Innovoil Issue 40 December 2015

Published by

Issue 40 December 2015

Bringing you the latest innovations in exploration, production and refining

BETTER WITH BIO

We look at Cosuns Betafib

viscosifierPage 16

MERCURY FALLING

Johnson Mattheys PURASPECJM

technology for mercury removal

Page 24

SEISMIC SHIFTProf. Maarten de Hoop on how deep learning could revolutionise seismologyPage 18

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DRILLIN

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Pages 9

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INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY Topside Process Control Systems Safety Systems Subsea Control EIT (Electrical, Instrumentation and Telecommunications) Marine Control, Positioning and Reference Systems Cargo Management Information Management Systems Complete E-House and power generation modules

GLOBAL PROJECT EXECUTION Design and Project Engineering Project Management Process simulation and verification Installation, testing and commissioning Site Management

LOCAL LIFECYCLE SUPPORT Maintenance, Modification and Operational Support Engineering Studies Online Simulator Operator and Maintenance Training Conversions and Upgrades

INTELLIGENT SOLUTIONS FOR OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION

km.kongsberg.com/offshoreproduction

InnovOil December 2015 page 3

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Contacts:

Media DirectorRyan [email protected]

Media Sales ManagerCharles VilliersEmail: [email protected]

Media Sales ManagerRiley [email protected]

EditorAndrew [email protected]

NewsBase LimitedCentrum House, 108-114 Dundas StreetEdinburgh EH3 5DQ

Phone: +44 (0)131 478 7000

www.newsbase.comwww.innovoil.co.uk

Design: Michael [email protected]

Cover photo: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Published by

Issue 40

December 2015Bringing you the latest innovations in exploration, prod

uction and refining

BETTER WITH BIO

We look at Cosuns Betafib

viscosifierPage 16

MERCURY FALLING

Johnson Mattheys PURASPECJM

technology for mercury removal

Page 24

SEISMIC SHIFTProf. Maarten de Hoop on how deep learning could revolutionise seismologyPage 18

NEWSBASE

DRILLING

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IC

SPECIAL SU

PPLEMENT

INSIDE

Pages 9-2

3

Inside

A note from the Editor 5 Super-frack solution 6Schlumberger has struck a deal with Energy Recovery to use its new VorTeq hydraulic pumping system

DRILLING/SEISMIC 9When the going gets tough 10 Cameron Internationals Darrin Yenzer explains how the company is innovating to stay competitive in a tough market

Drilling technologies 12InnovOil and Lux Research take a look at innovators and start-ups Safer and cheaper drilling 14 Centrica and Island Offshore have a revolutionary application for shallow gas extraction in the North Sea

Bio-powered Betafib 16 Cosun Biobased Products explains what makes Betafib MCF one of the highest performing and sustainable viscosifiers

Deeper learning 18 Maarten de Hoop, Mathematician and Earth Scientist, discusses his ground-breaking work in the field of seismology

Distributed Seismic Source 22 GPUSAs upgrade eliminates source ghost reflections from seismic operations

Managing mercury 24 Johnson Mattheys simple and effective way to remove mercury from hydrocarbon gas and liquid processing

An inspector calls 27 Cyberhawk Innovations continues to push the envelope of ROAV operations

News in brief 28Contacts 37

www.ChartLNG.com

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A note from the EditorIt has been a tough year for drillers and seismic firms.

With exploration slowing, both sectors have shown noticeable strain, from parked rigs to closing companies. But for that very reason, it is more important than ever to shine a light on the new technologies which can help especially during the toughest of times.

With that in mind, Cameron Internationals VP of product management, Darrin Yenzer, discusses how innovation is assisting the company to deliver during tough times. This stiff upper lip also means continuing to keep an eye on the next horizon whether that is equipment for 20,000-psi applications, or complying with new subsea regulations. Yenzer also outlines how an open-door policy on innovation can lead to novel ideas, from the drilling floor to the boardroom.

Meanwhile, Cosun Biobased Products highlights Betafib MCF a natural cellulosic microfibre biopolymer used as a viscosifier for drilling fluids and cementing. We explore how its unique rheology offers operators maximum suspension efficacy from an easily pumpable fluid.

Yet new technologies are always in development; now more than ever companies need equipment which can shave costs and increase uptime. Lux Research examines some of the innovative companies and start-ups with ideas which could shake up the drilling and seismic market.

In our seismic supplement, we also talk extensively with Professor Maarten

de Hoop, Rice Universitys Simons Chair in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Earth Science. De Hoop and his research partners are using a combination of big data and deep learning to resolve seismic equations more accurately and use less information.

The application of machine learning to the seismic field is, in de Hoops words, extremely hot, and in future could enable tremendous advances in how the industry acquires and processes seismic data.

In addition, we catch up with GPUSAs James Andersen for an update on the firms Distributed Seismic Source technology. Last featured in InnovOil in our August edition, the company has now released its newest, patent-pending MV-24 marine vibrator with four times the active surface area of the earlier MV-12 transducer. Andersen explains more inside.

Fire safety firm Tyco also expands its portfolio via a new licensing agreement with Aberdeens RigDeluge, while Johnson Matthey shows how its PURASPECJM

technology can aid mercury removal in hydrocarbons processing.

While that almost draws our year to a close, next month we will be publishing our 2015 Annual, featuring a look back at some of our favourite innovations from this year as well as a look ahead to the

trends, projects and predictions for 2016. If there is anything you would like to see again

or perhaps something you think we missed please get in touch.

The team and I are pleased to bring you the December edition of InnovOil.

Andrew DykesEditor

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InnovOil December 2015page 6

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With hydraulic fracturing still at a relatively early stage of development, there are considerable opportunities for companies to cut costs and streamline processes through innovation. This trend has been accelerated by the increased pressure to save cash in the depressed oil price environment.

Collaboration is one way that companies can create efficiencies and cut costs, with a deal struck by Schlumberger in October showing what can be achieved. The oilfield services giant entered into a 15-year agreement with US specialist equipment manufacturer Energy Recovery, which gives the former access to the companys new VorTeq hydraulic pumping system. The technology could save up to US$5 per barrel in production costs, according to Energy Recovery, by cutting pump abrasion from proppant sand. The deal is particularly timely given the increased use of high proppant volumes in fracking, known as super-fracks.

Under the US$125 million deal,

Schlumbergers super-frack solutionSchlumberger has struck a deal with Energy Recovery to use its new VorTeq hydraulic pumping system, which will make super-fracks cheaper and more efficient, writes Jeremy Bowden

partner Schlumberger believe that we can materially reduce the cost per barrel to frack a well by virtue of going from the existing pump model to the new pump model, Gay told Reuters, adding that he believed the savings could add up to as much as US$5 per barrel. The VorTeq product represents a paradigm shift for the hydraulic fracturing industry, as it significantly reduces maintenance costs associated with pumping downtimes and provides considerable redundancy efficiencies.

More efficient and cheaperThe technology works by allowing pressure pumpers to avoid running fracking slurry (the thick mixture of sand, water and chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing) through their pumps. This is done by using an ultra-efficient energy exchange to re-route the fracking fluid away from centrifugal pumps. With a single moving part made of tungsten carbide, the system has been engineered to withstand tremendous pressure and harsh conditions, and transfers up to 95% of the hydraulic energy from one fluid to the next.

COmmEnTARY

The savings could add up to

as much as US$5 per barrel

Joel Gay, president and CEO of Energy Recovery

Schlumberger will pay US$75 million up front for the technology, which it will use in its North American fracking operations. Under the terms of the contract, it will then make milestone payments in 2016 valued at US$50 million, and annual royalties during the duration of the contract. Schlumberger will retain exclusive rights to the VorTeq

system, which is the first hydraulic fracturing manifold built to isolate hydraulic fracturing pumps from abrasive proppants that cause pump failure, Energy Recovery said.

The product has been tested over a six-month period with Liberty Oilfield Services on unconventional wells in the Bakken, but has not yet been commercially deployed. By using Schlumbergers leading infrastructure and fleet, the technology could now be deployed rapidly.

