SPE SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS
ITALIAN SECTION TECHNICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2017 SPE Christmas Dinner:
Connected barrels:
looking forward to the next year
Internet of Things opportunities for the Oil and Gas Industry
Collaboration between generations: overcoming barriers to create new opportunities
C O N T E N T S TECHNICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2017
CHAIRMAN’S PAGE
INNOVATION
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BIG DATA and INDUSTRY 4.0: much more than bigger databases
Chairman’s Intro Alessandro Tiani - Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Chairman
YP CHAIRMAN’S PAGE
A short introduction to the Internet of Things event Giordano Pinarello - BlueThink S.p.A. - SPE Italian Section Management and Information Technical Director
21 Internet of Things: Story of the Future
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Gionata Ferroni - Geolog International
YP Synonym of Innovation Andrea Tondelli - Eni S.p.A. SPE Young Professional Chairman
MOBILIS IN MOBILI
25 Saipem launches the Innovation Factory Giordano Pinarello - BlueThink S.p.A. - SPE Italian Section Management and Information Technical Director
SECTION LIFE
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Gianna Giudicati - Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Management and Information Technical Director
36 Toward low carbon economy: the role of Carbon Capture and Storage Andrea Lamberti - Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Reservoir Technical Director
HISTORY TELLING
40 Once upon a time a Colonel and a wildcat Ferdinado Marfella - Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Secretary 2016-2017
The Energy of SPE
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Ferdinado Marfella - Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Secretary 2016-2017
The road to the Petrobowl Championship
SECTION ACTIVITIES
Dario Viberti - Politecnico di Torino SPE Student Chapter Liason
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SPE YP Visit to Eni Research and Development Lab
SECTION PROGRAM
10 Section Program Ruben Visintin - Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Program Chairperson
SPECIAL FOCUS
SPE PoliTo Student Chapter: an update on the initiative of the current board Emecheta Kemjika - PoliTo SPE Student Chapter President
Kumar Ashis - Eni S.p.A.
45 Business visit to Drillmec: SPE members discover innovations in well operations Zhaocong Zhou - Eni S.p.A.
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29 Office life: get the best out of your day Giuseppe Gianluca Di Marzo - Eni S.p.A.
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SPE Christmas Dinner: looking forward to the next year Stefano Maronese - Eni S.p.A.
14 Collaboration between generations: overcoming barriers to create new opportunities Giovanni Cuomo - Eni S.p.A.
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS
30 Integrating Intelligent Multizone Completion and Stimulation Across Multiple Casing Sizes Saves 6.5 Days Offshore Indonesia
The digital oilfield – Collaboration at global scale John Ifeanyichukwu Egbe - Eni S.p.A.
47 Membership Opportunity Program Giovanni Cuomo - Eni S.p.A.
SECTION BOARD
Nmelu Ikechukwu - Eni S.p.A.
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Connected barrels: IoT opportunities for the Oil and Gas Industry
Jeremie Poizat - Schlumberger
SPE Italian Section Board 2016 - 2017
Maria Giulia De Donno - Eni S.p.A.
An exclusive HSE interview with Daniele Barbone
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32 Davide Scotti - Saipem S.p.A. SPE Italian Section HSE Technical Director
ITALIAN SECTION DASHBOARD
50 Report as of 08 February 2017
The Bulletin is printed in 900 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
TECHNICAL BULLETIN 1 / 2017
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CHAIRMAN’S PAGE
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oil industry is changing, are you driving or drifting? Dear colleagues, December and January are typically months when you draw a balance of the past year and you set up your mind for the upcoming one.
Alessandro Tiani Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Chairman
This year’s eve, while crossing the bridge from 2016 to 2017, I was trying to send some friends and colleagues a message wishing a good 2017 and, by searching through the web, I came into the oil price historical plot and started thinking....
By looking at the plot, I realized that we entered 2016 after a “free fall” of 18 months long. Oil price touched less than 30 $/bbl and if you notice the plot is in log scale, which makes the peak smooth and the throat deep - more in line with feelings! It was the longest and deepest price crisis that oil had since 30 years or more. Furthermore, I realized such an event was new to most of industry’s employees – including me of course; only those having 35+ years of experience had the chance to live during their first years of career the oil price reduction in the early 80’s. What a tough year! Despite the price returned back to 55 $/bbl by the end of 2016, we all suffered from the painful actions imposed from the “free fall”. In other words: in 2015 the industry realized that things were “serious”. Action plans were written in 2015 to readjust and rebalance to the current price. Action plans were operative mostly in 2016! Fortunately, our perspective today, at the beginning of 2017, seems better... we are coming from a year of rising price and, despite “that’s not high enough”, the mood is starting to improve. Some investments are coming back and (even better) the situation is within the predicted scenario, so the industry is now better prepared to face this “price year 2017”. However, are we running higher? Is price doomed to rise, to fall again or to stay (with fluctuations maybe)? By looking at the
whole history of oil price - again log scale and inflation adjusted, which helps, there seems to be a macroscopic cycle. Now I am swimming in dangerous waters, by dealing with oil price predictions... there could be a number of factors to be considered, probably too big to really allow an analysis. So my personal opinion is to keep it simple, without any “backing” but just looking at the plot. We got stable prices for 15-20 years followed by an abrupt price increase sustained for about 10 years. Then free fall and cycle again. Maybe does the plot suggest 10-15 years of stable prices in the range of 60$? And what can be the macroscopic reason of this macroscopic analysis?
It is a matter of fact that Oil Industry reacted to falling prices and is setting the scene for the change. Investment cuts in 2016 were only the “airbag” measures, whereas alignment of investments and project portfolio is acting on the medium term. More radical changes are also starting to happen, structural revolutions acting first in the mindset of the people and afterwards in plans, budgets, strategic agreements, and contracts. The change is there: more gas, renewables, carbon footprint reduction & digital efficiency. The change is also feeding his roots with the talent of the “young” generation hired during the “price boom” era, starting from 2002 or so. Mostly millennials, digitally native... Industry is changing... are YOU driving or drifting? Read more to have the insight.
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YP CHAIRMAN’S PAGE
Behind the scene of all ours initiatives.
YP Synonym of Innovation
Andrea Tondelli Eni S.p.A. SPE Young Professional Chairman
YP has always been a synonym of innovation! This year we are working hard to purse this goal with new recurrent programs, new collaborations and many other tasks and commitments such as a more direct engagement in the bulletin, updating of SPE website and Facebook page.
One of many goals for this year is to enhance the membership value and keep a tight connection with our members. We created two recurrent programs: the “Membership Opportunity Program” and the “Business Visits Program: Discover the Oil and Gas Industry”. The MOP allows the Young Professional community to meet SPE Technical Directors in an informal manner, freely asking questions, proposing ideas and eventually find a mentor to guide them in their career development. It is a win-win project because the Technical Director has the possibility to share the most important ingredient in our industry: Passion. Without it there will be no more energy, curiosity and the willingness to continuously improve every aspect that represents our industry. Business visits have been present for years on the SPE YP program but this year we adopted the ambitious goal of a recurrent program: one Business Visit every month. Discover our industry and major companies from inside, personally speak with the professionals with incredible expertise and create personal relationships with a prestigious group of members is invaluable. From my point of view, this is a unique possibility available only for our members. This edition of the bulletin carries another YP innovation: the STYPED section is now merged with the SPE Italian Section bulletin, creating a new, unique SPE Bulletin. You will find YP articles and pages not grouped as a stand-alone section but
spread throughout the bulletin. All the YP initiatives will be marked with a new “Powered by YP” logo and with the usual light blue color. This is the last part of a natural development, the ultimate evolution of the bulletin merging occurred in 2016. In this way, YPs have the chance to give more relevance to their constant work and boost the cooperation with the Seniors while keeping the typical YP traits. Innovations are not finished yet, this year we have started a new collaboration with a “well of wisdom”. APVE “Associazione Pionieri e Veterani Eni” and the YPs of SPE Italian Section will create the first program designed to overcome the generational gap and offers benefits for both sides. Each week, starting in February, YPs and veterans will sit around a table and all the most important arguments related to computers and internet will be taught by YPs. The teaching is held in different modules for each week both to gradually increase with complexity and also to give the opportunity to all YPs who desire to participate. This will break the ice and boost the communication between generations. Veterans have knowledge, an incredible passion and many facts to share with everyone is able to listen. This will be the first, but other collaborations with APVE are in progress, obviously all YPs interested are welcome to join by simply contacting us. I just want to note that YPs perform many other tasks and we are involved in many of the SPE Italian Section initiative but I will not stress you more. With these four main innovations we are demonstrating that “if you want you can” and we are continuously willing to listen to you and increase our section’s activities. Andrea Tondelli Andrea is now working in Eni SpA as Reservoir Engineer in Advanced Reservoir Modeling and Gas Injection departments and he became SPE YP Chairperson in July 2016. He graduated in 2014 from the 2nd Level Specializing Master in Petroleum Engineering and Operation held in Politecnico di Torino. He graduated from a Bachelor and Master degree in Energy Engineering from Università di Bologna respectively in 2010 and 2012.
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MOBILIS IN MOBILI
The Energy of SPE Energy is always a good story. It is a universal human need, and it is critical to global progress. For each of us working in the energy sector, we have a unique understanding of the value Ferdinando Marfella and far-reaching contributions that Eni S.p.A. energy provides all over the world. SPE Italian Section Secretary At its most basic level, energy keeps us warm, helps cooking our meals, and lights our homes. It fuels our factories, powers our cities, and connects us to others all over the world. Nevertheless, accessing to affordable and reliable energy also means accessing to modern health care, quality education, safer communities, better jobs, and a cleaner environment. Energy is a building block of growth and opportunity. A lot of time passed by from the first commercial oil well drilled in 1859. At that time, rock oil was considered as a primary source for producing kerosene for lighting, able to substitute the expensive oil of whale. When people realized the impor tance of what they were sitting on, the socalled “rockoil” opened a golden age for industrial development and consumption. Today we consume fifteen times the energy used two centuries ago, three times compared to energy needed by our parents in 1960. In ancient Rome, almost fifty slaves performed the work done today by our electrical appliances. Thanks to a series of technological successes, the world is now enjoying a period of resource abundance. Decades of sustained investments, innovations, and collaboration across the energy industry have opened up energy resources from the deepwater and ultra-deepwater; shale fracking has unlocked unconventional resources; both pipelines and ships transport natural gas in lands previously too far. Grand Ball given by the Whales in honor of the discovery of the Oil Wells in Pennsylvania
Since immemorial time, humanity tries to see the future by using ancient analogue mechanisms. Our ancestors interpreted signs and omens, from the flight of birds or inspection of the entrails, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. According to Suetonius, a haruspex named Spurinna warned Julius Caesar to beware the Ides of March. Nowadays, corporates employ professionals in reading omens from the market, from politics, from environment. Our forecasts, more reliable than a sheep liver, have received a stab by the murderer. Abundance of resources seems to be a good story to live in peace and love, but it was disruptive for our industry due to the shipwreck of barrel price and consequent downturn. World politics has been maybe more disruptive than technological innovation. In agreement with the interpretation of main economists, factors that have changed the global energy landscape in recent years have been from climate change to the Middle East crisis, from the slowdown of the Chinese economy to sanctions on Russia, from the collapse of the South American energy giants. Accordingly, another year passed by quickly and our oil industry is not yet out of the downturn. The only way to survive is to become marvellous professionals, having the spirituality of a monk, soft skills, combined with the effectiveness of a soldier, knowledge improvement and dissemination. SPE has the capabilities to do it, by giving the spark and the energy. The main aim of SPE is to be a society of professional excellence, providing its members the highest quality lifelong learning, continuous personal and professional growth. Despite everything, SPE continues to help each individual to broaden his or her knowledge. In particular, several webinars are available on SPE website (please, visit www.spe.org), both for technical items and for soft skills development advices. An inspirational work is “Intrinsic Motivation: A Business Imperative”, by Giovanni Paccaloni, our Mentor Chairperson. It will expand on a complementary area of technical competence: the
MOBILIS IN MOBILI passion to use competence to achieve excellent business results. Task motivation makes the difference between what an engineer can do and what he or she will do. The former depends on his/her level of expertise, but the task motivation is the kernel that determines the extent to which the person will fully engage his/her expertise and creative thinking skills in the service of creative performance. SPE gives the ways to enhance our career opportunities when using such tools and networking with each other. One of the main duty of the Society of Petroleum Engineer, Italian Section as well, is the continue sharing of knowhow, data and experiences, with the main purpose to leverage the level of knowledge in the association and to improve the level of networking between the members. Italian Section is pursuing several activities and managing interesting events. Our Chairman manages the association’s governance with all Chairpersons, pursuing the organization’s objectives, intended to guide the decision-making of all many activities. All Directors and Section Officers offer their professionalism, their skills and enthusiasm to get the best from the organization. Everything has to work, as an orchestra in the organization of the events during the year. Our volunteers are the key of success today and tomorrow. We just need to promote how much volunteer ing in SPE excels and enrich your personal career. Technical lectures and Distinguished Lectures about specific topics done by Italian SPE members and International Experts involved in the Oil business. Technical Award referred to students and SPE members particularly worthy: the “Gustavo Sclocchi Theses Award” rewarded the interesting works done by during Christmas social dinner. A technical lecture is the right place to expose their interesting work. Students are also involved in our activities thanks to Student Chapters: Turin, Milan, Rome and the upcoming Pisa are actually involved to build a link between Italian Universities and the energy industry with SPE. Students will be protagonists also in OMC 2017 with a paper contest. Young Professionals deserve a special praise. They throw themselves enthusiastically, with courage and passion, in several initiatives. SPE Italian Section has rewarded their membership
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fully integrating STYPED directly in the Bulletin. Their contributions will be flagged to honour their participation. They will be an important part of the editorial committee helping Senior Professionals to improve continuously this Bulletin as well as promotion of SPE Italian Section’s website use (please, visit: www.speitaly. org). They are also playing an important role in collaboration and integration of SPE Italian Section with APVE (in Italian, “Associazione Pionieri e Veterani Eni”; for more info about it, please visit: www.pionierieni.it). Actually, YPs are building a bridge between new and previous generations of professionals with a project for a computer literacy course, with the aim to share a common language and tools for future collaborations. Membership Opportunity Program allows a meeting between YP with Senior Professional in an informal context. Social events are fundamental to improve the connection in the SPE YP Italian section and to proselytize SPE association between other young professional and students. Business Visits organization is another piece de resistance of YPs, they consist in a series of visits at companies reserved to young professional members with the aim to offer them a real taste of the Oil & Gas activities. All of you reading this editorial can be involved in SPE’s world. SPE needs the volunteers. From the SPE president to committee members and lecturers, volunteers provide the leadership of SPE for the benefit of other members and the industry. Join our world of dedicated members who provide the energy that makes our society work. Full of hope, we wait for your signals.
