Russian SPE Oil and Gas Show: Delivering Value Through Technology and Operational Excellence
Delivering value through technology and operational excellence in exploration and production is the focus of the biennial Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) conference due to take place from 16-18 October in Moscow.
The 2012 SPE Russian Oil and Gas (ROG) conference agenda covers all major areas of hydrocarbon exploration and production. It reflects the increase seen by the industry over recent years in the development of new oil and gas fields with complex geological structures and low reservoir quality located in adverse climatic conditions. Over 200 papers are dedicated to the discussion of the new methods required to overcome these challenges and successfully tap these valuable reserves.
“Today, Russian and international oil and gas producers continue to work together, integrating their knowledge and technology to ensure efficient management of domestic and global oil and gas resources,” says Viktor Saveliev, Slavneft’s Vice-President for Upstream and co-chair of the conference programme committee. “The conference aims to present the best innovations and practices in hydrocarbon exploration and development.”
Fellow co-chair, Sergey Kolbikov, Head of Field Development Forecast and Monitoring Division for NOVATEK adds: “Within the framework of the conference, this event provides attendees with the opportunity to network with leading specialists, learn from the experiences of others in improving operational efficiency of oil and gas fields, as well as discussing topical issues facing national and world science and practice.”
Distinctively, many of the papers featured at ROG are written and presented by specialists from producer companies. Themes range from innovations in geology, geophysics, reservoir engineering and drilling to the role of technology in project design and production optimization and organizational capability. There will also be a focus on environmental protection and safety in sophisticated process operations. A glance at some of the papers to be presented illustrates the strength of the programme.
Damira Tursinbayeva of TengizChevrOil (TCO) sets out the planning and implementation of surveillance on the Tengiz field, a super giant carbonate sour oilfield located in Kazakhstan and operated by TCO. A well planned surveillance program is critical for such a big reservoir to understand field dynamic behavior and to support base business. The majority of surveillance activities in Tengiz are associated with well intervention into high pressure, a high H2S concentration environment and harsh weather conditions. A SCADA system, permanent downhole gauges and multiphase flow meters are widely implemented for data acquisition. The goal is the safe implementation of planned surveillance operations to support production optimization and field development work. This paper will highlight TCO’s success in tackling different operational problems through properly designed surveillance plans with both short- and long-term objectives.
The number of gas-condensate fields with thin oil rims has increased significantly during the last decade, and they frequently prove problematic due to low oil recovery from the thin rims. Sergey Kolbikov of NOVATEK discusses the peculiarities of thin oil rim development based on the 3D numerical simulation of one of the pay zones in the Lower Cretaceous formation of a Western Siberian gas-condensate field. After analysis of different development scenarios, NOVATEK reached a number of conclusions: cumulative oil production from thin rims is very sensitive to the capillary pressure value; horizontal completion is most effective for rim development; and limited production from the gas cap simultaneously with oil production could lead to a higher oil recovery in certain geological conditions.
Drilling and completions form another key conference theme. Andrei Melnikov of TNK-BP describes his company’s efforts to improve drilling performance. The critical components for continuous improvement include: an integrated engineering software package for well planning and design; an automated system for data collection, transmission, storage and processing; a standard framework with key performance indicators for benchmarking across the organization and with industry peers; and a highly capable and adequately resourced workforce. The campaign has resulted in a 50% drilling cycle reduction across the organization during the last five years.
Moving on to production operations and optimization, Stanislav Oursegov of Lukoil will provide an insight into 30 years’ experience in the application of thermal methods in heavy oil recovery in the Permian-Carboniferous reservoir of the Usinsk field. He will describe the advances made since the first hot water flooding experiments were carried out in 1982 to today’s situation with 30 steam injection wells and 40 production wells treated by cyclic steam simulations each year.
Michael Sumrow of Sakhalin Energy addresses waterflood operations offshore Sakhalin Island. He explains the start-up experience of waterflood operations using smart multi-zone seawater injection wells in the Piltun field, which is located 15-20km offshore Sakhalin Island. The experience is relevant to water injection operations in relatively low permeability sandstone reservoirs. The paper explains the complicated fracture behavior that occurs, and highlights the importance of geomechanical issues to well designs.
In the last two decades, proppant fracturing has become a routine completion practice in most oilfields producing from the Jurassic formations in Western Siberia. Rifat Kayumov of Schlumberger describes how channel fracturing applied in mature wells has increased production from the Talinskoe field in Western Siberia. He provides details of the successful channel fracturing implementation in brown field development with a theory and operations review, laboratory experiments, and analysis of the production results.
Igor Kuvshinov of Halliburton presents the lessons learnt on the trial project application of a new-generation relative permeability modifier (RPM) polymer that enables technically simple treatments effectively to reduce water cut while performing remedial operations on mature gas fields in northern West Siberia. Early water breakthrough is a phenomenon commonly observed in highly permeable and weakly consolidated sandstones at a formation depth of about 1000 m. Water influx creates instability in the sandstone formation, causing an increase in fines flow and a rapid decline in gas production. The RPM solution is simply bull-headed into open perforation intervals, thus eliminating the need to isolate hydrocarbon zones.
In addition to presentations on new and innovative technologies, ROG recognises the importance of having the right human resources in place to implement them. Paul McMorran of Integra Resources offers an insight into tackling Russia’s upstream skills gap and the role of oilfield services. Despite colossal achievements, well-publicized catastrophes in recent years have shaken global confidence in the oil and gas industry’s ability to operate in increasingly challenging and sensitive environments. As shareholders push for more transparency and responsibility, investment groups openly question the human capital management strategy of public companies that lead the industry. In this context, the ongoing transformation of Russia’s oil and gas workforce presents challenges of its own. Here the scale and economic dominance of the industry explain its status as employer of choice, but structural specifics constrain its ability to build the technical and managerial skills a market economy demands. This paper tracks the emergence of Russia’s independent service sector as a catalyst for change, and impact on the performance of the industry it serves. Focusing on the development of technical and managerial talent in a context of organizational transition, and the experience of one Russian service provider, it proposes fresh alternatives to succession planning and how these can begin to address the concerns of external stakeholders.
Three plenary sessions promise to provide thought-provoking discussions. Scheduled for each morning of the conference, these sessions will cover key topics relevant to companies working in Russia today. The first session discusses Rosneft company development prospects in production and field development. It is moderated by ROG Executive Committee Co-Chairs, Gani Gilaev, Vice-President of Rosneft and Harry Brekelmans, Executive Vice-President Shell Russia and Caspian. The second covers changes to service contracting and execution which are required to optimize oil and gas exploitation in Russia. The final session addresses the inextricable connection between oil and gas industry development prospects and the training of skilled personnel who are able effectively to implement innovative technologies. Speakers are drawn from senior management in Russian oil and gas operators, service companies, research centres and leading universities.
In addition to the opportunity to hear the cutting-edge papers and network with over 3,000 peers from all over the world, this event showcases leading-edge technology in an exhibition hosting over 80 companies. The exhibition will include a dedicated ‘Knowledge and Science Zone’ featuring some of the leading Russian oil and gas universities and a ‘Technology Incubator’, which will provide a site for young innovative companies.
The conference looks set to deliver value through technology and operational excellence not only to industry but also to all attendees.
For more details, see www.russianoilgas.com