Energy Recoverys president and CEO, Joel Gay, said the system could significantly reduce the number of pumps that are

required, cutting what has become a major cost in fracking operations. From an economic standpoint, we and our


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The result will reduce wear and tear on Schlumberger equipment, lowering the need for replacement and maintenance, thereby making fracking more efficient and cheaper. The system claims to offer a life expectancy of roughly 50,000 hours, compared to traditional pumps used for fracking that feature a 6,000- to 8,000-hour life expectancy before maintenance is needed.

Harnessing pressure energy the way we have in our other technologies, our solution ratchets frack fluid up to the required treating pressure, as high as 15,000 psi, without requiring the high-pressure water pumps to handle sand. This prevents the regular occurrence of pump failure, and has several immediate and profound impacts for operations, not the least of which is a dramatic reduction in maintenance, said Gay.

Super solution The application of the technology is critical, given the growing use of high volumes of abrasive proppant sand, as low oil prices leave drillers struggling to increase the productivity of their

wells. Super-fracks use two to three times as much proppant as typical wells, generating higher levels of abrasion.

The super-frack trend has been in the making for several years as proppant volumes have steadily risen, and the associated increase in abrasion has been so damaging that there has even been talk in the industry of fracking service companies moving to a pricing model based on sand concentration.

Schlumberger refused to comment to InnovOil on the deal or technology directly. But in an earlier statement, it said: We are looking beyond just the benefits provided by VorTeq system. The incorporation of the VorTeq system, along with other proprietary technologies, in Schlumbergers next-generation surface delivery systems, will help reduce fracturing pump wear and increase wellsite equipment reliability and efficiency.

Schlumberger said the technology provided immediate cost savings from lower wear and tear. The company added: In the medium term [it] delivers capital efficiency, since it eliminates redundant

onsite equipment. These are savings that Schlumberger can share with its customers, ensuring that its crews stay busy during the downturn.

The principle behind the technology has been tried and tested in other industries and is based on Silicon Valley-based Energy Recoverys Pressure Exchanger application. It is the leading pressure energy recovery device in desalination, with over 16,000 units deployed around the world.

If the claims of US$5 per barrel cost reductions prove to be true, the technology represents a substantial saving, amounting to perhaps 20% of total costs of unconventional US wells in some cases. A few more dramatic technological advances of this sort and American shale oil plays might get closer in terms of production costs to conventional fields. Such technological advances are one of a number of factors that are drawing many oil majors away from expensive conventional projects, such as deepwater plays, towards lower risk and shorter lead time investment in onshore shale. n

COmmEnTARY

Truck-mounted VorTeq system

[email protected]

Power, Communications, and Sensingfor Subsea Environments

Innovation and Subsea Reliability

USA Daytona Beach, FL Dallas, TX Houston, TX San Diego, CA Portsmouth, NH

INTERNATIONAL Alton, UK Ellon, UK Worthing, UK Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tijuana, Mexico

Calgary, Canada Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Johor Bahru, Malaysia

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TDY 419 TOG Ad A4 297x210.indd 1 6/17/15 10:01 AM


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Drilling/SeiSMic

in the ShallowSIsland Offshore and Centrica pioneer a new CTD technique in shallow watersPage 14

Stiff upper lipCameron International is

innovating to stay competitivePage 10

Back to the

SourceThe latest on GPUSAs

Distributed Seismic SourcePage 22

Special SuppleMent Pages 9-23

[email protected]

Power, Communications, and Sensingfor Subsea Environments

Innovation and Subsea Reliability

USA Daytona Beach, FL Dallas, TX Houston, TX San Diego, CA Portsmouth, NH

INTERNATIONAL Alton, UK Ellon, UK Worthing, UK Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tijuana, Mexico

Calgary, Canada Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Real-time, high resolution, in-line corrosion and sand erosion detection sensing and monitoring technology plus CFD design services for optimal sensor deployment.

CORMON

Penetration, interconnect and feedthrough engineered solutions for extreme pressure and temperature applications.

DGO

Engineered electrical and hybrid subsea wet mate power and data interconnect and network distribution solutions.

ODI

Electrical and optical interconnect systems and custom molded products for the harshest environments.

IMPULSE

Application specific multi-core cable constructions for harsh environments.

STORM CABLE

Ruggedized over-molded cable/harness assemblies.

VARISYSTEMS

Submersible connectors and marine seismic source management systems.

AG GEOPHYSICAL PRODUCTS

TDY 419 TOG Ad A4 297x210.indd 1 6/17/15 10:01 AM


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Like many firms with a focus on drilling, right now Cameron International is keeping a stiff upper lip. The past year has seen the company undergo its fair share of pressure, what with the announced proposed sale of its offshore jack-up business to Keppel O&M and Schlumbergers purchase of Cameron in August. Yet, speaking to InnovOil in late September, the companys VP of product management, Darrin Yenzer, remained upbeat.

We have good customers and customer support and theyre sticking with us, he said. A good backlog of work has also kept the company busy. Yenzer pointed to a recent success commissioning equipment on the first in a series of deepwater drillships, noting: The customer took the time to send their appreciation for the job well done.

That is not to say there have not been some changes. Theres a little bit of a shift in Camerons product development focus, Yenzer added. Were leaning more towards additional R&D work than we have in the past. I would say, with the focus being different because of the market today, were really working to get closer to our customers and really understand their specific needs.

This has involved a relatively hands-on, face-to-face process, with many of Yenzers team going out to meet with customers to understand exactly what they need, whether that is lowering costs, or improving up-time and availability. Most, he suggested, are focused on keeping the rig available on contract as best they can, the reliability conversation is constant, [so] everything needs to be focused on preventing failures.

Availability is the GoalWith that in mind, new innovations have become a vital tool in helping meet that goal. As has been seen across the industry, monitoring and predictive maintenance have become priorities and have in many cases grown, even despite the downturn, because of the long-term efficiency improvements on offer. Yenzer

takes a fairly pragmatic view on the issue, commenting: We can prevent most of the failures, you can develop things to improve the failure prevention, but things will always have a limit, so theres another conversation stream going on about availability and about how you counter inevitable failure.

Post-Macondo, he noted that the retrievability and backup of equipment, subsea especially, had come under increased scrutiny. Retrieving and/or fixing equipment in deepwater and ultra-deepwater now can take days, adding weeks to project time and delaying production. People are very interested in preventing parts from failing in the first place, but also if it does fail what do we do with it? How can we make that time back faster? he asked.

One solution Yenzer drew attention to lies in some technology recently acquired by Cameron that is geared towards developing modular technology a concept which has been gaining wider ground across the sector, including efforts

when the going gets toughCameron Internationals VP of product management, Darrin Yenzer, explains how the company is innovating to stay competitive in a tough market

by companies such as GE and Kongsberg. Potentially integrating this technology into Camerons drilling business could allow it to reduce dramatically the time

taken to replace equipment in the event of failure.

Though he remained tight-lipped on its full scope, he affirmed: Weve invested in that technology and were now looking at it and evaluating the best aspects on how to implement it, if we go forward with it.

New regulations are also fostering change. In particular, he pointed to the changing requirements of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) rules, especially with regards to supporting and powering subsea equipment. A mandated expansion of redundancy in equipment such as blowout preventers (BOPs) will

necessitate some innovation he noted, to the extent that We can see substantial growth in sub-sea stacks based on the way the rule is currently worded.

Indeed, in July the American Petroleum Institute (API) laid out many

DRilling/SEiSmiC

Some of the best ideas come from the far out

placesDarrin Yenzer, VP of

product management, Cameron International


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of its concerns with the new legislation in a letter to the BSEE. Specifically, it noted: The additional required associated equipment (e.g., larger fluid reservoir, additional pumps, additional accumulator bottles, etc.) would be problematic in their demands for space and contribution to additional complexity of rig systems.

Yenzer echoed this, commenting on the substantial increase in the amount of subsea energy required to perform all of the newly required functions, in a case where the rig is not connected anymore. Because of that expansion, he continued, The amount of energy required to operate is two, three or four times what it was before, which will require a tremendous amount of accumulator bottles or stored-energy vessels to operate. If the language of the rule is not changed theres going to be a need to provide that capability and not increase the size of the rig or do a tremendous amount of very expensive and time-consuming changes to existing rigs.

That said, if the proposed regulations are enacted, new territory will be opened to innovative firms rushing to develop new, BSEE-compliant technology. Cameron appears sure to be one of them.

