Integrated Sand Management For Effective Hydrocarbon Flow Assurance

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• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780444626387
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Chemical & Biochemical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This Handbook provides solutions to the fundamental issues associated with wells and reservoirs experiencing sanding problems, especially in deepwater environments.

Sand Management is a massive challenge for the petroleum industry as it extends its exploration activities to new frontiers. Challenging ultra deepwater, High Pressure-High Temperature (HP-HT) and Arctic environments require engineers to drill more complex wells and manage more complex reservoirs, the majority of which are prone to massive sand production.

Covering such fundamentals as how to maximize individual wells and field development performance, as well as how to minimize operational cost, non-productive time and guarantee flow assurance across the entire composite production system from reservoirs through the wellbore to the topside and flow lines, this handbook explains that the biggest challenge facing operators is the shortage of sand management personnel and helps companies realize the value of their assets.

• Reference for knowledge transfer and skills development in sand management for effective flow assurance
• Emphasis on HP-HT and deepwater environments
• Meets the needs of new and practising engineers alike as well as non-technical personnel supporting the offshore industry

Chapter 1

Introduction to Deepwater Field Development Strategies

Babs Oyeneyin

Abstract

Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that can occur in liquid and gaseous forms within the pore spaces of conventional reservoir rock or unconventional shale matrix at shallow or great depths on land or in an offshore environment, depending on composition, impurities, and prevailing conditions of pressure and temperature. This chapter explores this complex process and discusses the process of hydrocarbon exploration and production, which includes finding and drilling of an appropriate conduit from the surface through various rock types to the depth of interest where the hydrocarbon is ‘stored,’ installation of subsurface and surface process facilities, and eventually production, processing, and sale.

Keywords

Hydrocarbon exploration

Subsurface and surface process facilities

Energy supply security

Integrated sand management

Petroleum

1.1 Introduction to Global Energy and Hydrocarbon Development

Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that can occur in liquid and gaseous forms within the pore spaces of conventional reservoir rock or unconventional shale matrix at shallow or great depths on land or in an offshore environment, depending on composition, impurities, and prevailing conditions of pressure and temperature.

The process of hydrocarbon exploration and production starts with a search for the presence of hydrocarbons within the rock matrix, drilling of an appropriate conduit from the surface through various rock types to the depth of interest where the hydrocarbon is ‘stored’, installation of subsurface and surface process facilities and eventual production, and processing and sale.

The operation is capital intensive and needs to be carried out efficiently and safely with little or no impact on the environment. Thus, the operator must possess the ability to extract the hydrocarbon fluids efficiently and economically from the reservoir rock through the wellbore to the topside production facility all the way to the beach via the pipeline (tieback) over the life of a field within any environment. For land locations, the pipeline tieback is normally in the form of a pipeline from a process facility to the export terminal. In offshore/deepwater environments the subsea tiebacks connecting all deepwater wellhead manifolds to the process facility are now recognised as one of the cheapest ways to develop in deepwater environments.¹

Therefore, the objectives of oil company operations can be classified into the following key areas:

(a) Safety, Health, and Environment and Energy Supply Security

(b) Maximisation of Capital Outlay
One major objective of any enterprise is to maximise cash flow and recoverable reserves through:

• Maximisation of production rate

• Maximisation of recovery

• Minimisation of downtime through effective prevention and control of operational problems

(c) Minimisation of Costs
Another key objective is the minimisation of overall costs in an attempt to maximise profit through:

• Minimisation of capital cost: Ensuring that optimum capital expenditure (CAPEX) is maintained to ensure efficient production with minimum downtime

• Minimisation of operating expenditure (OPEX) including:

• Minimum production cost – Today, the emphasis is on minimising lifting cost per volume (per barrel or m³) of produced fluids, thereby increasing production of fluid

• Minimum treatment and workover costs

To achieve these key objectives, today's trend is to set up an integrated project team of different specialists comprising the geology and geophysics team, production geologist, reservoir engineer, drilling engineer, production technologist, etc., who will be responsible for effective reservoir management through strategic planning and optimum well design. The integrated team, and most especially the production technologist, must therefore be very conservative with the different facets of development and operation of the well including:

• Drilling (casing design, drilling/completion fluids selection)

• Completion (design/installation of completion string)

• Production (monitoring well and completion performance)

• Workover/Recompletion (diagnosis/installation of new or improved production system)

• Eventual abandonment (planning depletion profile and identifying candidates and procedure for abandonment)

Today, energy security is a serious challenge with the global demand for hydrocarbons (oil and gas) outweighing other sources of energy such as coal, nuclear, and renewable energies (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Global Energy Demand (Source: International Energy Agency (IEA)²).

The demand for gas (Figure 1.2) is growing faster than the demand for oil (Figure 1.3), especially in developing countries (Figure 1.4).

Figure 1.2 Global Natural Gas Demand (Source: International Energy Outlook, IEA²).

Figure 1.3 Oil Production Capacity and Demand Growth to 2015 (Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2008¹).

Figure 1.4 World Natural Gas Consumption Forecast to 2035.

To meet the ever-increasing gap between the demand and supply of hydrocarbons – especially oil and gas – the petroleum ind...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Series Editor's Preface
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Deepwater Field Development Strategies
• Chapter 2: Introduction to the Hydrocarbon Composite Production System
• Chapter 3: Fundamental Principles of Management of Reservoirs with Sanding Problems
• Chapter 4: Fundamentals of Petrophysics and Geomechanical Aspects of Sand Production Forecast
• Chapter 5: Introduction to Sand and Condition Monitoring Strategies for Asset Integrity
• Chapter 6: Sand Control Completion Strategy
• Chapter 7: Multiphase Solids Transport
• Chapter 8: Risk Assessment Criteria for Effective Sand Management
• References
• Epilogue
• Index