SPE SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS
ITALIAN SECTION TECHINICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2016 Dual-career management and the role of Women in the O&G
Young Professionals meet Claudio Cicognani
How to break the closed circle: the Open Innovation way
CONTENTS
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C O N T E N T S TECHINICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2016
CHAIRMAN’S PAGE
SECTION LIFE
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Cutting costs, improving quality?!
“G. Sclocchi” Theses Award 2015
The Projects, Facilities and Construction corner: planning our next steps
Alessandro Tiani - Eni S.p.A - SPE Italian Section Chairman
Edoardo Dellarole, TEA Sistemi , SPE Italian Section Scholarship Chairperson
Andrea Intieri - Saipem, SPE Italian Section Projects, Facilities and Construction Technical Director
SECTION PROGRAM
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SECTION ACTIVITIES
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2015-2016 Italian Section initiatives Valerio Parasiliti Parracello - Eni S.p.A SPE Italian Section Program Chairman
SPECIAL FOCUS
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How to make Dual-Career Works: Tips and Evidence by SPE Lecturer Eve Sprunt G.Giudicati - SPE Italian Section Secretary
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The Open Innovation Way Ivan Maffeis - Bluethink Stefano Maronese - Eni S.p.A
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YP Ask…to Claudio Cicognani (CEO di Drillmec)
Andrea Tondelli - Eni S.p.A Luca Cadei - Eni S.p.A
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“Leadership Visions - A talk with three Alumni of Scuola Mattei about possible interpretations and implementations of the idea of leadership” Claudia Porretta Serapiglia - Eni S.p.A, SPE Director External Relations, Universities
Upcoming celebration of Politecnico di Torino’s SPE Student chapter’s 15th Anniversary Dario Viberti - Politecnico di Torino Student Chapter Liaison
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
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Maximise Asset Value in a Low Oil Price Scenario
Andrea Lamberti - Eni S.p.A, SPE Italian Section Reservoir Technical Director Ivan Maffeis - Eni S.p.A
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SPE Technical Day: Tomographic Deposition and Sand Watch Applications for Oil & Gas Industry Gionata Ferroni - Geolog
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SPE Distinguished Lecture Series: The Value of Assessing Uncertainty (What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You) Gionata Ferroni - Geolog
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TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
G.Carpineta - Eni S.p.A , Technical Director Section Prodution and Operations
Installation challenges for frontier projects
Recent Advances in Artificial Lift Technology
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Operational Efficiency as the Answer to Current Challenges and Future Opportunities Alberto Maliardi - Eni S.p.A., SPE Section Technical Director Drilling & Completion Livio Caramanico - ProEnergy Ivan Maffeis - Eni S.p.A
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A conversation with Professor Simone Colombo
Davide Scotti - Saipem S.p.A., Techinal Director SPE Italian Section HSE
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Next Generation of Aerospace Fuel Specialties: an Oil&Gas Opportunity
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Lorenzo Penati - Saipem S.p.A.
SECTION BOARD
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SPE Italian Section Board 2016 - 2017
ITALIAN SECTION DASHBOARD
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Report as of 31 March 2016
STYPED
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The Young Professionals Journal
Alessandro Mazzetti - BlueThink S.p.A.
The Bulletin is printed in 800 copies and is being sent to all Italian Section Members, to Oil and Service companies operating in the area, to Italian Government bodies related to the petroleum industry and to the main newspapers
TECHINICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2016
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SUPPORTER’S PAGE
SUPPORTER’S PAGE SUPPORTERS OF SPE ITALY
Many thanks from the SPE Italian Section to all its supporters!
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BLUETHINK ..........................................
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COSTACURTA ......................................
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DAJAN ..................................................
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DIMEYE ................................................
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GEOLOG ...............................................
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CHAIRMAN’S PAGE
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CUTTING COSTS, IMPROVING QUALITY?! Dear SPE colleagues, I am proud to introduce the issue of our new “A4 size” SPE Italian Section bulletin!
ALESSANDRO TIANI Eni S.p.A SPE Italian Section Chairman
This is something we were discussing in our section from a long time, being the bulletin one of the most known product of our volunteer effort for SPE. I must thank mostly Adele Vacca and Arrigo Vienna for the hard work done and the SPE Italy Board for believing and supporting. However, I am even more proud to say that this new bulletin, wider and brighter than before, comes with an incredible 2-digit percent cost cutting! This is something extremely prevailing today. Is the O&G industry are our professionals capable to do that with projects? Cutting costs and improving quality? Of course, SPE Italian Section result is a tiny one if compared to O&G project complexity. However… Cutting costs: mantra of today’s action of oil & service companies, holy word cascaded from CEOs to profes-
Coming back to our SPE Italian Section life: The vision of increasing our collaboration with other organizations is paying a lot: a number of joint events took place, all with 100+ participants, all with outstanding speakers and enthusiastic comments at the end; the value of sharing and opening. In the following pages, you will find something more about: - The Open Innovation Way, joint event with ASP Alumni (Alta Scuola Politecnica) hold in Aula Rogers (PoliMi) with almost 200 participants and 10 speakers (https://theopeninnovationway.splashthat.com/) - Leadership Visions, joint event with IAASM (International Alumni Association of Scuola Mattei) with an insight
given by 3 executives of the industry (Puliti, Venier, Chiarini) and moderated by the CEO of Eni Corporate University (Coccagna). Here, 85 people in the room and even 180 on the web. - Managing Dual Career, distinguished lecture by Eve Sprunt, former SPE International President, followed by a round table with 5 women & manager about The role of women in the O&G, moderated by Giancarlo Strocchia (journalist Oil/Abo.net). - Young Professionals ask to… an interview to Drillmec President and CEO Claudio Cicognani. And much more. Let me just thank again all the volunteers of SPE Italian Section, and especially all the tireless Young Professionals coordinated by Pasquale Paolo Murmura and the inexhaustible Gianna Giudicati, our
sionals on daily basis. That is fine. Everyone is bothering on how to reduce costs: either by not buying, delaying projects, reducing personnel or requesting discount to existing or tendered contracts. Frequently linking contracts prices to oil prices, everyone hoping in a resurrection, the sooner the better. Nevertheless, are we caring the same about quality? The other side of the coin of low oil price shall be to improve efficiency, to do things better, in less time. Drilling the right well, with low-cost rig, high discount services AND with excellent performance results. This is not trivial: especially after squeezing the lowest possible price from the vendor, especially after the best personnel – the most paid indeed – discharged to face the quarterly cash flow report. Going back home with good discount AND the backpack full of QUALITY services is not something written in procedures: only a good teamwork and good leaders can find the right balance: because there is a lot to win out there… and a lot to lose too.
secretary, that are spending their extra-time (mostly nighttime) in organizing, discussing, creating, writing, speaking. Thanks to their passion and hard work, we create a lot, and we all grow in excellence. One more thing: during one of the events above, I was asked why to join SPE? I found myself replying, almost without thinking: “you know… work is work. In a rural metaphor: you dig, you harvest, hard and hard, all day, with your team. Afterwards you cannot just go to sleep. You need sometimes to go to the saloon, to chat, drink and play billiards. That is SPE. Often the brightest ideas, the alliances and unexpected encounters that change your life are done there.” Do not go to sleep! JOIN SPE.
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SECTION PROGRAM
2015-2016 ITALIAN SECTION INITIATIVES Dear members, I am very proud to show you how in the first months of 2016 we exceeded our target in terms of collaborations, numbers of events and attendees.
VALERIO PARASILITI PARRACELLO
Eni S.p.A SPE Italian Section Program Chairman
We opened the year with the Distinguished Lecture hold by Eve Sprunt (SPE President 2006) on the topic “Managing Dual careers - Work-Life Integration in a 24/7 World”. The DL was followed by a round table on the role of women in the O&G, with the participation of top representatives of the women workforce. The round table was moderated by the journalist Giancarlo Strocchia, who published an article on Abo.net on this event, as a further example of the strong collaboration between the two associations. On February 16th, Rocsole-Mepeco organized a Technology Day on “Tomographic Deposition and Sand Watch Applications for Oil & Gas Industry”, during which very interesting technical aspects were shared and deeply discussed between members and speaker. A week later, on 24th, we hosted the fourth Distinguished Lecture of the 2015-2016 Program: “The Value of Assessing Uncertainty (What You Don’t know Can Hurt You)”. The speech was hold by Prof. Duane McVay (Texas A&M University) at the Polytechnic of Milan, with a strong involvement of professors and students.
On March 2nd was the time of the “Leadership Vision” with the participation of three high level managers discussing about their leadership experiences. The event was arranged in collaboration with IASM and hold at Scuola Mattei: it was followed by 266 participants (in loco and via webinar) establishing a new participation record for the section! The trimester closed with the “Open Innovation” workshop on March 5th, organized with ASP Alumni and hold, again, at the Polytechnic of Milan. As usual, you can find the complete resume of the events inside the issue. In order to include more and more students in SPE activities, on April 6th Young Professionals will arrange a big ALP event involving several universities. In the calendar below you will ll see that, as for the past years, we are reinvesting in the business visits directly in the companies operating in the sector (April 8th, Flowserve). An important role will be played by HSE and the collaboration with “Fondazione LHS”, with an event on April 29th and a full day for all children of SPE members aimed at developing a “Piccoli Leader in Safety” on May 1st! The trimester will close with another Special Event, “Toward a New Energy Mix”, organized with Scuola Mattei, and a Technology Day about “Separation Technology” (May 26th, Costacurta).
DATE
PROMOTER
TYPE
TITLE
6 APRIL
PE Young Professionals -
Liaison with Universities - ALP
SPE Italian Students Plenary
8 APRIL
Flowserve
Technology Day - Business Visit
Experience in Motion
29 APRIL 2016
SPE-LHS (HSE National Day)
Special Event
1 MAY
SPE-LHS
Special Event
Piccoli Leader in Safety
12 MAY
SPE- Scuola Mattei
Special Event
Toward a New Energy Mix
20 MAY 2016
SPE Young Profession-
Special Event
Six Ways to (Better)
26 MAY 2016
Costacurta
Technology Day
Separation Technology
30 MAY- 3 JUNE (TBD)
SPE Italian Section
Special Event
Dinner for Talent Members
4-8 JULY (TBD)
SPE Italian Section
Special Event
Section Dinner
Student Chapters
als-HSE
Conference
Communicate Safety
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SPECIAL FOCUS
HOW TO MAKE DUAL-CAREER WORKS: TIPS AND EVIDENCE BY SPE LECTURER EVE SPRUNT
GIANNA GIUDICATI SPE Italian Section Secretary
Fig. 1: Eve Sprunt discussing dual carrer management
The new year section program started on January 19th with a double event on a transversal issue increasingly impacting O&G and, more in general, the energy sector. First, Eve Sprunt, SPE lecturer with more than 35 years of experience in O&G, had a talk on dual-career management, an actual topic within our industry since dual-career couples compose a remarkable percentage of petroleum engineering workforce, especially in Australia, Europe, and North America. Second, the Distinguished Lecture (DL) was followed by a round table on the role of women in the O&G, moderated by Giancarlo Strocchia (Oil/ Abot.net) with the participation of top representatives of women workforce: Marisa Biagiola (NSC), Daria Kalina (NSC), Donata Scanavino (Baker Hughes), Eve Sprunt (Eve Sprunt & Associates), and Ida Zanino (Eni). It’s an evidence that even more women are working in the petroleum industry and that most of them are members of a dual-career couple, especially junior ones. By reporting the interesting re-
sults emerging from various surveys by SPE Talent Council and Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the DL lecturer Eve Sprunt investigated the issue of dual-career management and the relevant challenges that couples, and in particular women, have to face. Technical women are increasingly likely to be part of a couple of equal earners in which each member has a power in the relationship and in family priorities. However, men who are part of a dual-career couple, and women in general, are under-represented in executive management, remarkably composed by dominant earners. What is this invisible difference? Men and women of dual-career couples are usually asked by their managers “whose career is more important?”. Despite the majority of people in dual-career couples saying that both careers are equally important, women are more likely to be discriminated: women are indeed much less likely than men to put their own career first and much more likely to prioritize their partner’s career. Within this per-
SPECIAL FOCUS
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Fig. 2: Discussion during the Round Table
spective, the probability of career opportunities for women are less likely than for men, and this is particularity emphasized for women with children. Policies on relocation, flexible working hours and, more in general, work-life balance would support the ongoing transition from couples with one dominant earner to dual-career couples and would support women in dealing with dual-career challenges. As a first example, despite that a valuable career experience is the most cited motivation for relocation of both women and men, women are more likely than men to refuse transfers that would damage partner’s career. Together with specific relocation opportunity offers, women may be incentivized and retain with continuous working challenges, career and monetary growth, competence development, and professional recognition. In addition, according to various country policies, an improvement in parental and paternity leave regulations would help in recruiting and retaining women. This interesting topic was further discussed in the round table with a deeper focus on the role of women in the O&G, during which the moderator Giancarlo Strocchia (Oil/Abot.net) stimulated the discussion by asking the participants their experience in the
sector as professional women, also compared to previous experience outside the sector, and how they grew in their career development surrounded by men colleagues. The chance for new opportunities, the variety of continuous professional challenges, together with remarkable effort and self-confidence constitute the mix of factors motivating and characterizing women operating in this risk-seeking sector. The discussion also underlined that the key for women career growth is strongly determined by education and professionalism, and not by gender. Professional behavior and technical competences are the two elements guaranteeing to women respect and equal opportunities, with the consequent reduction of gender preconception barriers. Therefore, despite the
Fig. 3: Event organization team and speakers
discrimination that women experience in the sector, also with regard to monetary policies, the technical competences, the professionalism, the energy and the spirit of initiative are the therapies to fight the gender gap, which is still in place within the sector but presently evolving. To conclude, speakers have been asked for their wish in future women conditions in the sector and here are summarized the three aspects speakers highlighted as more desired in improving women professional life. First, the chance to choose career development without any gender discrimination and without feeling guilty towards the family. Second, the need to delegate, both for your work and for your family. And third, to live in a stable work-life balance not allowing work to prevaricate private life.