20,000 psi under the seaYet, even in facing the challenges of developing new equipment, Yenzer remained buoyant. There arent a lot of barriers other than funding, he said Weve got a lot of areas that are challenging, such as the development of 20k [equipment to withstand 20,000 psi], and operators have pushed all of us to really focus on some new technology to handle such high pressure.

Moving with the industrys growing demand for increased monitoring and predictive maintenance, he also highlighted a new Cameron-developed system called Cognition. The system is a network of sensors, data recorders and communications installed along the subsea stack, enabling both real-time monitoring and aiding potential emergency contingencies. In the future, it will also include predictive capabilities.

I think thats really going to be one of the long-term beneficial technologies that we incorporate into our pressure control world, much like its been incorporated in other industries for a long time, he said. Fixed rotating equipment has used this approach for years, but its sticking it in 10,000 feet of water and running a two-mile connection cable and running data up and down in that environment thats challenging.

The tougher market has also pushed the company into a more evaluation-based approach to technology. Yenzer talks of a system which involves more preliminary analyses to really focus on the projects that are going to bring most value to the customers. This can be a challenge in itself engineers relish in designing things that are cool, but may not necessarily be practical but a more diligent method of new product design (NPD) ensures that the good ideas are marketable and developed correctly and the bad ideas are not.

It also takes a very democratic approach to idea generation. We solicit ideas internally through the companys webpage, Yenzer added. Anybody that has an idea is free to write it down and send it in and it will get a look. This often leads to interesting submissions from staff on the operational front line. Some of the best ideas come from the far out places, a lot of service hands and folks like that have a lot of good ideas. Theyre out there and they see things and they only have to fill in the blanks.

Perhaps most encouraging is that, despite the pressure, uncertainty and difficulty of the past year, that spirit of openness and innovation appears to be unwavering. My goal for everybody here is to have more good development projects than we have resources to execute, Yenzer said. And thats still the case. Long may that continue. n

Contact: Timothy TaylorMarketing Communications Manager, Drilling SystemsTel: +1 281 901 3226Email: [email protected]

Cameron BOP equipment stacked in

Berwick, Louisiana

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AS costs continue to be shed across the industry, drilling operations are a prime target. For some operators the solution may simply be to cancel well programmes and not drill at all, but for many others it will involve drilling smarter. Refracking is catching on in the US, new shale gas exploration is continuing in places like Argentina and Australia, and field development programmes are pushing on in Eastern Iraq and even in the North Sea.

To meet that demand, small companies and innovative start-ups continue to bring products to market. But whereas in years past these firms may have focused their efforts on offering improved drilling accuracy or production, now more than ever the dialogue centres on reducing costs and increasing uptime.

Colleen Kennedy, research analyst with Lux Research and lead author of its report on Identifying Ways to Reduce Drilling Budgets in the Low Oil Price Environment, comments: For the most part, the biggest trend this year has been on streamlining operations, cutting down drilling days and improving operations in the field as much as they can.

In preparing the report, Kennedy says that her and her colleagues chose technologies we had seen, which have potential or companies that are attempting to position themselves in that sense. The result has been a number of interesting companies and start-ups assessed by qualities such as maturity, size and revenue, and then charted on the Lux Innovation Grid (pictured). The resulting score indicates their potential to disrupt, as well as their commerciality.

Now trendingThe major trend is for anything that reduces NPT time, Kennedy states. This has naturally shifted the industrys priorities away from other areas of interest, she continues, noting: Downhole telemetry has been a major focus in the past, but some of the companies even that we ranked highly in this report have been a little slower to get their operations up to speed. Start-ups which a few years ago would have found solid support from major firms are now having to work harder to gain a toehold.

With telemetry, the technology is particularly challenging. A lot of operators want to move away from mud pulse and

Drilling technologies on the gridDespite low prices, there are a number of intriguing technologies on the drilling market. InnovOil and Lux Research analyst Colleen Kennedy take a look at a few of them

to something more advanced, Kennedy says. She cites companies such as Cold Bore Technology and OPI Downhole Technologies. The former is working on a sonic telemetry tool which, it claims, can send data thousands of times faster than mud pulse and electromagnetic telemetries, while the latters iMEC technology aims to capture energy via magnetostrictive alloys, while downhole. However, both remain in very prototypical stages.

These innovations are great in theory, Kennedy says. But its very expensive to deploy these tools for testing, and they havent quite got their innovations proven in the field yet. With few operators willing to devote time to such early stage equipment, these may remain in the development stage for the medium term.

Conversely, Hungary and Texas-based ZerLux offer laser solutions which tap into greater needs, and more immediately. Featured in the June edition of InnovOil, the company can take on a range of oilfield tasks, including lateral drilling, scale removal and perforations, with small, high-powered lasers. The companys position is that these can often perform these tasks faster and at a lower cost.

I could easily see a company like ZerLux catch on, Kennedy posits, Because their technology is twofold both for perforation and for removing scale using lasers. I think a company like that is well-positioned, especially as operators focus on corrosion and maintaining infrastructure.

Robot rocksFrom a more futuristic perspective, commercial robotic rigs appear to be well on their way to market. Maybe not in 2016, but further down the road robotic drilling systems and some of the other automated drilling rigs are going to be taking over the landscape, Kennedy assures. Norways Robotic Drilling Systems, an innovative start-up backed by Odfjell Drilling, brings equipment one might usually associate with manufacturing to the drilling floor.

The kit consists of four separate machines

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Lux Innovation Grid: Comparing drilling cost-optimising technologies

Source: Lux Research, Inc.Business Execution


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the Drill-Floor Robot, Robotic Pipe Handler, Electric Roughneck and Multi-Size Elevator which work in tandem to lift and move pipes into position while drilling.

As a general trend, Kennedy says, this should be a revolutionary proposition to operators: Youre removing people from the rig floor any time you have an automated system. Some also pick up on anomalies and reduce kicks and NPT, but ultimately a more robotic autonomous drilling system would be the way to reduce human error and increase safety.

Another firm charted on the grid is Dynamic Tubulars, a company using elastic recovery of high-strength steel pipe layers to line wells and create high-pressure seals, ideal for HP applications. Yet despite the appeal, the method does not appear proven enough to catch the wider eyes of the industry, especially given its long history of funding and field tests, she notes.

But even those firms with a sound pedigree and case histories may find it difficult gain traction with their innovations. Right now is really not a viable time for those companies, Kennedy explains. Deploying a completely new casing method is very expensive and time-intensive, she adds, something which is unlikely to hold mass-market appeal in times such as these.

Instead, she concludes, opportunists in the M&A market may mean that the technology is taken on by a larger company with a longer horizon: I think there is

definitely a future for those I can see that technology easily being picked up by a major, especially in these low prices.

An awesome waveThe seismic field has been hit particularly hard by the downturn, but, as this issue will hopefully illustrate, still shows promising signs of innovation. Waveseis, seen in the top left quadrant of the Innovation Grid, is formed of a two-person team using proprietary Revolutionary Imaging Technology (RIT) to provide high fidelity images using Reverse Time Migration (RTM), even under very challenging conditions.

According to the firm, it is currently developing a complete velocity estimation and imaging workflow based on the two-way wave-equation to solve imaging challenges, in particular for use in sub-salt fields in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. CEO Mark Roberts experience with BPs Advanced Seismic Imaging R&D Team suggests the company is well-placed to take advantage of the relatively undiminished interest in surveying these regions.

Kennedy agrees, noting: I think theres high potential, theyre using some different techniques. When you look at the company overall, its two people using cloud computing to process data, so I think one of the only hurdles for them right now is getting data to test from potential clients.

Waveseis business model is also an indication that small-scale companies still have the potential to weather the proverbial

market storm with good business and good ideas. For start-ups, Kennedy says, companies on the smaller side which arent running high expenses will be able to weather it. What has had a negative impact is the lack of support for trialling innovations in the field, either as a result of conservative outlook on production, or a lack of funds. Maybe 70% of the companies weve talked to said that they might have been in discussions about field trials or potential technology partnerships and that once prices fell, they fell through. Many are now recovering from that and still trying to get a foot in the door, Kennedy adds.

