. I would like to call attention to some of those innovations. First, the FPSO uses a detachable buoy that allows early installation of the buoy and all umbilicals before arrival of the FPSO. This feature will allow the FPSO to disconnect and sail away from hurricanes, avoiding damages to the facilities. C&C also presents the first freestanding riser in the US GOM. Subsea boosting will increase production and reduce workover costs. These examples are just a few that show inno- vation applied to a deepwater development. I believe strongly that C&C will lead the way for future development of Lower Tertiary plays in the GOM.

Mike Payne, SPE, Senior Advisor, BP

Exciting operations are ongoing on the shallow-water US offshore continen- tal shelf (OCS) that will influence the entire high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) community going forward. McMoran and their operating partners are actively drill- ing, evaluating, testing, and bringing to production several deep HP/HT plays. These prospects are named in the Treasure Island theme with identities such as Davy Jones, Blackbeard, and Lafitte. The Davy Jones 1 is in the completion phase, incorporating multiple Eocene Wilcox sands, and it represents the first 25,000-psi completion of its kind in the world. The Davy Jones 2 encountered confirmed pay and is progressing well. The original Blackbeard well was taken to 32,997-ft total depth, and operations on Blackbeard East have been permitted to 34,000 ft. As with Davy Jones, these wells represent substantial extensions to or step changes in current HP/HT technologies.

Helio Santos, SPE, President, Safekick Limited

In the 2 years since the Macondo incident, we have seen a lot of action toward new regulations, procedures, and norms to be implemented in an attempt to reduce the risks of those tragic events happening again. But the industry did not stop working; wells were drilled and completed, even in the Gulf of Mexico after the long period of inactivity. As expected, we saw a big focus on subsea-equipment testing and procedures and on needed equipment improvements. But we also saw many reports highlighting improved operational performance, confirming that the industry continues with significant activity.

Reservoir Navigation and Characterization During Drilling

159247 - Reservoir Characterization Begins at First Contact With the Drill Bit
S. Shayegi, C.S. Kabir, F. If, S. Christensen, K. Kosco, J. Casasus-Bribian, ABM K. Hasan, and H. Moos

140073 - Reservoir-Navigation System and Drilling Technology Maximize Productivity and Drilling Performance in the Granite Wash, US Midcontinent
S. Janwadkar, M. Thomas, S. Privott, R. Tehan, L. Carlson, W. Spear, and A. Setiadarma

Completion Design and Execution

140561 - First Downhole Application of Distributed Acoustic Sensing for Hydraulic-Fracturing Monitoring and Diagnostics
M.M. Molenaar, D.J. Hill, P. Webster, E. Fidan, and B. Birch

135396 - A Technical and Economic Study of Completion Techniques in Five Emerging US Gas Shales: A Woodford Shale Example
A. Agrawal, Y. Wei, and S.A. Holditch

140498 - Designing Multistage Frac Packs in the Lower Tertiary Formation--Cascade and Chinook Project
Z. Haddad, M. Smith, and F. Dias De Moraes

143816 - Reduction of Perforating Gunshock Loads
C.E. Baumann, E.P. Bustillos, J.P. Guerra, A. William, and H.A. Williams

132846 - The Evolution of the Role of Openhole Packers in Advanced Horizontal Completions: From Novel Technology to a Critical Key to Success
P. Gavioli and R. Vicario

Drilling Systems Automation

128286 - Automation of Drawworks and Topdrive Management To Minimize Swab/Surge and Poor-Downhole-Condition Effects
E. Cayeux, B. Daireaux, and E. Dvergsnes

Drilling Operations

139511 - Drill Pipe Cutting at Ultra High Pressure Proven for Remediating Deepwater Stuck-Pipe Hazards
J. Segura

Tubulars

144535 - Comparing the Results of a Full-Scale Buckling-Test Program to Actual Well Data: New Semiempirical Buckling Model and Methods of Reducing Buckling Effects
S. Mitchell, N. Moore, J. Franks, G. Liu, Y. Xiang

Karen Olson, SPE, Completion Expert for Southwestern Energy

It is a good time to be in the oil industry. The rig count, drilling activity, and oil prices are high, and shale plays are a significant reason for each. And, because it is shale, it is an especially good time to be a completion engineer!

Stéphane Menand, SPE, Managing Director, DrillScan US

Since the first downhole electric measurement was made in 1927 by the Schlumberger brothers (first electrical-resistivity well log), the oil/gas industry has been striving to develop and improve new tools and sensors for downhole measurements. Indeed, these sensors aim at measuring many parameters, such as physical properties of rocks and fluids (formation evaluation), wellbore position (inclination and azimuth), or downhole drilling-mechanics conditions. Over the last 12 months, I have been impressed by the number of papers and news articles dealing with drilling mechanics and with vibration-data measurement, transmission, processing, and interpretation.

View the December 2011 issue

Wellbore Strengthening

125093-PA - Avoiding Losses in Depleted and Weak Zones by Constantly Strengthening Wellbores
E. van Oort, Shell E&P Co. Americas; and J. Friedheim, T. Pierce, and J. Lee, M-I SWACO

132981-PA - Understanding the Effects of Leakoff Tests on Wellbore Strength
Hong Wang, Sharp-Rock Technologies, Inc.; M Y. Soliman, Texas Tech University; Zhaohui Shan, Halliburton Energy; Frank Meng, ConocoPhillips; and Brian F. Towler, University of Wyoming

Well Abandonment

138287-PA - Field-/Well-Integrity Issues, Well-Abandonment Planning, and Workover Operations on an Inadequately Abandoned Well: Peace River, Alberta, Case Study
C. Diller, Shell Canada

Underbalanced Drilling

135796-PA - Which Reservoirs in China Are Best for Underbalanced Drilling?
Yanhua Yao, SPE, Weatherford (China) Energy; Gangping Xie, Southwest Oil Company; S.W. Nas, SPE; S. Boutalbi, SPE, Weatherford International; and Heli Du, SPE, Weatherford (China) Energy