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THE OPEN INNOVATION WAY SPE YP AND ASP ALUMNI JOIN TOGETHER TO BRING TO THE PUBLIC AN ENGAGING CONFERENCE TO DEBATE THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF OPEN INNOVATION, A NEW LOGIC OF HARNESS AND DEVELOP IDEAS AND TECHNOLOGIES. GIORDANO PINARELLO Bluethink S.p.A. STEFANO MARONESE Eni S.p.A
Innovation is the key to run a successful business in nowadays globalized market, but traditional innovation has become more and more costly hence posing the question: is there another way to do innovation? The positive answer is the so-called Open Innovation, the centre topic of the conference “The Open Innovation Way – Una via per l’eccellenza”, held in Milan on March 5th . This event was co-organized by ASP Alumni – represented by its President Michela Delbosco – and SPE Young Professional Italian Section – represented by its Chairman, Paolo Murmura. The aim of the conference was to dig deeper into the concept of Open Innovation, by analysing how and why it has become crucial in the current worldwide market and how this new attitude is re-shaping the business of a growing number of corporations, as Giordano Pinarello – Chairman of the conference and CEO of BlueThink – explained from the very beginning. Federico Frattini, Associate Professor
at Politecnico di Milano, introduced the audience to Open Innovation, the new way of thinking of innovation firstly theorized by Henry Chesbrough who considers the traditional innovation a “closed” process: a company generates, develops and commercializes its own ideas; and the revenues coming from the new products are re-invested to feed the innovation cycle. This model hits a critical point in the Nineties, due to its increasing costs and a more competitive market, which narrowed the window to profit from internally developed innovation. Unlike this, Open Innovation consists of companies developing both their own ideas as well as innovations from outside the company and finding ways to bring their in-house ideas to non-competitive markets to make a profit that will finance other research activities. This brief definition highlight the core feature of the new model, the “openness”: the boundaries of the company are permeable allowing the contamination by ideas and technologies coming from another firms.
SPECIAL FOCUS 11 This approach also allows ideas that do not find a favourable environment to be externalized (sold, lent etc‌) to other companies active in the pertinent field instead of being discarded. Cases like Polaroid and Nokia, which had underestimated the potential of digital photography and smartphone development, prove that closed innovation approach could lead to a mortal threat to a company. On the other hand, an example of proficiency of open approach is seen in the field of software development (such as Linux) in which free access to the code and peer to peer review constantly performed by the users are tools to further develop the product. As Eric Raymond summarized in the case of Open Source software development, the traditional approach to innovation can be compared to a Cathedral (conventional, hierarchical programmed development) whereas the Open Innovation to a Bazar (multiple independent players seeking their own interest). So what are the challenges and opportunities of the Open Innovation way? The core of the conference was focused on how to transfer the Open Innovation concept into the corporate world, providing a variety of example from industries active in different fields. For instance, the Electrolux approach to Open Innovation, as explained by Lucia Chierchia, Open Innovation Director, consists of making the general public aware of the strategic development area inside the company asking the public to propose innovative solutions and ideas. Even the Oil & Gas industry, which is long known to be conservative and self-centred, is slowly shifting towards a more open approach. In this field, the innovation proceeds at a much slower pace due to the high risk that characterizes this business sector. Mario Chiaramonte from Geolog made a good point in stating that in this field is more important to know how to exploit the technology rather than own it. This explains the huge commercial success of oil & gas service companies. Carlo Napoli, Head of Open Innovation Culture and Project Portfolio at Enel, stressed the importance of a correct approach to Open Innovation
prejudice, avoiding the not-invented-here syndrome that often affect the management level. In order to do so, a go-getter resourceful manager should act more like a poker player than a chess one, literary betting on new, creative ideas and being ready to learn from failures. Finally, another perspective of Open Innovation was the one proposed by Danny Bar-Zohar, Chief Scientific Officer at Novartis, who highlighted the importance of “thinking out of the box�, fostering partnership with unconventional market players: his company collaborated with Microsoft to develop machinery to assess the stages and progression of multiple sclerosis avoiding the bias of a human medical assessment. Novartis also collaborated with Google to develop an autofocus eye-contact lens able to measure the glucose level to monitor diabetic patients. The conference was closed by a round table which gathered experts from different fields who were interviewed by the chairman about their vision of Open Innovation. Ruggero Recchioni, Innovation Manager at Intesa San Paolo; Alessandro Tiani, Chairman of SPE Italian Section; Emilio Paolucci, Vice Rector at Politecnico di Torino;
Alessandro Bailini, COO of BlueThink and Marco Noseda, Project Manager at PoliHub discussed the crucial role of networking for Open Innovation: banks, universities, start-up hubs, excellence networks, technology brokers and open innovation facilitators are the key players that link innovation seekers, high tech solvers (which could be not only big firms but also universities, research centres, startups and garage makers) and capitals to bring to the market new ideas and technologies. The event was definitely successful as proven by the attendance of a large number of students, young professionals and people from a large number of private companies, a testament to the rising interest in Open Innovation. Open Innovation is a cross-business concept and can be applied to various industrial context (such as Pharma, Oil & Gas, Banks). The staggering variety of examples and experiences presented in the conference are just a hint of the huge possibilities offered by Open Innovation. Indeed, the transition to the new innovation model poses both opportunities and risks, and young professional will be called to face new challenge: Open Innovation requires an Open Minded approach.
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ASK TO… CLAUDIO CICOGNANI YOUNG PROFESSIONALS MEET CEO OF DRILLMEC S.P.A. ANDREA TONDELLI Eni S.p.A LUCA CADEI Eni S.p.A
The “Ask to…” experience is going on! The new interview concept started in the 3th Bulletin edition of 2015, with the interview YPs had with the SPE International President, Dr. Nathan Meehan, and proceeded by the conversation with Paolo Mondello, CEO of Costacurta S.p.A. – VICO. For the current issue, the “ask to…” initiatives carries on with its path through the discussion with Claudio Cicognani, President and CEO of Drillmec S.p.A.
Fig. 1: The Drillmec Virtual Training center
Drillmec S.p.A. - a subsidiary of TREVI Group - is an Italian company, international leader in design, manufacturing and distribution of drilling and workover rigs for onshore and offshore applications as well as a wide range of drilling equipment. Drillmec is a global company but remains deeply connected to its roots in the Mechanical Engineering Heart of Italy. Their international headquarters to this day remain in Piacenza, in the Emilia-Romagna region, along with their production factory and the sales and R&D
offices. Drillmec started its activity in 1986, operating in the water market, and from 1992, in the Oil and Gas industry, applying the know-how developed previously. Today the Group has a technically advanced product portfolio, fit to work in many different geographical and operating conditions, both in onshore and offshore drilling activities. The technologies provided to the oilfield industry range from design to manufacturing, commissioning and services for conventional and hydraulic land rigs, producing around 10 units per year, and mobile and workover drilling rigs, offshore units and drilling equipment, with more than 20 units per year developed. The conversation and Q&A session YPs had with Claudio Cicognani is reported below. How do you see current market conditions in the O&G industry? Claudio Cicognani highlights the critical current global conditions of the O&G industry, remarking not only the
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Fig. 2: Another view of the Drillmec Virtual Training center
low oil prices magnitude, but also the significant long duration of the crisis. The Engineer forecasts a further possible drop of the oil price to 20 $ per barrel, highlighting that the crucial point for the industry will be how long this “bearish” situation will last. Cicognani is also sure that the crisis is coming to an end, considering in particular, the conditions of all those countries based their national economies on the petroleum business. The last agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia, for example, could represents a signal of relaxation according to Drillmec President. Which are the keys point for the future of O&G industry and your company in it? The CEO focuses the attention on a few key fundamental drivers both for the O&G industry and for future of Drillmec: - Innovation of products offered. In particular, Cicognani remarks the importance of the continuous improvements of the products portfolio not only as a link to the future needs, but also as guarantee of quality, preventing the entrance in the business of poor quality services and applications. - Safety, firstly for people and then
Fig. 3: Claudio Cicognani starts his interview, with Luca Cadei and Alessandro Tiani
for the well. The CEO highlights the completely different requirements for these last two themes, remarking them fundamental role in the O&G industry of tomorrow. People safety could be provided by improvements in the area of automation and software developments, reducing risks for field workers and simplifying the drilling operations. In this context, Drillmec is largely investing within its R&D department in order to allow the automation of all the rig operations, form drilling to the casing handling activities. Wells safety, on the other hand, could be granted by the reduction of the typical risks assumed by companies during drilling operations.
- Costs cutting. Last but not the least, the CEO points out the cost reduction, along with the decrease of breakeven price per barrel, as a critical driver for a successful future in the Oil business. W Cicognani remarks that all these aspects require a combination of technology, know-how and creative idea in order to be followed and achieved. “It’s like the condition of an athlete. We know that there will be a race, and we are training ourselves now, in order to perform successfully in that race! The results of the race will depend only on how we are capable”
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Fig. 4: Claudio Cicognani during the Q&A, on the background the “painting” by Piacenza Institute of Art
Which do you see are the emerging themes in the industry? What about change in energy mix in the next future? The CEO made a distinction; in this case, between the base-load power generation (the “fixed assets”) and the energy needs for transportations, considering the first one, the emerging renewable resources are going to be an alternative solution to fossil fuels. Regarding the transports, the hydrocarbon resources will continue to be the main source of energy in the next decades. Finally, Cicognani reassures the YPs group, observing that, according to statistics, the O&G business will maintain its central role in the future. The energy demand will grow continuously, driven by the emerging countries, while some concerns will come from the removal of initial technical barriers, creating the possibility for low qualified competitors to enter inside the market. Which are the breakthrough technological innovations that you see might change O&G industry? The focus made by the CEO is related to the combination of the drivers previously listed above. In particular, he
indicates three different technological innovations within the drilling sector: - the continuous circulation drilling system, an application already developed by Drillmec; - the casing handling automation, increasing safety due to the reduction of accident probability; - the portfolio of accessories offered along with the capacity to understand quickly what the client is requiring. Which skills should a fresh graduate or junior engineer develop to grow in the future oil&gas and energy industry? “Well, the best suggestion I could give - Cicognani said - is not to become a specialist on a single topic. Having a wide spectrum of skills allows a future professional to be versatile; the oil a gas industry is very challenging hovering different technical families. A young professional needs to be able to adapt and therefore shall not be focusing only in one area of knowledge. Fundamental is the curiosity, both for new techniques or disciplines; I believe reading everything you like, not only specialized paper or books, is fundamental. You will never know what you
could learn even from a narrative book, which is able at the same time to keep your mind stimulated and open. Also important is the ability of listening to others’ opinions. It may happen that even if someone is less experienced than you, he could come up with just a hint that you can catch and develop further more together.” How can SPE contribute better in the current market scenario? The CEO considers the SPE characteristics when he started to get into the oil industry. Cicognani remarks that SPE, in those ages, was a leader in sharing knowledge between professionals operating with different methodology and distant geographic areas. Nowadays other competitors of SPE has taken part of this role; SPE has to focus more on engineering prospective, according to the CEO, giving guideline and best practices for the industry of today and getting deeper in technicalities. Issues solutions and try to give boundaries to an industry where the number of variables involved is quite impressive, starting from exploration, production and drilling of course.
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“LEADERSHIP VISIONS - A TALK WITH THREE ALUMNI OF SCUOLA MATTEI ABOUT POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THE IDEA OF LEADERSHIP” EVENT HELD ON MARCH 2ND, 2016 AT ENI CORPORATE UNIVERSITY, SCUOLA MATTEI, SAN DONATO MILANESE
CLAUDIA PORRETTA SERAPIGLIA Eni S.p.A, SPE Director External Relations, Universities
The event, organized in liaison between SPE and IAASM (International Alumni Association of Scuola Mattei), gave to all the attendees the great opportunity of gaining access to the “Leadership Visions” of three experienced managers of the Oil&Gas Business and former students of Scuola Mattei: - Alberto Chiarini, CFO Saipem - Alessandro Puliti, eni Executive VP Reservoir & Development Projects - Stefano Venier, CEO Hera Group The event warmly introduced by Enzo Di Giulio (ECU, Scuola Mattei) and moderated by Marco Coccagna (ECU CEO, eni corporate University), registered 85 in loco attendees and the incredibly high number of 180 views via webinar! In few minutes, it has been clear to the audience that the three guests were available to share their experiences to the attending professionals and students. We observed in prac-
tice what that they also confirmed in words: co-operation among leaders can be extremely fruitful when common vision and self-confidence can generate quick and easy agreements on shared topics. What is Leadership? How Leaders behave in nowadays’ complex organizations? In very clear and powerful words, Stefano Venier clarified how, in his vision, leadership means “do the right things in the right way”: managers are required to practice every day in order to fulfill such a target in an environment characterized by overwhelming complexity. Leadership is more and more often exercised in an international environment, on free markets and in contexts characterized by quick and global communication schemes. Nevertheless, the Top Management’s way of thinking can be educated setting Excellence, meant as an absolute concept, as key point. No room for rel-
18 SPECIAL FOCUS ativism in Venier’s idea of excellence: the suggestion is to behave to be the best towards a very well defined and measurable target.
Chiarini strongly believes a challenging task is the best way to unlock the potential of a professional and transform him in a leader. Crisis can accelerate such a process, especially in matrix organization where everyone can express his opinion in order to hit the target. It could seem a paradox but the beneficial effect of changing leaders when at their peak has been demonstrated: both the organization and the individual will benefit of new jobs and new challenges!