With predictions appearing to converge on an outlook for 2016, at least the relative calm in the medium term should make for a stable market if a somewhat depressed one. But what is perhaps most interesting about Luxs findings is that that the greatest hurdle for start-ups right now may simply be the same hurdle they have always encountered getting their innovation recognised and proven in the field. For those which can succeed in doing so, the future is likely to be as bright as ever. n

Luxs report Identifying Ways to Reduce Drilling Budgets in the Low Oil Price Environment is available here:portal.luxresearchinc.com/research/report_excerpt/20085

Contact: Carole JacquesEmail: [email protected]

Robotic Drilling Systems Drill-floor Robot DFR-1500

Cold Bore Technologys sonic telemetry tool

DRilling/SEiSmiC


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Centrica Energy Norway has used an innovative new technique to drill a pilot hole for shallow gas at its Butch field, north of Ekofisk in the Norwegian North Sea. Together with Island Offshore it combined traditional coiled tubing drilling (CTD) and downhole equipment from Baker Hughes, in combination with a mobile well intervention vessel. Centrica says this method, tested for the first time in the oil and gas industry, is significantly cheaper and safer than using a fixed rig for the same task.

The work was carried out by Island Offshores Mobile Offshore Unit Island Constructor, which drilled a pilot hole down to 360 metres below the seabed. The aim was to determine, before full production drilling began, whether or not there were pockets of shallow gas present in the formations. If found, these hidden gas pockets could cause a potential blowout in an early drilling phase.

Instead of using a marine riser, the coil tube is kept in tension between the vessel and the subsea injector by means of a second on-board injector. The tube itself does not rotate, but pressurised fluid inside activates a hydraulic motor, causing the bit to rotate. The subsea injector moves the tube in and out of the well. On a normal semi-submersible rig there will be only one surface injector, and you need to run a rigid riser between the rig and the seabed to support the coil, so that it doesnt bend out to the side. The fact that we have the coil tubing in open sea saves a lot of time, and a riser is also an expensive piece of equipment, Island Offshores Top Hole Drilling Manager Per Buset explains.

The operation was planned to last seven days, but was finished in four. And on this occasion, no shallow gas was found, allowing the hole to be plugged

with cement, and a fixed rig to be moved in to start drilling the production wells in safety.

Road testThe technology was developed several years ago by Island Offshore, but had not been put to the test until last year. It was then that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration needed someone to drill for core samples under the seabed, as part of their Rogfast undersea road tunnel project, outside Stavanger.

Centrica personnel heard about this project and visited the drilling vessel during the operation. That confirmed our belief that it might be possible to use the same method for the drilling of pilot holes in the oil and gas business, to check

Centrica pioneers safer and cheaper drilling techniqueCentrica and Island Offshore have adapted road drilling technology into a revolutionary application for shallow gas extraction at the Butch field in the North Sea, writes Tim Skelton

for the presence of shallow gas, David Robertson, Centrica Norways Senior Drilling Engineer told InnovOil.

The Butch pilot hole was drilled using the same equipment, but far greater planning and preparation had to go into ensuring the safety of the vessel and its crew, in the event that there might be a release of gas at the seabed. Also, a greater focus had to be put on the more challenging conditions at the drilling location, in order to minimise the risk of getting the equipment stuck. The operation fell under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), which requires far more stringent levels of risk mitigation, contingency planning and crew training for oil and gas operations conducted in Norwegian waters, Robertson explains. Some modifications to the existing equipment had to be made to comply with these requirements.

Coiled tubing drilling within the oil and gas sector has traditionally been done from fixed platforms on wells that have already been partially or fully completed. This marks the first time that the open-water approach has been attempted. For the Butch pilot hole operation some of the equipment that is normally used at surface was placed on the seabed, Robertson says. In effect the equipment was modified to make it waterproof. This is unique and allows coiled tubing drilling to be used at locations where there is no existing infrastructure.

Great successThe operation experienced no major difficulties and was judged a great success. A vessel will move more than a semi-submersible rig due to waves and wind, but we had good weather during the operation and had no problem with this, Per Buset says.

In fact, as David Robertson explains,

DRilling/SEiSmiC

Subsea injector with power from ROV


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the method even helped solve one of the potential difficulties of using a traditional rig in waters that are only 66 metres deep. Anchoring a semi-submersible rig in waters of this depth can be a challenge, he says. The more modern semi-submersibles have dynamic positional capabilities, but these are at the top end of the cost scale. Jack-up rigs are often used in shallow waters, but it isnt considered good practice to use them for drilling shallow gas pilot holes, as they cannot be moved off location if a blowout is experienced, thus increasing the risk to personnel and equipment.

On the other hand, an open-water vessel can move quickly away from the drilling site in the event of a blowout. Moreover, because a flexible coiled tube is used, the vessel can also maintain contact with the well, allowing it to keep pumping mud down into it to stop a blowout, while at the same time moving to a more secure area. This results in substantially safer operations. The greater mobility and independence offered by using a Light Well Intervention vessel also resulted in a much shorter operation as the vessel was able to travel to, and from, the location much more quickly than a drilling rig, Robertson adds.

The collaboration with Island Offshore resulted in significant cost savings. Even allowing for the variability of rig rates, Centrica estimates that the new techniques allowed it to complete drilling at around half the cost of using a traditional rig. The need for logistic support is also reduced.

Centrica has no plans to drill another pilot hole in the immediate future. But in the meantime, Island Offshore has been contacted by several major oil companies to enquire about using the same method to drill pilot holes for their own projects. Given the cost savings we experienced, it would be surprising if at least one of these operators did not go ahead with a similar operation in the near future, David Robertson says. Nothing is signed yet, but we are in dialogue with clients both in Norway and in UK for potential work next year, Per Buset confirms.

While the technique is currently limited to the drilling of shallow holes in the formations closest to the seabed, Robertson believes the natural next step is to further develop the equipment to allow similar coiled tubing operations to be carried out on existing, live, subsea wells where pressure control is required. Currently it is only possible to carry

out intervention operations from a Light Well Intervention (LWI) vessel using wireline equipment. This equipment has limitations to what can be achieved in the well, he explains. Using coiled tubing, he says, would allow a greater number of operations to be carried out without the need to bring in an expensive drilling, or intervention, rig.

Operations such as scale milling, sand fill removal and plug and abandonment work, for example, could be performed from the back of an LWI vessel, effectively allowing it to act as a Heavy Well Intervention vessel. This would be of great benefit to operators who wish to perform maintenance on wells to increase production, but at a reduced cost, he adds.

With regards to future development, Robertson says Island Offshore is actively planning the idea to perform intervention work on live, subsea wells. The option to form a partnership with an operating company, to advance the development of this concept, is something they may well be interested in, he says. It may not be long before the industry sees its first successful intervention, or drilling, operation using the same subsea coiled tubing method. n

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Islands Offshores Mobile Offshore Unit - the Island Constructor


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Not many things connect fishing rods to downhole chemicals. As such, the story behind the development of Betafib MCF, the latest oil and gas-focused biopolymer from Cosun Biobased Products, is perhaps one of the more unusual.

Betafib is a natural cellulosic microfibre biopolymer derived from vegetable products, and is used as a viscosifier in drilling muds though this was not always the case. Business development manager Francesco Staps explains: Originally, someone picked up an idea to use natural microfibres for fibre reinforcement in fishing rods. That idea then turned to fibre reinforcement in engineering plastics. However, this was not as straightforward as they had originally hoped. This process was very troublesome because the plastics became very viscous, he continues.

But with one avenue closed off, another opened. The viscous nature of the fibres alerted the team to the possibility of using the biopolymer as a dedicated viscosifier, suitable for use in detergents, construction and, of course, oil and gas. In its new form, Betafib aims to offer users maximum suspension efficacy whilst remaining an easily pumpable fluid.

As we have discussed in previous issues of InnovOil, a sizable proportion of efficiency increases and production gains over recent years have been enabled by various chemical agents, especially the US shale boom. The evolution of better tracers, polymers, surfactants, anti-scalants, biocides and more have, in

many cases, enabled operators and service providers to raise, control and even re-start wells, while new chemistries have enabled further innovations up and down the supply chain.

As such, more novel chemical innovations are coming to market, and Cosun Biobased Products an innovation-focused subsidiary of the Dutch agro-industrial cooperative Royal Cosun is joining the movement. Overseeing the products and innovations which fall outside the groups regular business gives it a fairly broad perspective and reach, in terms of commercial applications.