SECTION PROGRAM Date
Promoter
Type
Title
February, 20th
SPE
Distinguished Lecture
Human Factors in Barrier Thinking (Ron McLeod)
February, 28th
YPs
Business Visits
Renewables Energy and Enviromental R&D – Donegani – Novara
Mid March
SPE
Workshop
Sclocchi Award Meeting
March, 29th - 31st
OMC
Conference
Offshore Mediterranean Conference & Exhibition (Ravenna)
April, 2nd week
SPE-SNF
Lecture
Lecture on polymer flooding
May, 17th
YPs
Workshop
I diversi confini geopolitici del nuovo millennio
May, 24th - 25th
IVS
Special Event
Industrial Valves Summit (Bergamo)
June, 5th
SPE
Distinguished Lecture
Incorporating Numerical Simulation Into Your Reserves Estimation Process: A Practical Perspective (Dean Rietz)
Dear members, as customary, I draw your attention on the future initiatives. First of all, you find below the Ruben Visintin agenda of the Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section next planned Program Chairperson initiatives. As you can see, we have a full pipeline of events and we will keep you updated. On February we’ll have the first Distinguished Lecture of the year: Ron McLeod will present “Human Factors in Barrier Thinking”. The oil and gas industry places great reliance on layers of defenses, or barrier thinking, to protect against process safety incidents. Human performance continues to be the single most widely relied on barrier, whether as a defense in its own right, or in implementing, inspecting, maintaining, and supporting engineered defenses. Human error, in its many forms, also continues to be a significant threat to the
reliability of engineered and organizational defenses. While approaches to developing and assuring layers-of-defenses strategies have become increasingly formalized and rigorous in recent years, many organizations struggle to know how to ensure that the human defenses they rely on are as robust as they reasonably can be when those strategies are developed and implemented. Drawing on the 2005 explosion and fire at the Buncefield (UK) fuel storage site as a case study, the presentation considers issues associated with the independence and effectiveness of human defenses. In March join us at our booth at OMC 2017 in Ravenna. The Offshore Mediterranean Conference 2017 will address the theme of transition: the Paris Cop 21 Agreement and the recent decline in oil prices promise to reshape the Oil & Gas Industry. During the conference ideas will be shared to highlight how the Oil & Gas industry can and must contribute to a sustainable future. In May we will be present in Bergamo at the Industrial Valve Summit 2017, a biennial forum where industry leaders
can address technical issues, introduce pioneering technology and share lessons learned about valve technologies and flow control solutions. As you can see from the schedule below, a lot of events are in the pipeline: stay tuned on our information channels and we all look forward to see you soon.
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SPECIAL FOCUS
The winners of the 25th edition of the Sclocchi award honored during the Christmas dinner
SPE Christmas Dinner: looking forward to the next year As the years go by, the traditional appointment with the Christmas SPE dinner remains: a chance to recall the most important moments of the closing year and also exchange holiday wishes and think about the future. Alessandro Tiani, SPE President, highlighted his welcome speech what Stefano Maronese an intense year 2016 has been. Many Eni S.p.A. successful events and appointments involved both Seniors and the YP Section: first of all, the celebration of the 30th anniversary of SPE Italian Section comprised a series of social events which culminated in the attendance of SPE International President, Nathan Meehan, at a conference themed “the role of innovation in the Oil & Gas industry”. This year will also be remembered for the numerous Distinguished Lectures and events (among others Open Innovation, the joint event with ASP and HSE adventure) and the YP initiatives such as the monthly recurrent business visits (to Flowserve, Tenaris, Eni Laboratories and Drillmec). What can we look forward to next year? Andrea Tondelli, SPE YP Chairman, quickly outlined the next step and challenge for the coming year. First of all, the current program of business visits will continue and expand, for it was a great success. New ideas, such as the cooperation between “Associazione Pionieri e Veterani Eni” and SPE YP will start; moreover, the YP participation in the Italian Section will be enhanced with a closer cooperation with Seniors. In particular, the current bulletin sees the Styped Section fully merged with the rest of the bulletin, which proves the stronger and successful integration between
the Young and Senior Sections. In addition, the growth of the SPE Student Chapter of Politecnico di Milano and Torino was another outstanding success of our section, and we can read the contribution of these new student chapters in this very edition of the Bulletin. The dinner was not only the chance to look back at our year, but also a moment of solidarity, as last year. In fact, Davide Scotti, our HSE Technical Director, presented “DIRE FARE: pensieri e azioni per l’Italia”, a two-day event that aims to raise fund to help the population of central Italy struck by the terrible earthquake of last 24th August. All the tickets sold will be devolved for “Comune di Acquasanta Terme to help the reconstruction. SPE will buy and donate the tickets for this event to people that cannot afford to participate. One of the key moments of the evening was the ceremony of Sclocchi Awards, which has reached the 25th edition. This year four students have won this ambitious goal and another five received the mentions. Every year, an increasing number of students submit their works, proving the rising interest in Oil & Gas themes in the Universities. This was definitely an interesting and exciting year and we all look forward to what comes next. All the best for a great 2017 to all the SPE members! Stefano Maronese Stefano graduated in Energy Engineering at the University of Padova in 2013. After a post-graduate degree in Oil&Gas plant design, he started his career in Eni Construction department. Currently, he is part of the Power Engineering unit, dealing with renewable and conventional power plant development.
SPECIAL FOCUS
SPE members at the Christmas Dinner
Presentation of the new YP initiatives for 2017
YP members table at the SPE Christmas Dinner
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SPECIAL FOCUS
SPE YP Italian Section President presented the program “Soci APVE in rete”, while De Ghetto and Paccaloni hear with interest.
Collaboration between generations:
overcoming barriers to create new opportunities APVE – SPE YP round table to commemorate Enrico Mattei
Giovanni Cuomo Eni S.p.A.
On 27th October 2016, the 54th anniversary of the tragic death of Enrico Mattei was celebrated: to pay tribute to Eni founder, the APVE (Eni Pioneers and Veterans Association) and the youth of SPE Italian section met in a round table to discuss about the Collaboration between generations: overcoming barriers to create new opportunities.
The two associations share the mission of promoting cultural initiatives, conferences on energy matter and the exchange of experience among members. The meeting was hosted in the classroom Enrico Mattei at ECU (Eni Corporate University) in San Donato Milanese. Giovanni Paccaloni (APVE President) was the debate moderator and the other speakers were Giambattista De Ghetto (APVE representative), Valerio Parasiliti and Gianna Giudicati (SPE representatives). Rome and Taranto APVE sections were also connected from remote. Giovanni Paccaloni, thanking ECU for the hospitality, presented APVE and SPE aims and introduced Gianna Giudicati, who described the Millennials generation, characterized by a strong familiarity with the media and digital technologies, and identified as a group of people who loves to get in the game. She highlighted the widespread use of the new communication tools among Millennials such as social media, and how to reap the benefits related to the information speed, without forgetting the importance of face-to-face meetings, as also De Ghetto pointed
out. The speech ended listing what the young people can inherit from veterans, such as enthusiasm, professionalism and work commitment. Giambattista De Ghetto, university professor and former Eni Executive Vice President, focused on the importance of communication, stressing on the great communication skills of Mattei and on how he was able to turn problems into opportunities. Public opinion has always been very critical towards the Oil&Gas sector: De Ghetto proposed to organize information meetings (suggestion also approved by veteran Augusto Biancoli) which showed to be good ways to increase the reputation of our industry. To change course we have to expose in first person and get people to know our work. De Ghetto continued talking about Mattei, seen as a humble and hungry person, who was able to take advantage of technologies and methodologies also from sectors different by Oil&Gas. Then he answered some questions about the use of technology, which he described as a source of endless opportunities. Valerio Parasiliti presented the five words he associates to Mattei: innovation, passion for challenges, confidence in young people, integration, and research. He emphasized the importance of human relationships and said firmly that excellence is a choice. Recalling an article by Paccaloni, he spoke about how intrinsic motivation should accompany all young people not only at work. Finally, he declared his and SPE’s openness to new ideas and to other associations. Reinforcing the importance of personal relationships, De Ghetto highlighted that direct contact spur to action: standing face-to-
SPECIAL FOCUS
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Veterans and SPE YP attending the event.
face with our speakers, we learn how to interact appropriately with them. To testify the opening of the SPE to new associations, Andrea Tondelli (SPE YP Italian Section Chairman) presented the program “Soci APVE in rete” in joint venture with APVE: the project will involve the SPE youth who will organize and keep informatics lessons for APVE members. The event will be structured in modules (Start, Office, Intermediate, Social, Advanced) and will start in 2017. The veterans gladly welcomed the idea.
to rediscover that feeling. Targeting at the previous goal the meeting was propaedeutic to the establishment of a more and more strong partnership between the SPE YP and APVE.
Finally, the round table started a session of open questions. Veteran Franco Francescato proposed to organize meetings between the two associations in which APVE members share their experience with SPE young people: the whole audience greeted the idea with enthusiasm. Paccaloni, remembering the interviews made by SPE YP to other professionals in the Oil&Gas industry, showed his gladness and confidence in the ability of SPE YP to accomplish valid interviews collecting the historical memory of veterans, their anecdotes, as well as their tips. Tondelli, strengthening Paccaloni’s words, said that SPE YP had just launched the Membership Opportunity Program, which consists in a series of meetings with SPE senior in order to share experiences and ideas. Lucio Deluchi (APVE - San Donato Milanese President) suggested to present case studies to compare the actual and traditional working methodology. De Ghetto and Ferdinando Marfella (SPE Italian Section Secretary, connected from remote) claimed the need to realize very targeted interviews, aimed for example to understand how a specific agreement was negotiated. The event was a worthwhile time for both veterans who experienced directly the figure of Mattei and for SPE young who knew Mattei through veterans’ stories. The debate brought out the passion of veterans for their job, passion for sure related also to the charm of Mattei. Today, young professionals do not show that strong emotion: we need to be inspired from veterans
Giovanni Cuomo Graduated with honors in Civil Engineering at Federico II in Naples and holding a Master in Petroleum Engineering and Operations from the Politecnico di Torino. Passionate about innovation in the Oil & Gas industry and eager to learn. Currently working at Eni S.p.A.
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SPECIAL FOCUS
Connected barrels: IoT opportunities for the Oil and Gas Industry
Maria Giulia De Donno Eni S.p.A.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will impact everything around us in the next decade. There are myriad of applications in different areas such as cities, cars, electricity generation and distribution, environment, logistics, water management. Also the oil & gas industry can obtain considerable value by developing an integrated IoT strategy. In the next paragraphs opportunities and obstacles (“bottlenecks”) of this new technology will be analyzed for the Upstream and the Midstream sectors. Are IoT technologies linked with O&G business priorities? Definitely yes! There are three business objectives relevant to IoT deployments in the O&G industry: improving reliability (minimize the risks to health, safety, and environment), optimizing operations, and creating new value of information. Upstream players (e.g., exploration and production) are highly interested in: • enhancing safety of the operations reliability; • lower oil prices are driving companies to place a higher business priority on the optimization of operations; • new insights thanks to fast and
automated analysis of diverse sets of physics, non-physics and crossdisciplinary data - new value of information. Midstream players (e.g., transportation, such as pipelines and storage) are focusing on: • higher network integrity through continuous monitoring - reliability; • optimization of the network by new commercial opportunities that a dataenabled infrastructure can offer - new value of information. The interest in this new technology is increasing and the advantages can be easily quantified in decreasing of nonproductive time, optimizing safety and security, more effective decision. All this means an increase in production at lower costs. The promise of IoT: new value of the information O&G companies use thousands of sensors installed in subsurface wells and surface facilities in order to provide continuous data-collecting and real-time monitoring of assets and environment. However, it has
SPECIAL FOCUS been estimated that only 1 percent of the information gathered is being made available to O&G decision makers.1 The IoT promise to O&G companies consists of the new increased value of the information. In the following image it is shown the information value loop: this framework explains how the information never endlessly increases its value thanks to the Internet of Things technologies. The “initial” value of the information depends by its magnitude (scope, scale and frequency) and it is created by sensors. That information passes through a network so that it can be communicated, and standards allow that information to be aggregated. Augmented intelligence is a generic term meant to capture all manner of analytical support, collectively used to analyze information. The loop is completed via augmented behavior technologies that either enable automated autonomous action or shape
Upstream and Midstream Bottlenecks In many articles it is assessed that IoT technology has not spread into Oil & Gas industry due lack of investments linked with to the drop of the price of barrels, but reasons are deeper. For example, IoT applications are commonly used in the Downstream sector in which operations are standardized and there is already a long history of automation and process-control systems. By contrast, the digital maturity of the
Upstream and Midstream sectors is lower. Companies are struggling to alleviate these delays in applying IoT and the first step is the identification of the bottlenecks.
human decisions in a manner leading to improved action. The effect of the action can be measure by a sensor and the loop continues.2 The “final” value of the information is increased by each loop’s stages but depends also to the risk associated with that flow (digital security), and the time it takes to complete a circuit. There may be impediments to that flow that can be thought as bottlenecks: a key challenge to realizing the value of any IoT deployment is correctly identifying and effectively addressing any bottlenecks that materialize.