Alberto Chiarini guided the audience in the next steps ahead into the idea of leadership. Saipem’s CFO included in his speech the relevant concepts of Ethic and Responsibility as constitutive elements of a leader: cultural differences can be observed among leaders in different countries but high ethics is, without doubt, a universal “credo” for real leaders. But what makes an effective leader in Chiarini’s idea? Certainly: strong commitment, passion and emotions. A leader needs to transmit and transfer emotions to truly motivate his/her team, to make the organization able to give more and more and to reach the target. In good agreement with Chiarini, Alessandro Puliti stated that leadership is “the ability of extracting extraordinary results from a team of ordinary people”. How!? The challenging news is that there is no checklist to share! In each project and in every context, the ability of a leader is to find the right solution by catalyzing all team capabilities, ideas and motivation. As mediator, Coccagna introduced a new and inspiring consideration by quoting an amended version of famous Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “A leader is someone able to transmit roots and wings!” The metaphor has been considered an applicable concept by all speaker to describe leadership: specifically Alessandro Puliti recognized that roots can be associated to the technical knowledge that each leader has to have in some particular matter. And what about wings? Treasuring the lessons from his long work and life in Egypt, Puliti described wings by remembering the figure of Horus, one of the most significant gods in ancient Egyptian religion. Like Horus, that flies and observes everything from a wider perspective, a leader has to understand the context and motivate his team to be aligned to the final target that, in any case, is the revenue for stakeholders.
-“be curious and never satisfied”: Venier believes that a leader can be recognized by his attitude to do his best every day!
“Roots and wings” can be described, in in Puliti’s words, as the balance between “trust and control”: if a leader trusts his team, then extraordinary efforts and results can be achieved; nevertheless, control cannot be eliminated at every level of the organization in order to assure ethics and responsibility. Stefano Venier’s interpretation of the roots that a leader can provide to his team is more related to the sharing of “clear vision and mission”: only through example and consistency amongst words and actions, a leader can gain recognition. On the other side “control” is considered, by Venier, less relevant than “challenges”: listen, understand and then make “the right question at the right time”. Only in this way a manager can guide his team through the discussion and towards common targets. The speakers have been so passionate in their speeches that the 2 hourlong meeting, just flew! They provided advices to the audience and with no doubt most of them can be extended to any young and senior professional. It is worth to summarize the main counsel: -“always look for the hardest job”:
-“interact with people vis-à-vis as much as possible”: don’t use exclusively technology to communicate; look for direct interaction with other professionals since direct discussions can generate real co-operation, in Venier’s opinion. -“listen at all levels in your organization”: Puliti strongly recommended to use the process of feedback to give and receive feelings about key messages to be transmitted in the organization. And guess what? A real leader can be everyone while trying managing his boss! The ability of giving the right message in the upwards communication can give you much more chances to make the difference: take your own risk and manage the stress when far from your comfort zone. As SPE, IASSM and Scuola Mattei, we have been pleased to host Stefano Venier, Alberto Chiarini and Alessandro Puliti. We are grateful for their kind availability and open-minded discussion. It has been for all of us a great opportunity of understanding their vision and breathing their invaluable enthusiasm. Once more, it has been confirmed how collaboration amongst organizations can generate fruitful and enjoyable occasions and opportunities.
SECTION LIFE 19
“G. SCLOCCHI” THESES AWARD 2015
EDOARDO DELLAROLE
TEA Sistemi, SPE Italian Section Scholarship Chairperson
The 15th of December 2015 the award ceremony of the 23rd edition of the “Gustavo Sclocchi” Theses Award was held at Eni Corporate University in San Donato Milanese. The initiative is named after Gustavo Sclocchi, Eni manager and SPE Italian Section chairman, who was one of the main promoters of the contest, since the first edition in 1993 and who suddenly died in 2001. The “Gustavo Sclocchi” Theses Award purpose, as many members already know, is to encourage and give recognition and visibility to young people at the beginning of their career in the Oil & Gas industry. The award is a joint initiatives of SPE Italian Section with EAGE and Assomineraria, the two main professional associations of our industry and the industrial association of the mining and petroleum companies operating in Italy.
Fig. 1 I premiati
The theses contest is issued every year to award the best theses in Geosciences, Petroleum Engineering and other disciplines related to O&G in-
dustry by students of Italian Universities or by Italian students abroad. The topics eligible for the award are very broad: geology, geophysics, reservoir engineering, drilling, production, HSE, energy economics, facilities and construction, which means the entire spectrum of the Oil & Gas upstream sector disciplines. Welcome and greetings After a brief welcome and introduction to the event, the ceremony was opened, as usual, by the greeting and introductory remarks from the organizing Associations (Asssomineraria, EAGE, SPE). Despite working meeting didn’t allow him to attend the ceremony, Pietro CAVANNA (President of the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Sector – Assomineraria) delivered a letter of greetings, highlighting that initiatives like the theses Award “give us confidence for our future” because “we have young generations who are able to continue our tradition of our national excellence and the leadership worldwide”.
20 SECTION LIFE Claudio D’AGOSTO (Vice-President EAGE – SEG Italian section) on behalf of the EAGE President illustrated EAGE structure and mission. Mr. D’Agosto underlined the EAGE activities for young professionals and students and then remarked the cooperation EAGE has with SPE and other societies to enlarge the effectiveness of initiatives. Alessandro TIANI (Chairman SPE Italian Section) illustrated the global situation of the Oil and Gas industry underlining that during crisis also opportunities increase; especially for young professional, which will be required to operate in an industry, that emerges from the crisis, definitely renewed. Statistics Edoardo Dellarole, as scholarship director of the SPE Italian Section and chairman of the Evaluation Committee, introduced the Award Ceremony. On behalf of the entire Evaluation Committee (Fabio Brambilla, Gian Paolo Borghi, Marco Brignoli, Paolo Ferrara, Andrea Intieri, Eugenio Loinger, Alberto Maliardi, Sergio Nardon, Valerio Parasiliti Parracello, Giordano Pinarello, Marco Rotondi, and Mauro Tambini) acknowledged professionals belonging to Oil Companies, Service Companies and Universities supporting the organization of the initiative and the evaluation process of the 37 received theses. From the beginning of the initiative (1993) the total number of submitted theses reaches 592, of which 126 have been awarded. The number of submitted theses also this year was very high, especially considering the small contribution of the 2nd level master theses category (only nine). The number of theses written in English this year exceeded the 2/3 of the total, demonstrating once more the increasing internalization of tomorrow professionals. Honorable Mentions The Award ceremony started with the Honorable Mentions. This prize category recognizes very interesting works that competed for the final award. The 2015 mentions are as follows. Michele Azzarone (Università degli Studi di Milano) for the work “Quantitative facies analysis of a turbiditic
Fig. 2: Number of Thesis received and awarded per year
succession (Ventimiglia Flysch Fm.) and its relation with a catastrophic mass wasting (Upper Eocene, Western Alps)” with the following motivation “Oil companies have a strong interest in Mass Transport Deposits-Turbidite as possible reservoir rocks and/or contributors to reshaping of sea-floor. For this reason the present thesis work is actual and well addressed in the hydrocarbon exploration/production panorama. It offers a simple, low expensive and reliable approach to increase our comprehension of the phenomenon and its impact on the reservoir distribution of such a kind of rocks.”
Tommaso Ciccarone (Politecnico di Bari) for the work “Experimental study for the definition of a new method for the integrated characterization of gas shales” with the motivation of “The aim the theses was to define a new optimized workflow for the integrated petrophysical and geomechanical characterization of shale formations, by means of both traditional and challenging laboratory technologies. The commission recognized the innovative technology of the laboratory tests with the purpose to link the experimental results with the operation (drilling & fracturing) activities.”
Arianna Bonzanini (Università degli Studi di Brescia) for the thesis “A numerical code for slug capturing in pipes” with the motivation stating: “The present thesis describes a numerical model for simulating gas-liquid multi-phase flows, assuming a transient one-dimensional formulation. The most interesting aspect of the thesis is the adoption of the modelling framework advocated by Saurel & Abgrall, which renders the system of equations to be solved unconditionally hyperbolic. The model finally seems to be adequate for incorporating additional modules which are indispensable for the hydraulic analysis of multi-phase transportation pipelines.”
Osman Gjepali (Politecnico di Milano) for the dissertation on “Developing an early-phase decision support tool for the client/owner in the engineering construction sector” because “Todays enterprises are able to transport heavier and larger modules therefore providing significant options for modularization in order to reduce costs, standardize and shorten time to market. This work provides a good investigation on the parameters affecting the plant modularization choices, therefore developing a decision making tool applicable in the early phase of a development project. It is also a good example of collaboration between different Universities and Associations.”
SECTION LIFE 21 Fabrizio La Rosa (Politecnico di Milano) for the thesis “Removal of artifacts from the migration of multiple reflections in the subsurface offset common image gather domain” with the motivation stating that “The thesis is clear, well organized and well documented with many examples. The technique developed to attenuate migration artifacts can lead in the future to interesting results. The topic is relevant to the industry for seismic imaging, in particular in the frame of acquisition costs reduction and better exploitation of the recorded data, and it currently object of widespread studies within the geophysical community worldwide.” Marco Spagnuolo (Imperial College London) for the work “Low Salinity Waterflooding: from Single Well Chemical Tracer Test Interpretation to Sector Model Forecast Scenarios” because “The thesis is a very interesting piece of work on low salinity enhanced oil recovery. Low salinity is a promising EOR technique and the author numerically reproduced the effects of low salinity in a single well chemical tracer test performed in North Africa. His work is original and innovative and will allow reservoir engineers to more accurately model low salinity effects in clastic reservoirs.“ Gustavo Sclocchi Awards The Award ceremony was concluded celebrating the six winners. Each winner was awarded with a plaque and a money prize of 2400€. Moreover, each winner presented its thesis work to the audience. The 2015 winners are the following: Chiara Aruffo (Technische Universitaet Darmstadt) for the Ph.D. thesis on “Reciprocity-based imaging using multiply scattered waves” with the motivation stating that “The thesis contains an impressive work of homogenization and validation of the theoretical aspects. Original and innovative contributions are abundant; the theoretical developments are sound, written with the proper mathematical formalism and supported by convincing results both on synthetic and real data. The topics are of particular interest for the industry and the author collaborated with several ma-
Fig. 3: “La premiazione di Chiara Aruffo”
Fig. 4: “Federica Caresani riceve il premio”
jor worldwide experts of subsurface seismic reconstruction.” Federica Caresani (Politecnico di Milano) for the work “A Lumped Embedded Discrete Fracture Model for the numerical simulation of fractured reservoirs” because “The work represents a significant improvement for the numerical simulation of fractured reservoir. The author used the Embedded Discrete Fractured Model approach, the state of the art solution for fractured reservoir simulations, and developed a more efficient formulation based on physical considerations regarding flow in fractured media. We wish these results could be further developed and the method be challenged by real field problems in the next future.”
Diletta Colette Invernizzi (Politecnico di Milano) for the work “Using Real Options for the investment appraisal: the case of Energy Storage Systems in UK”, with the following motivation: “The work performed by the candidate faces a relevant present-day issue in the energy field, with particular reference to investments in new technologies and processes affected by great uncertainties, thus challenging to model mathematically. The exposed methodology can be applied in several fields similar to the presented one, with significant economic benefits. The thesis is well structured, coherent and demonstrates that the candidate is able to master the investigated field with maturity.”
22 SECTION LIFE Pierpaolo Marchesini (University of Miami) for the Ph.D work on “Visualization and Quantification of Fluid Dynamics in Fractured Carbonates using 4D Ground Penetrating Radar” because “The goal of this dissertation is to use 4D GPR in a reservoir-scale infiltration experiment, to assess the role of small-scale structural heterogeneities in controlling fluid migration in carbonate reservoirs. For the first time a full-resolution 4D GPR experiment was conducted to track, quantify, and monitor at reservoir-scale the dynamic evolution of an infiltrated water mass at a fractured carbonate analog. Realistic flow models could benefit from the input of such structural heterogeneities in order to improve reservoir kinematic studies, to conduct efficient residual fluid recovery, and to reduce uncertainties when upscaling from plug to field scale.” W Paolo Pace (Università degli Studi di Chieti-Pescara) for the Ph.D. thesis “Styles and tectonic significance of inversion structures within thrust belt-foreland systems: an Apennine-Adriatic perspective, central Italy” with the following motivation “This outstanding research focuses on the reconstruction of the styles of inversion structures and on the understanding of their tectonic significance in the outer Apennine thrust belt and in its adjacent Adriatic foreland, with a direct impact on the relationships between structural styles and hydrocarbon prospectivity. By taking into account the key concepts here developed, new ideas could address the reappraisal of possible exploration targets within the Apennine-Adriatic thrust belt-foreland system, unlocking potential for future evaluations.” Matteo Ravasi (The University of Edinburgh) for the Ph.D. work “Reciprocity-based imaging using multiply scattered waves” because “The thesis contains an impressive work of
Fig. 5: “Diletta Colette Invernizzi”
Fig. 6: “Paolo Pace”
homogenization and validation of the theoretical aspects. Original and innovative contributions are abundant; the theoretical developments are sound, written with the proper mathematical formalism and supported by convincing results both on synthetic and real data. The topics are of particular interest for the industry and the author collaborated with several major worldwide experts of subsurface seismic reconstruction.”
The event ended with the invitation for all the participants and their advisors as SPE guests to the Christmas Dinner organized by SPE Italian Section and a warm goodbye towards the 24th edition of the “Gustavo Sclocchi” Theses Award.
