Miskimins

Did you have a chance to read Dennis Beliveau's guest editorial in the March 2009 edition of J. Pet Tech  titled "Who Cares About Peer Review?" If you didn't, consider doing so. Mr. Beliveau provides an excellent overview of the Society of Petroleum Engineers' history of peer-reviewed journals and how we have arrived at our current system of journals. He also provides some key reasons for the need for peer review and why it’s an important component of our publishing system.

For anybody who has survived a peer-review process, that of SPE or another organization, they know it is not an easy task. It is never enjoyable to have somebody else judge your work and point out what is wrong with it (but, hopefully, also some of what is right!), what you missed, and what should have been included. However, the peer-review process does provide a future reader of the paper with some assurances that at least a few additional people, with knowledge in that particular area, have proofed, commented on, and, ideally, improved the paper’s content.

If one does a keyword search in SPE's OnePetro using the term "artificial lift," the system will return more than 1,000 papers; "formation damage," more than 2,500 papers; "hydraulic fracturing," more than 3,800 papers! No one person has the time to sort through and determine which of these papers contain the most recent, state-of-the-art developments. However, peer-reviewed papers can help to narrow the field. I’m absolutely not saying that a paper that has not been peer reviewed and included in a journal is not of significant value--please, don’t fill my mailbox up--just that this process is a good starting point for narrowing down the choices.

If you have an interest in how the peer-review system works at SPE, there is an outline of the process on the SPE website under the Papers/Publications/Authors tab. If you're interested in becoming more involved in the peer-review process, there is also a section describing how to apply to become a Technical Editor in that same area. I encourage you to consider applying to join the Editorial Review Committee if you have the appropriate experience and qualifications. SPE is an organization made up of volunteers, and the peer-review process is no different.

In this May issue of SPE Prod & Oper, we have fourteen papers covering six categories, including artificial lift, unconventional reservoirs, stimulation, case studies, formation damage, and fluid flow issues. I've grouped the papers here according to their topics to help facilitate discussion; however, you will find them listed in numerical order in the journal to make them easier to find.

In the area of artificial lift, we have two papers. The first, On the Influence of Viscosity on ESP Performance, discusses the effects of using accurate viscosity correction factors for electrical submersible pumps studied in a laboratory setting. The second paper focuses on the benefits of using variable speed motors in rod pumping situations and is titled Optimizing Downhole Fluid Production of Sucker-Rod Pumps With Variable Motor Speed.

SPE Prod & Oper is seeing an increase in submissions with unconventional reservoir topics, and the next two papers reflect this interest. In Horizontal Wells in Tight Gas Sands--A Method for Risk Management To Maximize Success, the authors discuss the potential economic benefits and associated risks of horizontal wells in tight gas sands. An overview of various unconventional reservoir completion types and the associated initial and long-term considerations is presented in Design and Life-Cycle Considerations for Unconventional Reservoir Wells.

From the area of stimulation, we have four papers on fracturing. Three-phase, 2D modeling of the damage mechanisms associated with the yield stress of fracturing fluids is the subject of Fracture Impact of Yield Stress and Fracture-Face Damage on Production Witha Three-Phase, 2D Model, where the three phases considered are gas, water, and fracturing fluid. The permeability-reducing effects of multiphase and non-Darcy flow on fracture proppant packs and other porous media is examined in Multiphase Non-Darcy Flow in Proppant Packs. The authors provide an interesting example that demonstrates the complexity of hydraulic fracture growth in Evidence of a Horizontal Hydraulic Fracture From Stress Rotations Across a Thrust Fault, where data support that growth above a fault was vertical, while growth below the fault was horizontal. In the area of acid fracturing, the first field application of solid beads that react with water and for an organic acid at depth is provided in Acid Fracturing of Gas Wells by Use of an Acid Precursor in the Form of Solid Beads: Lessons Learned From First Field Application.

Two case studies from various parts of the world are presented in Applied Ultrasonic Technology in Wellbore-Leak Detection and Case Histories in Alaska North Slope Wells and Development of World-Class Oil Production and Water Injection Rate and High Ultimate-Recovery Wells in Deepwater Turbidites--Bonga Example. In the first of these two papers, provided case studies show the application of a new ultrasonic tool that detects tubular leaks by taking advantage of the unique propagation signatures through various media. The second paper discusses the reservoir management practices in a field with high flow rates from various amalgamated turbidite packages.

Formation damage is the subject of the next two papers. A new technology that can clean up corrosion-inhibitor deposits and improve water injectivity is the subject of A Breakthrough Technology for Maximizing Water Injectivity and Asset Integrity. Prediction of asphaltene deposition in mixtures of methane, ethane, and propane systems is discussed in Verification of Asphaltene-Instability-Trend (ASIST) Predictions for Low-Molecular-Weight Alkanes.

The final two papers deal with the wide-ranging topic of fluid flow. Predictions of Two-Phase Critical-Flow Boundary and Mass-Flow Rate Across Chokes discusses the importance of including slippage between liquid and gas phases; they pass through a choke and the errors that can be encountered if it is not considered. A Robust Steady-State Model for Flowing-Fluid Temperature in Complex Wells provides an analytical model for computing a well's fluid-temperature profile and compares the results to data from three wells.

I hope you enjoy the papers brought to you in this issue of SPE Prod & Oper and find something that can help you with your current practices.