No contestUpon lifting the focus from using the polymer to engineer plastics, the team turned its attention to rheological applications. Comparing Betafib to other solutions on the market suggested very favourable characteristics, Staps says. Thats when the real benefits came to light We found out that if we compare ourselves to materials like Xanthan [gum], then to some extent we do the same thing but with one major difference. Xanthan

Betafib viscosifiers with cosunFrancesco Staps of Cosun Biobased Products explains what makes Betafib MCF one of the highest performing and sustainable viscosifiers for drilling muds

dissolves into a liquid, while our Betafib does not. It builds a physical network in the liquid.

This physical network allows Betafib to carry significantly higher amounts of solids in suspension than a substance like Xanthan that dissolves. It makes for an ideal product for use in drilling muds to pump debris and sand back to surface, and in surfactants for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). It also means that high performance can be achieved at low dosages. This physical network can carry all kinds of stuff not up to steel bearings, but we can carry nylon bearings, Staps notes.

Lab tests (pictured) have shown that 3/16 (4.76-mm) nylon bearings remained suspended at the same height after 48 hours in fluid viscosified to 1,000 centipoise (cP) with Betafib. Both Xanthan and carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) deposited the bearing within 45 minutes.

Staying stableThe structuring strength of Betafib is balanced with shear thinning properties, meaning drilling fluids can be formulated

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and pumped with maximum ease, before doing its job under low- and no-shear conditions downhole.

Perhaps more importantly, Betafib is also highly stable, maintaining these properties under a variety of challenging well conditions. With increased well alkalinity and a move towards more high-pressure/high temperature wells (HPHT), operators are in need of more robust and versatile fluids to cope with these >150C and >10,000psi conditions.

This stability is a result of the fact that Betafib is derived from natural, chemically unmodified fibres. Its mainly cellulose. As a chemical component, cellulose is very inert, so more extreme pH levels do not hinder Betafib s functionality it will not degenerate, it will not collapse. Betafib remains stable at temperatures up to temperatures of 180C (356F), and is relatively unaffected by pH levels from 1-14.

This stability holds even under the presence of various electrolytes, Staps adds. At electrolyte concentrations summed up to a level of 30%, Betafib remained compatible with both sodium and calcium chloride, sodium and

magnesium sulphate, sodium carbonate and sodium metasilicate.

Those properties are the result of our processing, Staps says. We have a very robust processing system, meaning that the material that leaves our facility isnt influenced by temperature swings, pH swings or pressure pulses and it can withstand them all.

Potential partnersFor an industry that is increasingly concerned with sustainability, the use of renewable and biodegradable drilling fluids is also a positive opportunity, he points out. This is one of our own side streams, since Betafib is derived from sugar beet pulp. Theres a large abundance and we have direct access to the raw materials. This makes us backward-integrated. And price stability is one of the advantages that comes with this security of supply.

Although direct feedback from operators and third parties is limited chemical formulations remain notoriously secretive Staps has been pleased with the news from clients so far. What we hear is that the particle-carrying properties

are exceptional, especially under harsh conditions even in HPHT, this material can still do the job, he concludes.

With Betafib now patented, Cosun is looking for new partners interested in formulating advanced applications. We tend to work in tandem with partners. If a product is not good enough yet, we solicit the input of the market to improve it and to meet their needs.

What next?Cosun is in the process of commissioning the Betafib production facility. It is expected to come on line in the first half of 2016.

With the knowledge that Betafib can structure drilling muds, the company believes the technology can be extended out across a range of oil and gas applications. The biobased structurant can help companies make the most of a reservoir, not only in drilling fluids but also when being used in fracking and/or cementing applications. n

Contact: Francesco StapsTel: +31 6 4619 8729Email: [email protected]: www.cosunbiobased.com

Nylon bearings remained suspended at the same height after 48 hours in fluid viscosified with Betafib, but not with Xanthan and carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC)

Betafib rheology under a microscope Betafib rheological profile

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ProfeSSor Maarten de Hoop is making a model of the earth using seismic energy as a probe. It may take some time. What I really want to do and Im working hard on it is reconstruct the entire complex interior of our planet and develop a complete understanding of the interaction of the many physical processes operating through an extreme range of scales, he enthuses.

Such a monumental task is in actual fact typical of the kind of work he does solving seemingly impossible problems via a variety of novel mathematical and computational techniques.

Earlier this year, InnovOil sat down with de Hoop at Rice University in Houston. He had only recently moved to the energy capital from Purdue University, Indiana, to take up a newly created Simons Chair position. The move was made possible via a Simons Math + X grant, a programme which creates joint chairs, shared equally between a mathematics department and a partner department. In this case, de Hoops chair is in Computational and Applied Mathematics with Earth Science.

More specifically, it recognises his ground-breaking work in seismology and seismic inverse problems. I work in a particular branch of mathematics called microlocal analysis, applied harmonic analysis and inverse problems, he explains. Seismology, both controlled-source exploration and earthquake global, is an exploratory field for this type of mathematics. There is virtually no better application you can dream of than seismology.

As a result, he is also no stranger to the energy industry. A significant part of his work has been funded by or adopted by industry, and his professional life

includes a decade of work with major firms, including Royal Dutch Shell, and a position as a senior research scientist and programme leader with the Schlumberger Gould Research Center, formerly Schlumberger Cambridge Research. As such, his recent move to Houston will enable closer co-operation between his research group and the energy sector.

His efforts, however, are not directed towards developing the latest commercial products, but instead breaking fundamentally new ground. Im not so much doing what other consortia dofilling in the blanks in existing technology or making it incrementally better. Im working on what we could do next.

In basic terms, this involves using massive computer power and architecture, complex algorithms and, most recently, deep learning to exploit seismic data in ways which have never been attempted before.

The inverse is trueIn more complex terms, your head may begin to spin.

De Hoop starts slow: My main interest is in inverse problems. The field is so-called because one begins with the results in this case seismic data before positing and calculating the meaning and causes of each constituent or component in the data.

As well as proving that something can be done, uniqueness and stability, I like to work from explicit reconstruction algorithms.

That data can come from multiple sources. Where the industry uses active sources for marine and land acquisition, the global earth field uses ambient noise, tremors and earthquakes. Now, however, as de Hoop says, Were looking

Deep learning the next seismic event?We sat down with Maarten de Hoop, Rice Universitys Simons Chair in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Earth Science, to discuss deep learning, big data and his ground-breaking work in the field of seismology

at resolving multi-scale structures with material properties that we havent been able to resolve before.

Rice University has a pedigree in attempting to solve these problems, having been the home of the Rice Inversion Project, an industry-academic consortium launched by mathematician Bill Symes, since the early 1990s. The proximity to Symes and other departments including the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology and the Computational and Applied Mathematics and Earth Science departments will allow even greater collaboration in the fields of inverse problems, imaging and geodynamics research.

Naturally, doing so is not necessarily straightforward. The problems de Hoop and his colleagues deal with are very large. As a consequence, we are involved in extreme-scale computing, and even with present day supercomputers, there are fundamental bottlenecks. The issue is less

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that we lack processing power, de Hoop says, but more that we require faster ways of communication between processors and cores.

As a result, he concludes that We cannot just say we will try to be smarter what we need to do is do it fundamentally differently.

Controlled accuracy computation, in concert with the limited accuracy of the data, and randomisation are key ingredients in the development of fast algorithms with low storage acting on big data, he explains. This said, we know mathematically that current data acquisition is intrinsically redundant; in our research programme we use machine learning to identify information content, while opening the way of discovery with data we have not associated with models yet.

One of the first tasks is to streamline the computing process with an algorithm that knows what to compute and what

to ignore, while preserving the accuracy of the result. From a mathematics point of view the question is therefore: where is the information? If you know where the information is you can obviously do a major reduction in acquisition cost, he explains. This involves modern numerical linear algebra on top of the analysis of non-linear inverse problems, and thats where you break fundamental barriers.

Big data for big problemsThe work of De Hoop and his collaborators is revolutionary largely because few if any have combined and connected the fields of deep learning and inverse problems. This territory is, he says, largely unexplored in the seismic industry.