SECTION LIFE 23
UPCOMING CELEBRATION OF POLITECNICO DI TORINO’S SPE STUDENT CHAPTER’S 15TH ANNIVERSARY
DARIO VIBERTI Politecnico di Torino Student Chapter Liaison
The SPE Student Chapter “Augusta Taurinorum” of the Politecnico di Torino was officially established 15 years ago, on March 1st 2001, thanks to the effort made by a group of Master course students, PhD students, professors, as well as the endorsement and active participation of the SPE Italian section board. Nowadays, the chapter is a sort of institution within the institution as it represents an integral part of students’ academic experience. Over the last decade, students from about 50 different countries have actively participated in our chapter, organizing local social and technical events, taking part in conferences and lectures, competing with other universities at international level in well-established and traditional contests, like the “student paper contests” and “Petrobowl”. The student chapter provides opportunities for networking as well as taking a sneak peek at the business environment, which students see themselves
being part of in the future. Some weeks ago, the current board of the Student Chapter (president: Henry Enninful; vice-president: Matteo Deidda; secretary: Seyed Ahmad Hosseini) came to my office to discuss a number of ideas for activities related to the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Chapter. Social and sport events will be taking place during the month of March. The deadline for registration in the student team for the “2016 PetroBowl Regional Qualifiers” is Monday, 14 March 2016. One of the first events is the local “2016 PetroBowl PRE-Qualifiers” in which our teams will compete to earn a place at the Stavanger event. The competition has been held in Milan, Saturday March 5th* in the morning, before the event “THE OPEN INNOVATION WAY”. Here below some words directly from the board members of the Student Chapter.
POLITO SPE STUDENT CHAPTER @ 15: A SHORT PRESENTATION
HENRY R. N. B. ENNINFUL
March 1st, 2001 marked the beginning of what would become a good example of a successful SPE student chapter in Italy. Over the last 15 years, the student chapter has grown both in terms of memerships as well as in terms of its recognition in Italy. Hard work, commitment and dedication are behind the success story of the SPE Augusta Taurinorum. If that were not enough, the student chapter has extended its “bragging rights” to the European continent to rub shoulders with other student
chapters from other countries. This can be seen by the victories of the student paper contest and the Petrobowl qualifiers on the European Stage. The chapter has always shown a zealous spirit to do better. In this 15th year Anniversary of SPE PoliTo, the current board members of the PoliTo student chapter have put together some an exciting program to celebrate the event that will be completed when this Bulletin will be issued. It includes:
SEYED AHMAD HOSSEINI
- LAUNCH OF SPE POLITO @ 15 (3RD MARCH, 2016) - SPE POLITO PETROBOWL QUIZ COMPETITION (5TH MARCH, 2016) - SPE POLITO MIDNIGHT GOALS - SPORTS COMPETITION (19TH MARCH, 2016)
MATTEO DEIDDA
24 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
Fig.1: Fluid saturation at reservoir conditions during WAG injection (green-oil, red-gas, blue-water). Far from injection wells, due to different densities, gas moves toward the crest while water toward bottom part of the reservoir
MAXIMISE ASSET VALUE IN A LOW OIL PRICE SCENARIO
ANDREA LAMBERTI Eni S.p.A, SPE Italian Section Reservoir Technical Director
Dear SPE members, In the last two years, global oil prices have been reducing. Today cost is around 35 $/bbls, a level not seen since 2004. Many factors are interacting, but the basic dynamics lie in the fact that since mid-2014 the world has been producing far more oil than anyone needs, pushing down the price.
US crude oil production has nearly doubled since 2010 and Saudi Arabia and other oil producers in OPEC did not reduce their own production to keep up prices, in contrast to what they did in the past. Nowadays oil supply is about 2 million barrels per day higher than oil demand.
IVAN MAFFEIS Eni S.p.A
Fig. 2: Global Oil Supply (blue) vs Global Oil Demand (orange). Bars report oil excess. Oil supply includes crude oil, condensates, NGL, refinery products and biofuels (source IEA Oil Market Report).
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 25 In this price scenario, international oil companies are delaying or canceling the most complex projects with higher breakeven like unconventional or deep-water asset deployments. Even EOR projects are strongly influenced by economics and long-term crude oil prices. Indeed, during the eighties and the nineties, when the oil price dropped below 15 USD, many companies stopped EOR investments. Despite that scenario, an increase in EOR production was observed from less but more robust projects. Similarly, launching and expanding EOR projects today is not a dream. It depends on capabilities to keep production costs in line with oil selling prices, taking advantage of synergies with existing facilities. Here below a clear example of the possibility to deploy EOR projects also in a low oil price scenario. The work is based on the paper SPE ‘On the Road to 60% Oil Recovery by Implementing Miscible Hydrocarbon WAG in a North-African Field’, presented at EORC 2015 in Kuala Lumpur. ‘On the Road to 60% Oil RF by Implementing Miscible WAG’ Ivan Maffeis, Eni A Water-Alternating-Gas (WAG) injection project is foreseen in a North-African field, which was discovered in 1994 and first brought on stream in October 2004. The current development strategy for this field centers on water injection as well as reinjection of produced gas. Water and gas injection started after few months of natural depletion at the startup of the field, aiming mainly to pressure maintenance. The reservoir (Figure 2) lies within a long East-Northeast trending horst block within the footwall block of a major trending fault system along the Northeast-Southwest direction. The field is structurally closed to the East and West by bounding faults belonging to the main system of the horst. The Northeast closure of the field is stratigraphic with a mineralized formation shaling out toward that direction. Producible resources mainly lie in two sandstone formations dated from the Triassic period, mineralized with undersaturated light oil (about 44°API) and vertically separated by a continu-
ous shaly layer. Moreover, a hydraulic separation between the Northern and
Fig. 3: Map of the field. Color scale indicates the depth of reservoir top. Well names are specified for Southern area only. Injectors I-1 and I-4 are involved in WAG pilot; I-3 and I-4 are water injectors; I-5 is a gas injector.
Southern areas of the field is evident by observing interference behavior of wells. The field is developed by means of vertical wells, completed in commingle or selectively from the two main formations. Due to a zero-flaring policy and the absence of any dedicated
pressure and temperature, thus gas injection is performed under miscibility conditions in the reservoir. On the other hand, water is injected at voidage replacement. An in-depth screening workflow is available internally to the company to identify the optimum EOR production strategy for a large range of fields. This workflow is mainly based on previous EOR experience in analogue fields and in real cases reported in literature published worldwide. For the considered field, WAG injection was singled out as the most suitable technology to maximize ultimate oil recovery factor, taking advantage from miscibility between oil and injected gas at reservoir conditions. This approach would be advantageous also for management of gas injection, delaying gas breakthrough with a consequent reduction in recycling. Moreover, the economic viability of the project is assured by the presence of water and gas injection facilities, which drastically reduces the additional costs related to WAG scenario, mainly impacted by extension of injection lines to reach the wells.
Fig. 4: Reproduction of PVT laboratory results by 11- and 7-components equation of state. (a) – (d) Differential liberation results (saturation pressure Psat is highlighted in plots). (e) Slim tube experiment results (Minimum Miscibility Pressure MMP and reservoir pressure Pres are highlighted in the plot).
export network, produced gas from the entire concession has to be reinjected into the reservoir. The crude oil develops multi-contact miscibility with its own solution gas at large
Preliminary analyses mainly focused on PVT properties of involved fluids were conducted. These analyses allowed the tuning of a dedicated equation of state able to reproduce with a
26 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS good level of precision the thermodynamic behavior of reservoir fluids (Figure 3). A fully compositional 3D numerical simulation model was then prepared for the considered field. After the match of historical data, the model was used to forecast field performance with different development strategies. From simulation, expected ultimate recovery factor increase thanks to WAG injection implementation of about 6-7% with respect to the reference case strategy (continuous gas and water injection). It is estimated that full-field implementation of a tapered, miscible hydrocarbon WAG will push the recovery factor towards 60%. This additional production is mainly related to recovery of attic oil previously not contacted by water injection and beneficial effect of water cycles in delaying gas breakthrough (thus improving noticeably life of producers), together with the optimization of sweep efficiency at microscopic scale.
Fig. 6: Calculated Gas Utilization Factor as function of time for the continuous gas injection scheme. It can be observed that it decreased as the development of the field matured. With WAG injection it is expected to lower even more.
positive effects on producers were observed at the first changeover in one of the WAG pilot injectors (Figure 4). An intensive monitoring of reservoir behavior is one of the keys for success of the WAG injection pilot project. A dedicated surveillance plan was then prepared to properly monitor injection and production behavior of involved wells and foresee, among other things, systematic use of diagnostic plots to constrain and assist history
The sampling and analysis of gas produced at well scale can finally reveal the actual nature of EOR mechanisms acting in reservoir. In case of moderate GOR increase, indeed, the compositional analysis of produced gas can help in distinguish whether additional gas production is coming from swollen oil or the injected gas front is reaching the producer. For the mechanics of miscible gas injection, indeed, in the latter case the produced gas would show higher contribution in light components (methane banking), whereas in case of gas liberated from swollen oil gas composition would be more peaked on intermediate components. In conclusion: - EOR application in mature fields could may be a successful strategy if properly coupled with a low cost-perbarrel approach. The application of worldwide well-established technologies (like WAG, applied since 80’s) allows the recovery of additional oil with a very low risk associated.
Fig. 5: Effect of injector I-1 switch from water injection to gas injection phase (Feb – May 2013) on two nearby producers P-1 (top) and P-2 (bottom). While on P-1 the decline stopped and the well continued production, on P-2 a new oil rate plateau was reached, 35% higher than rates observed before switch.
In order to prove the efficiency of WAG injection, a dedicated pilot project is currently ongoing in the Southern area of the considered field. Two injectors were converted into WAG wells: in this way, a constant-in-time total gas injection rate can be assured by properly alternating injection phases, without interfering with the global field gas management. Sudden
matching of the field performance. Monitoring of gas utilization ratio is one of the tools that can reveal the efficiency of gas injection strategy implemented in the field. Currently, gas utilization factor for the considered case is around 25-30 MScf/STB (Figure 5), but from study of production forecast reveals that this value will be lowered during WAG injection.
- WAG is expected to increase ultimate recovery factor of almost 6% on top of an already very promising scenario. This can be done mainly thanks to the recovery of attic oil that was previously bypassed by water injection and the delay of gas breakthrough at producers. - The economic value of the project is also supported by limited investments required for the implementation thanks to the presence of water and gas injection facilities at field. It was computed that the cost of additional production due to the implementation
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 27 of WAG injection in the considered field results to be about 5 times lower if compared with production coming from conventional actions (infill wells). - The EOR production strategy was proposed for a field already giving very good results. To successfully reach implementation of WAG injection and assess related advantages, a change of field management strategy was necessary, taking the courage for passing from a well-established development plan to an alternative
strategy promising even better results, as stated above. - Those global results were achieved thanks to the creation of an integrated team with specialists capable to supply specific support about topics related to EOR application, from proposal and analysis of field measurements to forecast of field performance. For references: -https://www.iea.org/oilmarketreport/omrpublic/
- SPE 154008: ‘Review of Gas Injection Projects in BP’ – J. Brodie, J. Bharat, T. Moulds, S. Mellemstrand Hetland (2012) - SPE 71203: ‘Review of WAG field experience’ – J.R. Christensen, E.H. Stenby, A. Skauge (2001) - SPE Res Eval & Eng 14 (3): ‘Systematic Surveillance Techniques for a Large Miscible WAG Flood’ M. Panda, D. Nottingham, D. Lenig (2011) - SPE 174694: ‘Building an Enhanced Oil Recovery Culture to Maximise Asset Values ‘ - M. Rotondi, A. Lamberti, F. Masserano, K. Mogensen (2015)
Andrea Lamberti: Andrea Lamberti has been working for eni since 2006 in the areas of Reservoir Engineering between Italy, Egypt and Tunisia. His current interests are IOR and EOR technologies. Lamberti holds a Post Graduation Master and an MSc in Applied Mathematics from University of Milan Bicocca. He is currently the Reservoir Technical Director of SPE Italian Section.
Ivan Maffeis: Reservoir engineer in eni. After joining the company in 2007 he dealt with acid gas reinjection in sour reservoirs and, afterwards, heavy oil recovery. Since 2014, he is involved in EOR team, focusing on gas injection techniques. Ivan holds a Degree in Physics from Università degli Studi of Milan, Italy.
28 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
RECENT ADVANCES IN ARTIFICIAL LIFT TECHNOLOGY Introduction
GABRIELE CARPINETA Eni S.p.A, SPE Italian Section Production and Operations Technical Director
Artificial Lift (AL) refers to the use of artificial means to increase the flow of fluids, such as crude oil, water or gas, from a production well. Generally, this is achieved by the use of mechanical devices inside the well or by decreasing the weight of the hydrostatic column by injecting gas into the liquid some distance away from the well. Although it does not exist any official global repository of AL installations, it can be reasonably assumed that roughly 10 - 20% of producing wells are flowing naturally - and that nearly all of the world’s oil and gas production is strictly linked to the Artificial Lift reliability and efficiency. Nowadays a wide number of AL systems are available, but they can be grouped in three main categories (see also Table 1 for subcategories): 1) pump-assisted systems; 2) fluid-assisted systems; 3) flow enhancement technique
FLUID ASSISTED
They are distributed as follows (see Fig 1 – from Spears Oil Field Market Report, 2011)
GAS LIFT
HYDRAULIC PUMPS
PUMP ASSISTED BEAM/ROD PUMPS
LINEAR LIFT PUMPS
ELECTRIC SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS PROGRESSIVE CAVITY PUMPS
FLOW ENHANCEMENT PLUNGER LIFT
VELOCITY STRING FOAM LIFT
COMPRESSION Table 1 – AL main categories
Fig. 1 - Artificial Lift Market Share by AL type
Despite AL systems are available in the market from a long time, in the last decade innovative solutions are available to increase production, improve efficiency and reduce cost. In particular, the research is driven by (1) the need of efficient lift fluids in horizontal wells (the trajectory undulations result in sumps where fluids are collected) and (2) the need of having available flexible AL systems able to maintain high performance in those wells characterized by a sharp performance decline such as the ones observed in tight/unconventional reservoirs. In this bulletin issue, we will focus on describing the profiles of recent developments on fluid assisted AL systems: Gas Lift and Hydraulic Jet Pumps. Gas Lift Gas lift involves injecting gas through a well’s tubing-casing annulus. Injected gas aerates the fluid to reduce its density; the formation pressure is then able to lift the fluid column and force it up the wellbore. Depending on the well’s producing characteristics and the specific characteristics of the
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 29 gas-lift equipment, gas may be injected continuously or intermittently. In many systems, dummy valves are loaded in side pocket mandrels to isolate the annulus from the tubing where pressurization is required to test the tubing, to test the annulus, to set a hydraulic packer, or to activate an isolation device. If the well then requires gas lift to unload the completion fluid or to assist the well to flow, wireline intervention is required to remove the dummy valves and install the live gas lift string. This can be time-consuming and production is delayed while a new live valve unit is installed. To avoid this issue, some service company developed new Gas Lift valves, using nanotechnologies in its temporary internal plug that can be installed in wells to act as a “smart� dummy valve (see Figure 2): this kind of valve can automatically transform itself in a live valve through disintegration of the temporary internal plug, thus eliminating wireline intervention and the workover costs associated to replacing dummy valves with live valves.
the surface. The information available to the well operator include pressure sensors to provide annulus and production tubing pressure and temperature data.