In the upstream business, completely different data sets (with high uncertainties and complexity) should be integrated. This complexity is actually captured by thousands of new sensors. This has driven a data explosion in the E&P segment: internal data generated by large O&G companies now exceed 1.5 terabytes a day.3 This data surge, however, has to generate the hoped-for economic benefits yet. On the one hand, the growing reservoirs data (physics-based) are challenging E&P companies’ data-processing capabilities. On the other hand, the weak datamanagement restricts the capabilities by the company of including other necessary data like non-physics-based data (adding assumptions, conditions, uncertainties, and scenarios), cross-disciplinary data (cutting across exploration, development,
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and production) and non-structured data (log curves, cores, lab data).4 Consequently, the upstream bottleneck is mainly in the standardization process, able to aggregate data and obtain an integrated information. The lack of open standards can be overcome only with a high degree of cooperation between users, vendors, oil and service companies. Regarding the Midstream sector, installing more pressure, temperature, volume, vibration sensors would likely do little to reduce risks or improve a network’s reliability. Good results can be obtained only by investing in advanced sensors that create new data about potential pipeline breaches. As a consequence, the midstream bottleneck is mainly in the need of new sensors able to create the information. New technologies have already been developed in the last years and should be tested and widespread. In the following list there are some examples: 5,6,7 • vapor-sensing tubes that “see” bitumen spilled; • a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing system that “feels” fluctuations in temperature caused by hydrocarbon leaking into ambient soil; • hydrocarbon sensing cables that “smell” hydrocarbons; • fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing system that “hears” sound variations and can indicate a pipeline leak; • non-invasive, three-dimensional imaging technologies that identifies and measures dents, cracks, and corrosion on the pipeline’s outer surface; • laser-based system for methane leak detection, in which leaks’ GPS coordinates are automatically stored and the data captured can be correlated with variables such as temperature, time, and pipeline configuration for improved monitoring and control. From theory to practice: examples of IoT applications for Oil & Gas Industry This paragraph describes some IoT applications that are already on the market or that are going to be developed in the near future. Smart Sand Microelectronic Sensors (Advanced Energy Consortium) AEC has twenty-one extremely interesting projects dedicated to achieving transformational understanding of subsurface oil and natural gas
18 SPECIAL FOCUS reservoirs through the deployment of new micro- and nano-sensors.8 Several applications are investigated, including wellbore characterization, hydraulic fracturing, water flooding, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and inter well reservoir characterization. Just an example of their large portfolio is the developing of subsurface autonomous nano-sensor devices, or smart sand microelectronic sensors, that are tagged with time and geolocation and capable of acquiring measurements in harsh subsurface environments. Cognitive Computing supporting Exploration and Production Decisions Repsol has teamed with IBM to apply cognitive computing to the upstream aspects of business where energy companies face much complexity and where decision making is crucial to success (for example the acquisition of new assets). Two initial applications are targeted—one to help size up exploration blocks that are out for bid and the other to help optimize strategy for drilling wells. The objective is to develop a cognitive system, which could search vast amounts of information – from seismic data and production reports to breaking news – in response to specific queries asked by E&P staff. Using natural language processing, the computer is able to search documents and generate reports and simulations based on these queries, all of which should help the decision-making process
become faster and more efficient. The Digital Oil Field Digital Oil Field is a web-based visualization platform which objective is to capture the behavior of the oil field mostly at wellbore level. This enables rational decision making regarding artificial lift systems and setting of production parameters. The visualization system let to have on the same screenshot all the well historical information, petro physical data, the completion schematic, real time monitoring data (ESP data), information about surface facilities and the prosper model. In just one click, it is possible to have a complete idea of the situation without long and time-consuming research in obsolete data folders. Moreover, other applications can be connected to the web-platform: an example is a sort of “virtual flowmeter”: ESP monitoring data are commonly available but it could be rarer having automated data about rates and surface condition. It is possible to connect ESP data with an algorithm that gives estimation of the rate and returns the data to the web platform for a better monitoring of the well. Location-Based Asset Management (People Safety) Key to improving operational efficiency is managing the location of assets throughout the plant. Data connections make it possible to centrally monitor asset performance and health. Real-time data streaming can immediately provide the status of critical
production assets, allowing assessment of the health of operations from desktops or mobile devices. There are different service companies offering this application: AeroScout, Cisco, Ubiquicom: by tagging equipment, vehicles, and containers, workers can monitor their location to reduce loss and theft and to help ensure that assets are available when needed. Also people assets are protected by an automated sensorbased system that monitors and alerts workers regarding their surroundings. Along with a panic button, it provides alerts on environmental conditions, such as dangerous levels of gases or temperature variances. Other partners offer portable gas detectors and sensors to protect workers and improve safety. This system can be extremely useful also on unmanned sites.
Robotic, autonomous vehicles and drones Rapid advances in these three technologies connected with IoT technologies will reduce the need for on-site staffing, enable remote real-time monitoring and observations regardless of location and greatly reduce the risks of investigating hazardous incidents. Smart Drilling Systems Sensing systems have been incorporated also in drilling components. Sensing systems include devices that measure and analyze data, interpret results, and activate other systems in response to the interpreted results. Functions of sensing systems include measurements of the drill or tunnel bore, measurements of the geologic formation, and measurements of the interaction between drill bit and rock, as well as positioning and telemetry. Sensing on drilling systems has rapidly evolved over the last 20 years. Two examples of applications are the highresolution micro-seismic imaging and the geosteering for directional wells.
SPECIAL FOCUS Smart Connected Pipelines Proactive, intelligent fiber-based pipelines let possible to have: • pipeline automation across a unified, end-to-end network; • real-time management; • new pipeline protections that can prevent accidents and detect leaks much faster (TPI - third-party intrusion prevention and LDS - leak-detection systems). These single unified networks also provide voice over, video, and wireless support for bring-your-own-device applications up and down the pipeline. TPI applications and LDS technology use the fiber’s sound-detecting capabilities to transmit real-time signals about pipeline conditions to your central headquarters. Highly sensitive, they can detect pinholesize leaks in the pipeline. You get alerts hours, days, or months before a leak becomes a flood and a disaster. LDS technology also detects minute temperature changes in the surrounding soil, an invaluable secondary source of early leak detection.
Conclusions The O&G industry sees the IoT’s importance to future success but creating and capturing value from IoT applications requires a clear identification of primary business objectives and clearing bottlenecks that limit the flow of information. In particular, for the Upstream sector standards are needed in order to aggregate different set of data and to obtain an integrated information. In this process the creation of collaborative business models is crucial. For the Midstream sector, new sensors are needed in order to create more reliable
and comprehensive data. IoT can have an incredible strategic impact on O&G industry and many applications are already under development. Thousands of wells can be automatized. Embedded sensors, instrumentation, automation and data communications can gather and transmit operational data from almost any location worldwide, allowing producers to obtain a more detailed and accurate understanding of current operations. The aforementioned data connections make it possible to centrally monitor asset performance and health. Realtime data streaming can immediately provide the status of critical production assets, allowing assessment of the health of operations from desktops or mobile devices. Beyond the technical advantages, if common data standards are able to integrate diverse sets of data, companies can likely gain insights into previously invisible aspects of operations and adjust how they make decisions.
Regarding the midstream sector, enhancing pipeline safety is in all players’ interest, since a spill by any single operator can lead to higher costs and tighter regulations for the entire industry. As a result, companies are joining forces in developing a data-enabled monitoring infrastructure.
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References
• Antonia Stuart, “Hess, Marathon Oil and Anadarko to attend major upstream data analytics talks,” PRWeb, March 11, 2015, ⦁ w w w . prweb.com/releases/2015/03/prweb12574129.htm , accessed July 27, 2015. • Brenna Sniderman, Greg Gorman, Jonathan Holdowsky, Joe Mariani, Bob Dalton, “The design of things: Building in IoT connectivity”, September 12, 2016, https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/ focus/internet-of-things/connected-productsdesigning-for-internet-of-things.html • Abdelkader Baaziz and Luc Quoniam, “How to use Big Data technologies to optimize operations in upstream petroleum industry,” 21st World Petroleum Congress, June 19, 2014. • Rich McAvey and Morgan Eldred, “Predicts 2015: Upstream oil and gas CIOs must prepare for datadriven optimization,” Gartner, November 13, 2014. • TransCanada, “Research and development (R&D) at TransCanada,” August 2014, • www.transcanada.com/docs/About_Us/ TransCanada-research-and-development.pdf, accessed July 27, 2015. • Jesse Snyder, “Pipeline firms turn to new technologies as public scrutiny intensifies,” Alberta Oil, August 18, 2014, www.albertaoilmagazine. com/2014/08/sensing-failure/ , accessed July 27, 2015. • PG&E, “PG&E’S mini-robots, smart pigs and lasers lead gas safety innovations for 2014,” January 2, 2015, www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/ newsdetails/index.page?title=20150102_pges_ mini-robots_smart_pigs_and_lasers_lead_gas_ safety_innovations_for_2014 , accessed July 27, 2015. • ht tps: // w w w.spe.org /en /t w a /t w a-ar ticledetail/?art=683 • Claude R. Baudoin, “Deploying the Industrial Internet in Oil & Gas: Challenges and Opportunities”, 2016, SPE-181107. • Michael Raynor and Mark J. Cotteleer, “The more things change: Value creation, value capture, and the Internet of Things,” Deloitte Review 17, July 27, 2015, http://dupress.com/articles/value-creationvalue-capture-internet-of-things/ • Andrew Slaughter, Gregory Bean and Anshu Mittal, “Connected barrels: Transforming oil and gas strategies with the Internet of Things,” August 14, 2015 https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-usen/focus/internet-of-things/iot-in-oil-and-gasindustry.html • http://www.beg.utexas.edu/aec/ • http://nano-microworkshop.com/proceedings/ slides/David_Chapman.pdf • http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/solutions/ i n d u s t r i e s /d o c s /e n e r g y / C 4 5 -7 3 16 2 5 - 0 0 _ connected_pipelines_aag.pdf •ht tp: // w w w.innovoil.co.uk /singlepost/2016/06/30/Smart-thinking-%E2%80%93cognitive-computing-with-Repsol
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20 billions machines are connected to the world-wide web today (from Forbes).
A short introduction to the Internet of Things event
Giordano Pinarello BlueThink S.p.A., SPE Italian Section Management and Information Technical Director
The opportunity to deal with Internet of Things (IoT) in this issue of the SPE bullettin stems from the cooperation between Young Professionals of the SPE and the association of the Alumni of the Alta Scuola Politecnica. In the next pages Luca Bonacina (ASP Alumni Vice President) recounts the story of this cooperation in his article “IoT: Story of a Partnership – Backstage of the event”. As far as I am concerned, I eagerly look for the opportunity to work with these two teams as they have energy, enthusiasm and skills; ingredients that, if well mixed, can produce explosive cocktails. This time, I took pleasure in being the chairperson of the conference “Internet of Things: Story of the Future”, organized as part of the program of meetings of the ASP Alumni. My BlueThink colleagues and I have been involved in several IoT projects related to the energy world, cooperating with big names like Enel or the Spanish Endesa. This experience helped us overcome the vision - honestly a bit naïve - that there are “ready to use” IoT devices and technologies to meet every need. The basic technologies, like sensors or network architectures, are often available but different industrial contexts of application often require ad hoc implementation and radical
reengineering. When this complexity is accepted and dealt with using appropriate competence and investments, the outcomes can be extraordinary. You can find an example described in the conference report that you can read here below, prepared by Gionata Ferroni (Geolog): I am referring to the speech of Danilo Pau, Senior Principal Engineer of ST Microelectronics, working on a new generation of sensors, capable of building models of the reality they observe. This type of research will lead, in the near future, to the production of highly reliable technologies characterized by simplicity of integration. Still on the Gionata’s conference report, the speech of Giuliano Busetto, CEO of Siemens Industrial Italy, drawing attention on the evolution towards the digital factory, that is, the factory where designing instruments, virtual prototyping and production are integrated. I hope you’ve not missed reading the article of Giulia De Donno (Eni), “Connected barrels: IoT opportunities for the Oil and Gas Industry”, presented in this issue of the bulletin in the section Special Focus, that recounts some of the concepts of the digital factory providing interesting examples about the Oil & Gas applications.
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Internet of Things: Story of the Future Politecnico di Milano, Aula Rogers - Saturday, October 22nd, 2016, Milan. Report by Gionata Ferroni
Another inspiring event organized by ASP Alumni with the precious support of SPE. The focus this time is on the most impacting digital technology for the next decades: Internet of Things & Industry 4.0.
Gionata Ferroni Geolog International
Alta Scuola Politecnica (ASP) is a joint venture between Politecnico of Milano and Politecnico of Torino with focus on innovation and which collects top 2% students of Engineering, Architecture and Design of both the polytechnics. The Alumni Association of ASP (ASP Alumni) has favorably collaborated with SPE for various events: “Disrupting Energy” on February 2015, “the Open Innovation Way” on March 2016, and “IoT – Story of the Future” on October 2016, moderated by Giordano Pinarello, CEO of BlueThink and member of the SPE board. The Internet of Things has an extremely wide range of possible applications: it is in our houses (building and home automation), in our cars (control of the mechanical, electrical and electronic systems), in every transportation system (network and dynamic interaction monitoring, smart cities, logistic), it is used in medical and healthcare (monitoring health monitoring and
emergency notifications systems), in the energy management (smart grids), in the environmental monitoring. And it is used in the manufacturing sector where digital control systems will allow to transform the workforce and will eventually lead to the fourth industrial revolution, the so-called Industry 4.0, in which the cyber-physical systems (CPS) works as an interface between human and machines. Thanks to sensors and augmented intelligence, it will transform the collected data into actionable information, and eventually interfere with the physical assets to optimize processes. It is estimated that in the future, successful companies will be able to increase their revenue through Internet of Things by creating new business models and improve productivity, exploit analytics for innovation, and transform workforce. This transformation will impact also the O&G industry. But, what is the Internet of Things? A “Thing” can be literary everything and anything that can be connected: every object, machine, vehicle, person. For example, look at the chair where you are sitting on now. It can be a “Thing”. The IoT technology could help you to answer
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anywhere in the world to the question: “is that chair occupied?”. To transform the chair in a “smart chair” it is needed a unique identity, the possibility to be connected to Internet, sensors and eventually a control system. These conditions can be done through micro or nanodevices. It has been estimated that in 1992 there were one million of machines connected to the internet in the whole world. In 2008, the number of connected machines had reached and surpassed the number of humans connected. Today, in 2016, they are 20 billion. And in a few years, there will be around 50 billion of machines connected to the web. During the event, key decision makers from important players of the sector have been called to give overviews and forecasts. Name
Title
Topic
Marco Taisch
Professor, Politecnico di Milano
The 4th Revolution of Manufacturing Sector
Danilo Pau
Giuliano Busetto
Are sensors electronics smart enough? SMicro-
CEO Siemens Industry Italy
The (Digital) Industry of the Future
In the second part of the event, four applications have been presented.