This is where the field of machine learning comes into play. The technology has made headlines this month with Googles announcement of a smart-reply system: a new version of its email app

which analyses an email and offers users a selection of context-sensitive replies. For de Hoops purposes, it is a little more complex.

The seismic data are mapped, non-linearly, into another domain, a high-dimensional feature space in which an unsupervised learning stage is initiated. In the feature space, the data can be represented on a very low-dimensional digital structure.

Once you have this structure then the beauty is you have a notion of distance. You find out where the information is and then look where the data are alike, what we call classification. Its like image recognition, he continues.

Though counterintuitive, seismic data are no longer treated as the solution to a wave equation, but as a series of patterns and relationships. If you follow the classical differential equation approach using wave fields, you use sampling theorems. For example, I go back to the

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What I really want to do and

Im working hard on it is

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planet

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signal analysis and put so many sensors out to make sure I recover enough of the wiggles and oscillations without losing anything. Learning theory tells you something totally different its not a matter of wiggles, its a matter of patterns.

The implications of this logic are profound. The computer can recognise tiny patterns, illusive or undetectable to the eyes of humans, and can establish those patterns faster, with less computational time and from a vastly reduced sample. Once I know that, I dont have to follow classical sampling, I can look at information content. I just need enough points to recover this manifold.

This is the stage that De Hoops research has reached, with algorithms which allow the computer to recognise persistent data constituents. Weve succeeded in getting a distance function and a sort of a grammar of seismic data that doesnt come out of a differential equation any more; it comes out of big data. That, roughly speaking, is where we are. It is an intriguing field of research with a lack of proofs and a significant gap between mathematical inverse theory and deep learning, though we have plenty of conjectures. The area is extremely hot.

Seismic drones?While the findings and the mechanics of this are ground-breaking, its implications

for the industry and for geoscience are also significant. One can imagine a seismic data-gathering system with which one learns from current data where one should optimally acquire more data. This is what can be done with drones in principle, though sensors would intermittently have to be on the ground.

Inverse problems theory and deep learning could also transform the depth of our understanding of geological and sedimentary processes through information gleaned from seismic data. De Hoop and his collaborators think in terms of textures.

Textures are the result of physical and chemical processes which, with the correct interpretation and analysis, can be understood and predicted.

Strong scale coupling seems to play a critical role. Transforming the reconstructions to feature spaces and invoking techniques from machine learning allow us to capture the subsurface viewed in terms of textures, mixtures and geometry in a stochastic sense, de Hoop explains. As a realisation of a random process, we can thus infer information through classification across scales well beyond standard limitations on resolution. In comparison, traditional seismic imaging technology is based on a simple separation of two scales.

Theories, algorithms and procedures

which follow the mentioned framework, as he and his colleagues are working on, enable one to find a data model for the earth. It is this Herculean task, on planetary scale, which De Hoop is just beginning to realise.

Physical processes in Earths interior are controlled by rather few parameters, and this is encoded in the data, he says. The art is to capture that in one way or another, in a data driven fashion, on the one hand while revealing the coupling of the many processes on the other hand.

As we have alluded to, solving these problems is likely to take some time, though he remains encouragingly optimistic and ambitious about its prospects. Were working extremely hard, and weve built a new reference model of the earth. You need to set the bar high! he exclaims.

De Hoops research may not be a silver-bullet technology for the industry in the short or even the medium term. Likewise, the entrenched present understanding of seismology, especially in a conservative industry and a low-price market, means we are still likely to rely on trucks and air guns for the foreseeable future. But the models made by de Hoop and his colleagues now may well be the first wave of new, complex and detailed pictures of the earth, and may even set the technological standard for the next fifty years of geological exploration. n

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Our ambition is simple to fundamentally change the way our industry explores for its resources because we believe our technology is a game changer.We invented the innovative Atomic Dielectric Resonance (ADR) scanner - a breakthrough in the exploration industry. Sending a narrow beam of energy into the ground using micro and radio waves, the beam reflected back has a fingerprint that positively identifies and maps hydrocarbons and minerals. This reduces the need for drilling lots of exploratory boreholes and can SAVE UP TO 90% OF THE COST of drilling projects.

Our exploration projects have taken us around the globe in search of oil, gas, water, coal and other minerals. Thecompany has expanded from our head office in Edinburgh in the UK to Houston in the US, Canada and Australia and we are continuing to grow our business worldwide.

If you would like to talk to us about how we can make your exploration projects greener, cheaper, faster, deeper and better please contact us at revolution@ adrokgroup.com or visit www.adrokgroup.com

ADROKGROUP.COM


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In the August issue of InnovOil we reported on GPUSA, a California-based company that had recently developed a new line of seismic sources. We recently spoke to the companys CEO, Jim Andersen, who told InnovOil that interest in the applications from oil majors and leading oilfield service companies had taken off. GPUSA has subsequently improved the technology so its products provide solutions to problems that are frequently identified as being disruptive by the industry.

Latest modelIn October GPUSA unveiled its newest patent pending MV-24 marine vibrator (with four times the active surface area of the earlier MV-12 transducer) at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) in New Orleans.

Working in conjunction with Lenze Americas factory automation team, GPUSA engineers added the

Distributed Seismic Source eliminating the ghost of Sources past?GPUSA has upgraded its Distributed Seismic Source for marine applications, which can eliminate source ghost reflections from seismic operations

capability to adjust precisely the volume displacement of the MV-24 source as well as the frequency using the existing Lenze Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)

touch screen.This feature allows the operator to maintain a

relatively constant sound pressure level (SPL) as

the source is swept across its standard 5

to 100 Hz operating band. But with the new MV-24 transducer faceplate now displacing approximately 1.5 inches at low frequency and about 1/16 of an inch at

high frequency, a rugged, flexible,

watertight seal had to be developed.

An additional key feature of the upgrade

is GPUSAs steel-belted radial tire housing. With

flexible sidewalls designed for 100M+ cycles and a bead ring tire

seal similar to that proven on some of the worlds toughest off road vehicles, GPUSA believes it will stand up to rigours of oilfield use.

Another step forward is that the marine vibrators design should be able to eliminate the source ghost reflection and its associated ghost notch, the most undesirable phenomena associated with existing marine seismic sources.

Traditional seismic sources, such as air guns, cannot operate at the waters surface because they require some amount of water column above them for proper operation.

This means that when the source goes off, energy reflected from the surface

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The MV-24 Marine Vibrator

has 24 inch diameter opposed piston

transducers sealed to a rugged high performance

flexible tire bead for long life


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(delayed by the travel time to the surface and back) combines with the downward pulse, leading to destructive interference (ghost notch).

Typically, source and receiver depth are selected to keep the ghost notch out of the desired frequency band, rather than being selected for optimal acoustic performance. Given that GPUSAs marine

vibrator can operate at the surface, there is no ghost reflection.

GPUSAs marine vibrator sources can be mounted on the underside of specially designed surface craft and used for streamer, OBC or transition zone applications.

Providing solutions to problems such as ghost reflection and ghost notch

demonstrates the strength of GPUSAs enhanced applications and meets the industrys need for improved seismic sources.. n

Contact:James Andersen, President & CEOEmail: [email protected] Web: www.gpusa-ca.com

DRilling/SEiSmiC

Saltel Industries has developed, tested and successfully trialed the use of an expandable stainless steel Patch (steel tube + outer skin with a pro led sealing system) for perforation shut-o .

Run on tubing or e-CTU, it is expanded downhole using an in atable packer to create a high pressure inner lining inside the casing.

Applications include water and gas shut-o , modifying injection pro les, and repairing short lengths of damaged or corroded casing.

Bene ts A proven technology ( + 500 patches

set worldwide since 2010 ) 97 % Success ratio Small run-in diameter,

simple setting process Minimum reduction in ID,

Large through passage A reactive skilled operations team

available worldwide Fast feasibility study,

job evaluation and proposal Patch availability : short lead times

& fast settingwww.saltel-industries.com/io1

www.saltel-industries.com/io1

Saltel Expandable Steel PatchAn enhanced Oil Recovery Solution

Innovative setting processwith high pressure in atable packercontrasts with traditional cone setting

Right: IP65 Enclosure provides protection from dust, oil and water wash down. Electronics meets UL-508C standards for Industrial Control Equipment. The system is completely controlled via an easy to use touch screen and can also be controlled remotely via the Internet.