References
Hydraulic Pump
- Gas Well Operation with Liquid Production, James F. Lea et al.
Hydraulic pumps are an effective way to remove fluids from a wellbore (see Figure 3). Normally they can be classified in two categories, depending on the type of downhole pump installed: - Hydraulic piston pump, where the injected power fluid operates a downhole fluid engine, which pumps to the surface, by means of a piston, both the formation fluid and the spent power fluid. - Jet pump, which converts the pressurized power fluid to a high-velocity jet that mixes directly with the well fluids
Fig. 3 - Smart Dummy Valve, (from Petrowiki.org)
Fig. 2 - Smart Dummy Valve, (from Baker Hughes)
Another concept developed in the last years and now available in the market to guarantee a wide spectrum of injection rates, is the control of such gas lift rate through a series of injection orifices, each one controlled from
Regarding hydraulic piston pumps, the services company are focusing on developing hydraulic pumps able to be conveyed via Coil Tubing and installed even in deviated/horizontal wells mainly as dewatering technique. For the jet pump, the research is focusing on developing multistage jet pump where the introduction of an initial smaller stage reduces the risk of cavitation and extends the range of pump applicability (see Figure 4).
- Challenges, Opportunities abound for Artificial Lift, JPT Features Editor Joel Parshall
- Smart Gas lift Valves Enhance Operation Efficiency of Offshore Wells, 166291 MS-SPE - Gas Well Deliquification Application Overview, 138672 MS-SPE www.alrc.com www.bakerhughes.com www.petrowiki.org www.worldoil.com www.weatherford.com www.silverwellenergy.com
30 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
Fig. 1: Integrated approach and collaboration to achieve operational efficiency on a global scale
Operational Efficiency as the Answer to the Current Challenges and Future Opportunities
ALBERTO MALIARDI Eni S.p.A., SPE Italian Section Drilling & Completion Technical Director
LIVIO CARAMANICO ProEnergy
PAOLO D’ALESIO Proenergy
Operational Efficiency and Opportunities Introduction by A. Maliardi, Eni SPE Italian Section Drilling & Completion Technical Director In this issue of the SPE Italy Technical Bulletin, the focus is on the strategic impact that operational efficiency may have to overcome the current challenges of the Oil & Gas Industry and take future opportunities offered by complex drilling and completion environments. Technology innovation and the optimization of well construction practices are the key to ensure cost-effective operations and enhanced well productivity. The article below highlights how the adoption of a systematic approach in well planning, execution and lessons-learning, and the application of innovative technologies are critical factors to help Companies becoming more robust and competitive. The Oil & Gas Industry has often been on a “cyclic path”, in that, for its own nature, it is inevitably linked to fluctuations of the energy supply/demand ratio. Furthermore, the end of the so called “easy oil” has implied the need to move towards even more challenging and complex drilling and completion environments, with the consequent rising in risks and costs and, therefore, the necessity to further enhance safety and reduce capital & operational expenditures.
Such context requires Oil & Gas Companies to have the ability to promptly react to market changes and, at the same time, to effectively face new operational issues in order to maintain competitiveness. Crucial for this achievement is the efficient execution of operational activities, which not only allows answering to the current scenario of low oil price, but also taking the existing and future opportunities offered by the above cited complex drilling and completion environments.
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 31 An effective innovation process begins with the collection of needs and then proceeds through the stages of ideas definition, experimentation and decision on how to best take advantage from them. If such actions are duly implemented, the process can allow a rapid development of successful ideas and the early identification of the “fast failure” ones. This is particularly important in the Oil & Gas Upstream, in which research often requires substantial capital investments and development efforts before achieving results. Furthermore, the proper collection and ranking of operational needs, lays the basis for easing the future acceptance of the developed technologies, i.e. “early promoting” their field application and, consequently, the growth of the relevant maturity. Fig. 2: Main Factors to Achieve Operational Efficiency
Two factors are critical in helping Oil & Gas Companies to become more “robust”: the adoption of a systematic approach in well planning, execution and lessons-learning as well as the application of innovative technologies. This implies focusing on the following main aspects: 1. ensuring consistency across different operating groups, all by having a common operating model and applying an integrated planning approach; 2. identifying inefficient processes, with the aim of limiting their impact and define more effective ways of working; 3. improving operational performances, by promoting standardization to ensure the continuous implementation of industry’s best practices, and therefore, the integrity throughout the well life-cycle; 4. pursuing innovation and technology development, to improve safety and efficiency while reducing costs; 5. capturing data and use proper performance indicators to identify inadequacies and leverage continuous improvement to capitalize knowledge and lessons learnt. The first three aspects reported above are all connected, in different ways, to the development, constant updat-
ing and effective implementation of a suitable system of “operational standards”, in terms of processes and procedures for both managerial and technical aspects. This represents the common basis for operations activities worldwide all well, laying the foundation for: - a more solid and consistent interaction between central and local teams; - an enhanced management of well operations within each local team, - an improved “familiarization” of technical personnel with the used technologies, thus facilitating their effective application. In addition, work processes should focus on taking the most from the available IT technologies, to promote such values as advanced and multidisciplinary collaboration, competences sharing, effective management of risks and uncertainties. As far as innovation and technology development, they are key factors for enhancing operational efficiency while simultaneously decreasing costs. In this regards, two main points have to be highlighted, namely the need to: - ensure the effectiveness of the innovation process; - promote the deployment of the developed technologies.
Finally, last but not least, operational efficiency is ensured not only by processes and technologies, but also by people. The use of software solutions able to acquire large volumes of data coming from rig site and translate them into visual models and other imaging schemes, has already made “real-time drilling” a reality. This has created an advanced work environment, where the most skilled people from various disciplines collaborate on the most important operational aspects. Onsite teams are provided with a full technical, remote support from the most qualified experts, independently from where they are physically located. In addition, the massive amount of data collected during the execution phase have to be properly processed in the post-analysis phase, to help highlighting any criticality, best result and lessons learned, as an integral part of the working routine. “Lessons learning” should refer to any kind of information and/or experience that may be useful either within the same local team or to other teams, including not only the technical but also the methodological knowledge. New lessons should be captured whenever they arise, duly analysed and stored in appointed databases, in order to maintain an historical record and find out which actions best apply for optimizing performances. Then, an effec-
32 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS tive knowledge management process has to give the chance to generate, capitalize and disseminate knowledge, transferring it to all the potential users, with the aim of facilitating the replication of the positive experiences and avoiding the recurrence of the negative ones. Various initiatives are being implemented today throughout the Oil &
Gas Industry in order to increase the efficiency of operations. A report issued by EY in 2015 has shown that the main outcomes reported by the involved Companies are: - decline in both the total recordable injury/incident rate and days-awayfrom-work incidents for employees and contractors;
- reduction in well drilling costs as well as total operating costs; - improvement in asset uptime or availability; - increase in oil and gas production. Such achievements clearly demonstrate how strategic is the commitment to pursue the operational excellence.
Livio Caramanico: Livio Caramanico has been working in the Oil & Gas Industry for more than twelve years, and currently holds the position of Project Coordinator within ProEnergy. The many projects performed over the years for both Oil & Gas Companies and Gas Storage Companies, along with the field experience he made during the first years of his career, allowed him to gain an extensive knowledge on various aspects of well operations. Livio holds an MS degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of L’Aquila. He is a certified and registered engineer, and is an associated member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Paolo D’Alesio: Paolo D’Alesio is the founder of the Company ProEnergy, set-up in 2001. He has a Service Contractor background with thirty years of experience in Well Engineering and Production Optimization, Well Operations, Well Integrity and Risk Management. His Company ProEnergy provides consultancy services in Well Engineering and Management. Paolo holds an MS degree in Chemical Engineering from the Polytechnic of Milan. Paolo is an associated member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 33
A CONVERSATION WITH PROFESSOR SIMONE COLOMBO BY DAVIDE SCOTTI, SAIPEM
D.S.: Simone, tell me what do you exactly do at Politecnico di Milano? S.C.: Well, the concepts that I try to pass in of my course “Enterprise Risk Management” to MSc students in Safety Engineering is how to analyse and manage risks in complex systems. D.S.: Sounds interesting and, at the same time, quite challenging. S.C.: First of all, becoming a system analyst means changing the reasoning approach: from deductive to inductive reasoning. DAVIDE SCOTTI Saipem, SPE Italian Section HSE Technical Director
D.S.: What’s the difference? S.C.: In one sentence: Deductive and inductive reasoning differ from each others: in the first case a specific conclusion is derived from general event, in the second case vice versa. D.S.: The concept is clear, but I cannot see how does this match with analysing and managing risks. S.C.: Simple: when you are analysing a complex system to identify the associated risks, you are interested to know what might happen in case something, typically a “little thing” such as a technological failure, a wrong or misleading communication, a correctly execution of a wrong procedure, goes wrong. And this implies an inductive reasoning process. Else you should start already from what you would like to discover, i.e., the consequence, and figure out in how many ways it might be entailed.
Fig. 1: Simone Colombo, Politecnico di Milano
D.S.: I see. But to me it seems a rather difficult task to accomplish. How can you envisage everything that might stem from a “little flaw”? S.C.: You got the point, it is nearly impossible for a human being (even for a team). This is why we appeal to artificial logic (or, rather, logic-based artificial intelligence) to helping us reaching the goal.
34 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS D.S.: Now I am curious to know what are the other challenges your students are strained to face. S.C.: Broadly speaking, there are two challenges students have to face in case they yearn to become system analysts and understand how to manage risks, namely: adopting a systemic thinking approach and understanding how to manage human behaviour. D.S.: System thinking? Conceptually much more intelligible than the deductive vs. inductive reasoning, but what do you exactly mean by system thinking? S.C.: In order to become a system analyst, it is of paramount importance to see (and conceptually model) with the same sematic capabilities the human, the technological and the organisational elements, despite a possibly distorted view of the decision maker. In other words, the system analyst must be able to describe abstractly the system from a logical-functional standpoint for all the three elements. And that’s a challenge for everybody as, typically, people deals with one realm at a time (i.e., the technological, the human or the organisational realm) and not all the three at once. D.S.: And what about the human behaviour management? S.C.: Human behaviour management has to do with everything you do at the LHS Foundation since the set out. This is why you are contributing to the growth of our students with the inspiring lectures you deliver in my course. Actually, engineers (as this is my “audience”) are very much skilled and prepared to analyse technologies and processes (and understanding how to manage them), but when it comes to the human element (and, actually, even the organisational one) they really struggle, for not saying that they go completely blank. They do not have clue of how to deal with the human component both schematically (to insert in the analyses they perform) and emotionally (to understand how to improve behaviours). Words like motivation, engagement, rewards (and sanctions), culture, as means to induce people to care about risks and contribute to managing them, are conceptually new to them. Even further, they are not seen as practical means to deal with humans. Actually, understanding how and, most of all, why people behave the way they behave, it is of paramount importance both from an analytical standpoint, to better analyse systems (and correctly modelling the human component), and from a managerial one, to propose solutions which are realistically applicable and coherent with the functioning mechanisms of us humans.
ITALY (AND SPE) LOVES SAFETY BY DAVIDE SCOTTI, SAIPEM During the annual SPE Italian Christmas dinner last December, I had the privilege to open the evening with a short safety speech. It was a great way to dedicate the dinner to a very important subject too often discussed in a very formal way. In addition, our section decided to donate 25 Euro per each participant to the Leadership in Health and Safety Foundation in order to sponsor a safety workshop for 100 kids. Holding the position of General Secretary of the LHS Foundation, I was delighted about the synergy just creat-
ed between SPE and the Foundation. Thanks to our donation and additional funding made available by the Foundation itself a special workshop was arranged in collaborations with MUBA (the Museum of Kids in Milan) on May 1st and about 100 kids will be involved in five special sessions in which they are going to learn how to become “little leaders in safety”. The children of our associates are welcome to register free of charge and this event is part of a broaden initiative called “Italia Loves Sicurezza” that is going to involve thousands
of people all over Italy on April 28th, the world day for health and safety at work . What makes this initiative worth of note is that all events will be aimed at communicating health & safety in a modern, and not necessarily conventional, way. SPE-Italy is proud to be on board of Italia Loves Sicurezza by arranging a special safety leadership workshop with Young Professionals in April as well as the initiative for our children on May 1st. If you would like to be a protagonist of these or more HSE initiatives, do not hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn.
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 35
Next Generation of Aerospace Fuel Specialties: an Oil&Gas Opportunity
GIORDANO PINARELLO BlueThink S.p.A., SPE Italian Section Management and Information Technical Director
ALESSANDRO MAZZETTI BlueThink S.p.A.