The 4 industrial revolutions
Name
Company
Area
Stefano Sarasso
Ubiquicom
Logistic and Real Time Localization
DDomenico Indolfi
SEveris
Waste Management & Smart Cities
Francesco Meneghetti
Fabbricadigitale
Customable and Open solutions for IoT
Giuseppe Giordano
Enerbrain
Energy Management
The 4th Revolution of Manufacturing Sector by Marco Taisch Marco Taisch focused on the continue evolution of the manufacturing sector and he briefly analyzed the past three revolutions: - the first one - when, in the 18th century, water and steam power was used to support production; - the second one - when electricity was used to provide power to machines; - the third one - when computers started assisting the production. Finally, he analyzed the fourth revolution: Industry 4.0 is nowadays possible thanks to various digital technologies. Big data, IoT, robotics and automatization, human and machine interface, cloud computing and
cyber security have reached a maturity stage that allows to implement the cyberphysical system. It is possible to build a virtual world (“avatar”) parallel with the physical one, connected between each otherse through objects and sensors. In the new digital world, events occur “realtime”, thus simulation can be performed at low costs to improve the decision-making process. It is possible to create scenarios, monitor the reality from everywhere and take effective actions. This new opportunity would incredibly increase the productivity of the manufacturing sector. Are sensors smart enough? by Danilo Pau Virtual and physical realities interact with each other thanks to “smart” objects and sensors. Danilo Pau represented at the conference STMicroelectronics, a company producing sensors, and his highly provoking question was: “are sensors smart enough to represent reality?” His stunning answer was “no, they don’t”. Sensors are built in lab and can manifest dysfunctionalities when they are used in the real world; if one sensor is broken there’s no way to detect the low quality of data that it sends to the server; physical reality continuously changes but sensors are not provided by an adaptatively system; moreover, the artificial intelligence is concentrated in the server which analyses an infinite amount of extremely poor
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quality data: this process is slow and inefficient. In this situation, there is a huge margin to improve IoT technology. The first step is to change the architecture of informatic system distributing artificial intelligence at every stage: it shouldn’t be concentrated only in the server but it should be distributed also in the sensor units and in the gate ways. This would improve the quality of data that could be organized and more easily and analyzed trough clusters and models. Distributed artificial intelligence would create intelligent objects (smart is not enough anymore!) and intelligent cyber physical systems. This means that the system can understand when a malfunctioning is occurring (self-diagnosis) and can adapt to the malfunctioning or to a new situation. Sensors linked among each-other are an already existing example of adaptive system. The idea is that a certain number of sensors measure the same variable: in this way, it is possible to provide a real-time quality control and to exclude data affected by errors (i.e. sensors not measuring accurately). Danilo Pau shared also his visionary perspective: the future of IoT is in intelligent sensors distributed in the environment (and not anymore individually owned) connected each other’s with selflearning neural networks. The (Digital) Industry of the Future by Giuliano Busetto Giuliano Busetto, CEO Siemens Industry Italy, strongly believes in the new digital technologies: without the digitalization, the manufacturing sector cannot progress and satisfy nowadays needs. His discussion started far away from the industry, he started from services: Amazon, Uber, Spotify are examples of companies without an asset that have incredibly grown thanks only to the digitalization. This shows how the digital world is close to our everyday necessity. Coming back to the manufacturing sector, he showed that thanks to digitalization it is possible to increase production flexibility, to reduce the time to market and to increase both efficiency and safety of operations. The Amberg factory is an example of excellence in whcih the whole the productive process is digitalized. Mechanics, mechatronics and ICT are
The smart factory
to each other in order to save energy and to optimize conditioning of large ambient
Smart (and complex) Drilling console
integrated from the product design, the production planning, production engineering, production execution and services. In this way errors are reduced or anticipated. Moreover, when an entire digital model of the production system is available, the factory can be reproduced everywhere in the world. The economic impact is breathtaking. Giuliano completely convinced the audience of his thesis by appropriated examples and an outstanding presentation. The second part of the event focused on applications of IoT. Other speakers showed the potential of using a web of sensors, or tags: from the monitoring of safety and personal protective equipment at a plant site (Stefano Sarasso, Ubiquicom), to the management of the daily movements of garbage trucks in a city, optimizing traffic and fuel usage (Domenico Indolfi, Everis). In addition, further discussions moved from temperature sensors linked
(Giuseppe Giordano, Enerbrain) to a new generation of ruggedized, industrial grade, universal electronic components, able to manage systems of sensors and actuators, with vast application potentials and customable solutions (Francesco Meneghetti, Fabbricadigitale). Regarding the O&G industry, IoT is already part of the Downstream sector and there are an increasingly number of applications also for the Upstream and Downstream Sectors. It is very likely that automated and smart devices will become crucial parts of the hydrocarbon exploration and production industry. This is in fact the Story of the Future.
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IoT: Story of a Partnership - Backstage of the event On October 22nd, the association Alumni of Alta Scuola Politecnica organized the event “IoT: Story Of The Future” with the precious support of Giordano Pinarello (Member of Board Directors SPE Italy), who also moderated the debate. This is the third successful conference (after Disrupting Energy- February 2015 Luca Bonacina and The Open Innovation Way - March ASP Alumni Vice President 2016) that sees the cooperation of ASP Alumni and SPE. Luca Bonacina - ASP Alumni Vice President - will here give some rumors of the backstage, and on the next event! IoT: Story Of The Future: why such a title? Our idea was to convey in a few words two messages: the fact that IoT will be part of our daily reality in the near future and the fact that the technology is mature enough to be able tracking its storyline. It is easy to understand the interest in and potential impact of IoT by analyzing the related Investment, Acceleration, Products and Companies ecosystem. Moreover, technological evolution turned simple network-connected objects into a diffused sensornetwork with distributed intelligence. We thought that the union of the two aspects - today and tomorrow use cases together with the technological evolution gives an interesting filter lens to the audience. Among the speakers figured names such as Giuliano Busetto (CEO of Industrial Division Siemens Italy), Danilo Pau (Senior Principal Engineer STMicroelectronics), Marco Taisch (Professor - Politecnico Di Milano) and many others. What
drove the selection of this expert panel? In each event, we try to bring complementary players into play: Industry, University, Engineering, Design, Local and Global companies or Startups. In this specific case we brought real life experiences (Domenico Indolfi - Everis, Stefano Sarasso - Ubiquicom, Giuseppe Giordano - Enerbrain e Francesco Meneghetti - Fabbricadigitale) together with the broader view of the industry (the digital factory pictured by Giuliano Busetto) and the University (speech about Industry 4.0 - Marco Taisch). Moreover, the vision of STMicroelectronics showed us the history of IoT, from the beginnings to the distributed intelligence. What about the cooperation with SPE? We share many values, such as passion for innovations and technology, personal initiative and focus on sustainability. The cooperation started by chance in 2015 when we decided to organize an event on energy… than it kept going on thanks to the reciprocal interests in building bridges with other institutions and associations and in broadening our network. It turned out that we “share” also… people. In fact, many ASP Alumni are SPE members, too. For example, the president of SPE student chapter of Torino is an active ASPer too! Finally, the partnership naturally continued also thanks to Blue Think and its vision: for example, the topics chosen for these last two events (Open Innovation and IoT) were a common priority. Next events? We are already working on our next events! So far, ASP Alumni focused mostly on technology and business trends but for our next event, we have something different in mind. I do not want to spoiler but we believe that this new topic will attract a lot of attention...especially of a company that inherits the culture and philosophy of Enrico Mattei... Stay tuned!
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Members of the Innovation Factory
Saipem launches the Innovation Factory Interview with Antonio Careddu, Executive Vice President of Innovation, Systems and Corporate Marketing of Saipem SpA. I am grateful to Antonio Careddu for finding time in his diary despite the short notice. We meet in his office and are joined by Andrea Boscacci, Giordano Pinarello Programme Manager leading the BlueThink S.p.A., SPE Italian Section Management Enabling Team of the Innovation and Information Technical Factory initiative. They immediately Director offer me a tour of the Factory. “Obviously”, says Mr Careddu, “the Factory is not just what you see here. Above all it is a group of special people”. We enter an open space equipped with videoconference stations, meeting pods and notice boards, but also with parts of the floor covered in synthetic grass and other elements, suggesting that, while the project is serious, it is anything but dull. Standing around a table, I see a group of young people actively engaged in conversation. I know some of them personally and can honestly say that if I had to build a team of innovators I would include them in it. We return to Mr. Careddu’s office. Although his role requires a certain aplomb, he turns out to be a very easy-going person. He is also passionate about “the Factory”. GP: How did the Innovation Factory come about? The motivation derived from current needs and external factors. When demand for oil increased, Arctic and deep water prospects prevailed over traditional onshore projects. Saipem responded quickly to the changes in the global scenario. The Company has a long tradition in innovation, mostly driven by frontier operations. It has laid pipelines in the world’s deepest seas and, in general, has always operated at the cutting edge of technical possibility. However, in the USA and Canada the previously high price of oil & gas supported the development of technologies for the fracking
and exploitation of tar sands. This led to a glut of hydrocarbons on the market. As a consequence, development costs rose, as did the costs of running plants. But the drastic fall in oil prices meant that these increases were not accompanied by a proportional increase in margins. In this context, and due also to the fact that we are arguably still in the down-cycle of the economic slump, the best option is cost savings. To this end, we decided to analyse Saipem’s productivity, in particular that of the construction segment. We found that, despite innovations in modelling and design, productivity has not increased over the past decade, while it has in other industries such as the automobile, aviation and retail sectors. We therefore had to rethink our operational model and revise our processes to take advantage of already existing technologies. This was the starting point for the Innovation Factory. GP: Would you say that, technological conditions being equal, the inefficiencies affecting the cost of production are specific to Saipem or that they characterise the entire sector? Since Saipem operates along the entire value chain - in drilling, onshore, offshore and infrastructures – we carried out a benchmarking study of the entire industry and found that we are pretty well positioned compared to our peers and much higher than them when it comes to cutting-edge innovation. In short, my view is that the inefficiencies you mention affect the oil & gas sector as a whole, not just Saipem. GP: So, as I understand it, the Innovation Factory originated from the need to increase productivity significantly. At this point, it would be interesting to know how you arrived at this model. The Innovation Factory stems from a synthesis of different experiences. For example, we have in-house innovation contests such as the “Innovation Trophy”, which awards novelties that have a significant impact on the Company, and the “Ideas Innovation Challenge” from which, through low-budget knowledge management instruments, we have had some
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wonderful and unexpected returns. Indeed, while some entries were not completely pertinent to the award schemes, they were nevertheless original and of great value to Saipem. Furthermore, our knowledge management project gave us the opportunity to experiment with an integrated team. We assigned the project to people holding different roles, from different cultural backgrounds and who are physically located in different departments of the company. It was from experiences such as these, and with the full backing of the CEO, Stefano Cao, that the Innovation Factory originated. Alongside tradition R&D projects, our aim is to create a hotbed of disruptive innovation. The Innovation Factory currently hosts 50 young talents from different professional backgrounds, working on strategic themes identified by top management. These resources have been called upon to apply lateral thinking, creative problem solving and entrepreneurial culture in order to generate innovative ideas, the most valuable of which (as determined by the Sponsors, and with the help of department specialists) will then be fast-prototyped. Furthermore, this experience will help promote an innovative and collaborative culture throughout the Company. GP: I would like to focus on the role of the Enablers, as it seems particularly relevant to overcoming any internal resistance to innovation. The role of the Enablers is a very delicate one, as they protect the dynamics of the group by providing methodologies and guaranteeing the continuous link between internal and external stakeholders. When the Innovation Factory project was first presented, participants were told explicitly that they were not to consider the Enablers as people to report to, but rather as
Factory at work
facilitators who would work with them to find the resources needed to realise their ideas. GP: Generally speaking, in European culture failure is perceived as bad, while in the United States a venture capital institute is unlikely to fund you if you have never failed. With this in mind, what instruments have you developed to allow for mistakes? As we are still in the initial stages of the project, we have not yet experienced failure, but in the design phase risk was in fact required. The important thing to bear in mind is that the Design Thinking phase is a “no nonsense” one and participants must therefore leave aside their current roles and dare to fail. We celebrate failure: indeed, we work with the slogan “fail fast, fail cheap”. We encourage the highest possible number of ideas, even if only 3% of them will eventually be put into practice. In the past,
we worked on projects that turned out to be costly in terms of time and resources and we came to the conclusion that rapidity is crucial. In the Innovation Factory, after an idea is originated, a proof of concept stage follows. If this meets the requirements of productivity, marketability and profitability, we can move to the scale-up phase. We operate in a business context where the main obstacle to innovation is not the technical part, but rather human behaviour. This is why we encourage Innovators to attend external initiatives, as we believe contamination brings added value. Our purpose is to generate “viral agents” of change, colleagues who will later return to their departments and “infect” others. We are convinced that this is an innovative way of generating the mindset required. GP: How will you measure the results of this activity? We do not have totally objective yardstick. Rather, we make use of spider plots while at the same time taking into account business impact, effort, and so on. We then make a relative comparison of the ideas and place them in order of importance. The outcome is subsequently presented to the Executive Committee of Saipem, an internal chaired by the CEO and his first reports. In this process, the Sponsor plays a key role by establishing the themes of innovation in agreement with the Executive Committee and promoting them within the Factory. The Sponsor also follows the idea generation phase and assigns priorities. Prototypes are developed from the brightest ideas and we provide feedback on everything to the Executive Committee. GP: What is your approach to external relationships? We are striving for the contamination of experiences, methodologies and disruptive technologies successfully used in industrial sectors with which Saipem is not traditionally associated. We are open to relationships with suppliers, universities and industries eager to test new methods and technologies. We do not want the Factory to be a closed entity, but one open to partners willing to collaborate with us using open knowledge methods. We understand that a lot has already been achieved which can be incorporated into our operational system. For this to happen, we need to work very closely with management. Our CEO, whose background is in operations, fully supports the project, as he acknowledges that our industry is at a turning point compared to the traditional models. GP: What instruments have you considered for the prototyping of ideas? We have considered fast and light standard contractual forms that facilitate collaboration with other companies. The idea is to share part of the journey together and to co-invest. Subsequently, a joint steering committee will decide whether or not to continue as a partnership and how the projects are to be managed and commercialised. We need to tackle wastefulness if we are to compete in our core business. Therefore, collaboration with players in the ecosystem is vital if we are to make progress towards achieving our objectives of increasing productivity and, in this way, reducing costs. Antonio Careddu A graduate in Engineering from the Milan Polytechnic, Antonio Careddu has spent his career in the oil & gas industry. He worked for Snamprogetti and then for Saipem SA (a subsidiary of the Saipem Group with headquarters in France) where he held the positions of Chief Operating Officer (COO), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Since November 2015, he has been the Executive Vice President of the Innovation, Systems and Corporate Marketing function of Saipem SpA.
