Oil Gas Technology Roundtables

1. Through 2018 we have seen an ever increasing demand for Top Drives throughout the Russian Federation. What do you feel are the key factors which have driven top drive adoption in the region over the last few years? National Oilwell Varco: Increase of directional drilling, increase of safety requirements …

1. What is the level of demand for proppants in Russia?  How has this changed from the past 5 years? Borovichi Refractories Plant: Honestly, proppants are the “most wanted” material for oil and gas industry today. The only limits are both the number of frac fleets and the capacity of …

1. How can you characterize the current state of the Russian drilling market and what is your forecast for 2018? NSH ASIA DRILLING: A number of key factors affect the Russian drilling market today. First of all, Vertically Integrated Oil Companies have established their own oilfield services divisions. Today around …

1. Drilling-fluid selection remains one of the most important components of a successful well-construction operation. This results in a complicated product/system selection process. What is the optimal way to select the correct fluids for a well? Kaz M-I SWACO: Alongside many other engineering problems, selection of a wise and optimal …

1. How do you measure and calculate the optimum properties for the cement/slurry which will be pumped down hole? Weatherford: Cement slurry design is based on the well data, such as bottom hole circulating temperature (BHCT), bottom hole static temperature (BHST), pore pressure and fracture gradient. Challenges faced by well …

1. Intelligent well completions or ‘smart’ wells enable operators to acquire data, monitor and remotely control well operations for maximum productivity. What is the degree of this technology implementation in Russia and what operators are currently using it? Weatherford: Intelligent well completion is an integrated package featuring complex design and including …

1. In comparison to the total activity in Russia, how important is brownfield development at the moment? Weatherford: The majority of Russia’s oilfields are brownfields with high water cut. Nevertheless, these assets are responsible for most of the local oil production. With the decline in oil prices and subsequent decline …

1. In which regions of Russia are lost circulation issues consistently found? Halliburton: In the current economic conditions, many oil companies focus on the development of mature fields. As a rule, such fields have well-developed infrastructure, and their investments have long ago paid off . However, the other side of …

1. With the sanctions currently restricting Russia’s development of hard to recover reserves, has there been any accidental impact on fracking operations for conventional reservoirs? Weatherford: For conventional reservoirs, frac scopes have been reduced for all the contractors due to the plummeting oil prices. However, horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing …

1. With sanctions impacting on the region´s horizontal drilling in unconventional field, what is the current level of demand for horizontal and ERD wells? What projects are you currently working on? Halliburton: Currently, the demand for horizontal directional drilling has not reduced; instead, it has increased significantly. Horizontal drilling, overall, …