Fig. 1: Spaceship Two by Virgin Galactic (Photo by MarsScientific.com and Clay Center Observatory)
Aeronautics and space sectors are looking for innovative, high performance fuels with tailored application-specific features. This opens a scenario that is similar to 1950s, when Aerojet Rocketdyne established rocket-grade kerosene standards: times are ready for first movers to define new aerospace fuels “benchmark products�. First discussion topic is related to general aviation. This sector is responsible for the 2% of the world anthropogenic CO2 emissions and 10% of fuel consumption, while airlines costs for fuel reach nearly 30% of overall operating costs. In addition, global aviation traffic is expected to double by 2030, while fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are expected to double by 2040. At the same time, regulatory frameworks (e.g. EU Flightpath) sets a target of 2 Mt per year for aviation alternative fuel use by 2020 (i.e. 4% of annual fuel consumption). This opens a quest for green jet (and rocket) fuels, with same or better performance level as traditional compositions (e.g. RP-1, JP-8) but with reduced environmental footprint. CO2 emissions of bio-jet fuels are, in fact, close to 40% the emissions of jet fuels produced from crude oil.
The big question from aeronautics sector remains: will bio-fuels be able to give the same performance level as traditionally derived fuels? Chemistry research group from Princeton University is studying bio-jet fuel performance improvement and several O&G Companies (such as Sasol and Shell) already offer bio-jet fuel as a product. Noticeably, several airlines already tested such bio-fuels in commercial flights, starting from 2011 in Europe (KLM, Finnair, SAS, Lufthansa, Thomson Airways, Air France), in the Americas (Continental Airlines, Interjet, AeroMexico, Gol Transportes Aereos) in Middle East - Asia (Etihad, Thai Airways, Hainan Airlines) and Oceania (Qantas, Jetstar Airlines). In particular, KLM operates weekly intercontinental flights between Amsterdam and New York, fueled by traditional hydrocarbons and bio-fuel derived from used cooking oil. (Figure 2) Second relevant topic is related to low cost replacements for rocket-grade kerosene, as needed by private space access providers. Since US government budget restrictions (i.e. sequestration in 2013), several new players entered the space access business: SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and BlueOrigin are the most significant examples
36 TECHNICAL DIRECTORS of such companies. These commercial players are in need of competitive, reliable, and low cost propulsion technologies. Liquid Oxygen/LNG based rocket engines are a wellknown technical solution, being able to conjugate good performance with low fuel cost. BlueOrigin is developing the first commercial launch vehicle with LNG-fuelled boosters, able to deliver nearly 250000 kgf each. Such system demonstrated reusability in January 2016, by a second vertical launch / vertical landing being refueled after a previous mission: therefore the vehicle is refueled after each flight mission and ready for the next one (of course after the mandatory safety controls). The tailoring of the best LNG hydrocarbon composition is of great importance to improve such good performance, but currently not yet investigated nor commercially exploited by O&G Companies. Third relevant topic is related to the emerging topic of mass access to space. Next generation of suborbital flight / upper stage launch vehicles motors require high performance, reliability, and safety. Hybrid rocket technology (fuel grain is solid, while oxidizer is gaseous or liquid) is increasingly considered as the most promising over competing solutions. In particular, these motors are intrinsically safe, reliable, low cost and their thrust can be throttled (unlike solid propelled rockets, which cannot be shut off until the propellant is consumed). This allows considering a number of innovative missions, including mass access to space. One of the most promising solutions to achieve the required performance level is to use liquefying hydrocarbon-based solid fuels. Among these, paraffin-based formulations show the highest potential, being: low-cost, highly available, substantially green (their performance level is high enough to potentially avoid the use of more polluting addi-
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
tives) and highly performing. These fuels develop the so-called “entrainment phenomenon”: once heated, their surface liquefies and the thin liquid film is sprayed by the impinging oxidizer flux. This self-atomizing effects allows very high combustion efficiencies, and therefore an increase of propulsive performance with respect to traditional solid fuels. Thus, paraffin-based hybrid rockets are the best possibility, but performance level can be delivered only if a «tailoring» of paraffin composition is performed considering the specific use as rocket fuel. In fact, paraffins currently available on the market are “general purpose” products, viable for a wide range of applications in very distant sectors (e.g. beauty products, pharmaceuticals, chemistry). «Tailoring» involves paraffin thermo-mechanical properties characterization i.e. melting point, mechanical resistance and composition in order to find the better hydrocarbon combination to fit the needs of rocket combustion. (Figure 3)
It is possible to compare traditional fuel formulations (HTPB rubber and rocket-grade kerosene RP-1) with paraffin-based solid and LNG-based liquid fuels in terms of performance efficiency (represented by mass specific impulse) and cost per unit mass. The resulting merit figure is 7.24 for LNG, 4.17 for paraffin-fuels, 1.06 for RP-1 and 0.57 for traditional aluminized rubber-based rocket propellants. This calculation does not consider additional system/management costs related to cryogenics, giving a LNG merit nearly seven times RP-1 and fourteen times solid fuels. Paraffins (which have no cryogenic costs associated) score four times RP-1 kerosene and eight times HTPB-based solids. (Figure 4) In conclusion, there are significant possibilities of development for specialty products in the aerospace sector: the challenge is to tailor them for the specific application, with a competitive market barrier today still manageable.
Alessandro Mazzetti: Alessandro Mazzetti obtained a master degree in Aeronautical Engineering with specialization in Aerospace Propulsion and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Models and Methods in Engineering at Mathematics Department, both from Politecnico di Milano University. His expertise as involves experimental and numerical investigation of combustion processes in rocket engines, high-energy (nano) materials, aerospace fuels/propellants, and aerospace systems engineering, with several contributions to international conference proceedings. He has seven years’ experience in R&D and engineering related to aerospace propulsion and currently he is involved in technological innovation and engineering projects for BlueThink S.p.A. in many industrial fields, such as: oil&gas, aerospace/defense, automotive, transport, and energy.
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS 37
The Projects, Facilities and Construction corner: planning our next steps As described in the previous issues of this bulletin, for 2015/2016 the two main objectives for the PFC technical discipline are:
ANDREA INTIERI Saipem, SPE Italian Section Projects, Facilities and Construction Technical Director
1.enforcing our network of professionals coming from operators, contractors, vendors and subcontractors. We strongly believe that SPE Italy is an excellent networking opportunity and we aim at tightening our relationships by putting in contact people willing to connect, collaborate, and grow; 2.enhancing the level of topics related to the PFC discipline. This does not only mean technical articles, but also a more in-depth coverage of our interesting and complex world as an example through collaborations with other associations, technology days and site visits. Regarding the first objective, we already presented the members that joined the new PFC Committee: now I am glad to welcome some other colleague, brand-new SPE members that recently joined the Committee. Alessandra Turconi and Domenica Pizzirusso, two great professionals, affiliated with Saipem and Tecnomare respectively and strongly committed towards our Section. Here below, you will find more details on their professional profile.
Other colleagues will be introduced in the next issue. Of course, I want to encourage other colleagues interested in joining the Committee to contact us (my email is at the end of this article). On the second objective, you will have certainly noticed the several technical articles recently appeared on the bulletin - and this issue includes another one: Lorenzo Penati (Saipem) discusses the challenges of the deepwater projects. With the support of Arnold Dumont and Giacomo Bianchi (DimEye) we organized a technology day on “the benefits of photogrammetry” particularly appreciated by our members. Moreover, we are continuing our fruitful collaboration with ANIMP (the Italian Association of the Industrial Plants firms): last November the two boards (SPE Italy’s and ANIMP’s) met in order to better know each other and define the next steps of the collaboration. At this point, I will not disclose any further detail as you will read more information soon… Last but not least, at the beginning of April 2016 we arranged a site visit at Flowserve Corporation’s centrifugal pumps manufacturing plant located in Desio (Milan). Keep on following us!
Alessandra Turconi, Saipem: Alessandra holds a Master’s Degree with honours in Civil Structural Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. Presently Project Engineer, Alessandra started her career in Saipem group in 2003 as Analysis Specialist. During her 13 years of professional growth, she changed both professional roles (R&D process innovator, Installation Engineer, Methods Lead) and locations (San Donato Milanese, London, Rijeka, Fano) developing team working, problem solving and project management skills.
Domenica Pizzirusso, Tecnomare: Alessandra holds a Master’s Degree with honours in Civil Graduated in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Naples in 2014, Domenica joined Tecnomare in 2015 after a post-graduate degree in design of Oil & Gas plants. Actually, she is involved in NPS - Strand Gas Project as Naval Architect. His experience includes jacket installation lifting, free-floating and upending manoeuvres, stability and hydrodynamic analyses for floating platforms
38 SECTION ACTIVITIES
SPE Technical Day: Tomographic Deposition and Sand Watch Applications for Oil & Gas Industry HARRI AUVINEN, ROCSOLE LTD. FEBRUARY 16TH, 2016, CROWNE PLAZA, SAN DONATO MILANESE
GIONATA FERRONI Geolog International BV
Fig. 1: The lecture comprised a practical demonstration.
The SPE technical Day of February was dedicated to the fascinating world of Electrical Tomography (ET).
Electrical Tomography is a tomographic technology that enables real-time imaging and measurement of media inside process pipes and tanks. Such technology is applicable to the production industry, since it works well even in processes with multiphase flows. The speaker lecturing on the subject was a specialist of ET. A mathematician by trade, Harri Auvinen is a Senior Technology Manager at Rocsole Ltd. Harri has an extensive background of industrial tomography methods and instruments, and he is presently responsible for ET technology development and deployment. During his lecture, Dr. Auvinen presented a detailed description of the tomography tools he utilizes, including a live demonstration of the func-
tioning of the ET sensor that is deployed on pipes in order to monitor scale growth, any deposition inside a process pipe and multiphase flow regimes. In addition, tank layers and emulsion interfaces can be investigated. In fact, ET technology enables to see in Real-Time what is happening inside the process pipes and tanks. A sensor with disseminated electrodes is installed around the pipe (the sensor is visible at the bottom right of the picture). Voltage is then injected and current is measured across all electrodes; the image is reconstructed with a dedicated imaging software. The resulting image is a cross-section of the pipe, which also enables to calculate fluid behavior trends. Apart from the main applications for which the system is deployed these days, potential further applications were discussed, in a highly stimulating Technical Day event.
Harri Auvinen: Dr. Harri Auvinen is a Senior Technology Manager at Rocsole Ltd (www. rocsole.com ), a high-technology company providing industrial process measurement control solutions based on tomographic imaging. At Rocsole Harri takes care of technology development and instrument commissioning on sites. Harri has an extensive background of industrial tomography methods and instruments. Prior to Rocsole Harri has worked for several international research institutes and has a D.Sc. (Tech.) degree in applied mathematics.
SECTION ACTIVITIES 39
SPE Distinguished Lecture Series: The Value of Assessing Uncertainty (What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You) DUANE A. MCVAY, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 24TH, 2016, ENI CORPORATE UNIVERSITY, S. DONATO MILANESE GIONATA FERRONI Geolog International BV
Fig. 1: McVay at the ENI Corporate University
Duane McVay, our February Distinguished Lecturer, lead a very thought-provoking discussion focused on something that should really be second-nature for anyone involved in technical disciplines: assessing data in an honest and quantitative way. In particular, he explained how important it is to remove any “wishful-thinking” effect from the uncertainty assessment process. McVay, a petroleum engineer, is the Rob L. Adams ’40 Professor at the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University. His primary research focus is on uncertainty quantification. His work and the February lecture too, isspecifically focused on the context of production forecasting and reserves estimation in oil and gas reservoirs. According to McVay, the petroleum industry has underperformed for decades because of project evaluation methods not fully accou nting for uncertainty. The main issue appears to be a chronic bias, generating overconfidence and optimism. Such bias is generated by management pressure, pushing for performances beyond what the data
objectively indicate, and it persist because the true cost of underestimating uncertainty is not clearly understood. It is probably easier to grasp the effect of excessive optimism in terms of money. McVay stated that whenever even a moderate optimism is pushing the productivity estimates up, the resulting error in asset value can be in the region of 30-35% (estimated Net Present Value - NPV minus actual realized NPV). Such overestimation can have large negative consequences. However, experience shows that in most cases, the level of optimism applied to data extrapolation is higher than this, in the oil industry. The picture shown here actually provides one of the main answers to the problem: how is the forecasting computed and where is the overconfidence factor built in? Here we can see the curves showing how a non-objective identification of P10s and P90 can mislead the uncertainty estimation. McVay showed how such parameters can be correctly calibrated, stressing how a reliable assessment of uncertainty adds value to the bottom line, and has can significantly improve the industry financial performances.
Duane A. McVay: Dr. Duane A. McVay is the Rob L. Adams ’40 Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. He is a Distinguished Member of SPE. His primary research focus is on uncertainty quantification, particularly in the context of production forecasting and reserves estimation in oil and gas reservoirs. He joined Texas A&M in 1999, after spending 16 years with S.A. Holditch & Associates, a petroleum engineering consulting firm. He received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University.
40 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
INSTALLATION CHALLENGES FOR FRONTIER PROJECTS ULTRA-DEEP WATER AND HARSH ENVIRONMENT SCENARIOS
LORENZO PENATI Saipem S.p.A.