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SPE PoliTo PetroBowl team
THE ROAD TO THE PETROBOWL CHAMPIONSHIP The 2016 SPE PetroBowl took place at the Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) on September 26. This year’s edition saw 32 teams representing their respective SPE regions compete at The Dubai World Trade Centre. It all started in Italy After holding an internal qualification round organized by the SPE Italian Section (a Petrobowl pre-qualifier) the SPE PoliTo Chapter’s PetroBowl team was put together. Five team members from five different nations: Ebenezer Amoah-Kyei (Ghana), Lucien Merhej (Germany), Olushola Olapade (Nigeria), Salman Qamar (Pakistan), and Hana Tfaili (Lebanon). In April, this team had set out to participate in the European Regional Qualifiers in Stavanger-(Norway) where an impressive 2nd place was achieved. This granted the team a direct qualification to the Dubai Finals. Dario Viberti Politecnico di Torino SPE Student Chapter Liason
In the two days following the exhibition, the team took some time off and enjoyed the one of a kind city that is Dubai! During this short time, they managed to see the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world!), take a tour in the desert, and visit the Jumeirah Beach Resort. Once back in Italy, the team realized the defeat had been a great lesson; even though the SPE PoliTo chapter is already one of the best in Europe, more work and preparation will be needed in the coming years if we want to be competitive at an international level. The teams from the US, Mexico and Brazil appear to be ahead of us in terms of planning, experience, and funding. It is our goal to get closer to the stronger teams in the coming years to improve and draw the strategies for the future. So expect more from SPE PoliTo in the years to come!
The team set foot in Dubai two days prior to the competition, and ambitious as they were, they used the time to continue their preparation. They faced Curtin University (Australia) in the first round and they won which meant a pass to the round of 16. In that round they faced last year’s champions, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, despite having lost, the PoliTo team put up a good fight in which they displayed their knowledge. On that same day, the team had the chance to visit the exhibition and get a closer look at the technologies, which will be shaping the oil & gas industry’s near future. Of course as students, it was an opportunity to meet and talk with potential employers. PoliTo PetroBowl Team meets SPE International President, Nathan Meehan
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Board Members of both SPE PoliTo and Bucharest Student Chapter at Petroleum Museum
SPE POLITO STUDENT CHAPTER: an update on the initiative of the current board Over the years, the SPE Student Chapter of Politecnico di Torino, the town also known as Augusta Taurinorum has been an integral part of student’s academic experience with a rich spread of students from about 55 countries around the world, fully active in various events carried out by the organization. The involvement and Emecheta Kemjika the rich culture of each student helps PoliTo SPE Student Chapter President creating an active student chapter from an educational point of view and also a multicultural environment in which our members grow as professionals and as individuals. SPE PoliTo Student Chapter is a means toward continuous improvement, therefore every year a new board takes over legacy of the chapter. In April 2016 the new Board of Leaders was welcomed to spearhead the affairs of the chapter to greater heights. We, the board, comprising of President Emecheta Kemjika; Vicepresident Elena Iuliana Cojocariu and General Secretary Dayal Parkash, came into office full of enthusiasm and with a clear initiative of how to make the year 2016-2017 a very successful one. The first step toward our goal was to appoint committee leaders in various sub-divisions, which would help implement our agenda such as improving the technical knowledge of the student members. With a clear picture of everyone’s duties, we looked into organizing a training on how to write a Technical Paper, which took place in May 2016. In the same month, a meeting in which students attended the SPE webinar held by Giovanni Paccaloni, proved to be very impactful: an Alumni student working in the oil industry also gave a speech on what a fresh graduate student has
to do in order to be efficient when seeking a job. On the view of keeping the student chapter members abreast with the current trends ongoing in the organization, weekly information regarding SPE topics was frequentlyshared by our Publicity team on the Facebook page specifically dedicated to our Student chapter. On a social level, in October we introduced the student chapter to the incoming students and gave them an opportunity to be spoken to by Tondelli Andrea the current Young Professional President, whose presence was inspiring thanks to his motivational presentation. Furthermore, the chapter had the opportunity in November 2016 to visit Bucharest, experiencing an exchange program with other SPE student chapters from another country. After a great collaboration with SPE Bucharest Student Chapter in organizing such an event, our students had the chance to attend lectures and two field trips, one at the OMV-Petrom Institute of Research and Technological Projecting (ICTP). At ICPT we were welcomed by Ionut Dragoi, Director of the Institute and Vasile Badiu, Senior Researcher and SPE Local and Global Committees volunteer and we visited all the laboratories used. Finally, in the last week of November, my executives and I, went visiting other Departments to speak about what SPE stands for and enlighten them on the need to join SPE which was aimed at growing the student number and creating a broader network amongst students at Politecnico Di Torino. Emecheta Kemjika Emecheta Kemjika is Master’s Degree student at Politecnico Di Torino where he studies Petroleum Engineering and also a scholar of the Alta Scuola Politecnica. He is an active member of Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), SEG and the President of the SPE student chapter in the same university. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri in his home country Nigeria.
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Office life: get the best out of your day Coffee machine is the right place for complaints. “My boss doesn’t appreciate me” “I don’t earn enough money“ “My career is not breaking through”. But sometimes to get things better you need to change your point of view. Our culture pushes us to crave for hyperactive lifestyle, flying every day Giuseppe Gianluca from one side of the world to the other, Di Marzo Eni S.p.A. being always on the edge. But it is not always the case. We need to keep calm and rationalize our goals before complaining that our future is not here yet. Building a career is like a relationship: big love comes little by little. You will have great days and bad ones. But if you believe in what you are doing, finally everything will be ok. Life is not linear and it is crucial not to settle down. I personally changed my degree course twice, and none of them was in Oil&Gas. You need to balance between the opportunities you get and how you feel about you current job. There is a place for everyone, you just need to start looking for it. We need to put all our effort in turning every working day into a pleasure, not a duty. Of course, every story is different but some rules are golden. Curiosity Knowledge is power, even if it is not about your daily business. You never know when something will turn out to be useful. You may listen to a geology speech and solve your engineering headaches! But knowledge is also hard to build. To master a matter you have to deeply focus on it. Train yourself to keep asking questions. Use your judgment and cross-check it with fancy models (not the
other way around!). Keep always the grip with reality. Once you gained enough confidence, give your valuable opinion about that project. A goal a day takes the grumbles away Sometimes office work can be unsatisfying. Routine work can mask the reason why you are working hard. To sooth your negative mood, you can try this golden exercise: complete a task before you go home. It does not matter if it is big or small, your confidence and satisfaction will be boosted for sure. Balance your technical and pragmatic skills and take home your goals. Work in team We do not live alone. And we do not work alone either! Days can last very long or pass by very fast. It only depends on the passion you put in it. If you feel that you are going nowhere, try to ask the opinion of that colleague you met at the last SPE event. This is what networking is also for. The more, the better. Mentoring If you feel confused and inexperienced, you need directions. Some choices are key for your future and improvisation is not the best approach. Try to find someone you appreciate, both technically and personally, and maybe ask his opinion about that email you just received. In the end, it is up to us. We have to build our chances by working on ourselves, not blaming anyone. That is when our track will look right. And in a few years’ time, we will be looking backwards and feel proud of our job. Giuseppe Gianluca Di Marzo Giuseppe Gianluca is a Petroleum Engineer, currently working in Field & Well surveillance team at Eni. He holds a BSc in Environmental Engineering and a MSc in Civil Engineering – Hydraulics, both completed at Politecnico di Bari. Before being hired in 2015, he attended a specializing Master in Petroleum Engineering & Operations at Politecnico di Torino.
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Scarabeo 7 convoy
Integrating Intelligent Multizone Completion and Stimulation Across Multiple Casing Sizes Saves 6.5 Days Offshore Indonesia Conventionally completing and stimulating multiple sand intervals is a straightforward but time-consuming task comprising repeated trips in and out of the well and long-term mobilization of expensive surface equipment. Nmelu Ikechukwu Eni S.p.A.
To reduce the time and trips required, Schlumberger recently integrated efficient and intelligent completion and stimulation technologies to deliver a challenging multizone subsea well across two casing sizes, saving 6.5 days compared with an ideal conventional completion. The completion campaign was conducted using Saipem’s Scarabeo 7 rig
Eliminating extra trips The Jangkrik field is in the Makassar Strait 100 km (62 miles) east of Balikpapan, Kalimantan, and features multiple unconsolidated and laminated gas sand layers stretching too long for a uniform, efficient gravel pack or frac pack to keep sand and fines out of the well. Instead, the reservoir is stimulated in intervals, which must be isolated for gravel or frac packing. The conventional practice is to run a stacked completion, which requires multiple perforating, clean out and sand control trips. Jeremie Poizat Schlumberger
These long, layered completions also challenge production inflow performance. Conventional inflow control device technology can help distributing the flow across a long lateral, but it can’t change with downhole conditions to maintain that balance over the life of the well. To save time, reduce rig costs and enable future production optimization, Eni asked Schlumberger for an integrated solution using the MZ-Xpress* system for performing multizone fracturing and gravel packing in a single trip. The technology speeds up multizone completions because after the zones of interest are perforated and the well cleaned, the MZ-Xpress system hardware is run into the well in a single trip, permitting rapid gravel or frac packing. The intelligence, run in the upper completion, then enables real-time flow control among zones to optimize well production. Confident in the technology after an earlier successful experience, Eni had a new well with a challenging 60° deviation through five producing layers in two casing sizes. To cover the full lower completion length of 1,143 m (3,750 ft), Schlumberger deployed 7-in and 95/8-in MZ-Xpress completions in sequence. The robust architecture of the MZ-Xpress system (Fig. 1) combined with fluid design, helped reduce the risks of tool sticking posed by the weak formation, long intervals (more than 35 m [115 ft]), and short spacing between zones (as low as 25 m [82 ft]). Expert response to downhole conditions Still, integrating the completion and stimulation designs and operations was critical for success. Schlumberger tailored a FlexSTIM* modular offshore stimulation system for Eni,
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS combining mixing, pumping, and data acquisition equipment on a supply vessel. Engineers designed the gravel and frac pack treatments with ClearFRAC XT* polymer-free fracturing fluids to minimize formation damage and avoid fracture growth into water zones-critical to achieve Eni’s well production goals-while still being able to carry the ceramic proppant to efficiently pack the screens. Even with the careful planning, the first gravel pack (in the 7-in section) ended with an early and hard screen out because of an unexpectedly weak formation and roping effects. A restress was performed and all MZ-Xpress system valves were cycled and tested prior moving to the next zone. Before the following pumping operations, Eni and Schlumberger engineers redesigned the fluid loading, proppant concentration, and pump rates to accommodate for the unexpected downhole conditions while ensuring operation of the completion tools and surface equipment. All subsequent stages were pumped as designed.
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Once all zones were fracture stimulated, the upper intermediate completion was landed to isolate the well via annular and regular formation isolation valves. The smart completion featured the recently developed safety valve and multiposition TRFC-HD* hydraulic flow control valves. The combination of those technologies allows remote control of the well production. TRFC-HD valve sizing range optimization was performed to meet Eni zonal control and inflow distribution needs.
The well was completed, from casing cleanout to final service tool recovery, in 19.1 days, 6.5 days less than an optimal stacked completion. The time was saved primarily by eliminating repeated trips to run tools and perforating guns, and clean the well after perforating (Fig. 2). It’s also worth noting that the system saved time despite the extra deburring runs required after each casing perforating operation and separate MZ-Xpress deployments.
Fig.3: Integrating the completion and stimulation operations with the MZXpress saved ENI 6.5 days of rig time, mostly by eliminating repeated trips into the well. (Courtesy of Schlumberger)
Jeremie Poizat is a sand control product champion for multizone and efficiency completions systems based in Houston, Texas, a position he has held since 2012. He joined Schlumberger in 2006 as a field engineer gaining exposure in sand control pumping and tools. Following this position, Jeremie moved to the engineering group where he was the MZ-Xpress system lead design engineer for five years. Jeremie graduated with a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering in Arts et Metiers ParisTech in Paris, France. He is a member of SPE.
Nmelu Ikechukwu iis a Senior Well Completion and Intervention Engineer for Eni, based in Jakarta. His past positions include Completions Project Engineer in Schlumberger, worked in different locations across Norway and Africa. He also worked as LWD/MWD Engineer in Baker Hughes, based in Port Harcourt. Nmelu has 11 years of experience in completion engineering and operations, with extensive experience in subsea/deepwater operations.Nmelu holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nigeria.
Fig.2: The MZ-Xpress single-trip, multizone completion system is engineered for robust, reliable operation even during challenging gravel pack and frac pack operations. (Courtesy of Schlumberger)
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Daniele Barbone running in the Sahara Erg Oriental Tunisia, 30 April 2014
AN EXCLUSIVE HSE INTERVIEW WITH DANIELE BARBONE
Davide Scotti Saipem S.p.A. SPE Italian Section HSE Technical Director
Welcome back dear readers to this new bulletin number with the usual HSE interview. This time we have a very special guest: with him we will talk mainly about environment. I met Daniele this year thanks to a mutual friend, and through his book. He is a very active person on several fronts, but let’s start from the introduction ... who is Daniele Barbone?