InnovOil September 2015page 24

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Mercury is a naturally occurring trace element found in fossil fuels (see table 1). It is cycled and recycled constantly in the environment and is present due to natural and anthropogenic activities. As reliance on hydrocarbons has increased, the amount of mercury emitted into the environment has also risen.

Mercury is highly toxic to humans and animals, so ensuring the element does not contaminate the environment and enter the food chain is a key concern.

As the industry becomes more socially responsible, companies are increasingly looking for effective technologies to remove mercury from water.

Mercury removal: current practiceIn oil and gas processing, mercury is removed from hydrocarbon streams to protect equipment from corrosion, minimise emissions to the environment,

meet product

specifications, prevent mercury poisoning

of precious metal catalysts, and reduce difficulties in the handling and disposal of contaminated metal. The prevailing species in these streams is elemental mercury.

Johnson Matthey, a UK-based leader in speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies, provides industry-proven PURASPEC

JM for the removal of elemental mercury from hydrocarbon gases and liquids. It is a fixed bed technology that uses highly porous metal sulphide granules. PURASPECJM completely removes elemental mercury to prevent distribution through the plant and emissions to the environment.

The technology is in the granule. Elemental mercury chemically reacts with the active metal sulphide bound within the granule so that it is trapped in a stable form, this makes PURASPEC JM

Managing mercuryJohnson Mattheys fixed bed technology PURASPEC JM TM is a simple and effective way to remove mercury from hydrocarbon gas and liquid processing

effective in both gas and liquid applications.

The problemIn oil and gas processing, mercury partitions to different streams largely depending on the solubility of species in given fluids (see table 2).

The predominant species of mercury in produced water are ionic and colloidal. For offshore operators produced water is treated to meet discharge specifications or is re-injected. For onshore plants, produced or process water is treated to meet discharge specifications or sent to a downstream effluent treatment process.

Water is a non-saleable product and with limited downstream equipment to

Table 1: Mercury Levels and Species in Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuel Mercury Compounds present AmountCoal Pyrites 10 100+ ppbOil Elemental and organomercury 10 30 000 ppbNatural Gas Elemental Trace up to 4000 g/m3

Table 2: Approx solubility of mercury compounds in liquids at 25C

Species Water (ppm) Oil (ppm)Elemental (Hg0) 0.05 2Ionic (e.g. HgCl2) 70000 >10Colloidal (e.g. HgS) 0.01


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protect, there is not a significant driver for operators to remove mercury from a process perspective. For mercury being discharged overboard, there are environmental regulations in place in areas with high mercury concentrations, such as the Gulf of Thailand. Here, there is a maximum level of 10 ppb of mercury for overboard discharge. But globally there are few enforced restrictions for operators to

monitor, report and remove mercury from produced water.

The solutionExisting methods for removing

mercury from water can be chemical and process intensive,

requiring large footprints. These processes require the dosing of

chemicals and additives for the flocculation of mercury, which then

needs to be separated and disposed of. The large footprints make installation

difficult for existing or new facilities where space is limited.

Johnson Matthey has received an increasing number of enquiries for the removal of mercury from water, with outlet specifications ranging from 1 10 ppb w/w Hg.

Using expertise in fixed bed technologies, Johnson Matthey has developed a new sorbent for the removal of ionic mercury, such as dissolved HgCl

2. The technology is a stabilised thiol-modified support with high mercury affinity. Mercury chemically binds to the active thiol sites so that it is permanently removed from the produced water in a stable form.

The patented material offers the benefits of low capital cost and no utility requirements. A manufacturing route has

been established, and the material can be supplied for customer trials and at full scale.

With the concept having been proven in lab tests, the PURASPECJM technology has been optimised to improve performance. Mercury removal rate limitations have been investigated and this work has resulted in an optimised granule size to enhance kinetics, whilst maintaining operational practicality.

Integrated technologyIn collaboration with leading filtration company PECOFacetTM, a CLARCOR company, Johnson Matthey has incorporated the sorbent into an integrated technology for the complete removal of mercury from produced water streams. Using specialist equipment and a scaled-down version of the technology, the system has been developed and optimised in laboratory trials.

With on-site testing and analytical capability, Johnson Matthey and PECOFacet are able to work with operators to develop bespoke onshore and offshore solutions to remove mercury from process water streams. n

Contact: Heather WhittenburyTel: +44 (0)1642 522 741Email: [email protected]: www.jmprotech.com/puraspec

The Worlds Largest Subsea Exhibition and ConferenceAberdeen AECC 03-05 Feb 2016

Principal Media SponsorConference SponsorORGANISED BY Principal Media Partner

Supporting Sponsors

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The Worlds Largest Subsea Exhibition and ConferenceAberdeen AECC 03-05 Feb 2016

Principal Media SponsorConference SponsorORGANISED BY Principal Media Partner

Supporting Sponsors

11294-SubseaExpo16-InnovOil-AD-210x297-PRESS.indd 1 19/11/2015 14:58

Innovoil amongst other industry observers has charted the progress of trailblazers Cyberhawk Innovations for the past few years. This month brought the news that it had undertaken another pioneering operation, succeeding in inspecting a cargo oil tank on an operational floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, using a remotely operated aerial vehicle (ROAV).

The Scotland-based aerial inspection and surveying company has been surveying infrastructure since 2009 and has used the technology offshore since early 2012. Since then, many of the jobs previously undertaken by rope access technicians have been replaced by these airborne drones, with the aim of saving time and money, and reducing the safety risk to workers.

The trend now appears to be continuing with tank inspection, replacing workers who would otherwise manually inspect high-stress areas within cargo tanks, such as stiffeners, brackets, bracing, webs and stringers.

It builds on a wider movement to increase the efficiency and automation of tank inspection. For instance, a similar approach is being investigated by Teledyne Seabotix, using its tracked, little benthic crawler (LBC) vehicle. Currently used to inspect ship hulls, Teledyne believes it may be possible to employ a similar modified vehicle to inspect fuel tanks with cargo still inside (see InnovOil Issue 30 from February 2015).

With tanksIn the case of the most recent operation, Cyberhawks two-man ROAV team consisting of an ROAV pilot and inspection engineer were dispatched to Maersk Oils Gryphon Alpha FPSO to inspect one of its twelve tanks. The vessel itself has a total storage capacity of 525,000 barrels, across 12 gas-blanketed cargo tanks.

The inspection of the critical components of the tank was completed within a day, although this speed is likely to improve significantly, it is already much faster than the 3-4 days needed for

a similar rope-access inspection project. In cases where action is needed or closer manual inspection is necessary, the operator can use the data gathered by the drone to inform and plan accordingly, allowing for lower-cost and ideally more effective maintenance.

The Cyberhawk UAV itself can be equipped with a variety of tools, from a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) or compact camera, to a thermal camera or gas sensors. The system is flown by a pilot, working on a line-of-sight basis, with an inspection engineer in attendance. Each flight is 15 minutes, but multiple batteries are used to ensure the inspection is continuous all day. Working in confined conditions, however, brings added challenges.

Cyberhawk founder and CTO Malcolm Connolly, who was part of the team offshore on the FPSO for the duration of the project, explained to InnovOil: The tank environment is very different from what we normally fly in for our other inspections projects. Its dirty, dark, noisy, and there is restricted space with no GPS signal. This environment presented a whole host of obvious and

an inspector callsCyberhawk Innovations continues to push the envelope of ROAV operations, having conducted the worlds first drone cargo tank inspection with Maersk

non-obvious technical challenges that we had to overcome in order to fly a ROAV. Maersk set us a difficult task requiring a lot of testing and modification to our equipment prior to mobilisation. We had to make changes to our hardware, software and procedures in order to produce the desired results. Its been worth all the effort, though; this is a significant step forwards for inspection

in confined spaces. Our next big challenge is to be able to carry out the

inspection remotely without having to put people in the tank at all he added.

Phillip Buchan, Cyberhawks commercial

director, added that Maersk had been early adopters and strong supporters of the technology, and that this relationship had led to co-operation on this new service. Weve worked with Maersk a lot over the past few years, theyre really happy with the work that weve done so there has been quite a bit of trust built up there, he said in a phone interview.

