About this workshop

Abstract

Around one-third of the world’s gas fields are sour–that is they are contaminated by varying levels of H2S (hydrogen sulphide) and/or CO2. This presents sour gas ventures with considerable challenges to achieve a successful commercial development. One key challenge is in reducing the level of contaminants to make the gas ‘sweet’ at a reasonable cost and doing so safely, whilst finding responsible and sustainable solutions for the H2S/CO2 streams. The growing demand for gas in the region imposes a demanding schedule on the development of sour gas assets.

The drive to commercialise this significant resource base requires the development and application of the critical technology required to unlock contaminated gas fields and make commercially attractive sour gas operations possible. The next generation of sour-gas fields will be at an unprecedented scale and complexity and will require operators to go beyond the application of off-the-shelf technologies. Instead industry requires integrated, customised solutions that provide answers to the full range of challenges posed by undeveloped gas fields. 

Subsurface contaminated gas developments in the region require high-resolution reservoir characterisation, supported by unequivocal pressure, temperature and fluid compositional data, including variations, ranges and distributions. Optimisation of drilling operations will clearly play a crucial role in safely meeting start-up targets and in driving cost reduction. The key challenges to managing capital expenditure and operating costs also lie in understanding and assuring the availability, reliability and maintainability of the facilities. Contaminated gas developments need to ensure that the material and equipment selected is capable of maintaining its integrity throughout the life of the field, from the production system to the inspection strategy. Safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound solutions must also be adopted for the non-hydrocarbon components.

Join us for an interactive workshop where industry professionals will gather to discuss and share experiences around these important issues. Each session will begin with a brief case study presentation followed by brainstorming exercises. Working in teams, participants will be challenged to propose their own strategies for addressing the issues presented. Workshop leaders will facilitate the discussions by providing input from their own experiences, guiding the teams as needed. Each team will then have the opportunity to defend their ideas and recommendations to the remaining attendees.

Workshop Guidelines

Format

Two (2) days of informal discussions prompted by selected keynote presentations and discussions. Workshops maximise the exchange of ideas among attendees and presenters through brief technical presentations followed by extended Q&A periods. Focused topics attract an informed audience eager to discuss issues critical to advancing both technology and best practices. The majority of the presentations are in the form of case studies, highlighting engineering achievements and lessons learnt. In order to stimulate frank discussion, no proceedings are published and the press is not invited to attend.

Documentation

• Proceedings will not be published; therefore, formal papers and handouts are not expected from speakers.
• Work in progress, new ideas, and interesting projects are sought.
• Professionally-prepared visual aids are not required; handwritten view graphs are entirely acceptable.
• Note-taking by participants is encouraged.

Poster Session

The Steering Committee encourages registrations from professionals who are able to prepare and present a poster on a relevant project. For further details kindly contact Saba Faghihi, event coordinator at sfaghihi@spe.org.

Attendance

Registrations will be accepted on a first-come first-serve basis. The Steering Committee encourages attendance from those who can contribute to the workshop most effectively either in discussions or with posters. A mix of attendees in terms of geographic origin, companies and disciplines will be encouraged.

Workshop Deliverables

• The Steering Committee will appoint a “scribe” to record the discussions and to produce the full workshop report for SPE.
• This report will be circulated to all attendees as the workshop deliverable within 4–6 weeks following the workshop. The copyright of the report is with SPE.
• PowerPoint presentation materials will be posted on a specific SPE URL address after the workshop Provision of the materials by the speakers will signify their permission for SPE to do so.

Commercialism

In keeping with ATW objectives and the SPE mission, commercialism in posters or presentations will not be permitted. Company logos must be limited to the title slide and used only to indicate the affiliation of the presenter and others involved in the work.

Attendance Certificate

All attendees will receive an attendance certificate attesting to their participation in the workshop. This certificate will be provided in exchange for a completed Workshop Questionnaire.

Continuing Education Units

Attendees at this workshop qualify for SPE Continuing Education Units (CEU) at the rate of 0.1 CEU per hour of the workshop.