Hi all, it’s a pleasure. I am Daniele Barbone, an entrepreneur in the sector of lab testing and inspection, focused on the environment. I believe in associations and thus I collaborate with Cesvi, the most important Italian NGO operating in the field of development cooperation -.- Within my extra-working passions I am also known to have run on foot in six deserts of the planet, I write books and I have my own blog…but mostly I am a Dad. Which is one of the most rewarding things in my life. Perfect! Even if you have a huge international profile, you live and work in Italy, so I would like to ask you what it means for you to be an entrepreneur in the environmental sector. Ecology and Economy have a common etymological root: the Greek word Oikos, the house. I am convinced that it is highly necessary to realize products, processes, activities, and development models that internalize the environmental variable in the whole. Knowing how to manage resources at the best, whatever they are, is a basic principle of any virtuous activity. That is why together with my company we support other
Daniele Barbone speaking at the Safety Leadership Event in Bologna, October 2016
companies, by providing them with the necessary expertise to combine at the best this duo. The reduction and recover of the generation of waste in the production cycles and the study of new processes that fully limit the emissions in the sewers and into the atmosphere are factors of an approach that both ensures a more sustainable development to our ecosystem and limits costs and waste. In my opinion, this approach is necessary for a Country in G20, which is leading, along with the other major industrialized Countries, the development processes. I think you mentioned the G20 not by chance, why? Since the summit held in Mexico in 2012, I am honored to be part of one of the engagement groups that work alongside the summit of Heads of State and Government, by trying to provide insights
TECHNICAL DIRECTORS and ideas on key topics of the summit. In particular, I am in the working group, composed by experts from the civil society, dealing with Energy, Environment and Climate Change. I believe that these three issues are crucial for the definition of global political and economic agendas. Since the summit in Paris in 2015, I am a delegate to the Conference of the Parties on Climate of the UN (COP) and from this year in the Marrakech one. Once again, I get the confirmation of how there is only one possible approach and it is the one blending all these conditions within virtuous models. The theme of Energy has a close correlation with the one of the Oil and Gas industry, so I cannot miss to ask you what you see on this front from your point of view. When I previously mentioned the existing common root between ecology and economy, I was also referring to this sector and not by chance. In my opinion, borders are completely meaningless. The entire energy sector is at the forefront in the decarbonization process.
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contemporary human being and to the new generations a better planet and better workplaces. Men and women at the center, as a real industrial renaissance. This is my true hope. Thanks again for the contribution you brought to the “Safety Leadership Event” during which you also described, as you says in the presentation, your performances running through six deserts. But tell us something more also for our readers. Of Course. Personally, I have never been a sportsman when I was young. Only in adulthood, I started practicing running race. The facts of life put me in front of a drama. I was in Boston in 2013 at the finish line of the marathon when two bombs exploded, killed and mutilated several people. Since then I have started a communication and divulgation program aimed at indentifying sport practice as an education tool. I raised the level by running in environments that are considered extreme: the running of 100 km in the Sahara Desert in Tunisia and the 100 km in the Sahel in Senegal, but also running on my own in the Judean Desert or in Death Valley. So I defined a program of events aimed at illustrating that each of us can achieve great things, starting with the available resources and by managing them sustainably. Without forgetting that we must take into account anyone who lives around our environment and around us. In conclusion, I use in sport a vision that is not so different from the one I used
Daniele Barbone during its intervention at the Safety Leadership Event
The challenge of climate change asks everyone, without exception, to give his best. To create new models of production, to develop new technologies, to invest resources in the search for new answers to new questions. The enterprise in this sense is, as always, the pivot on which the evolution and development realize. There are significant projects in this sense that should be highlighted and appreciated, as, for example, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative. It is a challenge of the whole humanity, we win together or we lose together. I do agree and I think the OGCI, that you mentioned and which involves the world leaders in the energy sector, is an important example of collaboration and joint commitment to a cleaner and thus better future. However, inside the issue of development, we cannot omit to talk about safety.
Davide Scotti (left), Andrea Trespidi (middle) & Daniele Barbone (right)
Also referring to this topic, the debate is often behind the everyday reality. From my point of view, I see a “Gaussian distribution” of cases for which the average related to the subject of safety is trending upwards. I had the honor to participate to the recent “Safety leadership Event” in Italy and I saw from the direct experience of this community of people that today the issue is no longer whether the safety at work is or is not a sufficiently guaranteed right. It is an issue of overall company vision, instead. Moreover, here we return to my starting point.
Thanks Daniele for these ideas and for reminding us of everyone’s responsibility to create a better world. This includes all HSE areas, health, safety and environment: w way of thinking and acting on which all our activities, both at work and outside, have to be based on. Before we say goodbye, give us some info on your next challenge.
The enterprise, the ability to produce, identifies the human being as its resource and its most valuable asset. The mission is to enhance it, to protect it, to guarantee it, to give to the
at work. And through my blog, during the conferences, in the social networks and in the publications or books, I always send a message to anyone willing or interested in a better world, of which each of us is responsible.
Running in deserts is for me an all-encompassing experience. Body and mind together in a single act. I have not decided the next step yet because I’m working on my new book, which will be released in the second half of 2017: working and writing make me busy enough. But let’s stay in touch, I am sure I will impress you with new adventures
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BIG DATA and INDUSTRY 4.0: much more than bigger databases The notion of Big Data is increasingly applied also in the O&G sector, originally less impacted by digital transformation due to its remarked technical framework. However, digital data is everywhere, in every sector and organization. The explosion of data availability is indeed not new Gianna Giudicati and started more than 40 years ago: Eni S.p.A. what’s new is the velocity of growth, SPE Italian Section Management and Information the diversity of the data formats and Technical Director typologies, and the need to use this huge amount of data to effectively improve business value. The increasing number of sources and available data and their improved accessibility are key factors to be managed and a better awareness in the meaning and importance of Big Data is remarkably useful in order to improve decision making processes in technical and non-technical activities, to optimize operational efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize risks. But let’s start from the beginning: what do we mean by Big Data? Big Data is defined as a huge amount of available information and usually refers to datasets whose size is beyond the ability of a typical database software to capture, store and analyze. However, this is just a part of the complexity behind the notion of Big Data, which may be identified in the following “V-formula”: 1. Volume: as terabytes and petabytes of data; 2. Variety: data in many different forms; 3. Velocity: live data allow prompt decision making processes; and 4. Veracity: various data forms imply imprecise and often unpredictable data types and various level of data uncertainty and reliability. Therefore, the notion of Big Data goes much more beyond the Volume: they include a remarkable amount of data, both structured and unstructured, available also in real-time and flowing on a variable basis, i.e. daily, or weekly.
Fig.1: Big Data as a 4-Vs Formula
(Fig. 1) Big Data are one of the dowels characterizing Industry 4.0 , meaning the new phase in digitalization characterized by the increase in data volume and based on a vision in which data, processes, devices, machines and people will be connected together. Analytical power, hyper-connectivity, and business intelligence capabilities are just some of the features of Industry 4.0, and Big Data, augmented-reality, progressive robotics and 3-D printing some of the relevant examples. Within the energy industry, 3D-4D seismic imaging data, O&G types and field level data are just a few examples of Big Data needing for further improvements in both analytics and synthesis. Industry 4.0 introduced in the manufacturing framework what has been called the “smart factory,” in which cyber systems monitor physical processes and, if necessary, make decentralized decisions. Within this context, physical systems become “Internet of Things”, meaning physical elements communicating with each other and with people in real time through the web. (Fig. 2) But then how Big Data impact energy and O&G industry? Industry 4.0 is implying a quick and remarkable digital transformation, which is charactering and will characterized oil & gas business. The rapid progress in O&G technology is constantly increasing the number of real time sensors, QR codes, Radio Frequency IDentification tools (RFIDs) and control systems, continuously providing real time data and offering many potential advantages
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But what are mining, machine learning, and neural the challenges networks, whereas network analysis, relevant to Big tag clouds and clustergrams are tools Data? A few verified for data representation and visualization. challenges are Business intelligence, finally, will help in related to digital dealing with aggregation, manipulation, transformation and, and management of Big Data. (Fig. 3) more in general, As a summary, supported by a homogenous to Industry 4.0. and complete infrastructural, operational First, IT security and cultural system, Big Data create systems need to opportunities to reinvent and improve be empowered working activities and processes. due to the potential Investments in Big Data will create value i n c r e a s e d for the company by increasing data accessibility of transparency, improving precision in multiple connected simulation due to more complete samples, IT systems. customizing actions based on identified Therefore, data and transparent needs, and nevertheless security has to innovating business models, products be guaranteed. In and services. Last but not least, Big Data addition, stability of help in adapting to sector contingencies the communication and, therefore, also becoming key system, efficacy factor in competing with peers since it Fig.2: Representation of Industry 4.0 main features (from Embedded Comcyber systems, will help in creating new opportunities, puted Design 2015) and relevant and improving the efficiency of decision in many of the technical processes in precision in Big making processes. exploration, development, drilling and Data collection are also crucial to be operations. Digital transformation and ensured in time. In addition, companies The digitalization in our sector is in its consequent automation, as stated need to approach data management from progress and rapidly percolating; it’s during the “2016 World Economic Forum’s various perspectives and from strategic, the present and will be the future of the workshop on the Digital Transformation operational and cultural points of view. “Connected Oilfields”. Using Big Data is of the Oil & Gas Industry”, impact various What organizations need to finalize the not just Big Analyses, it’s Big Thinking. areas, first of which asset lifecycle puzzle, is an information management. New digital technologies management pipeline and and Big Data may indeed remarkably a governance process. improve efficiencies, performances, and Therefore, dealing with Big decision-making processes. Integrated Data doesn’t mean only to be engineering environments combined with able to store a huge amount the implementation of industrial mobility of information, but rather to platforms and other collaboration and create a whole infrastructure connection tools is proved to increase and governance to support efficiency also of field activities, and not its identification, capture, only within offices, of more than 20%. synthesis and divulgation. Nevertheless, another crucial Therefore, new industrial platforms, based issue within energy industry on hyper-connectivity, super-computing, consists in the necessity to robotics, etc, will inevitably change and match digital transformation empower the actual procedures and the needs with the antiquate modes in which operations have been technologies, equipment and conceived and done till now. Wearables, systems used in older assets. for example, will strongly impacts the However, despite the ways in which workers will be connected apparent challenges in data among each other’s and with machines, management when dealing therefore improving their access to with these complex types the right information at the right time. of data, there are ways to Nevertheless, new energy systems, help organizations in Big which are rapidly growing in terms of both Data management and, number and diffusion, will benefit from in particular, to process, digitalization and from the consequent visualize, and analyze innovative sources and models that will be data. For example, some Fig.3: On top, example of Network analysis reported by “Big Data developed to optimize energy processes of the techniques used for and Society” analyzing the Big data regarding Tweet exchange. and activities. analyzing Big Data are data- Below, Example of Big Data concepts in word tag cloud.
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Carbon Capture and Storage value chain – www.sccs.org.uk
Toward low carbon economy: the role of Carbon Capture and Storage Dear members, In November 2015, world leaders concluded a new global climate deal at COP21. To achieve the global goal to limit temperature increases to no more than 2°C, the scale of change and the level of low-carbon technology deployment is enormous. This target Andrea Lamberti is even more challenging if compared Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section to energy demand forecast. Indeed, Reservoir Technical Director the main forecast scenarios project significant growth in worldwide energy demand from 2012 to 2040 (+48% increase for IEA). Fossil fuels continue to provide most of the world’s energy in the
Over twothirds of global emissions are originated from just ten countries, with the shares of China (28%) and the United States (16%) far surpassing those of all others. This Worldwide CO2 emissions - IEA increase in GHG gases in the atmosphere intensifies the natural greenhouse effect causing an increase of average Earth temperature. To avoid dangerous climate change, the global average temperature rise must be capped at 2°C relative to pre-industrial times. It is to say that global carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced up to 50 – 85 % by 2050. Which means that the total amount of CO2 released, or “carbon budget”, must be roughly 1000 Gt of CO2. At the current emission rate, this budget will be eroded within the next 30 years.
World Energy Consumption is forecasted to rise - IEA
IEA reference case: in 2040, liquid fuels, natural gas, and coal account for 78% of total world energy consumption. Growing world energy demand from fossil fuels plays a key role in the upward trend in CO2 emissions that targeted 32.4 Gt in 2014.