Fig. 1: Saipem’s ultra deep water field development ship FDS2
The offshore oil & gas industry is now looking at new exploration districts, looking towards the oceanic depths and remote areas, often in harsh and remote environments (e.g. Arctic or Sub-Arctic regions). The subsea technology is therefore under continuous development: the installation of flow-lines, PLETS i.e. pipeline end termination structures, and manifolds in ultra-deep waters and/or troubled waters is an outstanding issue. A project scenario overview with primary focus on rigid pipe-laying is presented and commented. Introduction As widely discussed in recent conferences (e.g. at OMC 2015 [1]), global population growth and economy development are constantly trailing the demand of energy resources, which is expected to rise by 30% within 2035. Late 2015 was affected by concerns derived from the decline in oil price, which is expected to continue over the next two years. The offshore market is suffering from a reduction in operator willingness to engage in projects with
remarked capital investments. This leads to limited field trials of relatively unproven technologies. Nonetheless, the SURF i.e. Subsea, Umbilicals, Riser and Flowlines market is still progressing to meet new challenges with the specific aim to reduce costs. Fields to be developed are often in ultra-deep water (i.e. > 1,500 m) and/or in harsh and remote environment. Solutions to face unprecedented complexity involve mostly established technologies and seldom unproven concepts. The development of offshore fields in deep waters is an well-established industrial practice since at least ten years. Currently, drilling and installation equipment enable filed developments to achieve water depth greater than 3,000 m [2]. Dealing with deep or even ultra-deep water fields requires the engineering and the installation capability to perform demanding offshore operations; in fact, the weight of thick pipelines and massive structures requires holding and lowering equipment at the upper bound of the available technology [3]. In addition, logistics, especially
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS 41 when projects are executed in remote and isolated geographic locations such as the Arctic, may play a key role in making a pipe-lay spread competitive. Frontier field developments are in progress, coherently to the increasing energy need. New projects can be technically and economically viable only thanks to top class pipe-lay vessels, supported by fine-tuned logistics. The reduction of the time needed for the operations is always a must, even in the deepest and harshest scenarios. Transported product, flow rate needs, pipe diameter and pipeline length may discriminate the preferred lay technology. The selection of the pipe concept, as a function of flow parameters and strength requirements, is always a key factor. The choice of the laying method is not straightforward without a detailed analysis of the requirements from operations and design time span. System complexity is commonly linked to component interfering requirements. Eventually, the driver of any decision shall take into account the results of expert analyses on project lifetime cycle. Subsea fields and pipelines architectures The technical solutions for developing the architecture of ultra-deep water fields vary with several parameters, such as reservoir dimensions and quality of the extracted hydrocarbon. Generally, the field layout includes a series of wells, intra-field lines that carry the product to manifolds or riser base structures, a production riser system connecting the seabed infra-structure to a surface floating facility (e.g. FPSO, Spar, Semi-Submersible‌), and a floating unit to the export lines starting base [5]. Currently, while the offshore market is suffering from the decline of oil price, there is still credit that technology can render economically viable the production and export from ultra-deep fields, even in remote and harsh environments. In the last decade and even nowadays, new full subsea processing concepts have been under development (i.e. boosting and separation technologies), particularly regarding the ‘subsea factory’ (i.e. subsea production plants permanently resting on the seabed).
In the perspective of cost reduction, even less ventures with pilot solutions are proposed, while field development concepts rely more on mature
the topical issue driving any development program and the relevant choices. Excellent weld ability properties is a key factor for such materials. Cor-
Fig. 2: Typical field development pipe solutions
technologies like steel pipes. Flexible pipes are considered an alternative to rigid pipes, since they have been already used as risers and flowlines even in deep water as well as new very promising alternatives, such as composites. Nevertheless, rigid pipes are preferred for transporting both treated and untreated products. Pipelines for Field Development Several products, with different characteristics and peculiar issues have to be adopted to complete a field development. Production and export risers are designed to withstand high pressure and high temperature, often transporting aggressive products that may cause corrosion and threaten the carrying capacity even in the short run. Products with internal lining made of special steel or plastic, or full wall noble materials, constitute the family of Corrosion Resistant Alloys (CRA) pipes. They are a quite expensive and proven option offered by the technology of the Materials to protect offshore production pipelines against corrosion. Furthermore, in deep waters external pressure requires thick walls and, consequently, heavy strings need to be hold by the pipe laying vessels during installation. In most deep-water applications, the mechanical fatigue of girth welds under the cyclic loads from seawater environment is
rosion, fatigue and severe transport conditions, often multi-phase, are challenges driving the development of riser and layout concepts; solutions are not unique and are often solved at a design stage requiring in service assistance by extensive monitoring in order to minimize risks. Similar issues can be extended to flow/intra-field lines, by however excluding the criticality of dynamics and fatigue derived from external hydrodynamic loads. The lines on the seabed that transport treated and untreated products are generally less complex than risers. They keep anyway some criticalities in relation to length and sometimes to flow-assurance issues that impose thermal insulation. In-service global buckling caused by thermal expansion recovery may be another challenge, particularly when layout is congested and in all those cases where flow fluctuations can cause fatigue. A high level of complexity must be faced in congested subsea layouts with a high density of structures and pipelines, where ending or starting a line often poses quite stringent requirements [6]. Export pipelines can be considered independently from above as long distance and large diameters dictate different line pipe requirements. Such lines are generally rigid: the minimum wall thickness requirement of
42 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS the pipe is determined according to the grade and both to the internal– bursting limit state and to the external–collapse limit state containment pressure. In ultra-deep waters this leads to thick walls: heavy pipes make challenging the welding and holding capacity of lay vessels over long distances. In general, long export pipelines with large diameter are made in carbon steel and are longitudinal seam arc welded. Notably the pipeline operators do not want to risk any leak due to corrosion. Plenty of care is taken in the production plants by treating pipes in order to get a reliable final product even for sweet service. In some circumstances, the product cannot be treated; in these cases, the line pipe in carbon steel shall include a corrosion allowance or shall have a clean chemistry, suitable for mild sour service. It is hard to see in the recent past long-distance export pipelines made of CRA, however future projects should look into the CRA option with increasing interest. High Capacity Laying Equipment The pipe diameter strictly depends on field architecture and development strategy (i.e. one well, one flow-line, one riser vs manifold based). It can be stated that in deep water a great number of production risers are 6” to 12” OD, whereas for flow-lines and export-lines 16”- 28” OD are commonly adopted. The adoption of complex pipe concepts is growing: plenty of PiP (Pipe in Pipe), DEH (Direct Electric Heating) and insulated pipe systems are in service with satisfactory performance. Fig. 3 (top graph) shows the WT of the pipe string, one water depth long, for a 12” OD seamless pipeline. The black dashed line shows the minimum WT requirements for pipe reeling onto a 16 m diameter hub. Fig. 3 (bottom graph) shows the weight of a pipe string as long as one water depth. For an application at 3,000 m WD, the collapse strength capacity yields to WTs ranging between 18.5 and 22.5 mm, as a function of steel grade and the initial out-of-roundness of the line pipe. The weight of an empty pipe is ranging between 1,500 and 2,500 kN; in case of incidental water flooding, the weight to be hold increases in the 3,500÷4,500 kN range. These figures
Fig. 3:Minimum required WT (a-above) and pipe string weight (b-below) for a 12” OD pipeline
provide useful indications about the availability of line pipe and the minimum holding capacity required to the lay vessel at the reference water depth. As for the latter, a factor ranging between 1.35 and 1.5 needs to be multiplied by the pipe string weight to get the minimum holding capacity that has to be ensured on the lay vessel while operating respectively in J or Reel lay mode. Pipe-lay Methods The S-lay technology mostly targets long and large diameter export and trunk lines, to be laid in shallow and deep waters. Currently, large vessels and long smart stingers allow for steep S-lay, i.e. exit angle at the tip of the stinger close to 90°, which means nearly vertical as per J-lay. S-lay technology may be constrained, particularly in terms of lay rate, when inline items (e.g. valves, PLET, PLEM…),
that should pass through the stinger, need to be laid along the pipeline in open sea. S-lay in ultra-deep water remains the most competitive option for large pipes when the intrinsic high productivity of this method compensates the above reported issues and for installation of long lines, i.e. > 100 km [7]. Pipe laying by means of vertical towers, either J-lay or Reel-lay, is more appropriate than S-lay for ultra-deep water field development projects, because it implies an easier management in congested brown fields, including heavy subsea equipment lowering.. Often the J-lay target is the required quality of the welding process rather than the productivity; but in harsh environment, when the time window for laying is limited, lay rate remains the key factor. In certain circumstances, this applies also to
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS 43 Reel-lay, which generally is less affected by metocean restrictions. On the other hand, since the reeling process applies huge plasticization onto the prefabricated pipe, (pipe is bent on a large diameter spool, e.g. 16÷20 m), the wall thickness has to be large enough to avoid a detrimental influence of large cumulated strains on collapse resistance and sometimes on fatigue resistance.
alloy, bonded by means of a metallurgical link (i.e. clad pipes) or mechanical interference (i.e. lined pipes). However, special welding procedures, having a negative influence on the cycle time, have to be adopted. For this reason cladded or lined pipelines installation is mostly performed by reeling vessels, moving almost the entire jointing phase out of the critical path of offshore activities; a spoolbase has
Fig. 4: Field applicability of typical SURF steel pipes
Dealing with the problem from a logistic perspective for frontier field developments, Reel and J-lay appear as two complementary methods; the grater Reel-lay productivity allows a significant reduction of installation duration but it is also affected by remarkable implications due to a more complex logistics: the storage reel needs to be continuously fed with consequent vessel stand-by or idle times. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 4, J-lay technology is still the most competitive for medium-high diameter pipes (above 18” reel-lay is not feasible) and for long distance lines (i.e. > 50 km). Reel-lay is especially effective whenever the field is composed by a great number of small diameter risers (i.e. 6”-12”) or intra-field lines of moderate length (i.e. < 15 km), even if those are heavy PiP. In the last years the offshore industry, aiming at reducing costs associated to integrally anticorrosive stainless steel or Inconel pipes, has introduced pipes composed by a thick wall of C-Mn steel and a thin liner of anticorrosive
therefore to be included in the spread. Laying such pipes through reeling technology has a great impact on design and installation criteria since these are sensitive to fatigue phenomena and large plastic deformation that, especially for lined pipes, can produce the CRA liner wrinkling or even disbonding. To control the damaging of pipe integrity some special precautions (e.g. steel wall over-thickness, internal pressurization) have to be respected during the application of the large strains typical of reeling process. Harsh and Remote Environment In harsh environment, the main faced criticalities are due to the shortness of operative season and weather window, as well as to the severe and unpredictable metocean conditions. Therefore, the availability of an adequate pipe-lay spread is just one of the key factors to deal with in such a challenging scenario. Moreover, the correct and complete knowledge of environment impact on subsea pipeline installation is essential. Working
in difficult scenarios means to be able to evaluate the dynamic loads induced by metocean conditions; this affects both the mission equipment engineering and selection phase, and the design of pipeline subjected to fatigue phenomena. The shortness of the operative season causes the concentration of offshore works in a few months. Optimization of logistics is therefore a driving factor needing a dedicated development of innovative solutions based on scenarios peculiarities. A problem to be faced in Arctic environment is the presence of ice for several months, as well as the icebergs gouging; the installation of hydrocarbons treatment facilities above the sea surface (e.g. jacket or concrete platforms) can become unfeasible, and their placement on the seabed in shallow waters (i.e. < 100 m) can be a source of risk as well. The scenario described above must be associated with the characteristics of typical projects: in most cases, the fields are located in relative shallow water (e.g. up to 500 m) and in remote areas, distant from any existing infrastructure. In these cases, the construction of offshore platforms may be sometimes impossible, and the connections to distant existing fields (i.e. intra-field lines) or long tie-back to shore is preferable. This scenario, involves the laying of long pipelines (i.e. 50÷150 km), often affected by flow assurance criticalities that can be faced by means of the exploitation of special and complex pipes, such as PiP, electrically heated or wet insulated pipes. Less common but equally critical scenarios are the ones combining difficult geographical and environmental conditions with deep water seabed (e.g. Aasta Hansten); in these cases the transportation of the product from the seabed to surface is achieved by means of riser systems. Since they are affected by fatigue issues during their operative life, they have to be carefully installed, avoiding dynamic loads and large plastic deformations. The described scenario shows that the whole process of installation of pipelines should be carried out quickly enough optimizing the logistics of materials in order to maximize the
44 TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS exploitation of the operative season, using lay vessels that allow working extensively and safely, without damaging the products because of dynamic motions. Conclusions Offshore SURF frontiers are introduced and discussed. In particular, attention is paid on the close future context that installation technologies are going to face. Early experiences provided evidence on that both ultra-deep waters and harsh environment require proper installation spreads. Field development projects in such environments can be efficiently performed using dedicated equipment. J-lay and Reel-lay are complementary technologies; the relative
effectiveness is strictly dependent on products, field architecture and geographical location. J-lay shows satisfactory performance for the installation of complex pipe concepts and long/large diameter export pipelines. References [1] L. Penati, M. Ducceschi, A. Favi e D. Rossin, «Installation Challenges for Ultra-Deep Waters,» in Offshore Mediterranean Conference 2015, 2015. [2] R. Bruschi, L. Vitali, L. Marchionni, A. Parrella e A. Mancini, «Pipe technology and installation equipment for frontier deep water projects,» Ocean Engineering, n. 108, 2015. [3] M. Ducceschi, D. Donelli, R. Faldini e D. Rossin, «High capacity in-
stallation equipment for meeting the challenges of ultra-deep waters,» in Offshore Mediterranean Conference 2015, 2015. [4] D. Westwood, «World Deepwater Market Forecast 2015-19,» 2015. [5] A. Favi, «Sviluppo di Campi Gas Petroliferi in Acque Ultraprofonde,» Impiantistica Italiana, vol. XXV, n. 2, pp. 51-55, Marzo-Aprile 2012. [6] R. Bruschi, «From the Longest to the Deepest Pipelines,» in International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, Rhodes, 2012. [7] R. Faldini e G. Chiesa, «FDS2 and CastorONE: a reply for the deepwater forthcoming vision,» in OTC, Houston, 2012.