We have completed many projects with Maersk Oil since first working together in 2013. Both parties were keen to develop an effective ROAV inspection method for FPSO cargo oil tanks, and the successful completion of this project has demonstrated that this is now possible,

Crucially, the proven system established by Maersk and Cyberhawk means that the inspection technique can now be applied to a whole range of areas. Its now a new service that we can offer. Weve proven the concept and its something that we can now confidently do. There are applications in lots of different areas from FPSOs, bulk carriers and tankers, even onshore in places like power station boilers and oil storage tanks, Buchan enthused.

Weve had great feedback, he concluded. Its a significant step forward in this sector. n

Contact: Philip Buchan, Commercial DirectorsTel: +44 (0)1506 592 187Email: [email protected]: www.thecyberhawk.com


NEWSBASE

Wintershall has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) to co-operate on research and development (R&D) for chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) technologies tailored to raise recovery rates at the emirates fields.

The state-owned oil firm has experimented with various advanced recovery techniques at its maturing and most-complex fields and has followed an industry trend in signing up international oil company (IOC) partners to assist in developing bespoke solutions.

Globally, chemical injection is the least-used of the three main EOR techniques but has been gaining ground, with Oman the regional pioneer and a pilot project under way in Abu Dhabi outside ADNOCs purview.

Meanwhile, German firm Wintershall has a stated goal of making Abu Dhabi the focus of its planned regional expansion and the firm cites ownership by the worlds largest chemicals company, BASF, as offering particular advantages in the new ADNOC partnership. The firms proprietary schizophyllan bio-polymer, which has been field-tested at Wintershalls Bockstedt facility in Germany, is likely to be part of the latest deal.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on the sidelines of the ADIPEC conference on November 10 and commits Wintershall and ADNOC to developing chemical recovery technologies customised to meet the conditions of high temperatures and high salinity found in the carbonate reservoirs of local oil fields. Laboratory trials are envisaged as leading to a pilot project, but the fields to be focussed

nEWS in BRiEf

on remain unspecified.Wintershalls existing presence in the

emirate comprises an agreement signed in 2012 in partnership with Austrias OMV to carry out appraisal on the shallow-water Shuweihat sour gas and condensate field a vital project as the emirate seeks to urgently raise increasingly stretched domestic gas production through the technically-challenging and costly development of sour gas reserves. The first appraisal well was spudded in late 2014 with promising results reported.

The company was also said to be among those originally invited to bid to become one of ADNOCs new foreign partners in the reconstituted Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations (ADCO) concession on the basis of its EOR expertise, which the government has deemed a key factor in its selection although the German firm has not recently been linked with the ongoing negotiations over the remaining stakes.

ADNOC has signed a series of R&D agreements with IOCs over the past year in the service of the broad three-fold goal of improving recovery rates to around 70% from around 50%, of maintaining output levels at older fields, and of developing new fields previously considered too technically challenging and thus costly to develop.

Super-major BP, which openly remains in the running for an ADCO stake, signed a deal in late 2014 to work on adapting a new water-flooding EOR technology for local purposes while Frances Total signed a deal in January shortly before becoming the first of the state firms new ADCO partners to assist in the mapping of the emirates

deep carbonate reservoirs to determine their suitability for various EOR extraction techniques.

A more wide-ranging agreement entailing investment estimated at US$500 million was signed in February with US firm Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to carry out studies and exploration at the Ghasha and Hail fields both had previously been passed over for development.

ADNOC is also working in parallel to develop local expertise in order to gain more lasting returns from the particular technology partnerships, announcing the planned establishment of a new research centre at its Petroleum Institute last month with funding assistance from BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Japan Oil Development Co. (JODCO).

The state oil company has begun experimental deployment of EOR technologies, with a pilot carbon dioxide (CO2) injection project at the onshore Rumiatha field and some advanced water-based technologies being trialled at the offshore Lower Zakum asset.

Testing of polymer and surfactant injection was begun by Total in 2013 at the offshore Abu Al-Bukhoosh field a mature field in production for more than 40 years which it operates in partnership with Japans Inpex.

More so than with thermal and gas-based EOR, chemical injection projects require reservoir-specific solutions, hence their general paucity compared to the alternatives. However, technological progress achieved during the sustained period of high oil prices before last years slump when many projects previously considered too costly became economically viable led to improved efficiency of the chemical injection process and lower costs while Middle Eastern producers have been forced to confront declines at their older fields only reversible by resorting to more technologically-demanding, higher-cost extraction methods.

Oman has been the pioneer in this regard, with the regions first full-scale polymer-flooding EOR project brought on stream in 2010 by the government/Shell joint venture Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) at the Marmul field arresting decline and reversing output losses.

This article was sourced from the NewsBase Middle East Oil & Gas Monitor (MEOG). For more information or to request a free trial, contact: [email protected]

wintershall teams up with aDnoc for chemical eor


NEWSBASE

cpecc sets up joint venture in Mozambique China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corp. (CPECC) has established a joint venture with ENH Logistics to work engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts in Mozambique.

The venture will prioritise engineering and construction jobs covering natural gas liquefaction, oil and gas ground facilities, pipeline and storage as well as refining projects in Mozambique.

CPECC is a unit of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) while ENH Logistics is controlled by Mozambiques stateowned Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH).

CNPC said on its website that the joint venture, which has a registered capital of US$800,000, will aim to introduce oil and gas know-how, technology and management from China to Mozambique. CPECC and ENH Logistics each have a 50% stake in the new company, Mozambique-China Petroleum.

Sources have said the joint venture has already been assured of the engineering and construction services for the Integrated Logistics Centre to support the oil and gas industry in Cabo Delgado. The infrastructure of the Integrated Logistics Centre will be ready by the third quarter of 2016. The first phase of the project will cost US$186 million.

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi, who was elected in October, is from Cabo Delgado. His election has been seen as

nEWS in BRiEf

representing a shift in the East African country, with more power being held by northern interests.

CPECC established its Mozambique outfit in 2013, the same year CNPC bought a 28.57% stake in Eni East Africa, owner of a 70% stake in the offshore Area 4 gas block in Mozambique, with an investment of US$4.2 billion.

The block is located in Mozambiques Rovuma Basin and is estimated to hold 85 trillion cubic feet (2.4 trillion cubic metres) of gas in place.

In exchange, CNPC agreed to allow Eni to conduct a joint study on the Rongchang shale gas block in Sichuan Province in southwestern China. But Eni is understood to have backed out from the study owing to the blocks limited prospectivity.Edited by Ed [email protected]

hDpe pipeline protectionGrowing urbanisation and industrialisation are increasing the risks for existing and future pipelines, as concrete slabs long used as the primary method of protection are encountering more and more limitations.

Yannick Joubeaux, CEO of French firm Overpipe commented that: This is why Overpipe developed a totally innovative solution: a 15-mm thick high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plate, which can resist the assault of a 32-tonne excavator.

Overpipe was asked by its main client, Gaz de France, to develop new concepts for mechanical protections against third-party risks. Interference comes mainly from excavators, and counts for about 50% of all accidents on oil and gas transportation lines worldwide.

Overpipe HDPE plates were immediately seen as an adequate solution to protect existing lines close to inhabited areas. They are very resistant, very light, easy to transport, easy to install (can be installed by two unskilled workers without any special tools), easy to store with the security of industrial checked production, easy to remove for inspection or repair of the pipe and a lot cheaper solution, Joubeaux added.

Over the past five years, Overpipe plates has been installed to protect buried pipelines and network by Frances main pipe owners including Gaz de France, Total and Air Liquide.OVERPIPE

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NEWSBASE

petronas awards jack-up contract to uMwMalaysian offshore services firm UMW Oil & Gas has been awarded a contract by Petronas upstream subsidiary Carigali to deploy a jack-up rig in a domestic shallow-water project.

Bursa Malaysia-listed UMW said it would drill seven wells over seven months and has an option for more. The firm did not say how much the contract was worth but a stock filing said it would contribute substantially to earnings this year and next.

The location of the contract, which began in mid-October, was not identified.

Carigali, the upstream arm of national oil company (NOC) Petronas, is engaged in a several active developments off the Sarawak and Sabah coasts of eastern Malaysia. Carigali has recently been working on extending the life of the m

Innovoil Issue 40 December 2015

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