While renewables, nuclear power and improvements in energy efficiency will play an increasing role in moving the world towards a low carbon economy, they cannot be the complete answer. To effectively tackle the climate change, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) appears today as the only technology capable of delivering significant emissions reductions from the use of fossil fuels in power generation and industrial applications. CCS prevents large amounts of CO2 from being released into the
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Key CCS Projects in the world – Global CCS Institute
atmosphere. The technology involves capturing CO2 produced by large industrial plants, compressing it for transportation and then injecting it deep into a rock formation at a carefully selected and safe site, where it is permanently stored. The cost of CCS project is the main limit in its development. Depending on power plant technology and fuel costs, CCS would increase the cost of electricity of the order of 40%. The costs of CO2 capture and compression for fossil fuel power generation comprise approximately 80% of the incremental costs of CCS. A summary of the cost ranges is reported below: Capture Costs
30 - 80 $/ton
Transportation Costs (pipeline)
S1 - 5 $/ton
Storage Cost
2 - 20 $/ton
However, CO2 storage is not a novel technology. Indeed injecting CO2 into oil reservoirs to enhance oil recovery (CO2-EOR) has been practiced on a commercial scale for nearly 50 years. CO2 mixes with oil, improving its ability to flow towards production wells. Injected CO2 is then produced with the oil; this CO2 is separated from the oil and re-injected for further oil recovery. Over the life cycle of the EOR project, the CO2 injection and recovery cycles are repeated many times, with smaller amounts of new CO2 added to the project in each cycle. However, part of the CO2 remains trapped in the reservoir due to capillary forces that act to immobilize its movement within pores and through dissolution in residual oil and water present in the reservoir. The “recovery efficiency” quantifies how many tons of CO2 are injected to recover an additional barrel of oil, with low efficiencies indicating more CO2 storage. Conventional EOR project were designed to maximize recovery efficiency, which is advantageous in a situation where CO2 must be purchased and represents a cost factor. Indeed most of the CO2-EOR projects operating today use naturally occurring CO2 that is extracted from underground
specifically for EOR purposes. However, new ways of conducting CO2-EOR could help achieve a win-win solution for business and for climate change mitigation goals, offering commercial opportunities for oil producers while also ensuring permanent storage of large quantities of CO2 underground. Nevertheless, extending CO2-EOR projects to include CO2 storage as an end goal requires taking on activities associated with monitoring and verification of stored CO2. The level of additional cost varies widely, depending on the geological and geophysical features of individual reservoirs. For this reason, “co-exploiting” CO2 storage and EOR is unlikely to happen in the short to medium term without additional incentives, as applying novel practices increases cost and carries additional risk. Therefore the key of adding CO2 storage to EOR activities is carbon pricing. Carbon pricing is a financial mechanism that force to pay a fee proportional to CO2 emissions in the atmosphere at CO2 defined price. Currently there are almost 40 countries that are implementing a carbon pricing system, covering 13% of global CO2 emissions. CO2 price are extremely heterogeneous: from 1$/ton (Shanghai, Mexico, Poland) to 137 $/ton (Sweden). The eventual goal is a global tax that will avert potential leakage by carbon emitters attempting to move their combustion of carbon from countries that tax carbon to those that don’t. A global strategy is needed: the majority of the industrial sectors are active in global markets and exposed to global trade. The competitiveness of their products is highly sensitive to production costs. CCS increases production costs and could therefore distort existing competitiveness patterns if it is implemented on a regional basis only. In a carbon-constrained world, CCS projects with oil extraction to generate more profits using two different revenue streams is feasible. In this challenging environment, O&G companies can play a key role by accelerating CCS deployment thanks to the synergies between CCS and EOR projects.
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Another important aspect that involves O&G companies is related to unburnable reserves. Indeed, if global warming is to be limited to the COP21 target, some of the known fossil fuel reserves should remain unburnt. A recent study estimated that we must not burn 50% of our gas and 30% of our oil under the goal to limit global warming to no more than 2°C. Recently, US Securities and Exchange Commission was probing whether ExxonMobil has appropriately revalued its assets to reflect the current and future impact of the shifting climate change debate. In particular, regulators wanted to know whether it has made enough writedowns to recognize the fact environmental activism could cut demand for fossil fuels and impose costly new regulations. The claim above clearly shows how important will be for Oil & Gas Companies to find a way that allows the use of fossil fuels, and at the same time complying with Climate Changes Regulations. CCS is a critical and available timely and cost-effective mitigation opportunity to decarbonize the energy system. However, despite the highlighted opportunities, CCS market is not yet a reality and the majority of projects are still far from their implementation. The main impediments to CCS market deployments are: 1. Knowledge GAPS (field application) and high costs: Even if CCS technologies are field proven, the lack of a series of commercial projects is one of the main limits for CCS deployment. Operating projects would improve the learning curve and consequently reduce CCS costs. Moreover, there are many opportunities to reduce costs through cooperation and synergies on challenges and infrastructure like sharing CO2 transport and storage sites (creation of CO2 hubs). The construction and operation of a thirdparty commercial CO2 transport and storage network is a common and crucial need among all sectors. 2. Not common intent between countries & impact of CCS on competitiveness: Governments should incorporate CCS into
their industrial strategies. Indeed, private investments flow where the sector has a confident outlook and is a governmental priority in the region. Moreover, costs of CO2 emissions are still not internalized on an international level. Companies that compete internationally see fragmented regional climate policies as a risk to competitiveness. 3. Engagement of all stakeholders in CCS activities: large-scale implementation of CO2 storage can fail due to public opposition in certain regions of the world, especially in Europe. Engagement of all sectors in strategic CCS activities, including CO2 transport and storage needs, can support CCS deployment. Involvement of all relevant players will raise the level of knowledge among all companies that will need to use CCS and will recognize that the local endorsement of CCS will be crucial to the future of industrial sectors in the region. This should include national and regional actions to reduce risks and uncertainties across the entire CCS value chain through public engagement, knowledge sharing, CO2 storage capacity mapping, operation of storage site, etc. Some useful references: • http://www.globalccsinstitute.com/ • http://www.iea.org/ • http://www.oilandgasclimateinitiative.com/ • http://energy.gov/carbon-capture-utilization-storage • https://www.cslforum.org/cslf/ This paper is part of a bigger work written by the following authors: • Kaoutar El-Khorassani working in Saipem since 2006. Currently she is LNG Process Leader • Alberto Marcantonio has been working for Saipem since 2006. Currently he is drilling proposal manager • Paolo Navisse has been working for Eni since 2005. Currently he is Planning & Control and Accounting Coordination for Midstream • Michele Rubino has been working for Eni since 2011. Currently he is manager of Risk Assessment and Monitoring Gas and Power in Integrated Risk Management Department. • Giandomenico Zingali has been working for Saipem since 2011. Currently he is Project Manager for Onshore Projects.
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HISTORY TELLING
Once upon a time a Colonel and a wildcat The story of the first commercial oil well and downturn of the oil industry.
Ferdinando Marfella Eni S.p.A. SPE Italian Section Secretary
Fig.1: Hillside wells near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the 1860s
Energy often suggests good stories to tell. In business as in life, nothing is better than a good story. Storytelling is how the most successful companies use marketing and communications to move their businesses ahead. It relies on facts, never fiction, and it is grounded in meticulous competitive and market research. They only say this, because the storyteller is an artist: when he starts to create a masterpiece, it is often difficult to quit the process. Storytellers never stop thinking about their clients: in the shower, at the gym or while taking the kids to grandmas. To tell stories to teach something of useful and beautiful.
stories repeats themselves in time. They represent the journey of humanity that passes, by the way, the imagination and reason and then, corrupting, falls down, in the wild, to resume again the ascension process and start the appeal of civilization.
Another year has passed by quickly and our business area is still not out of the downturn. Oil industry had to go through some major cuts in head count and budget, which unfortunately will influence our work as well in the next future. An unbearable question echoes in several minds: how to survive to downturn of the market. No one has a definite answer.
Downturns teach a lot to oil business. The first downturn occurred just a few years after that Edwin Drake drilled the first commercial oil well in Titusville in 1859. Though Drake (1819-1880) drilled only three oil wells in his lifetime, he is known as the “Father of the Petroleum Industry� because the technology he devised to drill the first commercial oil well in the United States revolutionized crude oil production scheme and he contributed to launch the large-scale petroleum industry. Someone reports that Drake’s major contribution to the oil industry was drilling within a pipe driven down to bedrock to prevent ground water contamination and borehole stability. Unfortunately for him, he did not patent the process that is still in use.
Everyone have his own theory. Good stories are not linear. Nevertheless, as Giambattista Vico, an Italian illuminist philosopher, teaches: history and then
The story started when the Seneca Oil Company bought a tiny concession located inside a farm, in Titusville, Pennsylvania in the north, near the
HISTORY TELLING Canadian border. It was a village barely shown on the map, and its 125 inhabitants poured in the most miserable conditions. Like Drake when he reached this backward country. In fact, he was a former driver of locomotives, laid off 38 years to poor health. The Seneca Oil Company founders needed someone to inspect the oil springs on their property and make a report. Drake maybe got the job because he had a free pass on the railway to reach Titusville. Drake had never been an officer, let alone in the military. Nevertheless, James M. Townsend, one of the investors, used the salutatory title “Colonel” in his correspondence with Drake. The title stuck and Drake became commonly known as Colonel Drake. Anyway, he was proud of his ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War and treasured the family sword, which he inherited. Edwin was known as a storyteller, he liked to fish and play cards, but never for money. He came to Titusville In 1857 to locate and extract large quantities of crude oil for the
Edwin L. Drake Portrait
Seneca Oil Company. The owners of the concession recruited him because he was the only one to believe in the success and potential of the project but also, detail little known, because he had taken a course from a borer that had been in France, in Pechelbronn in Alsace. Formation has always a golden role in this story and in the whole history. It is notable as the original home of oil sands mining. Oil sands were mined from 1745 there initially under the direction of Louis Pierre Ancillon de la Sablonnière, by special appointment of King Louis XV.
41
Almost no one considered the possibility of extracting the oil from the ground at that time, pumping it as it was for water. The first modern oil sands refinery was built there in 1857; and it had the first school of oil technology. Just as curiosity: Pechelbronn oil field was active until 1970, and was later the birthplace of companies like Antar and Schlumberger. Seneca Oil employed him as an external agent of the company, paid $1,000 a year. He did not share in the profits from his famous well that struck oil on August 27, 1859. The investors, defying the general scepticism, were convinced that oil could have a use, a future... and the commercial outlets. The company was interested in the commercial value of refining kerosene from oil for use as a lamp fuel, in order to substitute the expensive whale oil. Drake was particularly wilful. He began his explorations in the spring of 1858; he designed a drilling tower based on the simple assembly of a wooden stick with a rudimentary drilling bit, moved by a vertical reciprocating motion. He had to stop during the winter because of bad weather but, with good weather, he resumed his experiments that howsoever continued to be unfruitful. At the end of August 1859, the lenders of the Seneca Oil Company, exasperated by the continued loss of money, sent him a letter with orders to stop the drilling. On the evening of August 29, before he was delivered the firing letter, the hero of our story was seeing the oil flowing from a cased hole with a depth of 20 meters. Using our jargon, he had a “drilling break”: a sudden increase in the rate of penetration. Nowadays, a drilling break would have alerted the crew. When this increase is significant (two or more times the normal speed, depending on local conditions), it may indicate a formation change, a change in the pore pressure of the formation fluids, or both. It is commonly interpreted as an indication of the bit drilling sand (high-speed drilling) rather than shale (low-speed drilling). The fast-drilling formation may or may not contain high-pressure fluids. Therefore, the driller commonly stops drilling and performs a flow check to determine if the formation is flowing. If the well is flowing, or if the results are uncertain, the driller may close the blowout preventers or circulate bottoms-up. At that time, drillers had, as
First oil well in the United States, built in 1859 by Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, Pennsylvania
can be easily understood, absolutely no experience in drilling into an oil reservoir. So they put away their tools and went at home for the weekend, very unaware that they were about to change the course of history. Nowadays, we should define Drake’s first well as a wildcat: an exploratory oil well drilled in land not known to be an oil field. The next day, the experienced driller, William A. Smith, originally a blacksmith, who had spent much of his life drilling salt wells, visited the well and looked into the pipe. A dark-coloured fluid was floating on top of the water within a few feet of the drill-floor. Smith took a sample. It was full of black, smelly oil. Drake arrived on the scene in the late morning and found Smith guarding the well that was now flowing at a snail’s pace inasmuch its rate was of about 10 barrels a day. Unlike many other spectacular discoveries, such as Spindletop (Texas) in 1901, the Drake well was no gusher (an oil well from which oil flows profusely without pumping, in natural lift). In fact, the reservoir was very superficial and then normally pressured, which was why they could drill into the reservoir without any fluids flowing into the hole and causing a blowout. Such a well had no drilling hazard, they drilled it even though, for obvious reasons, it lacked a blowout preventer (BOP). The well is said to have produced up to 20
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HISTORY TELLING
barrels a day using a hand pump, more than any other well had produced at the time. In other words, it was not only the first commercial oil well; it was also the largest producer at that time ever. The wildcat had turned into a discovery and it entered into the history. Furthermore, with his limited financial resources, an enthused Drake bought land in town and drilled another well for the Seneca Oil Company, but it was not successful. Edwin Drake often depended on local merchants to extend credit to his family. A Titusville druggist and a local successful business owner provided goods and made loans to him. The year following the discovery of Drake, the price of oil reached a staggering $ 20 a barrel but, because of the absence of significant commercial uses, the price quickly dropped. In 1861 a barrel was not worth more than 10 cents and still came down price up to make oil cheaper than fresh water. Yet, at the same time, a twentysix year old man, a former accounting with
an austere and repulsive physical, was creating a company, which would dominate the world market in oil and made John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in the world. The numerous producers and refiners had dug the pit relying on a wild competition that had generated a surplus situation. The masters of the game, Rockefeller savoured their defeat by saying that the cutthroat competition between the single players in the market without reducing the production caused their ruin. They could have derived the maximum price, if they produced less oil than the people demand, and no contrivance on earth could escape this basic economic law. Obviously, Rockefeller bought all small businesses advantaging and empowering his own company: the Standard Oil... Seneca Oil fired Edwin Drake due to the first downturn of oil industry. In 1862, he wrote, “Now I find myself out of business and out of money!” The family left Titusville in 1863, and Edwin Drake worked in New York City trading oil stocks, where he lost most of his money.
Oil industry said goodbye to the Colonel. At the beginning of the twentieth century, machines and engines conquered the world with a new industrial revolution. The world seemed to have discovered oil as the perfect elixir able to fulfil all desires and satisfy all appetites: with an insignificant cost of production, the oil generated huge benefits and, because of it, has become a determining factor in the acceleration of progress Any good story boils down to lessons. Drake’s story is food for thought, really full of lessons learnt (or yet to be learnt). Bibliographical references: Tarbell, I.M. (1963). The history of the Standard Oil Company. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith Hughes, Dudley J. (1993). Oil in the Deep South: A History of the Oil Business in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, 1859-1945. University Press of Mississippi Links: http://www.drakewell.org/ http://www.drakewell.org/brochures/drake-family. pdf http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/wp-content/ uploads/2014/10/4-Petroleum-Pioneers.pdf
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Welcome to the future: photo from Eni 3D lab
SPE YP Visit to Eni Research and Development Lab “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ― Benjamin Franklin. Involvement is vital for a complete learning experience. Young professionals are in constant endeavor of learning and staying engaged. Kumar Ashis Eni S.p.A.