Lorenzo Penati graduated in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2011 with a master degree thesis concerning “Creep-Fatigue interaction in a steam header of an Ultra-Super-Critical power plant”. He has been working for Saipem S.p.A. since 2011 as a Process Innovator in the R&D department, located in San Donato Milanese; during this four years’ experience he was involved in several significant projects related to the development of special offshore equipment, pipe-lay process innovation and performance upgrading. Thanks to his background and the competencies gained on offshore thematic (S, J and Reel-Lay, FJC and innovative welding process), Lorenzo is presently playing the role of Project Engineer in some technology innovation activities concerning the development of methods and equipment for ultra-deep water operations.
46 SECTION BOARD
SECTION BOARD S P E I TA L I A N S E C T I O N B O A R D 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7
POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
CHAIRMAN
Tiani Alessandro (Eni S.p.A) alessandro.tiani@eni.com
PROGRAM CHAIRPERSON
Parasiliti Parracello Valerio (Eni S.p.A) valerio.parasiliti.parracello@eni.com
PAST CHAIR
Tealdi Loris (Eni S.p.A) loris.tealdi@eni.com
YOUNG PROFESSIONAL CHAIRPERSON
Murmura Pasquale Paolo (Eni S.p.A) pasquale.paolo.murmura@eni.com
POSITION
MENTOR CHAIRPERSON
Paccaloni Giovanni gpaccal@tin.it
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON
Ormezzano Ugo (Tetratec) uormezzano@tetratec.com
TREASURER
Fernando Luis Morales Urosa
fmorales2@slb.com
SCHOLARSHIP CHAIRPERSON
Dellarole Edoardo edoardo.dellarole@tea-group.com
POSITION
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR SECTION DRILLING AND COMPLETION
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR SECTION HSE
Maliardi Alberto (Eni S.p.A)
Scotti Davide (Saipem)
alberto.maliardi@eni.com
davide.scotti@saipem.com
NAME
POSITION
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR - SECTION MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR SECTION PRODUTION AND OPERATIONS
NAME
Pinarello Giordano
Carpineta Gabriele (Eni S.p.A)
giordano.pinarello@bluethink.it
gabriele.carpineta@eni.com
SECTION BOARD 47 POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR - SECTION PROJECT FACILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION
Intieri Andrea (Saipem) andrea.intieri@saipem.com
DIRECTOR - COMPANIES LIAISON AND SPONSORSHIP
Senese Maurizio maurizio.senese@gmail.com
DIRECTOR - EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
NAME
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR SECTION RESERVOIR
Andrea Lamberti (Eni S.p.A.) andrea.luigi.lamberti@eni.com
DIRECTOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS, UNIVERSITIES
Porretta Serapiglia Claudia (Eni S.p.A) claudia.porretta.serapiglia@eni.com
DIRECTOR - MID/DOWNSTREAM LIAISON
NAME
Stephan Conte (eni)
Carollo Lorenzo
stephan.conte@eni.com
lorenzocarollo73@gmail.com
POSITION
POSITION
DIRECTOR - AWARDS NOMINATIONS
DIRECTOR
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
STUDENT CHAPTER LIAISON
DIRECTOR - GELA LIAISON
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
NAME
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
Rampoldi Maurizio (Eni S.p.A -E&P) maurizio.rampoldi@eni.com
Viberti Dario dario.viberti@polito.it
SECRETARY
Giudicati Gianna (Eni S.p.A) gianna.giudicati@eni.com
DIRECTOR - BULLETIN MANAGING EDITOR
NAME
Di Lullo Alberto (Eni S.p.A) alberto.dilullo@eni.com
Savioli Lorenzo (Eni S.p.A) lorenzo.savioli@eni.com
INTERNET & COMMUNICATION CHAIRPERSON
Vacca Adele (Eni S.p.A)
adele.vacca@eni.com
DIRECTOR DEPUTY BULLETIN MANAGING EDITOR
NAME
Vienna Arrigo (Eni S.p.A)
Lanzetta Carlo (Eni S.p.A)
arrigo.vienna@eni.com
carlo.lanzetta@eni.com
48 ITALIAN SECTION DASHBOARD
ITALIAN SECTION DASHBOARD Section # 096 Report as of 31 March 2016 Charts do not include affiliate members.
Professionals Members: 415
Affiliate Members: 8
Student Members: 146
Professional Member Retention: 75.83% Professional Member Growth: -19.10% 37 Professional Members needed to reach 81% retention 122 Professional Members needed to reach 3% growth
STYPED THE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS JOURNAL
TECHINICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2016
FOCUS Beyond the status quo Pasquale Paolo Murmura Eni S.p.A., YP Chairman 2015-2016
YP COMMUNITY
STYPED INITIATIVES
The Millennials “Gravity” on O&G Industry
YP’s Photobook
Luca Cadei - Eni S.p.A.
Andrea Adelmo Asci - Eni S.p.A. Manuel De Meo - Tecnomare
50 FOCUS
BEYOND THE STATUS QUO
PASQUALE PAOLO MURMURA Eni S.p.A., YP Chairman 2015-2016
Where high oil price has previously hidden offshore’s inefficiencies, the industry’s challenges are now plain for all to see. The solution is likely to be found through countless marginal but effective improvements; and in the current climate, progress is likely to be slow. As industry’s young professionals, we are called to forge the future: devoting to long-term growth rather and short-term profit. “In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” ERIC HOFFER
QUOTED IN VANGUARD MANAGEMENT The most valuable asset available in all Organizations is People. Similarly, this year SPE Italian Section YP Board, which I have the honor to represent, is composed by exceptional professionals. So far, the team has given proof of mastering: perspective, desire and synthesis ¬– all qualities that distinguish the leaders of tomorrow – beyond the status quo.
Perspective Perspective is no more and no less than how everyone views things, a particular frame of reference. Without it, is flying blind. It is the ability to transform experience into ideas and to put those ideas in context. The following questions should convey the message: 1. When you consider a new project, do you think first of its cost or its benefits? 2. Do you rank profit of progress first? 3. Would you rather be rich or famous? 4. If offered a promotion that required you to move to another city, would you discuss it with your family before accepting it? 5. Would you rather be a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond? Those who think first of the cost of a project or rank profit higher than progress, have a short-terms perspective. Those who would rather be famous than rich are the most am-
bitious, because fame requires more talent and originality than the making of a fortune. Those who discuss a promotion with their family before accepting it are more humane than ambitious. In addition, finally, those who would rather be a big fish in a small pond may lack drive – or may simply agree with Julius Caesar, who is reputed to have said, “I would rather be first in a small Iberian village than second in Rome”. Desire Desire is a natural feeling – as natural as eating – and exists in all of us. Virtually, every one of us was born with a hunger for life itself: passion for the promises of life, and that passion can take one to the heights. Unfortunately, in too many cases, it develops into drive. Entrepreneur Larry Wilson defined the difference between desire and drive as the difference between expressing yourself and proving yourself. In a perfect world, everyone would be encouraged to express, but nor required to prove him- or herself. However, neither the world nor we are perfect. In order to avoid booby-trapping ourselves, then, we must understand that drive is healthy only when married to desire. Synthesis Synthesis is combining all means of expression, in order to act effectively. There is no better way, to demonstrate synthesis, than describing the YP Board’s approach to work. First, figure out how to organize the job, manage time and responsibilities. Second, learn to lead, not contain. Third, be sure to have a clear understanding of oneself and of a sense of mission: be sure that one’s principles are congruent with the Organization’s principles. Fourth, demonstrate through behavior how responsibilities are shared amongst the components of the team. Fifth, have a great sense of freedom and scope as so to free colleagues to live up to their potential. As YP Chairman, I strongly believe in team approach, I believe in people and their potential.
YP COMMUNITY 51
THE MILLENNIALS “GRAVITY” ON O&G INDUSTRY SPE YP ITALIAN SECTION “MARKET SIZING EXERCISE” LUCA CADEI Eni S.p.A.
The aim of this study is to give an the overview of the current “human potential” of the Young Professional members, through the analysis of their distribution in the Oil and Gas sector and the relation between their profiles and the answers to SPE initiatives. The work is structured as a post-processing strategic investigation that focuses the attention on young members’ role in the petroleum industry related to their involvement in the SPE last activities proposal. The secondary aim of the current study is to provide an evaluation tool for the SPE YP board in order to guide efficiently the selection of the future initiatives, maximizing the success while reducing the organizational efforts. The analysis is divided in the following main sections:
Fig. 1: Seniority of the SPE Italian Section Population
The YPs community is composed by a main group of Italian professionals that covers around 80% of total number of members. This particular situation is reported below in Figure 2. The rest of the world is represented
- critical review of the YP actual “population”; - post-processing study of the data gathered and analysis of the last SPE activities, elaborating proposals for future improvements; - conclusions and recommendations. SPE YP Italian section “population” The current SPE Young Professional (YP) memberships represents a large and significant share of the petroleum engineering Italian scenario, having gained “gravity” constantly over the past 10 years thanks to the fundamental achievement of a critical mass. As from the Figure 1, the YPs have reached the 42% of the entire population of the SPE Italian section, achieving the amount of 242 members ranging from 24-36 years old. Analysing more in detail the available data it is possible to highlight that YPs may be divided into two categories: the experienced YPs, which have gained more than one year of working experience, and the recent graduates, which are facing the first job practice.
tion. Analysing the data highlighted in Figure 3, it is clear that the Reservoir Description and Dynamics topic is prevailing among YPs members compared to the others disciplines. The second technical area is Drilling and Completion followed by Production and Operations and Project, Facility and Construction, the latest two can be considered at the same membership level. The Management and information and HSE technical branches represent together around the 11% of the total YPs. The members can be further gathered into four different groups, considering the type of company they are working for. The largest group (more than 50%) is employed in a Major Oil Company. Service and Engineering Companies are respectively the second and the third type of employers. The fourth is represented by a macro-group composed by University and Consultancy firms.
Fig. 2: Nationality Distribution
by 42 people coming mainly from Europe, Africa and South America. Proceeding with the investigation, the attention has to be focused on the primary discipline distribution. All the main SPE’s technical branches are represented in the YP SPE Italian sec-
Finally, the geographical distribution of the members has been taken into account. In this case, more that 90% of the YPs members are currently working in Northern Italy, in particular in the following regions: Lombardia, Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna.
52 YP COMMUNITY information. In this context, YPs are finalizing a technical initiative for HSE involving specialists of this segment. The strong representation of Oil companies in YP SPE population allows to implement networking solutions involving workers from various types of society, such as service, project and consulting, attracted by the possibility to share technical know-how and programming co-working activities, establishing standards for Oil and Gas industry.
Fig. 3: YP SPE Technical discipline Distribution
Post-processing analysis The main data, gathered and reported above, are rearranged in order to generate a set of proposals to be implemented as a possible best practice to further develop YPs SPE human base forces and participations. The main
for example, of SPE Sections collaborations. The principal role of the reservoir technical area has proved the possibility of optimization of the SPE attractively to other primary disciplines such as drilling, production and
targets and strategies adopted in the study are resumed below. Looking to the first section of the previous paragraph, the recent graduate group represents a minority within SPE YPs. Considering the large number of new graduates entering in the Oil and Gas business, this situation seems to be a lost occasion to improve the YP SPE technical and personal know-how. The attention has been already focused on this topic and the creation and tuning of a multiple network connecting students is ongoing, through the foundation of new Student Chapters in various University. The second point is related to the improvement of the YP SPE section internationalization, involving consequently international Oil and Gas workers that are currently placed in Italy. This could reduce the gap highlighted above between Italian and foreign members by the implementation,
project engineering. This aim can be achieved through the improvement of technical offers for these areas. Moreover, special attention is needed to the other disciplines reported in Figure 3, HSE and management &
Finally, the analysis of the geographical distribution of YPs member has revealed a significant concentration of them in the Northern part of the country, thus the possible initiatives to attract and involve Oil and Gas workers distributed along the Italian peninsula. This could include the involvement of other companies that are actually operating in Italy without a presence in the YP SPE section. Conclusions The main outcomes of the study have been resumed in the following SWOT analysis. In particular, this tool has been used to identify the actual condition of the YP SPE Italian section, considering that several answers have been already implemented to achieve the target previously mentioned.
STYPED INITIATIVES 53
YP’S PHOTOBOOK TECHINICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2016 A cura di: ANDREA ADELMO ASCI Eni S.p.A. MANUEL DE MEO Tecnomare
The photobook summarizes the main events in which YPs have been involved. It is thought as an immediate tool to share with our community what YPs think and feel while organizing their activities. Willing to strive for high quality “final products”, proactivity and energy of young professionals are the key factors for the relevant results demonstrated by the 2015-2016 YP Board. Let the photos speak for us!
YPS NETWORKING EVENT
“Setting a target of people and see it has been crashed give you so much energy for future events, bigger events” ANDREA TONDELLI
SPE CHRISTMAS CHARITY DINNER
“The organization of the SPE Italian Section Christmas dinner is always a great challenge: finding the location, deciding the menu and arranging all the details is a big job! But when I see everyone enjoying the food, the company and the atmosphere I feel so satisfied and grateful that I cannot help thinking of the next event!” ing the menu and arranging all the details is a big job! But when I see everyone enjoying the food, the company and the atmosphere I feel so satisfied and grateful that I cannot help thinking of the next event!” ADELE VACCA
54 STYPED INITIATIVES
ENERGY ENGINEERING EVOLUTION 2015
“It is so satisfying to see all those people enjoying a conference you have seen developing since the beginning!!” ANDREA TONDELLI
YP ASK! @ COSTACURTA
“I was very excited and a little scared in attending this interview. It was the first time that YPs have organized something like this and the interviewing team did a great job!” ANDREA ADELMO ASCI
OPEN INNOVATION
“I am really glad to see so many people who have attended and really enjoyed the extremely interesting conference. This only happens when certain awesome topics are addressed and therefore the audience enjoys its content” ANGELO FEI