Keeping the same spirit, SPE YP regularly organizes the business visits to involve YPs and provide a full immersion learning session. This time, SPE with generous support of Eni organized a visit to Eni research lab for young professionals. There was enthusiastic participation of young professionals in this event. While all industrial visits are great learning opportunity, this event was even more special considering that visit location being R&D lab of major oil company like Eni. This hitech lab is hub of innovative research where professionals work on latest developments of global oil & gas industry. This state of the art R&D center has been churning out novel technology and ideas since last 50 years. Naturally, there was overwhelming participation from young professionals and Masters students. This R&D lab visit had a very comprehensive agenda covering diverse labs that operate in the whole oil and gas value chain from upstream to midstream and downstream. The participants had a great opportunity to visit labs of diverse spectrum - 3D Reservoir visualization, geoscience lab, EOR lab, flow assurance lab, petrochemical lab, slurry technology lab etc. The visit started with demonstration of Eni 3D room, which is used for diverse purposes varying from 3D visualization of
reservoir model, brain storming meeting about well placement/ drilling issues to familiarization and induction training of workers of vast petrochemical complex. The lab coordinator showed some applications of this technology – Visualization of a reservoir model and wells, Training session in Eni refinery plant. The participants watch it in a small auditorium while wearing 3D glasses. After 3D lab, the next stop was Core digital imaging and analysis lab. In this lab, using powerful X-ray machines, they can analyze reservoir cores and plugs in very cost effective and time efficient manner. Some cores/plugs and their processed images were shown by the lab coordinator. The powerful computers can build the pore throat network and provide key petro-physical property values without doing conventional lab experiments (digital core analysis). After geoscience, participants were taken to EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) lab. This latter deserves a special mention because it is at heart of many EOR campaigns undertaken by Eni across the globe. It is here where the EOR novel ideas, injection strategy, chemicals and many more strategies are tested on real reservoir samples by simulating the actual reservoir conditions. These reservoir samples are travelling thousand miles from their original location to this location. The experiments can be monitored in real time; if the concept passes the litmus test of this lab, then it is implemented in real fields that may be located anywhere in the world. After hopping across various upstream labs, the participants were taken to the downstream area, which support refining and petrochemical divisions of Eni. They showed the petrochemical research equipment and briefly discussed about the regular work done by them. This lab invented the revolutionary Eni Slurry Technology which brought a paradigm change in Refining
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business. Using this technology, Eni refineries can create value from low quality and cheaply available heavy oil feed, generating high profit margin for the company. This novel technology is also licensed to some other oil majors.
similar enlightening visits in future, this industrial visit was an intense learning experience where the young professionals had a firsthand experience of latest technology and ongoing R&D in oil and gas industry.
Time was short but the organizers and Eni team efficiently covered all labs and conducted short briefing sessions for each lab. The coordinators and technicians were very kind and supportive to YPs in accommodating them during the visit and in answering their technical questions. Looking forward for
Kumar Ashis Ashish is a Reservoir Engineer in Eni SpA Italy. He is SPE Italy member and also a young professional. He has a Masters in Petroleum Engineering (Edinburgh UK) and a Masters MEDEA (Eni Scuola Mattei).
YPs watching in 3D
The “Engaged YPs� in Core imaging lab
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A SPE member experiences rig operation on a 3D simulator
BUSINESS VISIT TO DRILLMEC: SPE MEMBERS DISCOVER INNOVATIONS IN WELL OPERATIONS On 29th November, SPE members visited Drillmec S.p.A. at its headquarters in Piacenza to engage a meaningful lesson on application of the latest technologies in well operations. Drillmec, a subsidiary of TREVI Group, is an international leader in design, manufacturing and distribution of drilling and workZhaocong Zhou over rigs for onshore and offshore Eni S.p.A applications as well as a wide range of drilling equipment. Founded in 1922, the group now operates in 70 countries with more than 6000 employees worldwide. The program consisting of visits to workshop, rig and the training center, was comprehensive, thanks to the hospitality of Drillmec. What was most revealing to the members of SPE was the application of cutting edge technologies in order to maximize flexibility, performance and safety of drilling equipment that enables the next generation of well operation concepts to be developed. Drillmec’s hydraulic drilling rigs --HH Series-- are the perfect example of such progress. The rig, thanks to its compact design, significantly reduces the operational signature for onshore drilling operations. With the automated pipe handling system and hydraulic power tongs, the amount of human interventions in well operations can be minimized which enhance rig floor safety and maximize operational efficiency. The highlight of the day was at the Drillmec training center, where SPE members got the chance to experience onshore rig operations in virtual reality on rig simulators. The land rig simulator equipped with a projection system realistically reproduces, in 3D display, the operational components and movements in working reality. Thanks to such systems, well
operations personnel can be better prepared for various operational scenarios before getting exposures to the real operational environment. We would like to specially thank Francesco Colaianni, Andrea Ricotti, Valeria Peroni, Michele Francesconi and Matteo Murroni from Drillmec for their invaluable contributions in making this an unforgettable experience. The visit to Drillmec was attended by over 20 delegates from SPE, consisting of industry professionals and student members. It is the 4th trip under the SPE Business Visit program, following the previously successful trips to Flowserve, Tenaris and Eni Laboratories in Bolgiano. The program, championed by Giovanni Cuomo and Andrea Tondelli of the SPE YP board, is a new initiative to highlight the latest technological innovations in Oil & Gas across companies in Italy. If you are interested in hosting future visits, please do not hesitate to contact us through our website (www.speitaly.org) or SPE YP Italy Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SpeYpItaly)
SPE members listen to a presentation given by Andrea Recotti from Drillmec
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SPE distinguished lecturer Frans Van den Berg speaking as participants listen attentively
The digital oilfield – Collaboration at global scale
John Ifeanyichukwu Egbe Eni S.p.A.
The concept of digital oilfields has gained significant popularity over the years. With advancements in technology paired with relatively high and stable oil prices prior to the current oversupply situation, majority of the leading oil and gas companies proceeded with the initiation of various forms and magnitudes of operational “digitization” programs in line with organizational goals and preferences.
When the SPE Italian section met with SPE distinguished lecturer Frans Van den Berg on November 26, 2016, it was to learn from his vast experience covering Shell’s digital oilfield program under the name “Smart fields” with a particular focus on Collaborative Work Environments (CWEs). 21 SPE members attended the event, held at the Eni labs in Bolgiano. Frans, who has recently retired after 32 years at Shell, worked in the company’s global smart fields program, aiding the global implementation of CWEs in majority of its assets over the last decade, which now covers more than 60% of shell’s production. According to Frans, although technology is the main enabler of the digital oilfield, more value can be derived if focus is placed rather on the end-users of the solutions that the program proposes: it is indeed about enabling people achieve better results. This premise not only reveals the pivotal function of CWEs within the broader digital oilfield context but also suggests the need for end-user involvement in the early stages of conceptualization and screening. The particular relevance of CWEs as Frans explains is in the fact that technology alone cannot deliver the improvements we
desire: it is the intelligent/appropriate use of this technology that brings value to the industry. Hence, by seeking to eliminate the barriers between field and office staff, CWEs permit the seamless exchange of information, perspectives and expertise in real time leading to quicker decisions and hence a reduction in lost/deferred production. Other benefits include the need for less staff on the field, reduced travel cost and an increase in staff morale. In addition, mobility initiatives that seek to equip field staff with explosion proof mobile phones, tablets and cameras have been introduced at Shell. Economically, the use of CWEs has also been beneficial to Shell. To date, production increases of 1–5% are directly linked to the use of CWE visualization and remote problem resolution. Reduction in maintenance costs for issues resolved before tripping/failing, reduced travel and faster project execution are also associated with the use of CWEs amounting to savings of >$1 million. Less quantifiable but just as relevant are the observed increases in staff efficiency, staff morale and reduced HSSE exposure. With total quantifiable benefits ranging from $5–10 million/year per asset and payback of CWE investment within one year, it can be inferred that there is significant value to be derived from the collaborative use of the technologies available to the oil and gas industry. John Ifeanyichukwu Egbe John graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering at Covenant University, Nigeria in 2009. In 2013, he earned a Master of Science degree at the French Petroleum Institute (IFP School) in Reservoir Geoscience & Engineering and has recently joined Eni’s production engineering team after obtaining a Master in Petroleum Engineering & Operations at the Polytechnic of Turin. John has built oil and gas expertise over the years working in Reservoir Engineering, Well performance optimization and Production engineering.
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U-XXX submarine
Membership Opportunity Program From Scarabeo to U-XXX: an open discussion with Paolo Allara
The idea of the Membership Opportunity Program was presented in September 2016 at SPE YP Board by Fulvio Baio and Giovanni Cuomo. The program was thought to boost the young professional commitment in the association and the way chosen to reach the goal was the direct involvement of SPE senior Giovanni Cuomo professionals. In fact, the format is a Eni S.p.A. meeting during which a SPE senior member has an open discussion with SPE YPs about his work experiences, his lifetime passion, good and bad times, the turning point of his career and finally hints & tips for YPs. An informal approach was intentionally formulated and the meeting was reserved to ten people: both the decisions were intended to promote a full participation of all the attendees, who had the chance to talk freely with the speaker. Passion and experience sharing are the two distinctions of the program: thanks to SPE senior, the young professionals can benefit from two priceless values. Paolo Allara was the first professional to embrace this new project on 22nd November. He is SPE Italian Section –Drilling & Completion Technical Director. He joined Saipem in 2001 and currently works as Offshore Drilling Assets Technical Services Manager. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano and then in Eni’s MBA program. After a collaboration with university, he started working in Saipem in R&D department, dealing with drilling issues. His motto “Not all those who wander are lost” (J.R.R. Tolkien) is the perfect synthesis of the approach required to perform a job in
which you have to propose innovations: you know the mission but you do not know the path to reach that address. His suggestion for young professionals is to try to innovate with the resource we already have without straightforwardly changing all. He talked about his first mission in Trondheim and the turning point of his career: Scarabeo 8 project. During the development of Scarabeo drilling rig, he had to travel almost every week from Dubai to Norway to Houston. One of the attendees asked about his feeling during that time: Paolo defined the period as very challenging. He was able to exploit his free time while flying to feed his passion for history: the result was the book “U-XXX” published in 2013 and named after the famous German submarines U-boat. The meeting ended with free questions: some participants satisfied their curiosities about specific projects or about how to manage a friendship in the workplace, and others about his vision concerning innovation and automation in the Oil & Gas industry. Paolo answered very frankly, showing a great passion for his job and a strong desire to share his experience with us. We all benefit from his words. This first event of the Membership Opportunity Program had good feedback: only the strong collaboration between seniors and young professionals could guarantee the good result of the program. See you at the next meeting!!!
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
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Tiani Alessandro (Eni S.p.A)
Maurizio Rampoldi (Eni S.p.A.)
alessandro.tiani@eni.com
maurizio.rampoldi@eni.com
Mentor Chairperson
Past Chairvice Chairman
Paccaloni Giovanni
Tealdi Loris (Eni S.p.A)
gpaccal@tin.it
loris.tealdi@eni.com
Program Chairperson
Membership Chairperson
Ruben Visintin F.G. (Eni S.p.A)
Eleonora Azzarone (Eni S.p.A)
ruben.visintin@eni.com
eleonora.azzarone@eni.com
Treasurer
Scholarship Chairperson
Fernando Luis Morales Urosa (Sclumberger Italiana S.p.A.)
Dellarole Edoardo (TEA Sistemi S.p.A.) edoardo.dellarole@tea-group.com
fmorales2@slb.com
Technical Director Section Drilling and Completion
Technical Director - Section HSE
Paolo Allara (Saipem S.p.A.)
Scotti Davide (Saipem S.p.A.)
paolo.allara@saipem.com
davide.scotti@saipem.com
Technical Director Section Management and Information
Technical Director - Section Project Facilities and Construction
Giudicati Gianna (Eni S.p.A)
Intieri Andrea (Saipem S.p.A)
gianna.giudicati@eni.com
andrea.intieri@saipem.com
Technical Director Section Reservoir
Director - Companies advertisement and Sponsorship
Andrea Lamberti (Eni S.p.A.)
Valerio Parasiliti Parracello (Eni S.p.A)
andrea.luigi.lamberti@eni.com
valerio.parasiliti.parracello@eni.com
Director External Relations Universities
Director - External Relations and Associations
Claudia Porretta Serapiglia (Eni S.p.A)
Stephan Conte ( Eni S.p.A.)
claudia.porretta.serapiglia@eni.com
stephan.conte@eni.com
Director - Mid/Downstream Liaison
Director - innovation and section development
Carollo Lorenzo
Pinarello Giordano (Bluethink S.p.A.)
lorenzocarollo73@gmail.com
giordano.pinarello@bluethink.it
Director - Awards Nominations
Director
Ugo Ormezzano (Tetra Technologies Inc.)
Maurizio Senese
uormezzano@tetratec.com
maurizio.senese@gmail.com
Director
Director
Di Lullo Alberto (Eni S.p.A)
Antonella Godi (Edison S.p.A.)
alberto.dilullo@eni.com
antonella.godi@edison.it
Director - Gela Liaison
Internet & Communication Chairperson
Savioli Lorenzo (Eni S.p.A)
Vacca Adele (Eni S.p.A)
lorenzo.savioli@eni.com
adele.vacca@eni.com
Young Professional Chairperson
Student Chapter Liaison
Andrea Tondelli (Eni S.p.A)
Viberti Dario (Politecnico di Torino)
andrea.tondelli@eni.com
dario.viberti@polito.it
Secretary
Director - Bulletin Managing Editor
Ferdinando Marfella (Eni S.p.A)
Vienna Arrigo (Eni S.p.A)
ferdinando.marfella2@eni.com
arrigo.vienna@eni.com
Italian Section dashboard Section # 096 R e g i o n a l D i r e c t o r : M r. M a t t h i a s M e i s t e r Repor t as of 08 Febr uar y 2017 Char ts do not include affiliate members.
Y e ar t o D a t e : Members: 305 | Affiliate Members: 6 | Student Members:140
P r e v i o u s Y e ar E n d : Members: 506 | Affiliate Members: 8 | Retention: 80.04% | Growth: -2.88%